According to the Financial Times Rupert Murdoch’s Newscorp and Microsoft have been in talks to create an exclusive deal ensuring that only Microsoft’s own “Bing” search engine carries Newscorp content. Microsoft obviously intend this as an attack on Google who are their main competitor in the developing cloud/distributed computing field. For Newscorp it’s more the bellow of a dinosaur confused and frightened and by the new world it finds itself in, similar to the repeated wailing and gnashing of teeth that has been coming from the entertainment industry ever since its attack on Napster and 12 year old girls failed to quench people’s desire to share. What neither company realises however is that far from hurting Google they are simply going to be improving the quality of the service it delivers.

Imagine a world where you are searching for news and no longer have to deal with the right wing garbage spewed forth by such wonderful resources as Fox News or The Sun! A world where should you want to look for the opinion of a right wing bigot you actually have to specifically go and look for it.! It will be like Daily Mail Island but in reverse. As tie goes on and people are exposed to less and less of the ignorance, bigotry and hatred that Newscorp loves so dearly we will enter a new age where people respect one another and don’t live in fear of one another.  A world with no Richard Littlejohn…

So Microsoft and Newscorp I salute you for your valiant attempt to commit sepuku in order to preserve the future for our children.

Oh and please don’t take the Glenn Beck videos off youtube, he’s funny as fuck.

The Grusome Twosome.

Comenta el blog Genbeta, el “mal rato” que pasó Steve Ballmer en la reunión anual de accionistas de Microsoft, por las preguntas que le hicieron determinados accionistas.

Estas preguntas estaban centradas en la necesidad de mejorar en marketing para intentar relanzar la imagen de la compañía.

Creo que para todos es evidente que Microsoft tiene un grave problema de imagen, ya que se le ha asociado la imagen de enemigo del software libre, de elaborar productos más orientados a los resultados de la compañía que a los usuarios, de haber perdido capacidad innovadora (los dos factores anteriores, da un imagen como una empresa que desarrolla productos de una generación anterior), de ser un látigo para la competencia, etc…

A todo lo anterior hay que sumarle otros aspectos como el mal sabor de boca que han dejado algunos productos suyos como es el caso de Windows Vista o Zune.

En lo que respecta al problema de imagen Microsoft no ha sido víctima de nada, sino que esta misma empresa no ha enfocado nada bien sus campañas de marketing, ya que se han olvidado de que tienen competencia (este es el problema de quien está dominando de manera clara un determinado sector, como el de los sistemas operativos, desde hace muchos años). De esto, como he comentado en diferentes artículos se han aprovechado todos sus competidores. Un ejemplo de todo esto lo tenemos con la imagen de enemigo del software libre de Microsoft, tras la cual se han parapetado todas las actuaciones que han realizado gigantes como Apple, Google, Oracle, etc…, que aunque participen o subvencionen algunos proyectos de software libre, sus productos estrella y la línea principal de sus negocios se basan en software propietario puro y duro, que además lo seguirán siendo, salvo sorpresa, por muchos años.

El marketing es fundamental siempre y más en un entorno tan competitivo como en el que se mueve Microsoft. Apple ha sabido manejar muy bien los tiempos del marketing (de hecho tener algo que sea de Apple, se ha asociado a tener algo guay) y lo ha acompañado con productos sensacionales e innovadores, lo cual ha tenido un impacto muy importante en el mercado y, en consecuencia, en el balance de la compañía.

Microsoft debe reaccionar y no sólo en marketing, el entorno ha cambiado y ahora tiene competencia real y fuerte en todos los sectores, hasta incluso en el de los sistemas operativos, con productos de gran calidad y tremendamente innovadores. Si Microsoft no reacciona lo puede pasar muy mal, ya que lo más lógico es que dada la competencia que tiene, por ejemplo, en los sistemas operativos (Mac OS, Linux, próximamente Chrome OS), lo normal es que pierdan cuota de mercado, ya que hay más donde elegir y esa pérdida de cuota de mercado tendrá resultados directos sobre los balances de la compañía.

Yo espero que Microsoft reaccione, ya que necesitamos a esa empresa, necesitamos que exista una competencia viva en el sector, que proporcione innovación y cada vez mejores productos.

