Fred On Everything… What We’Ve All Wanted To Know ‘Bout Apple (the ‘lectric kind.)

big (Photo credit: GunnyG1345)

Apples and Oranges

Fred Seeks Political Asylum

May 5, 2013

Every farm boy and columnist learns early on what not to step in. Some subjects are too sensitive to write about unless you have a hidden bunker in Patagonia.

The two most explosive, oddly enough, are not race, feminism, or Israel. They are Star Trek, and the Macintosh computer.

Play with these, and you play with death.I used PCs more or less contentedly until my wife bought me a back-up computer with Windows 8, which I thought would be an upgrade of Win 7.

 

No. It is a vile marketing platform aimed at illiterate adolescents with cell phones—malign, an affront to civilization, probably designed by misanthropic garden slugs.

Having paid for this monstrosity, I decided that there was nothing wrong with Microsoft Corp. that couldn’t be cured by blowing it up. If you think this extreme, try Windows 8.In high dudgeon, and all intermediate altitudes of dudgeon, I bethought me of Apple.

Extreme times call for extreme measures. Whatever crimes Cupertino might have committed, or not have committed, I was sure that it didn’t foist Windows 8 on the innocent.I had no particular feelings about the Mac, for or against.

THREE THINGS – ANN BARNHARDT | NCRenegade

Posted on January 13, 2013 by David

 

1. On deflation: deflation is indeed a good thing when it is the result of increases in market efficiency due to competition or technology. Two examples would be the massive deflation in Lasik eye surgery over the last 15 years, and the perpetual deflation in the computing and electronics markets. In my cattle marketing school, I make this point by telling the class that for Christmas 1984 I received a Commodore 64 computer.

 

big (Photo credit: GunnyG1345)

 

 

 

It cost $380 at K-Mart, as I recall. Right this second, TigerDirect is advertising on their homepage an Acer 15.6″ laptop with a Quad-core, 4 gig, Windows 8 laptop for $399. Just stop and think about that, first in terms of the amount the dollar has inflated from 1984 to today, and then in terms of the difference in computing power and memory between the two machines. The “64″ in Commodore 64 is 64 KILOBYTES. That was the entire amount of RAM. I don’t think you can send an email today that is less than 64k.

 

Microsoft Is In Serious Danger Of Flying Straight Into A Mountain With Windows 8

Alarm bells must be ringing in Microsoft’s Redmond headquarters.

Microsoft is close to releasing Windows 8 and it’s shaping up to be another “Vista”. Only this time the repercussions could be much worse. The critics who have been using Windows 8 are extremely negative on the new look and feel of the operating system:

Microsoft returning Windows to ‘the digital dark ages’? (Mozilla argues Windows 8 bans Firefox)

The biggest lawsuit in Microsoft’s history dominated the 90s, when the company battled accusations that it was stifling browser competition. Rival Netscape couldn’t survive, but the Windows giant was ultimately forced to strip Internet Explorer from its operating system in a landmark ruling.

That conflict may be brewing up again.

Windows 8 dropping the ability to play DVDs

Windows 8 dropping the ability to play DVDs

Yahoo Y-Tech ^ | Fri, May 4, 2012 | Tecca

Posted on Sunday, May 06, 2012 6:10:12 PM by CedarDave

The upcoming Windows 8 operating system (which you can download and preview now) is dropping the ability to play DVD content.

Prison Planet.com » All New Windows 8 Computers to Have Remote Kill Switch

With the rollout of the Windows 8 operating system expected later this year, millions of desktop and laptop PCs will get kill switches for the first time.

Microsoft (MSFT) hasn’t spoken publicly about its reasons for including this capability in Windows 8 beyond a cryptic warning that it might be compelled to use it for legal or security reasons.

The feature was publicized in a widely cited Computerworld article in December when Microsoft posted the terms of use for its new application store, a feature in Windows 8 that will allow users to download software from a Microsoft-controlled portal. Windows smartphones, like those of its competitors, have included kill switches for several years, though software deletion “is a last resort, and it’s uncommon,” says Todd Biggs, director of product management for Windows Phone Marketplace.

Microsoft declined to answer questions about the kill switch in Windows 8 other than to say it will only be able to remove or change applications downloaded through the new app store.

Any software loaded from a flash drive, DVD, or directly from the Web will remain outside Microsoft’s control. Still, the kill switch is a tool that could help Microsoft prevent mass malware infections.

“For most users, the ability to remotely remove apps is a good thing,” says Charlie Miller, a researcher with the security company Accuvant.

The history of kill switches on smartphones and e-readers suggests they’re double-edged swords for the companies that wield them.

In 2009, Amazon reached into users’ Kindles to delete e-book copies of George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm that had been sold by a publisher without the necessary rights.

The ensuing backlash caused Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos to call the move “stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles.”

Red Hat engineer renews attack on Windows 8-certified secure boot

A senior Red Hat engineer has lashed back at Microsoft’s attempt to downplay concerns that upcoming secure boot features will make it impossible to install Linux on Windows 8 certified systems.

Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) specifications are designed to offer faster boot times and improved security over current BIOS ROM systems. The secure boot feature of the specification is designed so that only digitally signed OS loaders will load, a security feature that would prevent the installation of generic copies of Linux or FreeBSD as well as preventing rootkits and other boot-time malware from running.

A digitally signed build of Linux would work, but that would mean persuading OEMs to include the keys. Disabling the feature would allow unsigned code to run. However, it is unclear how many OEMs and firmware vendors will follow this route, which isn’t required for Windows 8 certification…..

MUCH MORE…..

via Red Hat engineer renews attack on Windows 8-certified secure boot.