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Do you remember.. Windows Mobile 6? Pocket PC? Yeah, I developed for those platforms, and I can tell you that Microsoft seriously didn't give a shit. I doubt they have changed much since then. When your core product is for PCs, it's hard changing your company's thinking.
The phrase "survival of the fittest" actually came from a mistake that was made when Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" was translated into German. The correct phrase, and concept, is "Survival of the most adaptable".
It's just as true in the business world as it is in nature.
The phrase "survival of the fittest" actually came from a mistake that was made when Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" was translated into German. The correct phrase, and concept, is "Survival of the most adaptable".
Since the phrase was first used by Herbert Spencer in 1864, writing in English, I don't think so. Darwin himself used the phrase "natural selection" and not "survival of the fittest," but in 1869 he did quote the "survival of the fittest" phrase (correctly attributing the quote to Spencer); and did it in English (not translating it into German).
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/340400.html [phrases.org.uk]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survival_of_the_fittest [wikipedia.org]
So what Darwin was saying is... the transformers will outlive humans?
Dude, you are so full of shit man.
Think about this way. High School. The jocks, which you could arguably say are the fittest physically, are getting all the pussy. Are they adapting? No. They never change their game and remain the same all throughout high school. They walk around, and if by some sort of unknown gravitational effect, pussy just flies around corners to them.
Now take all the nerds, geeks, loners, etc. Do they adapt? Hell yes. It's a constant churn of adaptation, trial and error, failur
Fitness in the context of evolution doesn't refer to physical fitness.
The Jocks get the pussy, so yes they are the fittest, and so long as they continue getting laid, why change? The nerds and geeks around here (seattle) do pretty well for them selves, but the secret is this: own yourself and don't take any shit and be attractive - you will get some too. You don't have to be a jock or a meathead, but it helps to be in decent shape and have some physical skill (unless you like disappointing your sackmates).
All that pretend crap you're talking about is just getting in the way
They do retain a (very slowly loosening) iron grip on the enterprise market though...a big money maker (and future) to be sure.
Granted, that has nothing to do with the kind of stuff TFA is talking about, but having a hand in the infrastructure that will make all that cool stuff actually useful is nothing to sneeze at.
Frankly I am starting to wonder if Microsoft is going to be the next Curtis Wright.
In 1954 just about every airliner on the planet used their engines. The president of the company said that they could keep making that one engine until the end of time and people would still be buying them.
By 1960 they where no longer a major producer of aircraft engines.
Today they make valves for hydraulic systems.
Okay the make control systems. But that company was a merger of The Curtiss company as in Glen Curtiss and the Wright Engine company an in the Wright Brothers.
The company that made the P-40 fighter plane and the Engines that powered a good percentage of US aircraft in WWII including but not limited too the B-17 Flying Fortress, the B-25, and the B-29!. After the war they produced the engine for long range aircraft.
Until the Jet came along.
They failed to make the leap and are now a relatively small company c
What's most interesting about this to me is the technology changes themselves. From a few minutes' worth of research I see that Curtiss Wright failed to make the best jet engines. Even their own aircraft wound up getting refit with Westinghouse models. That's not good.
Microsoft could be thus, but there needs to be a jet engine to come along and displace their prop. I'm not seeing what that might be.
Bear in mind, also, that this isn't in any way uncommon. Look at the 1906 caliber change from high power/
Actually they failed to produce a any good aircraft after the P-40. Even the P-40 was looked down on as an also ran. I feel rather unfairly. I was mainly speaking of the Engine division which built several of the best piston aircraft engines in history.
But they failed to invest in jets until it was too late. They believed that piston engines would always be more fuel efficient and would always be the better choice for long range aircraft.
They where wrong and lost the market. Pratt and Whitney on the other h
Compare and contrast [gizmodo.com] Ray Ozzie's farewell with that of another recent high-level departure, J. Allard. These men, at the heart of technology for all their adult lives, were in positions of the highest influence at Microsoft. They're obviously both brilliant, and not needing to cash a paycheck. They see a change coming - a huge change - and they want to be a part of it. They don't see that happening while they work in Redmond. So they go. But on the way out they look back at the poor souls they leave behind and they tell them in their farewell: "You too can be a part of this new world. You just have to think different." The door swings shut with a click and the obvious conclusion remains unsaid: "but you won't."
Was was thinking the same thing.
Windows Mobile has seriously SUCKED the life out of me, like my life sucks because of it. (I could have won concert tickets but my phone couldn't even preform a simple speed dial in under 10 seconds).
I don't know anyone who actually owns a zune, but lets just say my only run-in with it has been the zune apps on the Xbox - which is actually worse at managing my media than the original Xbox way of just navigating a filestructure. Thanks!
I could name a handful of other Non-PC pr
I own a Zune (I bought the Zune80 when it came out).
The Zune software was fantastic (on the PC). The Zune UI ran rings around the iPod (on the Device). The sound quality was better.
Zune deserved better. It was superior to the iPod Classic line in every way. I've seen (but do not own) the Zune HD, and it's good as well, though it pales in comparison to the iPod Touch because of the ecosystem and apps available.
I'm actively looking forward to being able to ditch my iPhone for a Windows Phone in a year or
Microsoft was fighting yesterday's battle
You've nailed it! Everything Microsoft is doing is reacting to the changing market, change introduced by others. Microsoft isn't able or willing to disrupt their own business. Maybe they shouldn't. There's nothing wrong with being boring and mature (Oracle and IBM make billions being boring).
What has Microsoft being doing the last couple of years? They showed some vision by investing in Facebook, but then spent months trying to buy Yahoo!? It's just bizarre.
"LOL WUT?" The smartphone market has run its course? You are kidding, right? Smart phones are going to continue to sell strong as ever. While they may not grow a ton, people have to stop pretending like growth is all that matters. It smacks of wet behind the ears stock investors who have no sense of scale or history.
Smart phones are going to be a huge market until, well, someone figures out something to replace the phone. I haven't even heard of any ideas along those lines much less products. So I think it is safe to say the market has decades, or more, of life.
Also you might notice that in terms of OS the battle has not been won, nor may it ever be won. Symbian didn't win (it was by far the largest), BlackBerry OS didn't win, iOS hasn't won, Android hasn't won. The fight is on going, and it may well go on forever. Given the locked down nature of phones and carriers, there may not be the push for a single platform like there was with PCs. There people wanted software portability, but you don't get that on phones anyhow.
Also you might note that MS is and was in the mobile market. Windows CE smart phones have been around for a long time and while not huge weren't trivial either. This is a (needed) revamp/update, not a new entrance in to a market.
> like my life sucks because of it. (I could have won concert tickets but my phone couldn't even preform a simple speed dial in under 10 seconds).
Seriously. Your life sucks because a toy telephone prevented you from winning concert tickets?
> Was was thinking the same thing.
How on god's green earth is this comment marked "insightful"? I see slashdot is still the festering circlejerk it always was. Makes me long for the days of goatse and beowulf clusters and first post. At least that was entertaining.
Granted, one's quality of life shouldn't depend on winning concert tickets. But the point stands: Windows Mobile phones (and I've got a pile of them on my shelf) sucked as phones. Even on the speedy-for-its-time HTC Advantage, the phone keyboard lagged. Punch a key, wait, key is highlighted and tone is heard. Repeat. IIRC, every WinMo phone I had did this to some extent.
I don't care if MSFT promises a pony with every Windows Phone 7, crap like that made me swear off WinMo for good.
I think someone has missed Windows Phone 7 and the tablets Microsoft will be releasing shortly.
If WP7 doesn't run Lotus Notes, it might be dead to Ray Ozzie. . .
When Ray says "Beyond the PC" what he's really saying is "beyond Windows OS".
This has been Microsoft's greatest nemesis, is their own myopia. They view everything with the tinged glasses of Windows. You can see this with Windows Mobile 7, even if it isn't "Windows" is trying to leverage "Windows 7" branding.
Specifically addressing what you're saying, the problem with Courier was that it was Kindle wannabe. They kept the book format when quite frankly it shouldn't have. Try turning the page with one hand. The KindleApp for iPad is even better than Kindle. And it is more useful than any standalone ebook reader.
Which brings me to tablets: If Microsoft makes a tablet that isn't some bastardized copy of Windows, I'll take a look. Until then, no thank you. Buying an overpriced one use computing device to me seem silly, and trying to shoehorn Windows into a tablet type device is just as pointless.
Apple gets all of this. Apple is no longer just a "computer company" and is branching out and fixing all the other related edges of technology that has been hamstrung by companies like Microsoft and their limited thinking. Apple is not just Macs any more, and that is a big reason they are the new Microsoft, and #2 in Market Cap, possibly getting to #1 next year sometime.
Which brings me to tablets: If Microsoft makes a tablet that isn't some bastardized copy of Windows, I'll take a look. Until then, no thank you. Buying an overpriced one use computing device to me seem silly, and trying to shoehorn Windows into a tablet type device is just as pointless.
But isn't Android just a bastardized Linux?
You aren't really listening. iOS is designed fro the ground up to be a touch-based OS. It sits on top of a specialized OSX platform. Android is similar, but is made by Google and sits on top of Linux. The reason why Blackberry touch smartphones have sucked is that the retro-fitted their old apps, and aren't all optimized for touch. Windows mobile seems to suffer from similar problems. You need to think of it from the user paradigm rather than making it "A pc on a phone, or a PC on a tablet." Apple and
iOS is designed fro the ground up to be a touch-based OS. It sits on top of a specialized OSX platform. Android is similar, but is made by Google and sits on top of Linux. The reason why Blackberry touch smartphones have sucked is that the retro-fitted their old apps, and aren't all optimized for touch. Windows mobile seems to suffer from similar problems. You need to think of it from the user paradigm rather than making it "A pc on a phone, or a PC on a tablet." Apple and Google have done a much better job
Name any of that "Interesting Innovation".
Would not happen to be no multitasking or no copy-paste would it?
And they're doing so with a log of interesting innovation.
At least we can agree it's a "log".
The iPhone is not called a "Mac Phone". And for good reason.
The iPhone is not called a "Mac Phone". And for good reason.
And yet it shares the "i..." branding with various Apple's desktop products (iWork, iLife,...).
You aren't really listening. iOS is designed fro the ground up to be a touch-based OS. It sits on top of a specialized OSX platform. Android is similar, but is made by Google and sits on top of Linux.
Windows Phone 7 is also designed from ground up to be a touch-based OS (unlike WinMo, which was more pen-oriented). So? What does branding have to do with it all?
Linux is a kernel, not a complete OS. The bits on top of the Kernel are Android OS. Lots of devices run the kernel, but have limited OS capabilities because it is easy to do and highly modularized. Android is more like Gnome or KDE (not exact though)
Windows is much much more monolithic.
In the same way that iOS is a bastardised BSD.
Apple gets all of this. Apple is no longer just a "computer company" and is branching out and fixing all the other related edges of technology that has been hamstrung by companies like Microsoft and their limited thinking. Apple is not just Macs any more, and that is a big reason they are the new Microsoft, and #2 in Market Cap, possibly getting to #1 next year sometime.
Close, but no. In all seriousness, Apple does not 'get all of this' in the manner that you suggest. They're not looking for 'superior' so much as they are looking to lock users into their App stores. So to claim that Apple doesn't possess limited thinking is, in my view, patently false. They are just as single minded, but towards a different end. They don't care about the technology in the least (iphone that doesn't work well as a phone, anyone?), but they ARE indeed all about the platform and the vehicle to future sales that it represents.
Apple is not Mac, the same way Microsoft is Windows.
What you said may be true, or may simply be a way of monetizing the marketplace in a way you don't like, but that is not my point. Apple is not a "computer company" the way Microsoft is a "Windows" company.
There is nothing at Microsoft that isn't either "Windows" or "Me too" device (XBOX, ZUNE).
And even if you think iPod, iPad, and iPhone are in the "me too" category, they revolutionized industries that weren't "computer" related. And frankly, the iPod, iPhone and iPad make anything before them look
I don't have iPad or Mac or iPhone. I have an iPod full of music, and haven't bought a single thing from ITMS. I prefer buying tunes on CD and ripping them, because they can go on ANY device I want. I'm not locked into anything Apple.
Okay, you missed it. One more try, then.
Apple is not a "computer company" the way Microsoft is a "Windows" company.
In that light, Apple is an "iTunes company". Period, the end.
In case you forgot, Apple is a hardware company. You can't compare Apple and Microsoft on the software level because Apple is also making the hardware. iTunes is just the centralized app they use to sync media across those devices and is not a valid comparison to an OS. You don't even have to use iTunes to purchase apps anymore.
The point is that Microsoft wants to put Windows on everything. Apple wants to sell hardware devices. That gives Apple an advantage in product flexibility, from workstations to pock
I have an iPod full of music, and haven't bought a single thing from ITMS. I prefer buying tunes on CD and ripping them, because they can go on ANY device I want. I'm not locked into anything Apple.
Just a point of interest, all music on the iTMS is DRM-free. It is AAC, which may not be as universal as MP3, but it's still common enough to not locking you into "anything Apple".
> they're not looking for 'superior' so much as they are looking to lock users into their
> App stores.
Actually not quite right.
This would make sense if....
the app store was launched with the iphone. But it was in fact an afterthought.
Originally Apple wanted everyone to get "Apps" which were web based (javascript/ html) things online. Developers wanted to write more persistant application that would run without an internet connection, thus one year later the App Store and the SDK.
Sometimes you make a
They're not looking for 'superior' so much as they are looking to lock users into their App stores.
People say this as though the App Store is some sort of cash cow for Apple. They run their digital stores at mostly break-even. They aren't trying to lock their users into their App Stores (especially since you used the plural. they are absolutely *not* going to lock Mac OS X into their Mac App Store the way iOS is locked into the current App Store).
What you're missing is that they are going for superior, and the App Stores are part of that. Apple makes their money from hardware sales. App Stores make their