The Windows 7 trumpets are blasting with gusto, with Steve Felice, president of the small and medium-sized business (SMB) division of Dell (s dell), claiming that Microsoft’s (s MSFT) new operating system is fueling a surge in demand for PCs, according to Computerworld.  “As soon as Oct. 22 hit, both our consumer business and our SMB business had a very healthy increase in demand,” Felice is quoted as saying. Meanwhile, David Coursey reports that with Vista on the sidelines and a well-reviewed new OS, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer “has a new ‘f’ word” to describe Windows: ‘Fantastic.’”

These comments fall in line with recent lofty predictions from Dell founder Michael Dell about Windows 7 driving the PC market forward. But is that, in fact, true? Moreover, is it not still too early to measure the operating system’s success?

At a Churchill Club event that I attended in Silicon Valley in October, Michael Dell said that many businesses were running Windows XP, which is eight years old, and that Windows 7 would usher in a major upgrade cycle. The fact that Dell just missed profit estimates amidst declining market share has nothing to do with Windows 7, of course, but there are some signs that a truly major upgrade cycle toward the OS hasn’t yet happened.

While research shows that Vista users are upgrading to Windows 7, keep in mind that Vista has only 30 percent market share after several years in the wild. Windows 7 is not replacing the huge installed base of Windows XP at anywhere near the rate that it’s replacing Vista.

The Wall Street Journal estimates that some 30-40 million copies of Windows 7 have sold since its October release, and most estimates put the operating system’s market share at about 4 percent. These numbers are nothing to shake a stick at (GigaOm Pro, subscription req’d), and I agree with Michael Dell that Windows 7 will spark a major upgrade cycle — eventually.

In the meantime, however, we are in a period of relative limbo in the PC buying cycle. Holiday shopping hasn’t taken off yet, and, for safety reasons, businesses tend to wait and watch whenever a brand-new version of Windows is released before implementing widespread adoption.  Hardware incompatibilities, driver issues and many more things get resolved in an operating system’s first months, prompting many businesses to sit on the sidelines.

Historically, January has a much higher PC-buying profile than October and November do, and by that point holiday shopping numbers for Windows 7 will have started to roll in. Indeed, it will take a few months before we have truly accurate numbers for Windows 7 adoption, but I don’t doubt that it will eventually spark an upgrade cycle that — love or hate Microsoft — will benefit the tech industry.

Shareholders press Microsoft’s CEO about Apple’s marketing campaign

Image: Apple Inc.

Those Get-a-Mac ads make “you all look like a buffoon,” one long-time shareholder (and father of four Mac-using children) told Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer at the company’s annual meeting Thursday. “I’m just wondering why your marketing group can’t do something to try to rein in this next generation, because you’ve got a real bad image out there.”

“We all watch television,” Ballmer responded, before quickly changing the subject to Microsoft’s market share.

“The truth of the matter is, we do quite well,” he said, according to TechFlash’s Todd Bishop, who seems to have taken the best notes. “Even among college students, we do quite well. Do we have an opportunity for improvement? We do. Some of that is marketing, some of that is phase of life. It is important to remember that 96 times out of 100 worldwide, people choose a PC with Windows; that’s a good thing. Even in the toughest market, which would be the high end of the consumer market here in the U.S., 83 times out of 100 people choose a Windows PC over a Mac.”

Ballmer acknowledged that Apple (AAPL) had “picked up a couple of tenths of a percent of market share,” an achievement some in the audience seemed to find laughable.

But as the Wall Street Journal’s Nick Wingfield points out, citing IDC numbers, Apple’s share of new PC shipments in the U.S. was 9.2% in the third quarter, up from 4.8% in the same period four years ago. (Worldwide share: 3.9% compared with 2.4% four years ago.)

Wingfield also took a crack at estimating how many copies of Window 7 Microsoft has sold, a number the company has not provided.

Source: Morgan Stanley. Click to enlarge.

According to Ballmer, Microsoft sold twice as many copies of Windows 7 in its first few weeks than any previous version of the operating system. Since Vista sold 20 million copies in its first month on the market, that would put Windows 7 unit sales to date at roughly 40 million.

That number includes both boxed copies and copies sold to PC makers for pre-installation on their machines, according to a Microsoft spokesperson. Sales of PC hardware spiked sharply immediately after the Oct. 22 launch (see chart at right).

