Microsoft

I really do not understand the point of view of Wikipedia, nor the very biased author of this silly little article: "Microsoft in hot water over Wikipedia edits"


Let me summarize what I conclude after reading it:

1. Microsoft, alone, is not allowed to have anyone review or manage content on WikiPedia.  Even if this person is an independant expert on the subject.  Paid, or unpaid.

2. IBM is allowed to have content updated as they please, and pay people to do it, seemingly because they support Open Source software in a larger fashion than MSFT. So I guess that just makes them better?

3. Microsoft's only course of action in order to have any sort of content on Wikipedia updated is to create a slew of whitepapers which address each issue and to link into the Wikipedia and hope that the people at Wikipedia or even IBM review the whitepapers, and update the content for them.  They are not allowed to tell Wikipedia about it, because they will just be ignored.

As long as Rick Jelliffe didnt post an ad up for Vista (Buy it now!) then isnt the whole purpose of Wikipedia to be a collaborative project?  Why is MSFT being singled out here? 

The headline should read: "Wikepedia sells out to IBM and refuses to let Microsoft contribute" or "Until Microsoft releases all of its source code they have to go sit in the WikiCorner"

I s"pose you gotta laugh- I just added JoyofTech to my feed list :)

Check out my post at Fear the Cowboy: One of the benefits for working at Microsoft.

Unlike past versions of Windows, the Vista upgrade edition requires you to have XP already installed. (That is, you can literally upgrade, but you can"t do a clean install). 

Hopefully that version of XP doesn"t need to be activated, because the upgrade process apparently invalidates your XP key. (Luckily, a workaround has been found to allow a clean install, but it requires installing Vista twice).

I know piracy is a big issue for Microsoft, but there has to be a better way to handle this (and let"s be honest, they don"t exactly have a good track record on past attempts). Like DRM, these hurdles tend to piss off legimate users more than preventing piracy, because those who are determined to steal their OS will find ways to do so.

I wonder if we"ll end up with future operating systems built on microtransactions. You want search? $10. Power management? $5.

Gordon Brown talks about a "unique global company" and sets the scene for BillG to talk about a his philanthropic work and technology. 90 minutes long though Gordon and Bill use approximately 50 of those minutes to talk and then switch to Q&A following that is the real juice so stick with it.

Bill quotes Andrew Carnegie who said "to die rich is to die in disgrace" and then goes on to talk about how technology can have a positive impact on the world, life, education and more. He was on great form and I only wish more people saw Bill talk like this. Take away his PowerPoint and you get the real Bill. Ask him questions you and get the real Bill. Part of the reason I think I work here is simply to be in the distant presence of greatness. Some people will think that"s sycophantic but it"s not. The guy is incredibly smart, articulate and humble and it"s a pleasure to work for the company he created from his dream. A friend of mine at uni used to have a business card that said "turning dreams in to reality". It captures the essence of Microsoft for me but then so does the Blue Monster :)

Anyway, there really is some fascinating stuff in here and I loved the question from the guy of the Youth Forum. Good on ya! Check it out on Holyrood TV. Brown cracks a few good gags and talks a lot about the role of technology in lifelong learning - I was quite shocked when he talked about blogs!

Fine work by my colleague Mr O"Hare and others to help bring this thing together!

On Tuesday Windows Vista finally shipped to consumers. For a list of compatible Assistive Technology products go to the Microsoft AT search tool (http://www.microsoft.com/enable/at/search.aspx) and select Windows Vista in the "Compatibe With" field. As of this writing there are 71 listed products available for download or purchase.

Here are some other key announcements in the AT industry...

• Freedom Scientific FSCast with thier announcement about JAWS for Vista
• GW Micro releases Window-Eyes 6.1 beta1 for Windows Vista
• Serotek announces Vista-ready product line
• Microsoft and AT Vendors Usher In Next Wave of Technology for People With Disabilities

Also make sure to listen to the archive of the Jan 30th broadcast of Main Menu on ACB radio, where I was interviewed about Vista. The archive of the show should post shortly.

-dan

Peter Korn of Sun and Joanmarie from the Carroll Center for the Blind have recently written about having access to developers (or the lack thereof). They both refer to the following quote...

"I cannot tell you how many times I’ve come across an accessibility regression in the Windows environment and have been powerless to do anything about it.  I mean, where do you even begin? "

To answer thier question very directly... you can start with me. My email is dhubbell@microsoft.com. Now, I know that both of these individuals are connected enough with the industry to know EXACTLY who they need to contact at Microsoft. But for the rest of you that may be led to believe that Microsoft is just a black hole when it comes to consumers, I wanted to be clear that there are many dedicated individuals at Microsoft, many of whom have spent a good portion of thier lives championing accessibility in technology and computing. And for Peter or Joanmarie to infer anything to the contray is an insult to them and the changes they have been instrumental in making to the industry.

-dan

Spekulationen Microsoft würde mit ZUNE an einer eigenen Variante eines Mobilfunk-fähigen MP3 Players basteln, machen derzeit im Internet die Runde. Auf Youtube hat sich die Community bereits eigene Vorstellungen des Gadgets mit Namen "Zunephone" gemacht. Kommentar: Der Schritt, ein Pendant zu Apples IPhone zu entwickeln scheint konsequent. Auch wenn ich mich ungern Spekulationen verschreibe, so halte ich es für wahrscheinlich. Zeigte sich die Führung doch recht gelassen in Bezug auf die Verkaufszahlen...(read more)

I'm a huge Bill Gates fan, and would go as far as to say he was the first reason I went to Mix06 last year. But this quote has me a little concerned...

"So the key trend to look at is the importance of software and then say who really has shown the ability to do strong software? In some ways, just we have."

Is he kidding? I totally stand behind the idea that he can't endorse the iPhone. That would be silly. But does he really think that Microsoft is the only company getting it right? Or more to the point, that they're getting anything right? I'm a .NET developer who uses Google Apps for e-mail, 37signals stuff for project management and OS X for my general computing needs.

I think even Gates is a little too focused on what can be shipped in shrink wrap. There are only two parts of Microsoft that seem to be getting it, and that's the Xbox team and the .NET/tools people. The Windows and Office behemoth are clearly very lost.

In software design, we frequently talk about solving just the problem at hand. Apple in particular takes that a step further and makes it abstract enough that they're free to add hardware (which happens to be a great business model for them as well). The iPod isn't just elegant because of the hardware, it's because of iTunes. My two Macs aren't just OS X, they're great hardware that has style and superior function (go on, compare a MacBook Pro to any Dell, I dare you).

Let"s hope he comes home.

Link to The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Missing scientist"s contributions are legendary