Entropic Cogitations

According to a recent CNet article, Windows Live One Care is selling like hot cakes at the stores.

“Helped by low pricing, Microsoft’s Windows Live OneCare landed the No. 2 spot in sales at American stores in its debut month, according to The NPD Group.”

And today, I saw this article on eWeek – basically stating that Microsoft will “bake” the Live services into Vista – including of course Windows Live One Care. What I like to call the subscription based protection racket. The implications are obvious. Gramma gets her PC from Best Buy with the shiny new Vista OS and next thing you know a Pop-Up informs her that she needs to fork over $50 on her credit card to Microsoft because her antivirus/spyware subscription ran out. It’s one thing to get this annoyance from Norton or McAfee. It is another thing altogether to get this from a company that is responsible for making that buggy insecure OS that allows all the malware to exist in the first place. Sleazy doesn’t even begin to describe this behavior. And I am sure the shills have plenty of excuses, such as not being able to give away this protection for free due to anti-trust regs. Or that Grandma doesn’t HAVE to get protection from Windows Live One Care – she can get it from anyone. Yeah Right. Think about it – for Windows One care to be successful, the OS has to continue to be insecure. Ever wonder why McAfee or Symantec products for OSX don’t do so well? Or that if Microsoft is in competition with Symantec and Kaspersky, what obliges them to release virus signatures or exploit avenues to their competitors?

I have said this before, but if anyone else, say a car manufacturer had tried anything like this they would be sued out of existence or possibly spend time in jail. There would be outrage, congressional hearings, you name it! Imagine Toyota charging you an annual subscription to maintain fire extinguishers in your Camry because their defective engine keeps catching on fire. But Microsoft can get away with murder and people will keep handing over their hard earned money to this disgusting despicable monopoly.

For people like yours truly that watched in disgust as Microsoft destroyed entire industries over the past two decades through abuse of its desktop monopoly, this is deja vu all over again. It is downright sickening.

The blogosphere has been buzzing about the the number of Microsoft jabs during Steve Jobs’ keynote address at WWDC 06. Looking at the keynote this year one would think he is obsessed with Windows Vista and all the problems Microsoft is having with it. This coupled with the recent Mac vs PC ads just enforces the “smug/elitist” label that Mac users have been slapped with for decades. Many of Macheads may agree with the Microsoft bashing, but that to me should be left to the bloggers and Mac/Windows forums. Apple as a company and especially its CEO should at least be above the fray. Although Jobs himself deliver most of the slams, and relegated it to his subordinate, the constant focus on Vista in my opinion only takes away from OSX and adds little if no value to it. And to devote an entire segment of the Keynote just for Windows bashing? It may be funny, and even appropriate in a sales pitch, but this was a developers conference!. The primary audience there was developers who are already interested in the Mac platform or they wouldn’t be there in the first place. They don’t need petty bickering or a side by side comparison of how Windows is copying OSX. To me, that only puts them off and puts off people in the rest of the world when they think of Macs as an alternative. There is plenty of copying going around – a certain shareware program called Konfabulator comes to mind. Immitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and that is how Apple should perceive it if OSX is the flagship OS. If you think Microsoft truly stole an idea (as they have a habit of doing) call your legal department. That being said, even Windows fans like Paul Thurrott agree that the blatant copy of iCal in the new Windows Calendar down to the identical color scheme bubbles is downright embarassing.

Macnuts including yours truly have been begging Apple for eons to show OSX in action on their ads. To this day I have yet to see a real OSX ad. Sure some of the new ads are funny, but one has to wonder if they truly have the desired impact. All those Quicktime movies on the Apple website would look a lot more impressive on TV. For example, an ad featuring iChat on Leopard with live motion video as a backdrop while sharing a Keynote presentation would be jaw-dropping. But then again, what do I know about marketing? All I can say that as a devoted Mac user and professed Microsoft hater, when it grates ME that Apple keeps harping on Vista to promote OSX, it is bound to rub others the wrong way. The “Start your Photocopiers” stuff was funny when Tiger was released – now it’s become just another hackneyed phrase.

So Apple, if anyone is listening, CAN the Attitude. Take the high road and get people to buy your product because it is BETTER. Apple didn’t have to bash Zen or iRiver to sell iPods. If you truly believe you have a superior product, you shouldn’t have to bash Windows to sell Macs.

Apple has opened up the OSX kernal along with a lot of other stuff. The iCal server and Bonjour to me are actually more interesting. I would love to see more web support for iCal instead of just WebDAV. Despite all the bad mouthing they received recently, remember that Apple had never officially killed the open source part of this project. It would be well for people to remember this in the future. This is Apple, NOT Microsoft.

All those who were up in arms about Apple having “closed” the OSX kernal for Intel can now eat crow. I particularly remember this story from just a few weeks back as it spread through the blogosphere.

Here’s a quote from that article …. “Apple has and is squandering the good graces and talent of many developers, that could make their products outstanding. Their greed and fear has kept them from truly embracing the concept of open source, something which might have helped them get out of the squeeze put upon them by Linux and Windows.”

