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Microsoft Losses Online Increase, Business Software Group Down
Posted in Apple, Finance, Free/Libre Software, Microsoft, Office Suites at 8:32 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: The truth about Microsoft's financial results, not the PR which the mainstream media is bombarded with
Microsoft's results are in. As usual, spin is being emitted through Microsoft PR agencies and others who are faithful to Microsoft's interests (Joseph Tartakoff for example). The reality check shows that losses online have increased (over $2 billion in losses per year and getting worse, not better), despite the typical spin which is being used while everyone's results ascend following a terrible, post-collapse year.
Associated Press (AP) says that "Revenue in the business software group, which makes Office and other programs, fell 6 percent to $4.2 billion. Microsoft is waiting to report $305 million in Office revenue until after the upcoming Office 2010 launches in the current quarter."
"Revenue in the business software group, which makes Office and other programs, fell 6 percent to $4.2 billion."
–Associated PressChips B. Malroy reads that as: "fudging the books again" (they did the same thing with Vista 7 in order to lie in the previous quarter).
Let us be reminded of the fact that in the previous quarter almost everything at Microsoft was down, but Microsoft was spinning it [1, 2, 3, 4]. Microsoft is again comparing a year of Vista to a year of Vista 7 (not comparable really). Signs indicate that there may be more financial malpractice at Microsoft and the SEC is already investigating/probing Microsoft (not for the first time, either [1, 2]).
As Chips B. Malroy puts it, AP "basically says that businesses are buying computers to replace the old ones, and this is the biggest increase for Microsoft."
We urge people to be extremely careful of ardent Microsoft proponents. They are playing along with Microsoft PR, believing everything they are told without looking beyond the spin (e.g. layoffs, offshoring in several departments, underpaid child labour, potential book-cooking, and even loans).
Some people may say something about "beating expectations", but this is the oldest trick in the book. They revised estimates so that they can be beaten; Microsoft does this almost every quarter.
The company's portfolio is "under attack" from several fronts and Apple too is exceeding Microsoft in market value. Microsoft employees have no reason to be optimistic. Perhaps the most prominent cause for Microsoft's declining margins is the incline in use of Free/libre software, as before. █
"Client software felt the slump in PC sales, and was further harmed by the shift to netbooks; many of these run Linux, which helps Microsoft not at all."
–Ars Technica, 2009
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Links 22/4/2010: Linux 2.6.34 RC5, Valve's Steam is Coming To GNU/Linux
Posted in News Roundup at 7:48 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
The stories we are all sick of hearing
I find it rather comical how certain stories just get regurgitated up over and over again. For example I typed in Ubuntu new look on Google and I got 1,800,000 results for that topic alone. Sure some of them are irrelevant results but out of that 1,800,000 many if not most of the results are the same information being posted over and over again. Please don't be the next blogger to write the next Ubuntu has a new look post. It lost it's interest after 800,000 postings. I also ran a search for Year of the Linux and got 65,500,000 results. Please no more year of the Linux stories, people who read Tech news often just want to stay up to date on the latest happenings in the world of Linux and after 65 million postings on this topic most could probably care less what you think about it.
Extreme Desktop Makeover: Josh Edition
Many people don't really care about how their desktop is set up. Those people tend to leave things pretty much at the defaults, or maybe just change the wallpaper or color scheme. Some of us, however, consider desktop layout to be vitally important to productivity. Personally, I like to keep maximum information available at all times, with the ability to access my preferred communication tools. Today, I'm going to show you the methods I use to create my own personal Ultimate Desktop.
Desktop Management – Compiz Expo
I can't live without virtual desktops, sometimes called workspaces. X has supported them for decades, but until recently there's been very little innovation. The Expo plugin, part of the Compiz package, provides a fast, beautiful, efficient way to view and manage your virtual desktops.
Twenty Computers in Twenty Days…
A perfect storm of sorts took place at Latitude: HeliOS Longitude: Project this week. Tony Medley, the IT Support guy for CompassLearning emailed us and told me that he has 22 Pentium 4 desktop units ready to donate. These are some pretty decent computers. With a waiting list of kids growing every month, this was indeed great news.
But oh wait…it gets better…
Teenya Franklin of Knowbility.org contacted us and wanted to know if we were interested in picking up some components and peripherals that had been donated by Dell.