See also:

• PC sales spike with Windows 7 debut
• How Apple is gaining on Microsoft
• Windows 7, like it or not

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]

Information released!

After much speculation (and a few faked screenshots) it appears we finally have word from Google as to what & when.

Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. Because we’re already talking to partners about the project, and we’ll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve. Source: Googleblog

There can be little doubt that after the success of its search engine and the popularity of its other services that Google pretty much knows its customers.  In my opinion Google has what some other companies do not and that is honest champions/advocates of their services/products.  How many people have you heard complain about Google in the average computing environment?

Ever since the news broke of the Google OS we’ve had many thinkers regarding it.  We see the frightened (Wintrolls in comp.alt.linux.advocacy) the over enthusiastic (the promoters of fake screenshots) and the “lets wait and see”.  Now we get further details.

It is being reported that the Google OS (which is browser based) will offer most of its services online and the user having their data stored on Google servers.  There’s been much debate about this (and surrounding topics) and the Do you trust your data to be stored in the cloud? is probably one of the issues that will come out of this eventual release.

Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We’re designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. Source: Googleblog

Users of Chrome OS will reportedly not have to worry about updating their software and having other advantages, one being a 7 second boot time (allegedly) IMO there really is much to look forward to when the finished product hits the shelves.  The OS itself is apparently going to be free, with Google working with manufacturers to further provide a better integration between their software and hardware.

Chrome OS is reported to be its own Windowing system on top on a Linux kernel and I think shows yet again that worth of Linux and its community.  I have documented my use of Chromium since its early builds and I must say that the layout (providing it resembles the OS) is intuitive, friendly and quick.

Google also made this statement:

We hear a lot from our users and their message is clear — computers need to get better.

and in my opinion its a shame Microsoft didn’t listen to that message (IMO).

The Chrome OS is aimed at Netbooks and whilst we are on the subject of Netbooks earlier in the year Windows 7 for the netbook, hardly got the glowing praise with Tomshardware.com noting that Windows 7 took 2.5 hours off your battery life and benchmark tests between 7 and XP showed XP outperforming 7 in most tests.  Is that what Microsoft wants to hear when its trying to get in with 7 on the netbook?

So whilst there has been more information released it still leaves many questions unanswered.  Will Chrome support Silverlight? (or does anyone care?) What about drivers for existing and new hardware?  Is Google considering its OS for anything other than Netbooks?

Lets remember what Mr Ballmer CEO of Microsoft had to say about Google (allegedly)

Google’s not a real company. It’s a house of cards.

Source: Techcrunch

Try not to be too hard on him though.  His “teacher” (IMO) Bill Gates said in the 90’s:

The Internet? We are not interested in it

and another alleged comment that Bill Gates made (which may ring some bells with Windows users)

If you can’t make it good, at least make it look good.

Source: http://www.quotesandsayings.com/quotes/bill-gates/ (and theres many more Gates crackers there too)

Microsoft scared?

To ask if Microsoft is scared is wrong.  Microsoft is not a person.  Detractors to Linux make many claims, they would like you to believe its a hobbyist platform.  They would like you to believe its difficult to use.  They would like you to believe that it won’t be compatible with your hardware.  I would put money on similar being said about Chrome OS.

I think Google’s move to produce this software shows an attitude change in the average computer user.  We no longer need to rely on Microsoft to get jobs done in my opinion and there are many alternatives to Microsoft products, either proprietary or indeed FOSS.

The BBC seem to think the Chrome OS will have an impact on the market:

….could dramatically change the market for operating systems, especially for Microsoft…

It certainly will be interesting next year.  Bring on Chrome OS!

Sources

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8369611.stm

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/introducing-google-chrome-os.html

http://technologizer.com/2009/11/19/chrome-os/

Goblin – bytes4free@googlemail.com

Ci sono foto(montaggi) che non ti aspetteresti mai di vedere, tipo Linus Torvalds davanti ad uno stand di Windows 7, Bill Gates o Steve Ballmer davanti a un PC con GNU/Linux. Oppure sempre Steve Ballmer, ma questa volta con una copia di Windows 7 non autentica. Dirai che e’ impossibile vedere le ultime tre foto (visto che la prima l’abbiamo gia’ vista) [1]. E invece eccole qui.