Apple is not just Macs any more, and that is a big reason they are the new Microsoft, and #2 in Market Cap, possibly getting to #1 next year sometime.
Apple surpassed Microsoft's market cap in May, and remains second highest mcap in the S&P 500 to exxonmobil. MS is third. There is a pretty big gap between exxonmobil and apple, still. Unlikely to close in the next year. But I'm guessing you weren't taking petro companies into consideration in your rankings.
As wireless internet access becomes even more robust, the first company that can deliver a solution to keep a user's "state" consistent across all of their devices is going to be the winner. It's a problem that the industry has been working on since the dark days of syncing your contacts up through a USB1 connection to a palm pilot. I imagine it's why Apple is building their enormous data center - they are about to make manual data management a thing of the past. A slick interface could yield some badass results for stepping your data to a network volume if it's unusually large, and then streaming backups during off-peak hours to iBackup or whatever you want to call it. Otherwise, every time you start to edit a doc, the filesystem is intelligently streaming the backup directly to their data center. If your laptop gets nicked, then you log in to your me.com account, destroy the encrypted volume if they connect it to the internet, and grab another laptop and a few hours later you are back up and running.
Computers are going to disappear - your information will be always available from any device with an internet connection. You'll just have a variety of interfaces to it, from your phone, to your media viewer (iPad) to your netbook (I mean MacBook Air, Steve!) and your desktop. They will all sync intelligently, and store larger, non-streamable information locally on SSD drives. Only video creators will be forced to continue managing physical volumes until 4g goes nationwide and uncapped.
It's a good idea, and a fucking bummer that Apple is the only company doing it.
That's the whole point of ChromeOS (but not limited, it can be used in any OS), combined with Google Docs, Gmail, Google Calendar, Picasa Web (photos and videos) and Google Reader.
Personally, it's not my cup of tea (I've moved to my email and photo hosting to my home server recently), but saying Apple is the only one pushing for a web based OS is ridiculous.
Computers are going to disappear - your information will be always available from any device with an internet connection
I absolutely agree with most of what you say here -- the company that does transparent "cloud" sync/storage best will win the game. Unlike you, my take is that Apple is actually way behind in this area, while Google has a convincing, if not insurmountable lead. This isn't about Android, though you can s
Or all of the above?
I sometimes wonder if MS senior management isn't full of guys making good money, looking at how much time they have until retirement is a real option and thinking "If we can just string this Windows/PC model along for a couple more years, I'll be set. Retire in my late 50s. Second home (or boat or
I can see where it could almost become a cultural mindset, coupled with a financial analysis that says the "real money" comes from Windows, Office, Exchange & SQL. Everything else (phone, tables, hardware, software, etc) is a half-assed feint to keep Wall St. quiet, keep key industry experts locked into long employment contracts and out of the hands of competitors, and occasionally hit the lottery when something sticks to the wall.
Or is it the actual management model? Keep the Windows/Office core profit engine running, fuck around on the margin and assume you can manipulate the market enough to keep your dominance forever?
The Xbox 360 is a fantastic product? So you've never owned one have you?
RROD pops to mind and the overall 16.1% failure rate over 6 to 10 months use.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_technical_problems [wikipedia.org]
http://www.tgdaily.com/games-and-entertainment-features/36070-report-xbox-360-failure-rate-above-15 [tgdaily.com]
Plus the fact that it didn't support an HD format for games, no Blu-ray support now, no Bluetooth support, it's not that fantastic of a device.
Yes it is. I bought a Xbox 360 and PS3, while I love both I spend more time and money playing games bought for the Xbox than the ps3. I'm not saying PS3 sucks, on the contrary, the hardware feels better and it has a snazzy blueray player.. some of the truely epic games have been on the ps3.
I would rank the 360 and ps3 to be equals.. just diferent, and mine certainly hasn't died yet but if it did that's fine. Damn thing has been used 5x more than my ps3 in 3 years.
I think someone has missed Windows Phone 7 and the tablets Microsoft will be releasing shortly.
Windows Phone is already out in Europe. We'll see how well it fares. Personally, I'm not impressed by the many restrictions (more than in iPhone!), but then I'm a geek. If I were buying a phone as a present for my mom, I'd look into it alongside iPhone.
HP Slate 500 (running Windows 7) is also out. It's rather telling that they've put it into business laptops and PCs [hp.com] section of their website, though. The reviews so far have not been all that positive, from what I've seen - it certainly does some things great
The great fallacy nowadays is that everything should be designed for the Apple consumer.
Are you for real?
Xbox360 great?
Freely develop software?
These are the folks that turned vendor lockin into an art, they are the folks that bought their way into the console market.
MS is not dominating outside the PC space. The PC is dieing.
Xbox360 great?
Freely develop software?
I have a feeling that weachiod is referring to XNA Creators Club. Nintendo and Sony offer nothing comparable.
they are the folks that bought their way into the console market.
How did Sony get in during the PS1 era, and how was that not "buying"?
MS is not dominating outside the PC space.
I agree that Xbox 360 isn't entirely dominating the high-definition console market. But it's still noticeably ahead of PS3, especially in North America.
XNA Creators Club is not suitable for making anything beyond little toy games is my understanding. At that point you might as well make an Android or iPhone app and get yourself a much larger customer base.
How did Sony get in during the PS1 era, and how was that not "buying"?
They sold the PS1 and it made money. Even the 360 will not pay off the losses on the xbox, last I heard. In this way sony made a new console family and Microsoft bought their way into a market.
I agree that Xbox 360 isn't entirely domina
XNA Creators Club is not suitable for making anything beyond little toy games is my understanding.
Define "little toy games". I certainly haven't drunk the proverbial Kool-Aid about XNA, but can you think of any significant limitations other than what I already list on my page [pineight.com]?
At that point you might as well make an Android or iPhone app and get yourself a much larger customer base.
Android and iPhone are counterparts to the DS/PSP/DSi/3DS, not a set-top multiplayer gaming device like 360/PS3/Wii that just needs extra gamepads. On a smartphone, four players mean four $70/mo voice and data plans. The last time I checked, a "family plan" at a U.S. cell phone carrier covered one smartphone and one to three "featu
So you agree there are significant limitations?
There is an "android touch" samsung makes it.
I have two smartphones on a family plan with verizon, runs about $130month.
This just happens to be your only comment?
It reads like MS PR copy.
It's not the same, though. The point that Ray Ozzie is trying to make is that, at some point, Microsoft needs to stop following the industry and become the one the industry follows again.
Windows Phone 7 is great, but Apple was the one who popularized smart phones as we currently know them. Tablets are coming to the market with Microsoft software on them, but Apple was the one who popularized tablets. For years, before the iPod changed Apple, Apple made ends meet because they had a fervent fan base and catered to them. It didn't hurt Apple that they were always playing catch up because they had total control over their environment. They made money on software and hardware. Microsoft is in the unique position of being a primarily software based company. If sales of Windows plummet, they don't have that kind of closed system like Apple has to keep them chugging along. Additionally, Microsoft is such a huge company at this point, they have to be an industry innovator again or face crumbling apart.
I agree that Microsoft is making waves to change their image. They're the "cool" company (in the US) when it comes to videogame consoles and no one EVER saw that coming. Zune has its diehards (and rightfully so, the Zune HD is terrific hardware). Windows Phone 7 might get its following, that's yet to be seen. And Windows 7 is just a pleasure to use, IMO. But the PC market is shrinking at a rapid pace and the only other market that MS is #1 in right now is videogame consoles...and that's not the cash cow that Windows and Office are.
Microsoft is literally sleeping on the chance to expand the xbox brand and make it the only box you need in your house for entertainment. Xbox SHOULD be the industry leader in iptv right now, but they're not. And that's a crying shame...because our other two players are Google (who's going to eventually throw something free on the table and leave it to a hundred vendors to shape it into a usable product) or Sony (who's going to try to tie everything into purchases and season passes, not true iptv) and I think that Microsoft, as a company that's not tied to advertisement (Google) or owns huge assets of media (Sony) could shape this market in a way that's good for consumers and runs off of hardware that's already existing. It would also secure Microsoft's spot as console leader for generations to come.
Microsoft is sleeping on all sorts of opportunities now. Ray Ozzie, stating this as an insider, is really a doom and gloom statement from an investors standpoint.
Apple was the one who popularized smart phones as we currently know them. Tablets are coming to the market with Microsoft software on them, but Apple was the one who popularized tablets.
The problem that Microsoft runs up against again and again is that they're a software vendor, not a hardware vendor. Sure they sell xboxes, mice and the odd webcam and zune, but for real hardware they depend on the hardware manufacturers, and it's very very hard to get the likes of HP or Dell to innovate on Microsoft's beh
It was cool. So was Knowledge Navigator [google.com]. But vapor is vapor, and products people can actually buy are the only tangible indicator of what's important at a company. The fate of Courier shows that advocates of a radical, post-Windows approach lost a big internal fight. Microsoft continues to clearly demonstrate that Windows is their anchor.
Anchors keep you from getting blown away when a storm comes. They also keep you from moving forward.
You, along with many others, liked Courier because it was a fantasy. It was never a real product, just a fake rendering of a very interesting idea. Its main purpose was to distract interest away from Apple's tablet, and it appears to have done its job for some (although not nearly well enough to keep the iPad from becoming a huge success).
But the truth also is that Microsoft has a huge dominance on computer market and that isn't going anywhere.
That's true, but not the point. The point is post-PC. MS is extremely weak on that front, and just like Sony losing their lead from the Walkman to the iPod, MS's huge lead in the PC world won't amount to much in the non-PC world.
Just bring me something that Courier was supposed to be. I want it, I need it!
It's not going to happen. I'd suggest you give up on it, at least for the time being. Otherwise you'll be in perpetual frustration. It's like wishing expectantly for wizard powers. By focussing too much on the non-real, you pass up on the real. MS teased you with the Courier, but what they gave you, later than promised, was a shitty Windows 7 slate from HP.
Say what you will about Apple, but at least they promote real products that they actually deliver. You say screw iPad, you want Courier. Well, sure, but iPad has the supremely important feature of actually existing.
WP7 about 2-3 years behind the competition. It's only saving grace is it's different and the OS upgrades are supplied by Microsoft.
Courier was concept art, just an idea. The fact it was seen to be cool and got killed just shows how badly run Microsoft are. They're almost as bad as car companies who draw up amazing looking concept cars only to have them made ugly by consulting the great unwashed on what they want.
Forget the imminent Microsoft tablets, they're just PCs in a small form factor running an OS with a small veneer of touch usability. Instant on? nope, fast bootup? nope, long standby time? nope. They've been around since 2001 and there's been as many sold as Apple has sold iPads (which were only released this year).
iPad works because all of the applications it runs have been designed for a touch screen OS. There is no windows or icons to drag, no start menu, no filemanager, no double tapping the screen, no reset button and best of all, no silly plastic stylus to lose.
If you want a touch screen computer, at least buy one that an OS designed for touch screen. Even the former head of the tablet project at Microsoft couldn't get people on side for the project, it's why there's no touch screen version of Office.
HP and Microsoft shares fell following their tablet announcement, which shows how (un)impressive it was:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/186172/why_the_microsofthp_tablet_is_a_big_disappointment.html [pcworld.com]
There's only so many times you can rehash the same old rubbish.
"Sent from my iPad"
The future of the PC is not immediately viewable from the window. One must step out and look around.
close our eyes and form a realistic picture
That sounds great!
For the love of all that is good, I sincerely hope Ray Ozzie's choice of the term "Connected Companions" was solely so that this message could be interpreted by the buzzword-based PHBs at Microsoft, and not a hint that he wants to turn the next company he goes to into the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.
In cases like this, I'm really glad there's so few elevators where I live.
we'll see decades to come of incredible innovation from which will emerge all sorts of "connected companions" that we'll wear, we'll carry, we'll use on our desks & walls and the environment all around us.'"
As soon as they can mix that companion thing with life-size holographic projections and make them look like anime characters, sales will go through the roof.
Viewing of "Don't Date a Robot!" required before buying.
Actually I think the market for home computers would be more like the market for game consoles were it not for IBM and Microsoft.
A lot further ahead! Better computer security, fewer viral plagues, faster software, more open standards, better interoperability, cheaper software and support.
"Open standards" and "better interoperability", really? Did you forget what Apple - Microsoft's primary competitor was like in the 80s?
Ironically, you can thank IBM and MS for providing the platform that made Linux development possible. Even if that was an unintended (and probably undesired, to either of those) side effect.
This would have been great advice 10 years ago, when MSFT might have had a chance to carve out a foothold in device computing, but not now.
It's like the Zune. An okay product but late to market and no evolution.
MSFT is what you get when your grandpa runs a tech company.
That "memo" runs more than 3500 words. If that counts as a typical memo over at Microsoft, I think they've got another problem beyond the one Ozzie's term paper discusses.
To: Executive Staff and direct reports
Date: October 28, 2010
From: Ray Ozzie
Gadgets are gadgets. Gadgets may resemble tools but tools are specifically designed for their purpose(s).
Nothing will replace a workstation's keyboard, local storage and large displays for professionals, they may be plugged into a smaller case/form-factor but it will still need a functional environment, applications for tasks and data back-ups. MS is driving hard to sign-up the masses for streaming services in the "cloud" so they can sell dumb(er) products and meter all the utility however they deem fit(fit
"We've seen agile innovation playing out before a backdrop in which many dramatic changes have occurred across all aspects of our industry's core infrastructure."
It's a boring sentence trapped in a boring, verbose memo, so I found it a new home in a Philip K Dick story:
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tanhauser Gate. I watched agile innovation playing out before a backdrop in which many dramatic changes have occurred. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. [pause] Time to die."
Loose bits sink chips.