Would someone like to print a retraction? All I see on Linux Today is a tiny blurb with a link to the downloads. Of course some will claim that Apple was shamed into doing this. If so, great. At least Apple has some shame, unlike some other companies I know. So for those of you that like to compile their own OSX Kernals, here ya go.

And speaking of Microsoft, they are now going around telling ISVs that Open Source is “too complex“.

“Hey Kettle, the Pot Called. He thinks you’re black.”

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past weeks, you have undoubtedly heard of Microsoft’s new iPod/iTunes killer device / platform. As always John Gruber has a great take about it on it on his website.

So after years of ranting about how the iPod / iTunes “restricted choice”, now Microsoft in its infinite wisdom is set to do the exact same thing? Provide a completely closed, integrated system produced and sold exclusively by Microsoft. The hypocrisy of this company and it’s so called supporters (read shills) knows no bounds. As a prime example, the only person who was uber impressed with this move was that well known shill Enderle who was quoted in a BBC news article as saying “Microsoft is trying to encompass Apple and turn them into a bit player” (The BBC had the gall to call Enderle a “Respected Analyst”. Sheesh ! Talk about lowering your standards). Microsoft and their propoganda machine in the tech media have been trying to turn Apple into a bit player for decades. Apple still survived and today are more successful than ever. For the simple reason that they continue to make some of the BEST products on the market. And all that the morally bankrupt monopoly in Redmond can do is make cheap imitations of Apple products (read VISTA and now ZUNE).

So once again Microsoft is copying not only the device (based on the pictures) but copying and expanding the business model from Apple. Mind you, I am not in the least bit complaining about the fact that the iPod has competition. I feel that is a great thing as it will only cause Apple to work harder and innovate to make the iPod / iTunes experience better (Note that it was Steve Jobs who first talked about Microsoft making their own music player and looks like they are taking his advice). Of course, you can bet that Microsoft on the other hand will continue to use their desktop monopoly to muscle their way into this market and use their billions to pressure the recording companies to favor the Zune way over the iPod.

The hardware makers and Napster et. al. who “trusted” Microsoft and it’s “Plays for Sure” program are the ones now left holding the bag. But I have no sympathy for people that get screwed by Microsoft anymore. Just like the people that insist on using that malware infested OS they call Windows, or the developers/companies that think Microsoft is a great “Partner”, they deserve everything that’s coming to them.

During the evening rush hour on July 11, 2006 terrorists set off a series of seven explosions on commuter trains in Mumbai. At this point close to 200 people have lost their lives and no one has claimed responsibility for the blasts. The bombs are believed to have been RDX (a military grade explosive) detonated within minutes of each other in a coordinated attack on the Western Railway grid. You can draw your own obvious conclusions from that.

This is not the first time this has happened in Mumbai and unfortunately I don’t think it will be last. There were bombings in Mumbai well before 9/11 in 1993 and more recently in 2003. As someone who spent my formative years growing up in Bombay (back when it was still called that), I still stand in amazement at the capacity of the denizens of that city to absorb punishment and keep going. Many outsiders look upon this resilience as an attitude of chest thumping bravery.

When you scratch the surface however, you will realize that what drives this resilience is not some macho attitude or sense of pride. This intestinal fortitude to me has always been more an act of resignation as anything else. An offspring of Mumbai’s nonchalant “Chalta Hai” answer to every situation. Of all the mangled images I have seen in the past few days, the above picture one struck me the most. It was of an unidentified person who was injured at the Mahim railway station walking away from the carnage. I don’t see anger, grief or bravery on this man’s face. I see a person who has to put aside this horrific act of violence, somehow get home to his family today, and have the guts to get up and go to work the next day. It is this steely resolve that sets the people of this great city apart from all others.

It is the same resolve that manifests itself in the people of Mumbai coming together and helping each other out in times of crisis. According to news reports, before the police, the military or other help arrived, the slum dwellers on the side of the railroad tracks were pulling people out of the carnage, building makeshift stretchers out of sheets and transporting people to hospitals in auto rickshaws and taxis.

Last year I was stranded in Mumbai for 3 days after the city experienced a freak flood during the monsoons. 37” of rain fell in 24 hours and any semblance of emergency preparedness on the part of the government was washed away in the deluge. But the city kept going – thanks to the unselfish random acts of kindness displayed by the people of Mumbai who are often maligned as rude and uncaring. There was no looting, no riots and no price gouging. The citizens of Mumbai know that the only ones who will come to their aid during times of crisis are their fellow Mumbai-ites. They no longer look to the police, the state government or any other agency to help them anymore, and know that if they don’t help each other, no one will.

