Skip to main content

Empires on the edge





Dan Gillmor's reaction to Microsoft's stance of "no compromise":



Microsoft leaves no doubt in blowing off judge's order



...We've made our deal with the feds, proclaimed the lawyers [of Microsoft]. We're not going to even consider a compromise.



Of course they would say that. The deal with the Justice Department, plus the nine other states that went along, is one of the most remarkable government gifts to a lawbreaker since Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon. At least Ford sincerely had the national interest in mind.
All this energy, all this time, and all because a thuggish company was allowed to get away with theft so often for so long. Well, theft as far as I'm concerned. Theft of the base MS-DOS code, theft of the very nature of a GUI, theft of...oh, on and on.



If laws involving the protection of legit intellectual property rights had been properly enforced, we wouldn't be in this mess right now. I am loathe to see a government "solution" to the issue because they invariably suck rancid wind. Yet Micro$oft persists in acting as one of those rich corporations that give Rich Corporations a bad name. A basic fact has to be recognized, that Bill Gates & Co. don't innovate, they borrow (steal) and renovate; they exist in an evolutionary world, nothing revolutionary. They could no more think of a genuinely new way of working with a computer (or of doing business) than Bill Clinton could say "no" to an intern.



Meanwhile, I've gone back on my earlier proclamation, and a copy of Office XP Standard resides on my laptop. Very pretty, very evolutionary (the most revolutionary aspect is how the software mandates activation, and there's a clue), but in a nice way. And despite that, I still prefer WordPerfect....

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Wow, it’s been over a year. What a way to get back to this blog because… Are the films of the MCU getting worse? It’s a serious question because the latest that I’ve seen, Thor: Love and Thunder and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania , are strong arguments that the answer is “yes.” Summary: Ant-Man & Ant-Family get sucked into the quantum realm, where skullduggery is afoot. A load of crap ensues. I’m an Ant-Man fan. I loved the first film despite its flaws. It would have been wonderful to see what Edgar Wright may have wrought. It was clear, though, that replacement director Peyton Reed kept some of Wright’s ideas alive. The result was one of the MCU’s most intimate films, a straight-forward tale of a Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) desperate to remain in his daughter’s life while being “gifted” the life of a superhero. Ant-Man and the Wasp sorta stayed that course, but naturally, because this is the modern MCU, we had to have a female superhero take over, the titular Wasp (Hope van Dyne,
Post a Comment
Read more

John Wick: Chapter 4

No sense in playing coy, this is a great film. I’ve seen it twice and while I don’t quite love it in the way I love the first, original John Wick , it’s my #2. It’s a little overlong, has some wasted space and time, has one absolutely pointless and useless character, and generally ignores the realities of firefights, falling, getting shot, hit, etc. All that notwithstanding, it’s a great action flick, has a genuine emotional core, and is well worth your time if you’re into that sort of thing. Like I am. Summary: John Wick (Keanu Reeves), last seen saying he was fed up with the High Table, goes to war to obtain his freedom. Some of the most incredible action scenes ever filmed ensue, culminating in a very satisfactory finale and a devastating post-credit scene. The first Wick film was a surprise hit. It was a simple, straight-forward tale of vengeance told in a simple, straight-forward manner. Where it stood out was its devotion to human stunt work, on exploiting long camera shots that
Post a Comment
Read more

Rogan

The entire Joe Rogan controversy is an example of the kids being left in charge and the adults refusing to teach them any better. I’m not a regular consumer of podcasts. There are a couple I listen to from time to time, but nothing on a regular basis. While I’ve caught a few minutes of the Joe Rogan Experience on YouTube, I’ve never listened to his podcast. One of the primary reasons for that is that you have to subscribe to Spotify to do so, and I prefer Qobuz, Tidal, or even Amazon Music. Rogan is behind Spotify’s paywall and that’s that. But the nature of the fight is about more than who does or does not listen to Rogan. This fight goes to the very nature of the First Amendment and the fundamental concept of the United States. And yes, I understand that cuts both ways. What’s his name and Joni Mitchell are free to yank their creations from Spotify, no ifs, ands, or buts. I’m not denying their right, I’m questioning their reasons. Rogan talks to people. He does so largely unfiltered.
Post a Comment
Read more