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FARGO, N.D. – Already with three individual high school state titles on his resume, Jered Cortez added more hardware to his impressive collection last weekend.
With a truly dominant effort, the incoming senior at Glenbard North High School became the 2013 Junior National freestyle champion at 126 pounds in Fargo, ND.
Cortez was nearly untouchable throughout the three-day event, winning eight of his 10 matches by technical fall. Even more telling, he allowed just one opponent to score points against him, outscoring the competition by a 92-6 margin.
"It's an amazing feeling," Cortez said. "I feel like I represented my state well and not only my state but my high school, Glenbard North. And I represented my family; my grandparents were there and it means the world to them.
"It was my last trip there (to the Junior Nationals) and I went out with a bang."
The Carol Stream resident entered the tournament with extra motivation after not placing a year ago.
"Last year I didn't really achieve the goal that I wanted to," Cortez said. "So I felt like I had something to prove. I had a chip on my shoulder. I marked it on my calender, those dates, for a whole year, and I trained for it.
"That was my goal, I felt I had to make a statement. I know I trained super hard for it and I just had to let it fly and relax and have fun."
The Carol Stream resident went a perfect 20-0 this summer (Cortez wrestled at the regional to qualify for Fargo and also the Junior National duals for Team Illinois) after posting a 52-0 mark during the high school season.
When asked to compare this latest title to his trio of state championships, Cortez said the national version gets the nod.
"It's definitely at the top of my list right now," he said. "It's an unreal feeling. The state titles mean a lot but this is probably the best feeling one, it's an unreal feeling. Now I have one more goal to hit, a fourth state title."
The plan now is to take some time off from the mats to heal up his body, though Cortez will continue to lift weights and condition. Even with the break, the next month promises to be extremely hectic as the incoming senior looks to make his college decision.
On July 1, which was the first day college coaches could make contact with him, Cortez received double-digit phone calls.
"It's crazy but I'm hoping to make my decision coming up pretty soon," he added.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
News and Features
HHS Perinatal Guideline Panel Accepting Nominations for New Members
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Panel on Treatment of HIV-Infected Pregnant Women and Prevention of Perinatal Transmission in the United States (or the Panel) is accepting nominations for a new community member and new scientific/clinical members.
Panel members critically evaluate the latest HIV treatment-related information and prepare guideline revisions. The Panel is seeking new members available to serve a 3-year term beginning April or May 2013, with potential for reappointment for an additional term.
Nominations must be received by March 22, 2013.
Complete details on new member qualifications and instructions regarding nominations are available:
Voluntary Recall Announced for One Lot of Cidofovir Injection (Vistide) Solution
"Gilead Sciences, Inc. is voluntarily recalling lot B120217A of Vistide® (cidofovir injection) to the user level due to the presence of particulate matter found in some vials of this lot. Gilead is not currently aware of any complaint attributable to the particles. …
"Vistide is indicated for the treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). …
"Gilead has notified its distributors and customers by e-mail and recall letter and is arranging for return of all recalled product. Before injecting Vistide, healthcare providers should inspect the product and any product with lot number B120217A should not be injected.
"Patients should contact their physician or healthcare provider if they have experienced any problems that may be related to using Vistide."
More information is available:
- FDA: Safety alert
Institute of Medicine Releases Report: Evaluation of PEPFAR
On February 20, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a report evaluating the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
The report was authored by the Committee for the Outcome and Impact Evaluation of Global HIV/AIDS Programs Implemented Under the Lantos/Hyde Act of 2008.
More information is available:
- Evaluation of PEPFAR, from the IOM website
- Statement by Ambassador Eric Goosby, MD, United States Global AIDS Coordinator