Just a day after the bombings, the trains are running, the shops are open and kids are riding the same local trains to go to school. I know this sounds clichéd but you won’t understand this attitude unless you have lived in Mumbai. You literally don’t have time to dwell or mourn or grieve in this city. You just shrug your shoulders even after something horrendous like this happens, and life goes on. It is not an attitude of callousness. It is indeed an act of resignation. No matter how bad it gets, people have jobs to do and families to feed.

It has been decades since I have lived there, but I still identify with that attitude. And no matter how many heinous acts these subhuman terrorists commit, they cannot and will not break this Indomitable Spirit. It is the city’s way of telling the terrorists – “You LOSE”. After all this is “Amchi Mumbai” – Our Bombay.

My good friend Matt had a link to this article on his blog. Please take some time to read it in its entirety. I had a new appreciation of why the people in those blue uniforms stand apart from us mere mortals. And how some of the hardest missions of a Marine may not be in the teeth of battle.

In my many years of volunteering for the rescue squad, dealing with death was a part of the job. I never quite got to the point where I got callous about it or “comfortably numb” as they say. In all those years, I never had the unenviable task of telling someone their loved one had died. That was usually the Doctor’s or the Police Officer’s job. I only happened to do it once when we brought in a fellow EMT’s brother in law who had a heart attack. We had tried our best for over half an hour and were unsuccessful in reviving him. As I walked out of the ER he saw me come out and asked me if they were still working on him. I just shook my head and all I said was “They called it”. It was jargon, but it was something I knew he would understand. There were no other words I could utter, and I walked away and left him to comfort his sobbing wife. The doctor went into the waiting room with them to give them the official news.

How do you tell someone their loved one is dead? Not being sexist here, but it takes a REAL MAN to do that job. Especially when you have to do it over and over again. If you are like me, you will have tears in your eyes when you read this article. And hopefully, a real appreciation of what it takes to be a Marine.

I came across this article today. A columnist for the Sydney Morning Herald describes why he is switching to a Mac. The words ring so true to me as they do to millions of people that FINALLY let go of their malware infested Windows bloatware and switched to a simple tool that lets you get on with life. Here’s a snippet.

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“I HAVE had just about enough of Microsoft.

I’ve had it with rebooting my notebook and my desktop constantly because my applications crawl to a halt. I’ve had it with reformatting my drives every few months to get rid of all the stuff that accumulates on them.

I’ve had it with dysfunctional bloatware, inelegantly designed and inefficiently coded. I’ve had it with viruses and worms and Trojan horses and spyware and all the other rubbish that Microsoft lets in.

In a move that will delight many readers of this column, I am taking the plunge and going Apple Macintosh. My son has been using one for a year now, and Apple’s OS X operating system is everything Microsoft’s is not. I don’t care about Vista; I’m moving now.”

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I am sure there will be plenty of shills who will now include Graeme Philipson in the ranks of the Apple Cult or soon brand him as a Mac Zealot. The vast majority of those have never touched a Mac. To paraphrase the Morgan Stanley commercial, we measure success one switcher at a time.

Greame – Welcome to a better way of computing.

Dave Winer has posted a video of John Dvorak gloating over the fact that he deliberately antagonizes Mac users to get his ratings / hits up. He describes his modus operandi in the video, and how once he stirs up the pot enough, he changes positions to the exact opposite of what he started with. Those of us that have followed Dvorak’s drivel over the years are quite familiar with his flip flopping and know that he is just a common troll in the guise of a columnist / blogger. He is not alone in this and the Tech world is filled with so called analysts and columnists that make a living poking fun at Mac users. The bigger part of this story to me is the “Ha Ha” factor. The genius Dvorak now pointing out the stupidity and gullibility of the “Mac Cult” – for the amusement of Windows apologists the world over.

What these morons don’t see is that the reason the so called “Mac Cultists” react the way they do is because of the years of systematic FUD that Mac users have had to put up with and spend time and effort trying to dispel. Microsoft doesn’t have to spread FUD themselves anymore. They have an entire squadron of shills in the form of analysts and columnist blowhards that will spread their FUD for them. And every piece of FUD is then regurgitated as gospel by the tech media and amplified ten times over. It then becomes the story of the big lie repeated often enough. Mac users then only have two choices. They can ignore the troll and thus let the lie get bigger, or they can respond trying to correct the lie and be branded as zealots. As in every case there will be a few that will respond to idiocy with stupidity, and these emails will be then displayed to the world as the sample of the hate mail that the Mac Zealots unleash on the poor little blogger/journalist that dared to say something negative about Apple.

The fact of the matter is that PC users / Windows apologists can only dream of inspiring such loyalty among their customers. It astounds me that when Windows users choose malware infested, bug ridden PCs, they are supposedly rational people that are using the best tool for the job, but when someone chooses a Mac (or Linux for that matter) they are automatically branded Kool-Aid drinking ravenous zealots. I believe in the end these trolls will get what’s coming to them. In the journalism and now blogging business, the only currency one has of any value is credibility. Once you lose that, you can never get it back.

So, to the Dvoraks of the world, all I can say is keep it up. Your arrogance will be your downfall.