Highly Parallel HPC: Ants vs Horses
The non-obvious nature of parallel computing can invite some incorrect assumptions. For instance, combining fast sequential things does not always mean you will create an optimal parallel thing. If scaling, power usage, or I/O are important, then you may be surprised to learn that there are other factors at play than just fast cores. Like my first experience with resistors, "parallel" always seems to introduce some non-obvious results. And, of course, I have not even mentioned about how surprised I was when I learned about capacitors circuits. You can't make this stuff up.
Linux 2.6.34-rc5
Another week, another -rc. This time there wasn't some big nasty regression I was working on to hold things up, and it felt like a pretty regular -rc release.
Linux compatible wireless keyboard
SiTouch has announced the release of a new wireless keyboard. This is a very cool looking keyboard with back lit keys for low light. For those of us who occasionally work late on our computer this feature is appreciated. The keyboard also contains a touch pad.
Unigine Takes Advantage Of OpenGL 4.0
It was just shy of a month ago when Unigine Heaven 2.0 was released with Linux support and it showed what Linux gaming can look like while slaughtering your graphics card. Unigine Corp, the company responsible for this multi-platform game engine, though hasn't been sitting around idly since the Heaven 2.0 release, but they have in fact been moving forward with great improvements their game engine.
Five handy tools in the GIMP toolbox
For many Linux users, The GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Project) seems to mostly be a tool of mystery and confusion. The biggest reason for this is lack of exposure. Most users that complain about The GIMP's interface really only need to get to know the interface. I have covered The GIMP a few times here on Ghacks (Check out our GIMP content), but I have yet to break this application down to it's handiest of tools. And that's what this article will do…take some of those tools from the toolbox, the ones you should know the most, and help you to become familiar with them.
Will scripts- A collection of plugins with nice effects for Gimp
Qualified to Satisfy You
Instructionals
Howto Display Size of Files Under Files in Ubuntu
Clonezilla Backup Script v0.2
Pessulus- A lockdown editor for Gnome to limit users functionality access | Ubuntu
Tutorial: consuming Twitter's real-time stream API in Python
The Perfect SpamSnake – Ubuntu Jeos 9.10
install XEN in Centos 5.4
Sending Email with Netcat
Samba Configuration with Webmin
Yet More Signs Of Valve's Steam On Linux
Yesterday we reported on Proof In Steam's Mac Client Of Linux Support as we received the bash launcher used by the closed-beta Steam on Mac OS X that showed support for Linux. Today there are yet more signs of Linux support when studying Valve's Mac OS X client.
There Is No Doubt, Steam Is Coming To Linux!
As the Linux gaming community was horribly shafted once before already by Epic Games with Unreal Tournament 3, that is understandable if you are skeptical until you see Valve's official announcement. However, from seeing these actual files to the other proof and the information from sources, I am 100% confident that the Steam client / Source engine are coming to Linux. If my information is correct, an official announcement regarding this Linux support may be here by this June.
Installing Speed Dreams 1.4.0 RC1 On Ubuntu 9.10
Speed Dreams is is a free, 3d cross-platform, open source motorsport simulation and racing game, released under the GNU General Public License (GPL). This guide shows how to install it on an Ubuntu 9.10 desktop.
Sabayon
Sabayon – Sneak Peek at New Installer
So far so good! I hope people will find the installer better and have lesser issues. I myself never had problems with the old installer, but thanks to Fabio for making something even better. Feel free to throw a few donation dollars his way while he is in-between jobs and still improving on your favorite distro. He really is working hard for everyone and deserves to be shown some appreciation.
Build Your Own Sabayon Linux with Sabayon CoreCD 5.2
In order to run Sabayon Linux CoreCD 5.2 on your personal computer, make sure that you meet the minimum system requirements:
· Intel Pentium Pro, Celeron, AMD K6-2, Pentium II or Athlon CPU;
· 512 MB of RAM;
· 2 GB of free hard disk space;
· Supported 2D video card;
· a CD reader or USB flash drive.