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Andy Samberg proves a leap of faith can pay off.
IN THE new movie Celeste and Jesse Forever, American comic Andy Samberg does what you wouldn't expect from him. The film contains a parody of a raunchy pop song, sung by Emma Roberts' teenage vixen, which is the specialty of the Lonely Island, the comedy trio fronted by Samberg that has kept YouTube's servers humming in the past few years with the likes of Dick in a Box, I'm on a Boat and I Just Had Sex. Yet he is not among the credited composers.
Instead Samberg, who has just finished seven years on the US sketch-comedy television institution Saturday Night Live, plays the titular male lead, Jesse, who remains best friends with his former wife Celeste (Rashida Jones) after the Los Angeles residents divorce, before circumstances slowly but steadily tear them apart. The film is a romantic comedy that's just as interested in loneliness and drama, which hardly matches Samberg's goofy profile.
''It was a leap of faith on everyone's part to put me in the role,'' Samberg says. ''I felt it was something that I could pull off, but as I was doing it I was really unsure. The main difference between this movie and the other things I've done is that it was a lot less work. I would hold back a lot, make everything smaller, just act as if it was real life and not be insane and over the top.''
Celeste and Jesse Forever was written by Jones, who is best known for television sitcoms such as Parks and Recreation, and Will McCormack, a fellow actor who in the movie plays the couple's affable marijuana dealer.
They were offered large sums for their much-admired screenplay, on the proviso that established movie stars would play the central couple, but they refused and, with director Lee Toland Krieger, eventually made the picture on a small independent budget.
''Rashida and I have been friends since 2005, and she knows that I'm also a writer and sent me the script as a friend to let her know what I think. I read it and told her that I thought I should be in it - that was my notes,'' Samberg says.
''As it came together I would ask - through my agent so it wasn't creepy - what was happening with the film. It had comedy and serious elements that I thought I could pull off in an honest way.''
The movie doesn't just get laughs from the fine comic rapport between Celeste and Jesse, it shows how the characters are using familiar routines and favourite punchlines to avoid the deeper issues that eventually betray them. That high level of observation was valued by Samberg, a boyish 34-year-old who has spent most of his career rapping badly, wearing a ludicrous wig or a combination of the two.
''The most exciting thing for Rashida and I was trying things we hadn't got to do on-screen before,'' says Samberg, whose recent roles have also included an obscure BBC comedy series titled Cuckoo and a starring role alongside one of his comic influences, Adam Sandler, in That's My Boy. ''The philosophy I have is to care less about what it is in terms of career building and instead just respond to the material I like and let the chips fall as they may.''
Besides, it is hard to successfully send up pop songs when they keep appropriating the very qualities you consider satirical. By the time 2011's Turtleneck & Chain, the second Lonely Island album, was released, Latin pop star Enrique Iglesias was putting out a single titled Tonight (I'm F---ing You).
''It could have been one of our songs,'' Samberg says. ''The line between what's fake and what's real is getting very, very blurred.''
Celeste and Jesse Forever is screening now at the Cinema Nova.