Partiamo dalla foto di Bill con GNU/Linux, anche se datata fa sempre un certo effetto ecco il giovane Bill Gates che viene immortalato mentre usa una distribuzione GNU/Linux:

La seconda foto vede Steve Ballmer ripercorrere la stessa strada di Bill Gates, con parecchi anni di ritardo. Eccolo dunque in questa foto davanti ad uno schermo del suo PC con Ubuntu 9.10 in bella mostra:

Non ci siete cascati? Allora che mi dite di questa foto? Guardate attentamente lo schermo del PC:

non vedete bene cosa c’e’ scritto sullo schermo? Ecco un ingrandimento:

Proprio cosi’, Steve Ballmer con una copia non autentica di Windows 7. Ovviamente non e’ possibile che il presidente della Microsoft abbia una copia pirata di Windows. Ma per gli utenti (anche quelli che ne tessono le lodi) non e’ poi cosi’ raro che usino copie pirata di Windows. Dico io, se dovete usare Windows, comprate la vostra copia autentica, senza avere la faccia tosta di lodare Windows e intanto frodare la Microsoft.

[1] La foto con Bill Gates e le due foto con Steve Ballmer sono state modificate con GIMP, si tratta di fotomontaggi, ora lo sapete (per i pochi che non se ne fossero accorti). [^]

[^] torna su | post<li> | 

Steve Ballmer ist ja weniger als Visionär berühmt, sondern eher als Mann fürs Grobe – was ihn allerdings nicht davon abgehalten hat, bei einer Rede in Taiwan mal ins Grundsätzliche zu gehen.

Fazit: Windows 7 ist nur ein erster Schritt in Richtung “natürliches User-Interface”; was Ballmer sich als Zukunft der PC-Industrie vorstellt, nennt er “Three Screens and a Cloud”.

Was da fast schon poetisch klingt, ist zum Teil auch ein Eingeständnis, dass  die heute üblichen Benutzeroberflächen für die Anwender noch mühsamer sind, als sie sein sollten. Damit sich das ändert, sollen laut Ballmer Cloud-Service mit so genanntem CPE (Customer Premise Equipment) zusammenspielen.

Dabei soll das CPE deutlich leistungsfähiger sein, was die Eingabe angeht – nicht mehr Tastatur und Maus werden dann zum Einsatz kommen, sondern Sprach- und Bilderkennung und ähnliche Technologien. Die Multitouch-Technologie von Windows 7 sei laut Ballmer ebenso ein Schritt in diese Richtung wie die Forschungsarbeiten, die man im hauseigenen Forschungszentrum in Peking durchführen lässt.

Ach ja, die “Three Screens” hat Steve Ballmer natürlich auch noch erklärt: Das sollen Handset, PC und Fernseher sein. Was – ehrlich gesagt – ja nun mal nur ein mäßig origineller Gedanke ist. [dieter]

[via DigiTimes]

Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Thursday the company could look to extend its search engine partnership with Yahoo outside the United States, if it gets regulatory approval.

Earlier this year Microsoft and Yahoo signed a 10-year Web search partnership to challenge Google Inc, a pact that U.S. and European antitrust regulators are evaluating.

“It’s possible that we will extend that partnership (with Yahoo) outside the U.S.,” Ballmer told reporters at a news conference. “We will have to wait and see if we can get approval and consummate that partnership inside the U.S. first.”

Microsoft has said it believes the deal will close in early 2010, and that they can make significant progress on integration in one or two major markets next year.

Μicrosoft: Επιπλέον 800 εργαζόμενοι απολύονται από την εταιρεία – ADSLgr.com

H Μicrosoft ανακοίνωσε χθες Τετάρτη πως άλλοι 800 εργαζόμενοι έχασαν την δουλειά τους καθώς το ολοκληρώθηκε πλέον το πρόγραμμα περικοπής θέσεων εργασίας που είχε ανακοινωθεί τον Ιανουάριο.

 

Συγκεκριμένα τον Ιανουάριο η Microsoft είχε προαναγγείλει την απόλυση 5000 εργαζομένων μέχρι τον Ιούνιο. Με τις τελευταίες αυτές απολύσεις το πρόγραμμα ολοκληρώνεται και μάλιστα σύμφωνα με την εκπρόσωπο της Microsoft Lou Gellos οι απολύσεις πλέον φτάνουν τις 5800.[next]

Bill Gates used to keep a very clean office (when he ran Microsoft), with lots of technology instead of paper

[Photo: Robyn Twomey, CNN]

Steve Ballmer on the other hand has one of those “Back to you” offices. Seems pretty functional.