Mandrake/Mandriva Family
PCLinuxOS 2010 review
I was very excited about this release of PCLOS and have been waiting for it to hit for a while now. PCLinuxOS (PCLOS for short) was my second Linux distro I ever used and I really liked it. The only reason I moved on from it was the fact that I never really got used to the KDE desktop, finding it a bit too remniscent of Windoze for my liking. However, I was willing to overlook that detail and give this version another whirl. So here we go.
PCLinuxOS 2010 Screenshots
The First Benchmarks Of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0
The first beta release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0 was made available yesterday morning. RHEL 6.0 is set to offer many virtualization enhancements, power management improvements, new security features, many package updates, and even some reported performance enhancements. With Red Hat mentioning this major upgrade to their enterprise operating system carrying "performance enhancements", these claims have now been tested using the Phoronix Test Suite within our labs. There are some improvements for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0 to note, but also some losses.
Fedora 14 Codenames Come About
So far the potential candidates for the Fedora 14 codename include Guiness, Scofield, Bhanji, Kingsley, Astro, and Bacon. However, there's still six days left to voice your input on this Fedora Wiki page.
Fedora 13 Spotlight Feature: NetworkManager Gets Even More Connected
As with previous Fedora releases, we'll once again be highlighting some of the new and improved features in a series of blogs leading up to our latest release, Fedora 13, anticipated in mid-May. First up on our list is NetworkManager.
Tomcat improvements coming up in 10.04 !
Jason Brittain, a software architect at MuleSoft and the author of Tomcat: the Definitive Guide, approached us with some ideas about how to improve the Tomcat package in Debian and Ubuntu. Check out his blog post on working with Debian and Ubuntu here.
Jason noticed that the Ubuntu and Debian init scripts were starting Tomcat via the JSVC service runner, in order to allow binding the Tomcat JVM to privileged server port numbers (port numbers lower than 1024), while still running as an unprivileged user. However, JSVC was also the source of several long-standing bugs: it shuts down Tomcat abruptly and implements unreliable restarts, so it was possible for the init script to be unable to restart Tomcat. Upstream recommends using Tomcat's catalina.sh script instead, and that script should in turn run the Java binary, so that the init script can properly handle any issues with starts, stops, or restarts. But that script doesn't have the support to bind ports as root and then run as an unprivileged user, like JSVC does…
Change I Can Believe In
Canonical to Roll Out Independent Ubuntu Certified Professional Certification for Ubuntu 10.04 LTS
Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, today announced that it will provide its own fully-independent certification for junior-level system administrators to help them with Ubuntu deployments in their office environments. The e-learning course version will be available shortly after the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Long Term Support) release on 29 April 2010 with students able to study in the classroom from June 2010 and the new exam available from October 2010.
Canonical open sources Launchpad and Ubuntu Single Sign On code
More details about the Canonical Identity Provider can be found on the project's Launchpad page (login required). Canonical Identity Provider code is released under version 3 of the GNU Affero General Public License (AGPLv3).
Open vs. Closed: Ubuntu Walks the Line
Canonical's 330 employees are responsible for maintaining, supporting and selling service for Ubuntu, an open-source version of the Linux operating system for servers, desktops and computer manufacturers. Some 120-150 of the Canonical employees contribute directly to the new releases of the software that come out every six months, and most of the company's revenue comes from supporting enterprise server customers and makers of computers that want to put Ubuntu on desktops. Consumers also download the software, but few pay Canonical for support. The company is not yet profitable.
Announcing the Release Candidate for Ubuntu 10.04 LTS
The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the Release Candidate for Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Long-Term Support) Desktop and Server Editions and Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Server for Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud (UEC) and Amazon's EC2, as well as Ubuntu 10.04 Netbook Edition. Codenamed "Lucid Lynx", 10.04 LTS continues Ubuntu's proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution.
What to Install After Installing Ubuntu Lucid?
Canonical CTO Matt Zimmerman Speaks
We appreciate Matt's time for the interview and we look forward to speaking with him again prior to the much anticipated 10.10 release.
wall mounted touch screen linux computer features "green" technology
This is a wall mounted, touch screen, low power, linux computer. Made from recycled materials, this is a pretty environmental friendly device.
MeeGo mobile Linux will also do laptops and desktops
Intel has revealed that it is developing a variant of the Linux-based MeeGo operating system that will run on conventional desktop and laptop computers. This move could substantially broaden MeeGo's scope, transforming it from a mobile platform into a general purpose Linux distro.