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Go Botany: Discover thousands of New England plants
England Wild Flower Society
Reference: Wipff (2003).
Poaceae (grass family)
Visit this genus in the
Dichotomous Key
If you're not sure what to do from here, take a look at this Help page for instructions.
If you already know what group your plant is in, start with the clickable plant map to find your plant more quickly.


text:
What extension are you try to install?
How know you the extension wasn't installed?
# K-Meleon Macros (http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php?id=MacroLanguage) # --------extensions uninstaller-experimental------------------------- $_keu_path=getfolder(RootFolder); $_profile_path=getfolder(ProfileFolder); $_keith_path=getfolder(RootFolder)."\\Tools\\keith"; keith{ menugrayed=(substr($LinkURL,0,14)!="http://kmext.s"); exec($_keith_path."\\keith.exe " . $LinkURL); } kmextman{ $getlocale=getpref(STRING,"general.useragent.locale"); exec($_keu_path."\\kmextman.exe \"".$_profile_path."\" " . $getlocale); } keith_offline{ exec($_keith_path."\\keith.exe"); } kmextman_BuildMenu{ setmenu("&Tools",inline,"keu_pag"); setmenu("keu_pag",inline,"kem_offline"); setmenu("kem_offline",macro,"Install Ext. Offline",keith_offline); setmenu("keu_pag",macro,"Extensions Manager",kmextman); setmenu("LinkSave",inline,"keith_pagina"); setmenu("keith_pagina",macro,"KM Extension",keith,1); } extman_BuildToolbar{ $extman_Tooltip=_("Extensions Manager"); pluginmsg(toolbars,"AddToolbar","Extensions Manager,16,16",""); $extman=(pluginmsg(toolbars,"AddButton","Extensions Manager,kmextman,macros("."kmextman"."),"."kem_offline".",".$extman_Tooltip.",16,16,"."extman.bmp[1],extman.bmp[0]","")); } $OnInit=$OnInit."kmextman_BuildMenu;"; $OnSetup=$OnSetup."extman_BuildToolbar;"; $macroModules=$macroModules."keu;";
edit: More observation:
So as now that I can use ext manager, I start playing with it....
I installed bbc-weather and pseudo-history ext with it, all goes well.... then after a while I removed both of them via ext manager. Of course ext manger showed correctly the entries in it's panel : screen-shot , but when I checked further, I saw "sidebar macro - used by pseudo-history" and "wservices macro - used by bbcweather" are still present. screen-shot
nice idea on opening the dialog without extensions..i didn't know how to do that because the array would give me an subscript error, i asked at autotit forums back then but they were not helpful, desga is now the main programmer for extensions manager, but i think opening it even when no extensions are installed is a good idea..will certainly avoid confusion and gives ability to run keith directly..would you care to share the new source?
please send it to firstname.lastname@example.com
Global install instead of user install have adventages, but the major problem induced by global install is the difficulty to clean all profiles.
Not needed to clean all, when installing into used profile is the rule, and global possible.
Users only have to agree about globaly installed extensions.
BTW. AFAIK. It was the advantage of the SeaMonkey installer service to be able to use profiles and global for install. The service caters for chrome installs also. Security was its major handicap. It was decided not to use this service. After a proof of concept was working.
We have to wait for the move to toolkit. Then k-meleon will probably be able to use FF/Xulrunner XPI install service. That has another, stricter savety concept. And it can install chrome extensions."
You are the specialist of chrome, but I'm not as sure as you that we will be able to use it.
Hum, for me the extensions are global (especially chrome one). Just kmm files could be installed for a profile.
wow! thank you disrupted.
I just tried your macro, yes it did the trick.
OOoooops! more
1) clear cache
2) visit ext home page (help->Extensions Centre)
3) roam around different sections....roam...roam...(do not d/l anything)
4) quit k-meleon (make sure you didn't set clear cache on exit... etc.)
4) go offline . (make sure you are really offline, just clicking disconnect won't do, if needed switch off your router, well at least in my case)
5) start k-meleon
6) view those ext pages from cache
7) now right click on any ext(.7z) file, and choose "KM Extension"
8) watch (this one is really hilarious)
For chrome, except if I have lost my head, K-Meleon only takes chrome, and components in global folders.
With 1.9, it will perhaps be possible, but not sure that K-Meleon 1.6 has already this feature.
For chrome, except if I have lost my head, K-Meleon only takes chrome, and components in global folders.


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Hotels in Trogir Croatia
Located on the Dalmatian coast in southern Croatia, Trogir provides the perfect spot for a weekend getaway. In 1997 Trogir was named a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) heritage site. Over the years, Trogir's buildings have undergone restorations and one can't help but stop and admire the breathtaking, handcrafted architectural detail. Trogir hotels offer all the comforts needed for a pleasant stay. For those on a budget, there are many choices when it comes to hotels in Trogir. All the discount hotels Trogir has to offer can be found and bboked easily with EasyToBook.com. When deciding to stay in Trogir, cheap hotels are the smart traveler's way of leaving funds in the budget for other important things - like shopping! When visiting Trogir, be sure to check out the Cathedral of St. Lawrence. Visitors to this favorite tourist attraction have the opportunity to experience the views across the age-old rooftops of Trogir. This amazing sight is offered from June-October, daily 8:00am_7:00pm; November-May, daily 8:00am noon and 4:30pm to 7:00pm. Entrance is free of costs. Across from the main entrance of the Cathedral is Cipiko Palace, where visitors can see more of the gothic architecture that Trogir is known for. During the 15th century the Cipiko family was one of the town's most distinguished families. Also located nearby is the Trogir Civic Museum, located in the Baroque Garagnin-Fanfogna Palace. A variety of Greek and Roman artifacts, books, and documents are just a few of the items on display.