[Photo: NYTimes]

By Associated Press  [Source:  http://www.technologyreview.com/wire/23851/?nlid=2487]

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said Monday corporate spending on information technology will not recover to levels seen in recent years before the global economic slowdown.

“The economy went through a set of changes on a global basis over the course of the last year which are, I think is fair to say, once in a lifetime,” Ballmer told a meeting of South Korean executives in Seoul.

Spending on information technology, which accounted for about half of capital expenditures in developed countries before the crisis, was unlikely to rebound fully because capital was more scarce these days, he said.

“While we will see growth, we will not see recovery,” Ballmer said.

Ballmer was in Seoul to meet corporate and government officials and tout the Redmond, Washington-based company’s new Windows 7 operating system. The latest edition of Windows, the software that runs personal computers, was released last month.

He said company purchases of PCs and servers were down about 15 percent globally.

“It reflects the fact that CEOs have much more tightly constrained IT budgets,” he said.

Separately, South Korean technology giant Samsung Electronics Co. said it will work with Microsoft to find ways to make computers more energy efficient.

The announcement followed a meeting between Ballmer and Samsung CEO Lee Yon-woo. The company also said it will upgrade its corporate PCs worldwide with Microsoft’s new operating system next year.

I was listening to Steve Ballmer on The Engadget Show, and I was suprised. The man is oafish, loud, and offensive. But behind his mediocre jokes, loud outburts, and various other bad PR moments I discovered something. Ballmer is confident in his company, confident in his products, and confident that MSFT is the ultimate competitor. He was suprisingly frank about the shortcomings of Vista, secure in Windows 7’s success, and completely unfazed by Apple’s sudden surge in the tech world. Props to the Ballmer, great interview. Check it out on Engadget.

]]> http://ecchigaming.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/le-blu-ray-sur-xbox360-confirme/ Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:31:49 +0000 ecchigaming http://ecchigaming.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/le-blu-ray-sur-xbox360-confirme/

La vérité si je mens…

Mater des films X en très haute définition sur la Xbox360 ne sera bientôt plus un rêve mais la réalité augmentée, façon lecteur Blu-Ray additionnel. Ah ouais ? Ben non !

Vous en rêviez, Microsoft ne l’a toutefois pas “encore” fait, et semble, quoi qu’en dise la rumeur, vouloir se concentrer sur l’expérience Blu-Ray sur PC, et uniquement sur PC.

La rumeur d’un lecteur Blu-Ray sur la console de Microsoft, vieille de plusieurs mois,  par le PDG de Krosoft , Steve Ballmer en personne, aura finalement été le fruit d’une incompréhension générale, secouant la blogosphère toute entière, traumatisant des milliers d’Internautes en quelques secondes à peine. Tel un cavalier solitaire, Pascal Sontag, consultant au service du constructeur américain, n’écoutant que son courage, a démenti ladite rumeur à la force du clavier. Merci !

A suivre…

PS3, Xbox360, PC

]Phew….we just dodged a bullet here folks. To think that a half hour of Family Guy mindlessly shivved over and over with a dull Zune to promote Windows 7 was going to be anything other than a total disaster is to be….well….rather foolish…..

http://technologizer.com/2009/10/26/windows-7-and-family-guy-the-arranged-marriage-is-over/

Here’s a clip:

Of course this isn’t the first time Microsoft has produced a ridiculously bad commercial:

Kilka dni temu Mr. Evil Ballmer udzielił wywiadu dziennikarzowi GW, w którym opowiadał o debiucie “okienek” No. 7. Mimo całej pasji z jaką szef Microsoftu wypowiadał się o “siódemce”, cały wywiad kręcił się wokół… Apple’a. Podczas całej rozmowy udowadniał, że “maki” są zbyt ciężkie, zbyt wolne, zbyt ograniczone, zbyt… Ale, czy ktokolwiek w to wierzy? Wciąż zastanawiam się, dlaczego Apple stał się wzorem dla wszystkich, nawet dla konkurentów? Wciąż zastanawiam się, dlaczego każdy che być Applem II? Wciąż zastanawiam się, dlaczego wszyscy narzekają na Apple’a pokazując jego wady, a i tak nikt nie może mu się oprzeć? Wciąż zastanawiam się, dlaczego Apple nosi się zamiast nowej biżuterii? Na czym polega magia?