Hacker runs Google's Android on Apple's iPhone
There are matches made in heaven, and on the other side of the spectrum, there is David Wang's accomplishment: booting Google's Android operating system on Apple's iPhone
Wang, the "planetbeing" member of the a group called the iPhone Dev Team devoted to hacking iPhones, on Wednesday posted a video demonstrating Android on an iPhone.
Android OS gets loaded onto the Iphone
Sub-notebooks
Mobile Devices are Long-term Key for Chrome OS and Android
Google CEO Eric Schmidt shed some light on the company's plans for Chrome OS in tablets and mobile devices at the Atmosphere Cloud Computing Summit.
Cloud computing is the cornerstone of Chrome OS, as the platform runs entirely on cloud servers and all user data is automatically backed up to the same remote server network.
Chrome OS kernel source code hints at ARM, Tegra 2 hardware
Google's browser-centric Chrome OS hasn't reached the market yet, but development is progressing and the platform is attracting the interest of a growing number of hardware makers. Although the operating system was principally designed for netbooks, Google has also discussed some opportunities for bringing it to other kinds of devices, including ARM-based smartbooks and tablets.
Open source training more attractive to workers
Schools are heeding the call from organizations seeking IT personnel skilled in open source, but such efforts must involve broader industry participation and greater integration across the curriculum, according to an analyst.
With regard to open source modules, Patrick Chan, chief technology advisor for IDC Asia-Pacific's emerging technologies practice group, said a more concerted effort is required on the part of institutions to move universities in the same direction.
Vendor ownership doesn't mean lower open source risk
Having a big-name vendor backing an open source project does not necessarily translate to lower risk of implementation, and companies looking to rely on open source should be prepared to support the project inhouse, urged a founding member of the Apache Software Foundation (ASF).
Open source in a new light
This Roman knows how to spot the best open source
My Italian friend Roberto Galoppini has developed a new open source evaluation tool, SOSOpenSource, and Funambol has passed its tests.
Most open source evaluation tools use a corporate database of code and its licenses. They also tell you only whether code is open source, and what its license says if it is.
Motivation and Open Source
Moral obligations of Free Software authors?
I enjoy writing software. I often write software to solve some sort of problem that I've had. Usually virtually any code I write winds up in my git repositories, on the theory that it might be useful to someone else. Some of the code that I think might really be useful to people gets even better treatment. OfflineIMAP, for instance, has a very comprehensive manpage, heavily commented example config file, wiki, mailing list, public bug tracker, etc. Most of these I did the majority of the work to create, but OfflineIMAP does occasionally receive code and documentation contributions from others.
What's the Status of Project Renaissance?
Just 10 More Days
The wiki page has been visited 1414 times as of this moment, so if you haven't seen the growing list there yet, get a move on and possibly even add your own favorite default setting improvement.
White House delivers Drupal a stimulus
Drupal and its commercial arm, Acquia, got a big boost last year when it was announced the White House would be using the software.
The White House: open-source Drupal developer?
Call it a sign of the times: not only is the Obama White House using plenty of open-source software, its technology team is contributing back to the community.
Zmanda's Data Backup: Enterprise Quality, SMB Prices
For many small- and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), data is the most important asset. And that makes many SMBs vulnerable to natural and man-made disasters because few small business owners have been able to tackle the cost and complexity of data backup and disaster recovery processes. Zmanda, an open source, cloud-based data backup company, aims to change that.
Frontier Communications "Testing" To See How Users Respond To Being Ridiculously Overcharged For Bandwidth
Time Warner Cable eventually backed off the plan, but not before their brand (which they're planning to change) took a lot of damage. One small reason they backed off was because one of the company's few competitors, Frontier Communications, started advertising their DSL service as uncapped in order to gain a competitive advantage. Despite the fact Frontier was previously planning to impose 5GB monthly caps on all speed tiers — said ads lambasted the cable industry as greedy. Of course now that Time Warner Cable has backed off, Frontier is testing an even more ridiculous overcharging system.
ACTA Treaty Draft Text Released
Now, the DMCA also contained a "safe harbor" for ISPs that probably would not pass now (since it gave ISPs an exemption for liability that turned out to be broader than initially realized when the DMCA was enacted in the 1990s). I was concerned that ACTA would contain the anti-circumvention provisions but not the ISP safe-harbor rules–but some version of this does, at least, seem to be contemplated in the ACTA text (see pp. 20-21).