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NEWS - Thursday, November 15, 2012
Arnold Palmer on Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14
November 15, 2012 - In a historic celebration of the world of golf, Arnold Palmer, "the King," makes his first appearance alongside Tiger Woods on the cover of Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 14. Palmers professional career spanned five decades and the box art image is taken from his most prolific years during the 1960s. Among his many accomplishments, he recorded 92 professional victories during his career with 62 occurring on the PGA TOUR. Included in the total are seven major championships including four Masters, one U.S. Open and two Open Championships. Palmer also has a history with the video game franchise as he was included in Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 05 and 06.
Woods has a rich history with the golf icon as he has won the Arnold Palmer Invitational seven times, most recently in 2012 and he has 74 PGA TOUR career wins, second on the all-time list.
Joining legendary golfers, Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer, as playable characters are a quartet of young rising stars from the PGA TOUR and LPGA. Making their debut in the Tiger Woods PGA TOUR franchise, Keegan Bradley, Bud Cauley, Stacy Lewis and Lexi Thompson will round out a roster of more than 25 professional golfers set to tee off in the upcoming title.
Bradley has won three PGA TOUR events, most notably the 2011 PGA Championship and is one of only three golfers to win in his major debut. He was also named the 2011 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year and was a member of the 2012 US Ryder Cup team.
Cauley just completed his second professional season and is considered one of the up-and-coming American golfers on the PGA TOUR. The former University of Alabama golfer was a member of the 2009 U.S. Walker Cup team and had six top-10 finishes this season.
The LPGAs #1 ranked American golfer, and recently named Player of the Year, Lewis, has five professional career wins including a major as her first official professional victory, came at the 2011 Kraft Nabisco Championship. With four LPGA victories this season, 2012 has been a breakout season for Lewis.
In 2011, Thompson won her first LPGA tournament at the Navistar LPGA Classic at the age of 16. She was also the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Womens Open as a 12-year old.
Source: http://www.easports.com


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Israel News - Stay Informed, Pray Informed
Egyptians went to the polls on Monday in the nation's first election since the toppling of former dictator Hosni Mubarak. Across the border in Israel, government officials and military commanders were keeping a wary eye on the situation.
While democratic freedom was purportedly what the Egyptian revolution was all about, since Mubarak's ouster in February dangerous Islamist elements like the Muslim Brotherhood have been gaining in both power and popularity at an alarming rate.
Ahead of Monday's vote, analysts predicted that the Muslim Brotherhood would win control of at least 40 percent of Egypt's parliament, putting it in a commanding position in the next government. Should the party win even more seats, it could rule Egypt outright.
A Muslim Brotherhood win in the election would more likely than not spell the end of the Israel-Egypt peace treaty. The group has repeatedly vowed that if it ever came to power, it would annul the Camp David Accords. Recent polls show that a majority of Egyptians are in favor of such a move, or at least in favor of demanding sweeping changes to the peace treaty that Israel would never be able to accept.
"The IDF needs to be prepared for any changes in the situation and to be prepared for the day after elections in Egypt," said lawmaker Shaul Mofaz, chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, during a tour of the Tel Hashomer IDF induction base on Monday.
Lawmaker Aryeh Eldad (National Union) speculated that if the Muslim Brotherhood wins, it could move the Egyptian army back into the Sinai Peninsula, effectively ending the Camp David Accords. "World public opinion should be prepared for the fact that this would be a casus belli," said Eldad.
Beyond relations with Israel, an Egypt ruled by the Muslim Brotherhood would put the entire region one giant step closer to universal Sharia Law en route to the reestablishment of an Islamic caliphate - a stated goal of the Muslim Brotherhood. The December issue of Israel Today explored the threat posed by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Want more news from Israel?
Click Here to sign up for our FREE daily email updates
For Information & Reservations:
E-Mail: email@example.com
Israel Today
Free to Your Inbox


text:
David Cage, the director of Quantic Dream, says that everything "looks great" on the PS4, simply because the next-gen console offers power that was totally inaccessible up until now.
"We feel that we are closing in little by little on the kind of graphic quality we find in CG films," Cage explained in an intro post to Dark Sorcerer tech demo.
"There are about a million polygons in the set, and a little less than a million per character on the screen (i.e. a total of 4 million when the three characters are on the screen). Each character has about 350 MB of textures and about forty different shaders."
According to Cage, it's all managed with physically based shaders, volumetric lights, full HDR, color grading, physical lenses (particularly useful for chromatic aberrations and 3D depth of field), and translucence for more realistic rendering of the skin.
"The change of set and all the lighting (and the behavior of the shaders) between the dramatic version of the set and the 'studio' version is done in real time. The same holds true for all pyrotechnical particle effects," he added.
Like what you see? We sure do, and can't wait for the PS4 to hit the streets later this year!


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Elton John & David Furnish Share Their Baby Secrets
Elton John and David Furnish surprised the world last Christmas with the birth of their son Zachary Jackson Levon via a surrogate — but there are still more revelations to come.
The couple have thrown open the doors to their home and their lives for a Barbara Walters special airing on ABC's 20/20 Friday night.
Walters promises that some big questions will be answered about the new dads and their growing family, including: Which one is the biological father? Why in the world did they choose Lady Gaga as the baby's godmother? And why did they take their shirts off in the delivery room?
|Donna Svennevik/ABC
During the interview, John, 64, reveals that the birth came earlier than expected and that the pair learned the surrogate was in labor while he and Furnish, 48, were out lunching and shopping.
He also says he was the one to cut the umbilical cord, after which he and Furnish both "took our shirts off" and put the baby next to their chests.
Explains Furnish: "They call it skin-to-skin bonding because it's such a traumatic thing for a baby to come into the world."
— Sara Hammel


text:
Sponsored By
Sports Agent Jack Mills Discusses Combine PreparationSports Agent Jack Mills joins Ted Johnson and Will Grubb on air to discuss his experience with preparing his athletes for the NFL combine over the weekend. Mills represented Ted in the 1995 NFL draft and a long list of players over the past 30 years. In the interview, Mills explains how the process leading up to the combine has evolved in regards to interviews, facilities, attitude, and physical performance training.


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Better Telecom Channel Programs
In recent years, the spotlight in the telecom channel has shifted toward the convergence of IT VARs and telecom agents, and how major suppliers, from cable companies like Comcast to tier-one telcos and regional business connectivity specialists, are trying to engage with solution providers they've traditionally spurned -- or been spurned by.
VARs say one of the biggest hindrances to that convergence is the lack of carrier, service provider and cable programs that have their best interests in mind. With more channel chiefs at those major players finally getting the message -- and a number of retooled programs in the works, according to what sources tell CRN -- those VARs may have a more positive outlook come 2014.


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24 January 2013 - 11:41
Repsol Honda 2013 is a go!
Talk about iconic paint schemes. If you're even mildly interested in motorcycles, or even if you're not, chances are, you've come across the famed colours in motorcycling - the Repsol Honda livery. In the 19 years that they've been together, Repsol and Honda had only tweaked the paint scheme year after year. However, for 2013, Repsol Honda has modified its paint booth to spray its RC213V in different colours. And we're having trouble letting go of the older masterpiece, to be honest.
However, the paint is unlikely to slow down lead rider Dani Pedrosa who comes off the back of a strong finish to 2012, as he harassed eventual title winner Jorge Lorenzo for the second half of the season. We expect him to get off to a flying start to 2013, come April 7th.
And then there's Marc Marquez whom everyone's touting as the Next Big Thing, the man (okay, boy) for whom the Rookie's Rule was revoked, allowing Honda to snap him up straight to the factory team. He's fast, hungry and ruthless on the track, and it's going to be fun to see him mixing it up with the big boys this year.
But until the official tests begin in Sepang, Malaysia early this February, we have to make do with looking at these photos. So tell us, do you like the switch or not?
Image courtesy - motogp.com


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Database details
- The goal of the database is to include descriptive summaries, full text, and relevant citations on the development and assessment of psychological tests.
- The database covers achievement and aptitude tests, intelligence tests, tests of cognitive functioning, occupational tests, personality tests, and more.
- These include previously unpublished measures, tests developed by psychologists for which no source document has been located, and information about published tests available from commercial publishers.
- All records in PsycTESTS are indexed and include fields for validity and reliability data (when available), test purpose, construct, format, and number of items.
- Database contains descriptive summaries of commercially available tests with links to the publisher.
Need assistance? Contact the Web Administrator.