For an assessment piece at Queensland University of Technology I conducted a request for proposal for a business client, Passtime Poets has put out a request for proposal (RFP) for supportive input on the best means of producing their soon-to-be released album, ‘Versatility’.

In my research I came across Gerd Leonhard who is a well spoken authority on the topic of music 2.0.

Gerd Leonhard covers many aspects of what music 2.0 is and how social networking and web 2.0 has shaped the music industry. I have included a you tube video by Gerd Leonhard where he defines music 2.0

It is important to understand that the bands of today need to be able to communicate with the fans on a level where they are transparent and open. Web 2.0 allows for interaction between people that visit that particular site or platform. This can be anything from web-based communities, hosted services, web applications, social-networking sites, video-sharing sites, wikis, blogs and mashups.

When we look to the future of the online music industry we must look at web 2.0 technologies as they will have a major input in its development. According to Steve Ballmer (Microsoft CEO),

There will be no media consumption left in ten years that is not delivered over an IP network. There will be no newspapers, no magazines that are delivered in paperform. Everything gets delivered in an electronic form.

This shows a massive change in how the normal business models are operating. The music industry has had to rethink of its strategies on how it can remain competitive in the future whilst addressing these changing factors.

In the future are people wanting to go into a record store to buy music? Or are the next generation of music lovers going to want to buy music via a click. When we look at the growth of portable devices such as the Ipod we can see where the future lies, in digital distribution and downloads.

Bands such as Nine Inch Nails and Radio head saw these opportunities in the market place and moved on them. There has also been a growth in online web 2.0 platforms such as Garageband.com. Platforms such as these will play an important role in connecting bands into a wider community that up to only a few years ago was only possible through mass marketing and record labels.

The growth of these sorts of web 2.0 communities is astonishing. Garageband.com in its first year alone grew to over 100,000 members. They have also catapulted many unknown bands into stardom by featuring their music on their site and allowing members to download and comment on the music.

Enterprise 2.0 implementation framework

It is important before implementing Enterprise 2.0 to understand key drivers that exist. This framework also applies to Music 2.0. Bands that are looking to break into the industry need to look at the key drivers that are pushing the consumer and trying to harness those drivers by implementing key frameworks that will provide a competitive advantage. Those initiatives then need to be supported and there needs to be drive to push for ongoing change. Bands need to connect with the fans and clients to be able to collaborate and build an open and transparent environment for future growth. The music industry will continue to evolve over the coming years as music becomes more and more apart of out digital online experience.

I’m a little behind as I got caught up checking out the latest dashboard updates for Xbox 360 but on Thursday I posted that Steve Ballmer seemed to say that Blu-Ray may be coming to Xbox 360. This has since been denied by Major Nelson. He stated that the future of home entertainment comes with the upcoming Zune videos that can be streamed in High Def 1080p. The Xbox will be the first and only console capable of doing so.

As I stated in my previous post I do not care about getting a Blu-Ray accessory for my Xbox. It does exactly what it needs to do and I am happy as it is. The streaming videos are nice though however I purchased the standard definition of “Land of the Lost” and chose to stream instead of download. I experienced pixelation every 20 minutes or so and 2 times it paused to buffer. I hope anyone choosing to purchase the High Def videos plans on downloading prior to watching so that they do not experience the same problem.

TECHNOLOGY

Microsoft announced another down quarter this morning. Revenues in the September quarter were down 14 percent to $12.92 billion, and net profits declined even further to $3.57 billion, or $0.40 a share. The consensus estimate was $0.32, so Wall Street is happy and the shares are rallying (up 10 percent in early-morning trading). (Techcrunch10/23)

With expanded distribution options and a big jump in its subscriber count, Netflix reported a third-quarter profit of $30.1 million, a 48% increase over the year-earlier period. Netflix now has 11.1 million subscribers, the company said, and its streaming service now is available via TiVo DVRs, Xbox Live and Web-capable Blu-ray players. Bloomberg (10/22) , PaidContent.org(10/22)