In any case, this horrible treaty needs to be stopped.
Bruce Lee: The Lost Interview (filmed in 1971 –> first aired 1994)
IRC Proceedings: April 22nd, 2010
Posted in IRC Logs at 6:18 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Read the log
Enter the IRC channel now
Apple's Latest Mischiefs, Ignores Mono's Pleas
Posted in Apple, GNU/Linux, Google, Hardware, Microsoft, Mono, Novell at 12:39 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Apple is rumoured to be interested in ARM; censorship of applications is publicly defended by Steve Jobs; MonoTouch is still crossed out by Apple
YESTERDAY we wrote about Adobe turning to Linux at Apple's expense. Apple was doing this to itself and if rumours are true, this vain company may eventually injure Linux by taking control of ARM (where Linux is very abundant).
Apple has used ARM chips. There are rumours that Apple wishes to buy ARM.
ARM is as close as you can get to "openness" in hardware and Apple is about as close as you can get to "closed" in hardware. It is possible for change to happen but Jobs has not shown any inclination. It would be ironic if Apple killed off the only real competition to Wintel and then suffered as a result. So far, Apple has moved under the radar of anti-competition laws but such a purchase might put them above the radar. They would certainly have more than 50% of the gadget-CPU market.
The above rumour seems unlikely to be true for many reasons. We discussed them in the IRC channel and this merits a long post that would encompass hardware rather than software, so we won't go there.
Apple's Jobs has been quoted as saying that "folks who want porn can buy an Android phone". This can be interpreted in all sorts of ways, including the insinuation that Android/Linux is impure or perverse.
Despite yesterday's iPhone debacle, Jobs was still in a chatty-enough mood to respond to a concerned customer's e-mail questioning Apple's role as "moral police" of its App Store. The customer, Matthew Browing, was referring to the App Store's initial rejection of an app containing Mark Fiore's Pulitzer-winning editorial cartoon, as well as the company's recent porn ban.
Apple's censorship is a subject that we covered around the beginning of the week and it is unfortunate that Norway's prime minister chooses design over substance. He got himself an hypePad and as one blogger puts it:
This is a bad example of governments using closed source or proprietary technologies over which they do not have any control.
Apple, despite creating some good-looking and innovative products like the iPhone, creates vendor-locked, closed source technologies. Apple has full control very every app running on the iPad. In a situation like this, how secure would it be for the leader of a country to use such a device to run his office, which may have a lot of back-doors?
Addressing the issue of control, SJVN tells Adobe to "Dump Apple, go Linux":
There are at least a dozen Linux-powered iPad clones on their way to market, and most of the early ones appear to be using Android. In addition, there are already popular Android-powered smartphones like Motorola's Droid. There's money to be made in tablets and smartphones that has nothing to with either iPads or iPhones.
True, Google seems to have its own video plans on Android and both the Chrome OS and browser involving HTML 5 and the VP8 video codec. At the same time, Google has shown that it's willing to integrate Adobe Flash Player into Chrome. Why not work even more closely with Google and Linux?
Think about it. Apple is no friend to Adobe these days. As always, Microsoft has its own agenda, and they'd much rather see Silverlight instead of Flash become the Internet and mobile video codec. Linux vendors and programmers, while they have no love for proprietary formats or programs will work with them, and are more likely to be friendly to Adobe than either Apple or Microsoft.
"Adobe says Bye to Apple, goes for Android," says another Web site.
With Apple's banning Adobe Flash based content on all of its mobile devices, Adobe announced that it has now officially given up on Apple. Their Flash Creative Suite 5 will still be available but Mike Chambers, the chief product manager for Developer's relation for Adobe's Flash program, confirmed no future work to be done on it for Apple platform in his blog post.
According to the latest update from the Mono team, MonoTouch receives no approval from Apple [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7].
While, we have heard little direct feedback from Apple regarding recently reported changes to the iPhone Developer Program Agreement, we have heard consistent feedback that Apple is concerned about inefficient apps created using abstraction layers that hide native APIs.