text:
Year of publication
- 2012 (4) (remove)
- Reduced hippocampal volume in healthy young ApoE4 carriers : an MRI study (2012)
- The E4 allele of the ApoE gene has consistently been shown to be related to an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The E4 allele is also associated with functional and structural grey matter (GM) changes in healthy young, middle-aged and older subjects. Here, we assess volumes of deep grey matter structures of 22 healthy younger ApoE4 carriers and 22 non-carriers (20–38 years). Volumes of the nucleus accumbens, amygdala, caudate nucleus, hippocampus, pallidum, putamen, thalamus and brain stem were calculated by FMRIB's Integrated Registration and Segmentation Tool (FIRST) algorithm. A significant drop in volume was found in the right hippocampus of ApoE4 carriers (ApoE4+) relative to non-carriers (ApoE4−), while there was a borderline significant decrease in the volume of the left hippocampus of ApoE4 carriers. The volumes of no other structures were found to be significantly affected by genotype. Atrophy has been found to be a sensitive marker of neurodegenerative changes, and our results show that within a healthy young population, the presence of the ApoE4+ carrier gene leads to volume reduction in a structure that is vitally important for memory formation. Our results suggest that the hippocampus may be particularly vulnerable to further degeneration in ApoE4 carriers as they enter middle and old age. Although volume reductions were noted bilaterally in the hippocampus, atrophy was more pronounced in the right hippocampus. This finding relates to previous work which has noted a compensatory increase in right hemisphere activity in ApoE4 carriers in response to preclinical declines in memory function. Possession of the ApoE4 allele may lead to greater predilection for right hemisphere atrophy even in healthy young subjects in their twenties.
- Sexual dimorphism in healthy aging and mild cognitive impairment : a DTI study (2012)
- Previous PET and MRI studies have indicated that the degree to which pathology translates into clinical symptoms is strongly dependent on sex with women more likely to express pathology as a diagnosis of AD, whereas men are more resistant to clinical symptoms in the face of the same degree of pathology. Here we use DTI to investigate the difference between male and female white matter tracts in healthy older participants (24 women, 16 men) and participants with mild cognitive impairment (21 women, 12 men). Differences between control and MCI participants were found in fractional anisotropy (FA), radial diffusion (DR), axial diffusion (DA) and mean diffusion (MD). A significant main effect of sex was also reported for FA, MD and DR indices, with male control and male MCI participants having significantly more microstructural damage than their female counterparts. There was no sex by diagnosis interaction. Male MCIs also had significantly less normalised grey matter (GM) volume than female MCIs. However, in terms of absolute brain volume, male controls had significantly more brain volume than female controls. Normalised GM and WM volumes were found to decrease significantly with age with no age by sex interaction. Overall, these data suggest that the same degree of cognitive impairment is associated with greater structural damage in men compared with women.
- White matter differences between healthy young ApoE4 carriers and non-carriers identified with tractography and support vector machines (2012)
- The apolipoprotein E4 (ApoE4) is an established risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Previous work has shown that this allele is associated with functional (fMRI) changes as well structural grey matter (GM) changes in healthy young, middle-aged and older subjects. Here, we assess the diffusion characteristics and the white matter (WM) tracts of healthy young (20-38 years) ApoE4 carriers and non-carriers. No significant differences in diffusion indices were found between young carriers (ApoE4+) and non-carriers (ApoE4-). There were also no significant differences between the groups in terms of normalised GM or WM volume. A feature selection algorithm (ReliefF) was used to select the most salient voxels from the diffusion data for subsequent classification with support vector machines (SVMs). SVMs were capable of classifying ApoE4 carrier and non-carrier groups with an extremely high level of accuracy. The top 500 voxels selected by ReliefF were then used as seeds for tractography which identified a WM network that included regions of the parietal lobe, the cingulum bundle and the dorsolateral frontal lobe. There was a non-significant decrease in volume of this WM network in the ApoE4 carrier group. Our results indicate that there are subtle WM differences between healthy young ApoE4 carriers and non-carriers and that the WM network identified may be particularly vulnerable to further degeneration in ApoE4 carriers as they enter middle and old age.
- Using support vector machines with multiple indices of diffusion for automated classification of mild cognitive impairment (2012)
- Few studies have looked at the potential of using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in conjunction with machine learning algorithms in order to automate the classification of healthy older subjects and subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Here we apply DTI to 40 healthy older subjects and 33 MCI subjects in order to derive values for multiple indices of diffusion within the white matter voxels of each subject. DTI measures were then used together with support vector machines (SVMs) to classify control and MCI subjects. Greater than 90% sensitivity and specificity was achieved using this method, demonstrating the potential of a joint DTI and SVM pipeline for fast, objective classification of healthy older and MCI subjects. Such tools may be useful for large scale drug trials in Alzheimer's disease where the early identification of subjects with MCI is critical.


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Quinta de Santo Antonio
Quinta de Santo Antonio is 7 km far from the delightful city of Elvas with its vast historical heritage and distinguished monuments, in particular, the magnificent Aqueduto da Amoreira and the bulwark fortifications which are candidate sites to World Cultural Heritage status.
The interior has been completely restored and currently possesses 30 rooms in which the emphasis is on tailor-made traditional decoration.
Each room is equipped with a private bathroom, hairdryer, towels and linen, amenities kit, extra pillows, air conditioning, television, minibar, telephone and a private safe.
The Services we offer, are: Free wi-fi; restaurant, bar, private chapel, room service, laundry service, exterior and covert parking, etc.
Stay in Quinta de Santo Antonio and enjoy our exterior swimming pool, tennis courts, horse rides, bicycle rides, children's playground, etc.
Please note:
Check in:3 pm.
Check out: 12 pm
Breakfast included.
Credit and Debit cards payment accepted as payment upon arrival
Cancellation Policy: 48 hours.
Taxes included
Availability & RatesTo view availability and prices please select dates and click 'Update Dates'
Hotel Facilities & Policies
- 24 Hour Reception
- 24 Hour Security
- Air Conditioning
- Bar
- Bicycle hire
- Free Breakfast
- Cable TV
- Cafeteria
- Child Friendly
- Cots available
- Credit Cards Accepted
- Telephone/Fax Facilities
- Free City Maps
- Free Internet Access
- Free Parking
- Free WiFi
- Hair Dryers
- House Keeping
- Internet Access
- Laundry Facilities
- Meeting Rooms
- Mini Bar
- No Curfew
- Non Smoking
- Outdoor Swimming Pool
- Outdoor Terrace
- Parking
- Restaurant
- Safe Deposit Box
- Taxes included
- Wheelchair Friendly
Cancellation PolicyThis property has a 2 day cancellation policy. Failure to cancel within this time will result in a cancellation charge equal to the first night of your stay.
Must-Read Hotel InfoThis property has specific Terms & Conditions.
Check in:3 pm
Check out: 12 pm
Breakfast included.
Credit and Debit cards payment accepted as payment upon arrival
Cancellation Policy: 48 hours.
Taxes included
DirectionsShow MapHide Map
Take the Highway 6 (Lisbon-Spain)
Exit 10 (Elvas /St. Eullia)
Turn Left to Elvas.
Turn Right to Barbacena.
Turn Left to Quinta de Santo Antnio.
You will arrive to Reception.
Located Near


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JOEL SMEATON is a devoted father to seven-year-old Dane, but sometimes he wonders how life got so good. In the grips of alcohol addiction six years ago, Mr Smeaton was in danger of losing Dane, who he now has sole custody of. ''My addiction to alcohol meant I was faced with going to prison at a time when I had a baby at home,'' Mr Smeaton said.
Mr Smeaton spent a year in rehab and did everything he could to follow the program. He has not had a drink in nearly six years, completed a diploma of community health at TAFE and is now an Aboriginal support worker.
''There are moments when I wonder how I got here, because my life before was a disaster,'' he said. ''I'm so glad I got help, because being a good parent is an awesome feeling.''
Mr Smeaton said parents who thought excessive alcohol consumption did not harm their children ''were kidding themselves'', with Roy Morgan research released today finding 22 per cent of people know children they believe are not being cared for because of someone else's alcohol abuse.
More than 2.5 million people said alcohol had caused problems with their immediate or extended family members over the past year, while nearly 3 million people said they knew children who may be unsafe because of alcohol abuse.
But the figures, released by the Salvation Army as part of Alcohol Awareness Week, were not surprising, said a professor of health policy, Mike Daube.
''It is all too consistent with a wide range of evidence showing that the harms of alcohol are much broader than many people would like to think,'' said Professor Daube, who is the director of Curtin University's public health advocacy institute in WA.
Action from the federal and state governments was needed, he said, including alcohol taxation, tighter advertising controls and stricter liquor licensing. He said politicians were not serious about tackling excessive alcohol consumption despite being aware of its harm.
But it was important not to focus on just community behaviour, said Richard Mattick, from the national drug and alcohol research centre at the University of NSW.
He said governments needed to impose tougher restrictions on the alcohol industry.
The story Father gave up drinking for his child, but there are millions of others who don't first appeared on The Sydney Morning Herald.


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text:
And can the mods please sticky this!!!!!
Come on Fusion do your job.
Pakistan will win a test. (or come very close to winning a test at least)
Proud Supporter of All Blacks
I'd love for Pakistan to give the saffers a bloody nose at some stage, but I struggle to see it happening. The pitches will be unlikely to offer too much for Ajmal, and Pakistan's batting remains a little shaky in the longer form of the game (though obviously will provide a far sterner challenge than the kiwi's, which might work in their favour if SA's bowlers go into the series underdone).
Still am really looking forward to the series.
Reckon Pakistan will get hammered personally; they don't have the side for these conditions at all despite people for some reason always assuming they have a great fasting bowling lineup. I'm in line for a tasting giving South Africa do randomly like to drop home Tests but I reckon it'll be 3-0.
Rejecting 'analysis by checklist' and 'skill absolutism' since Dec '09
'Stats' is not a synonym for 'Career Test Averages'
Originally Posted by Jeffrey TuckerOriginally Posted by Babar Hayat
Umar Gul is exactly the sort of bowler I could see sparking a hilarious, inexplicable and decisive 1st innings collapse, tbf.
do you think people will be allowed to make violins?
who's going to make the violins?
forever 63*
SA are probably stronger with the bat now though, and as you said, you've taken into account the fact SA randomly drop hope tests, and that is what the Port Elizabeth loss was.
I think bowling wise we are not that far off from SA.
The batting though............................................ .................................................. .................................................. ..............
And smalishah's avatar is the most classy one by far Jan certainly echoes the sentiments of CW
Yeah we don't crap in the first world; most of us would actually have no idea what that was emanating from Ajmal's backside. Why isn't it roses and rainbows like what happens here? PEWS's retort to Ganeshran on Daemon's picture depicting Ajmal's excreta
Irfan is 7 1, bloke is going to be a handful on that alone
2-1 SA, they'll drop a random test somewhere along the line. Even Sri Lanka won a test here.
Want to be the online Don Bradman or Ian Salisbury?
Then join CW Cricket today. It's what all the cool kids desire.
RIP Craig Walsh (Craig) 1985-2012
RIP Hughesy 1988-2014
As much as people rave about Amir being such a gun I thought Asif was significantly better. He could toy with the batsman seaming the ball around at will
Yeah he is the main difference, hence why I said "that much different". He is better than anyone Pakistan currently has, but an injured Akhtar, and a Sami may cancel out his difference.
I don't know. I do think Pak have the bowling to win a test. But I don't think they will win a test.
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text:
Four footballers make the top 10 list of most searched athletes in the UK in 2012, including Ballon D'Or contenders Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The pair are joined by former Bolton player Fabrice Muamba, who was forced to retire from the game after his heart stopped for 78 minutes following a cardiac arrest during an FA Cup quarter final tie against Tottenham in March.
David Beckham, who recently announced his decision to leave LA Galaxy after Saturday's MLS Cup final game, also makes the cut.
The list of most searched athletes, compiled by Yahoo! UK, has a distinctly Olympic feel and is topped by British heptathlete Jessica Ennis, who claimed gold at the London Olympics over the summer.
Muamba is the highest placed footballer on the list in 4th place, two spots ahead of Messi, who is the favourite to land the Ballon D'Or in January.
The Barcelona forward once more edges out rival Ronaldo, who comes in at 9th, and is one ahead of Beckham, while Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt just sneaks into the top 10.
Top Ten most searched athletes in the UK:
1. Jessica Ennis
2. Andy Murray
3. Victoria Pendleton
4. Fabrice Muamba
5. Tom Daley
6. Lionel Messi
7. David Beckham
8. Maria Sharapova
9. Cristiano Ronaldo
10. Usain Bolt
Do YOU want to write for GiveMeSport? Get started today by signing-up and submitting an article HERE: https://www.givemesport.com/writeforgms


