MarkDobie.com
Be not simply good, be good for something.
« March 2008 | Main | May 2008 »
Famous hurricane forecaster being pushed out for wrong views on global warming?
Storm brewing for William Gray
Don't disagree with the politico-religious orthodoxy!
Selling our A3 :(
We have decided to sell our Audi A3 and purchase something cheaper. Here is the listing:
Craigslist Posting
Low cost ultraportables on one page
liliputing list
Great list of all the ultraportables that are on the market or will soon be on the market. My favorite so far is the HP mini-note.
Why Microsoft today looks like Apple from 1996
Not my usual politics, personal or funny link today. I'm seeing an interesting trend in computing now that looks similar to the plight of the old Apple after Steve Jobs before Steve Jobs returned. Microsoft is struggling, everyone agrees. They lose money on new areas, while their old areas of dominance are being attacked daily.
How Microsoft has become the Beleaguered Apple '96Why Microsoft is Today Looking Similarly Beleaguered. Over the past decade, Microsoft has been similarly coasting on past performance. It rakes in huge revenues from its position as the unchallenged PC operating system software vendor, exacting per unit Windows OEM fees from every PC hardware maker apart from Apple. It also sells Office application licenses at retail and in bulk licensing agreements with businesses, and has a third major business in selling server-related software and Client Access Licenses for Windows Server, Exchange Server, and related products. However, Microsoft’s efforts to build its business into new markets have repeatedly failed. Like the early-90s Apple, Microsoft is just doing what it has done in the past. Attempts to build new businesses in handheld computers, tablet PCs, automotive computing, media center devices, portable media player reference design licensing, DRM licensing for music sales, SPOT watches, handheld and living room game consoles, smartphones, and in other areas have all only lost spectacular amounts of money. Efforts to muscle into Internet search and ad sales have also been disappointing, particularly in comparison to Google. At the same time, Microsoft’s three core businesses are increasingly under attack. The market for desktop PCs is rapidly cooling, with very little overall growth. Apple is eating into the most valuable PC segments as Microsoft has run out of new market expansion to ride. Gartner’s most recent quarterly PC market numbers showed just 3% overall growth in the US and 12.3% growth in PC units worldwide, year over year. Apple outpaced the industry in US growth by more than a factor of ten, expanding its unit sales in the US by 32.5% over the same quarter last year.
Chicago a "complete failure" ?
While reading this article: Rash of Violence in Chicago Kills 32 I'm reminded of this article: Obama Sees a 'Complete Failure' in Iraq and then I have to agree with this comment from Instapundit.com
It really should be no surprise, since Chicago and Illinois itself have been failing to reach their political benchmarks for years now. It is too bad there is not some powerful politician who might have served the Chicago area and brought them Change and Hope. If there was, we could blame him for the "complete failure" to achieve those political benchmarks and reduce sectarian strife.
Is this "change"?
If this is what Obama calls a "change" in politics, I don't think want anything to do with it. Isn't Obam a the one that gets bent out of shape when someone takes his words out of context (i.e. pennsylvania small towns comments)?
Bush Tax Cuts
Debt Free Blog
On the expiration of the “Bush” tax cuts, the tax brackets will change as follows: Brackets 10, 25, 28, 33 and 35 percent will be increased by 50%, 12%, 10.7%, 9.1% and 13.1% percent, respectively, to 15, 28, 31, 36 and 39.6 percent. Those of you at the bottom of the tax barrel will see a 50% tax increase. Still think that those tax cuts are strictly for the wealthy?? Well, have a nice day then. The child tax credit will be cut in half (damn those wealthy families with children) so in reality, the upper and lower classes benefited the most from the tax changes, with the lower class receiving far and away the largest benefit. Yet, we seldom hear this in our daily news osmosis. The phrase “tax cuts for the rich” has been repeated so many times that the majority of the sheeple simply believe it.
Search
Oh...snap, more PICTURES
Me on the WEB