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This is the 4th or 5th story I have read about LightSquared and so far the only thing I know about them is that their shit messes up GPS.
They bought a license to transmit a candle's worth of power on a sattelite based band, and are sad that the FCC won't let them send an arclight's worth of signal out from ground based stations. Ars [arstechnica.com] link.
While that is true, my opinion as someone who has been following the story is that the FCC does have a degree of culpability here because they were involved in LightSquared's plans from the very beginning, and only issued the death penalty after significant amounts of money had been spent even when the evidence they based that decision on had been available for a significant amount of time - to a degree, it can be argued that the FCC led LightSquared, and that is what they should answer for.
LightSquared should have been told at the very beginning, when the FCC first got involved, that their approach was not acceptable and that they needed a different license and spectrum.
That's my point - they were given provisional approval to proceed, and when they failed the tests the FCC allowed them for months to submit proposed solutions. The provisional approval should never have been given, as it's a totally different use for the band than allocated for in the license - the FCC should have closed the door right then and there.
Yes, LightSquared were idiots for doing this at all, but the FCC were wrong in doing what they did.
You don't get what a provisional approval means. The FCC said, we don't know if what you want to do is possible but we are not going to say no right away, if you want, you can proof your claim.
Had the FCC not done this, they would have been a dinosaur, an unmovable object on the road to progress. Instead they allowed a test, a test to prove that what the FCC believed (that the proposal would not work) was wrong.
It is like a provisional driving license or are you going to claim that if you get a provisional driving license, the state is obliged to give you a full license regardless of whether you pass the test?
Provisional licenses are pretty common, often you need a license to do something for real but you first need to do it in a test to do but to test it you need a license. To get around this, you issue a provisional license. It allows test and allows people to challenge assumptions but if you fail the test, so be it. Unless you want to sue your examiner for failing you.
That's my point - they were given provisional approval to proceed, and when they failed the tests the FCC allowed them for months to submit proposed solutions. The provisional approval should never have been given, as it's a totally different use for the band than allocated for in the license - the FCC should have closed the door right then and there.
Then we'd be reading a story about how some spoiled rich brat was suing because the mean ol' FCC wouldn't approve his nifty idea.
That's my point - they were given provisional approval to proceed, and when they failed the tests the FCC allowed them for months to submit proposed solutions. The provisional approval should never have been given, as it's a totally different use for the band than allocated for in the license - the FCC should have closed the door right then and there.
Then we'd be reading a story about how some spoiled rich brat was suing because the mean ol' FCC wouldn't approve his nifty idea.
1. Spoiled rich brats usually aren't doing anything technical enough and affecting the EM spectrum enough to require FCC approval.
2. If they are, they usually have Daddy (or themselves if they are old enough) to buy off a few politicians to get the law changed, after a prolonged media campaign about "modernizing" the laws.
Then we'd be reading a story about how some spoiled rich brat was suing because the mean ol' FCC wouldn't approve his nifty idea.
Errrm.... Falcone's investors seem to think that is exactly what we are reading about.
Harbinger investors sue Falcone, Harbinger fund [totaltele.com]
Let's highlight this last "LightSquared were Idiots!" because they were trying to do something that any amateur radio operator that has been on a Field Day with more than one station would understand - wasn't going to work without even TRYING the experiment.
Fine, but how has the GPS industry been culpable for the actions of the FCC? They submit their recommendations and concerns to the FCC the same as any other interested party, but it's the FCC who makes the call, not the GPS industry.
How is the GPS industry to blame for being legitimately concerned that Lightsquared technology will interfere with their EXISTING, LICENSED USE OF SPECTRUM?!?!?!!
Now, some gaggle of attorneys has their vacuum cleaner nozzle in the back pockets of the investors, who sadly are likely to lose an enormous wad of money. Instead, the investors will now start to pour more money onto the pile of ashes, blow on them, and watch even more money ignite and burn.
Silly investors.
I've been following the story fairly closely, but all your comment does is highlight yet another failure on the part of the FCC.
And I think it's worth me stating this outright, lest someone claim I am a shill for LS - I think their plan was stupid, their product flawed and their approach totally wrong, and I think that all of those things were obvious from day one.
Which is also why I think the FCC shares some responsibility here.
And I think it's worth me stating this outright, lest someone claim I am a shill for LS - I think their plan was stupid, their product flawed and their approach totally wrong, and I think that all of those things were obvious from day one.
Which is also why I think the FCC shares some responsibility here.
So, you are saying that the FCC should be a stonewalling, Catch-22ing, dinosaur? Personally, I find it refreshingly modern that they actually let LS try. If LS fucked it up, they have only themselves to blame.
Shill? No. Idiot who doesn't understand what "provisional" means? Yes.
For future reference it means not a definite no, but it will only become a definite yes if condition yadda yadda is fulfilled. Yadda yadda was not fulfilled, so they don't have permission to proceed. Not rocket science, is it?
Which is also why I think the FCC shares some responsibility here.
Sorry. Need to speak up here. This is one of the reasons the US is so seriously fucked up.
We do not need to go looking for people to share the blame here. LS is the problem.
The lady who buys hot coffee and spills it is the problem.
The guy who jumps off a building is the problem.
We do not need to spend billions of dollars a year protecting ourselves from asshole lawyers sicked on us by stupid irresponsible dipshits.
This is a major drain on the economy.
Fuck litigious bastards and their lawyers.
Fuck the ADA, F
Yeah, everyone who cites this case as frivolous seems to have the idea that the lady in question simply suffered some minor discomfort and a wet pair of pants instead of 3rd degree burns requiring skin grafts on her genitals [wikipedia.org].
Coffee should be pleasantly hot, not scalding hot. If you spill it on yourself, you should be a bit uncomfortable and maybe look silly, not have to spend a week in the hospital having your crotch skin replaced.
I don't see the FCC as having any culpability here unless I missed something. God, I hate having to use that phrase so often.
From what I understand (groans at self), the FCC knew there were problems with this spectrum. They could have outright said no. They could have bowed to pressure and outright said yes. Instead they took a middle path to find out what would the impact be. It didn't look good, but might work. It might work, but better to find out now.
The FCC gave Lightsquared a chance to prove to
All RF transmitters spit out harmonics. My guess is that Lightsquared's hardware spits out huge amounts of harmonics that stomp all over GPS frequencies and they're freaking out for a bunch of possible reasons. 1) They probably went ahead and built a sh*tload of devices before they got FCC approval and now all of that will have to be scrapped, 2) It's going to cost a bunch of money to redesign the hardware correctly, 3) the redesigned hardware is going to cost a hell of a lot more to mass produce so their
This is the 4th or 5th story I have read about LightSquared and so far the only thing I know about them is that their shit messes up GPS.
Its the tech version of a soap opera. You know how my wife loves those TV dramas where diane was flirting with jake while he was dating cindy but actually cody had a crush on diane and it doesn't matter because jake is gay and cindy is lesbo and they're just pretending to be together to stop cindys boss john from flirting with her? Yeah its like that but with RF microwave technology and stuff.
So lets try this again in female TV drama mode using the standard crypto protocol names. So Bob asked drunken crack addict Alice for a date using a GPG signed irrefutable email and Alice said, eh Bob's kinda cute if you're drunk and high enough, yeah, maybe I'll think about it, so Bob went shopping at (product placement) and maxed out his (product placement) credit card on a (product placement) tux and a (product placement) marriage ring and (product placement) body spray and showed up on her doorstep the morning of his scheduled marriage to her (which she doesn't even know about), ready to get some premarital (sweep week ratings boosting) action. So Alice's brother Charlie finally figures out whats going on, shows up at Alice's door, thinks Bob is completely Fing out of his mind to even imagine Bob will hook up with his sister Alice, and beats the S out of him and throws him to the curb, staples an ASBO to his forehead, and leaves him bleeding in the gutter, and posts it all to
As I understand it
Lightsquared were/are a sattelite communications provider and owned a peice of spectrum intended for sattelite downlink (where signal power at earths surface would be very low) close (spectrally) to GPS. According to wikipedia they got permission to make ancillary use of this spectrum terrestrially and are now trying to get permission to use it for pure terrestrial cellular devices. However terrestrial transmitters mean much stronger signals at the earths surface. Signals that are close in spectrum and widely different in power are problematic due to imperfect filters and nonlinearities in both tranmitters and receivers.
If they succeed they will make a mint, if they fail then it will likely be a massive hit to thier buisness. Especially if in the process of failing they were to lose the ability to run any terrestrial services in the band.
It's kind of like buying land/buildings with the intent ot trying to get "planning permission"* to build something and/or to change the use of the property. If you get the permission you can make a shitload of money but if the council decides your planned use is inappropriate for the area you can be stuck with property you can't do much with.
* This is a UK term, I dunno what the american equivilent is
We call it "zoning" but it's essentially the same thing. If you buy residential zoned property with the intent to get it rezoned as industrial you are pretty likely to have:
a) Very ticked off neighbors and
b) A very unfriendly local government.
You can make it work: if the locality is desperate enough, you make enough promises to the neighbors, you buy up enough adjacent property, etc... but it's a risky operation.
Their for-profit system screws up GPS which has been around a LOT longer than they have , the FCC finds this and blocks their system and THEY want to sue the FCC and GPS makers???
I'm sorry, is this Falcone guy just gold plated arrogant ass who thinks the world should revolve around him, or is he just a plain, good old grade A fsckwit?
Well, I am not sure it's really that clear cut.
The Ars Technica article explains that 25% of the GPS receivers were unharmed by Lightsquared's towers. That means 75% of the receivers tested are not filtering out properly the bandwidths that were not intended for GPS.
Normally, when gadgets and electronic devices go through the FCC (like they all do before they can be sold), that's to prove they don't cause harmful interferences and that they are not susceptible to interference from lawful emissions in other
The FCC only certifies TRANSMITTERS (both intentional and unintentional transmitters). GPS receivers are not transmitters.
The "must not interfere" and "must accept all interference" rules which people on here are so fond of quoting have nothing to do with technical requirements. If they were technical requirements the consumer would have no reason to know about them. They are USAGE requirements. "Must not interfere" means that, even if your type accepted device is operating 100% properly, if it is causing interference with licensed operations you must stop using it. "Must accept all interference" means that if something (licensed or unlicensed) is interfering with your transmissions, that is just too bad.
> not susceptible to interference from lawful emissions in other parts of the spectrum.
_Lawful emissions_. GPS uses spectrum within a portion of the L-Band allocated for use in space -> ground communications. This means that future allocations on adjacent bands should be very low power. Indeed, I'd say that's rather the entire point of having a blocked out bit of spectrum for satellite communications: They must be a much lower power, so receivers can't easily filter out much more powerful ground based interference. By blocking ground signals a good distance from satellite ones you make filtration much easier.
GPS receivers were built with the expectation (if not guarantee) that interfering signals would be roughly at the same power as GPS. However, the transmitters Lightsquared was planning to build would be, literally, one million times stronger than GPS on a good day (-70dBm vs -130dBm). So, I'd hardly call such interference 'lawful' just because the FCC thought they could change the law after the devices were built.
Uh... when the ham radio operator down the road interferes with his neighbors' radios and television reception, it is the ham operator who has to modify his operation. The FCC would not be letting him off the hook because the neighbors did not purchase radios and televisions that were completely immune to external transmissions that adversely affected their operation. Any lawsuit filed by the ham operator against his neighbors would be laughed out of court.
Of course, the US legal system is so screwed up n
If the ham radio operator is operating legally, he is indeed off the hook. And that is the key - legally. The TV manufacturers know what the maximum legal power levels are that they have to reject at different frequencies. If they reject those things, and the ham is operating legally, there is no problem. If the ham is operating legally and there is still interference, then the neighbor has a crappy TV and that is his problem, not the ham's. However, if the ham is operating illegally (too much power
* LightSquared gets an assignment of free spectrum
* LightSquared invests tons of money
* The GPS industry has been violating FCC rules by not filtering out non-GPS spectrum _as they are required to_ on all devices. Independent tests say 75% are not FCC-compliant
* The FCC performs tests with models chosen from said 75%
* The FCC states that the risk is too large and destroys LightSquared's business model, assets and tells them they are not allowed to use their spectrum.
Now, I do get the safety aspect. This
* LightSquared gets an assignment of free spectrum
One they had for a while and with terms explicitly preventing them from using the spectrum for terrestrial broadcast.
* LightSquared invests tons of money
* The GPS industry has been violating FCC rules by not filtering out non-GPS spectrum _as they are required to_ on all devices. Independent tests say 75% are not FCC-compliant
LOL what rules? You don't need to meet any GPS specific requirements or approval specific to building a GPS receiver. FCC only has say over units that transmit a signal.
* The FCC performs tests with models chosen from said 75%
There is no such thing!
* The FCC states that the risk is too large and destroys LightSquared's business model, assets and tells them they are not allowed to use their spectrum.
They can use their spectrum as long as they do it within the limits stipulated when they purchased it including the ATC integrated services rule.
In my opinion, the willful neglect by the GPS manufacturers requires them to fix it at own cost.
All of the points are factually incorrect. Please take some time reevaluate.
Alternately, Falcone is considering ways to appeal the FCC's decision or even swap spectrum with the Department of Defense.
Seriously? I know they're understandably upset that the satellite bands they purchased can't be used for terrestrial, but come on guys, this is just a waste of time.
You know what wouldn't be a waste of time? Creating the satellite based network their original proposal had.
Or use tethered blimps at 600 feet, that would be cool...
You know what wouldn't be a waste of time? Creating the satellite based network their original proposal had.
They did build a satellite phone network [mjsales.net] using the spectrum. That business didn't go so well so they agreed to buy out the spectrum from their partner (Inmarsat), and applied with the FCC to have the satellite spectrum converted into terrestrial spectrum.
All this used to be in wiki entry for LightSquared [wikipedia.org]. Unfortunately the wiki looks like it's been hijacked by a bunch of LightSquared's PR folks.
FTA: "...Through a lawsuit, the company might seek to force GPS vendors to make their receivers filter out LightSquared's frequencies, the Journal said..."
Seriously? I would love to hear from this idiot how he proposes to do this for existing units. Horses, barn doors, yadda yadda... I'm no EE/RF guy, but I'm sure its a bit more than simple software patches to the units. And I'll be DAMNED if I have to go buy another unit just because "his" part of the spectrum isnt quite up to par with what he wants to do with it.
Somebody needs a good cockpunch to remind him that while its often disappointing that you cant achieve your goal due to outside forces, sometimes those forces are just plain beyond your control and you need to move on instead of lawyering up and being a dickhead about it.
You probably can't get old gear to be retrofitted and some old gear might be very important (think your Fire Department's truck's GPS or something like that).
But if the GPS manufactures stop selling the GPSes that are not filtering the frequencies and the FCC stops allowing the sale of those GPSes, then, after a while, the spectrum will be useable in the way that Lightsquared is planning (may it will take 5 years).
That means the value of the spectrum will raise and LightSquared stands a better chance of swa
5 Years, try more 15. I know many GPS installations that are 10-15 years old. When I was school in 2002, a friend studying Geology went out into Rockies to install GPS units in mountains to measure drift of tectonic plates. They were replacing GPS Units that had been in place since 1993 and units they were installing had planned service lifetime of 10 years. Many Aircraft GPS Recievers are 10 years old as well and many might remain in place for another couple of years if they are working. In more expensive
I'm not sure you appreciate how pervasive GPS use is. Yes, there's the obvious usage, but consider systems which use GPS signals for TIME synchronization and the issues get much larger. This includes banking machines, stock exchanges, data centers, etc.
There's a whole hidden world of GPS dependance that comes from cheap "GPS on a chip" solutions which can replace RTCs that need to be manually reset in the event of a battery going flat. (Not nice to have to do when your ATMs are spread all over North Amer
Staring...Darl McBride **applause**!
Oh come on. You guys don't like horror stories?
My idea proved to be technically infeasible, so I'm going to sue the FCC for calling a spade a spade, and rest of the world for not getting out of my way.
And maybe God while I'm at it, for creating a reality that won't bend to my will. (Although it sort-of does, in my head.)
The FCC has made many flawed decisions in the past. Their approval of Broadband over Power lines is a classic example. All the testing showed that the system would interfere with EVERY radio service in the HF spectrum, yet they allowed the service to be rolled out. The backlash from this has hopefully killed off any attempt to actually deploy such systems, but the FCC is still insisting that it's technically a good idea.
So in this case they have done the same thing, given approval to a system that would cause interference with another radio service, already in use. Only now, they've done the right thing by pulling the rug out before the damage could be done. However, by not making the right decision before letting investment proceed they probably DO owe the investors a good chunk of damages, as they should also owe those in the BPL business.
but the FCC is still insisting that it's technically a good idea.
No even the stupidest poltical ops in the FCC know its technically useless. They are insisting for political reasons. If you have a "marketplace of competitors" then you don't need monopoly regulation of RICO act like megacorps.
If it were not for those pesky laws of physics, BPL and LS would be great market competitors to the established operators, and there would be no and/or less reason to regulate the existing corrupt monopolies, because "look, its a free competitive market so regulation is unnecessary
also because GPS was in place far before LTE was even thought of.
Sue the magnetic field!
...and his evil alter-ego the electric field!
Mr. Falcone better wear a cape and tights for this battle. It won't help LightSquared, but it will be entertaining for spectators.
There's a reason why this spectrum is much cheaper than others, in that it's assigned to satellite communication.
The assumption being made is that if you license this spectrum, you need to make significant costs to actually put satellites into space, so the licensing is cheaper.
So they want both now (cake meme), cheap spectrum, but not put satellites into orbit (which their original proposal by the way *did* have), but instead use it as ground based spectrum (which is much more expensive to license)
Car analogy: I buy a classic old timer, so I don't have to pay road taxes (or much less anyway) and much less insurance. Now I put those license plates on a Hummer and still expect to not pay the road taxes and much less insurance...
The root problem here is the idea of auctioning off the radio spectrum. It is essentially a TAX on innovation and the eventual users, which is then used as an excuse to give large monopoly profits on those who are willing to bid up the tax, knowing that WE will pay it in the end. The bigger the tax, the more profit they make.
We should instead manage it as a public commons, having bands set up for experimentation, and then wider spaces for more established modes as they become popular, and have more users.
At some point, doesn't it become unethical for a lawyer to hire on with a company to pursue a lawsuit that they have absolutely no chance in hell of winning?
Any half-competent lawyer is going to tell LightSquared to cut its losses and go begging on bended knee to the FCC and ask them to please allow them to license some other spectrum instead.
And if they persist in their stupidity, I'd think any ethical lawyer would quit. But maybe I have an overly-optimistic view of the state of corporate legal ethics.
It's telling that the company keeps on hiring lawyers when a single educated engineer would be able to tell them that their case is impossible, because it is fighting against laws of physics.
Lightsquared bought a disused satellite spectrum that was used to having weak satellite signals on it. That same spectrum sits next to the GPS spectrum. Because of this, the GPS system never had to deal with a strong signal sitting right next to their spectrum. Should they have done that? Yes. But they didn't because it was never an issue. Now lightsquared is trying to build a system that will create a LOT of noise just outside of their spectrum and many GPS systems will simply stop working.
Lightsquared sho
And it wouldn't bow to cash or politics
Who goeth a-borrowing goeth a-sorrowing. -- Thomas Tusser