The key part is that which says: "we have heard little direct feedback from Apple regarding recently reported changes to the iPhone Developer Program Agreement" (meaning that Apple still intends to block MonoTouch, as per the new terms). Unfortunately, this could end up driving Mono into Android [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]. █
Hugo Lueders (CompTIA): Association's Members Are "Trade Secret"
Posted in Microsoft, Open XML, Patents at 12:03 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: The CompTIA's Hugo Lueders fails to inspire confidence in the front group that he helps operate to promote Microsoft interests such as software patents and OOXML
Microsoft's front group [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6], CompTIA, has been lobbying for Microsoft in Europe quite recently (and even 6 years ago when Hugo Lueders opposed EU fines for Microsoft's violation of the law). Glyn Moody has attempted to find out who is funding CompTIA, to no avail. Hugo Lueders, a Brussels-based CompTIA agent whom we wrote about in [1, 2], claims members of CompTIA to be a "trade secret". In the words of Moody:
…a cursory glance at the website of CompTIA, which represents the global IT industry, gives no details of the association's membership. Asked by EurActiv to comment on this, Hugo Lueders of CompTIA's Brussels office said such details were "trade secrets" that the association's members did not wish to make known.
The idea that the names of members of a major trade organisation could be "trade secrets" would be pretty amusing at the best of times, but in a context of increasing openness and even nominal political transparency, is simply risible. It means that it is not possible for politicians or members of the public to see who exactly is behind CompTIA's lobbying efforts, or to understand the real agendas behind its actions. The CompTIA's reluctance to release even something as basic as its membership list can only be viewed with a certain suspicion: after all, as we are constantly reminded these days, those with nothing to hide, have nothing to fear…
One of our readers described Hugo Lueders as "a political scientist [who] also wrote in the German social democratic newspaper Die Zeit, adding a contribution about a Garaudy book (1972). The neo-Marxist Garaudy is today mostly known for his anti-Semitic writings." Lueders, despite his affiliation with a front group, has managed to affect EU policy by entering the European Software Strategy process alongside Microsoft lobbyists like Zuck. We covered this in posts such as:
European Open Source Software Workgroup a Total Scam: Hijacked and Subverted by Microsoft et al
Microsoft's AstroTurfing, Twitter, Waggener Edstrom, and Jonathan Zuck
Does the European Commission Harbour a Destruction of Free/Open Source Software Workgroup?
The Illusion of Transparency at the European Parliament/Commission (on Microsoft)
2 Months and No Disclosure from the European Parliament
After 3 Months, Europe Lets Microsoft-Influenced EU Panel be Seen
Formal Complaint Against European Commission for Harbouring Microsoft Lobbyists
'European' Software Strategy Published, Written by Lobbyists and Multinationals
Microsoft Uses Inside Influence to Grab Control, Redefine "Open Source"
With Friends Like These, Who Needs Microsoft?
Over in New Zealand, Microsoft seems to be lobbying for software patents using partners and front groups. It's just like OOXML (when CompTIA shamelessly lied for Microsoft) and a short survey reveals that 81% of those "representing ICT professionals throughout New Zealand" are against software patents.
Following the Commerce Select Committee's recommendation to the Government to remove software from the Patents Act, the Society polled its members (representing ICT professionals throughout New Zealand), and found that 81% of those that had a view supported the recommendation to remove Software from the Patents Act.
This pretty much seals the deal, right? In a democracy at least. The New Zealand Computer Society, which opposes software patents, has this document [PDF] which argues that software patents are reduced to simply monopoly protection rather than promotion of innovation. Lobbyists too are reduced to simply monopoly protection rather than promotion of innovation. █
Facebook Joins Microsoft's War on ODF
Posted in Microsoft, Open XML, OpenDocument, OpenOffice, Oracle at 11:26 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: An announcement from Mark Zuckerberg reveals his true colours and long known connections with Microsoft; Oracle's bizarre decision regarding the ODF plug-in for Office is debated further
A WEEK AGO we wrote about Microsoft dumping "to suppress OpenOffice.org adoption (and thus development)" and yesterday we wrote about Oracle's idiotic move which is likely to harm ODF. On previous occasions we also emphasised that Facebook's Zuckerberg is in bed with Microsoft (he has been in it for years [1, 2]) and even its extortionate patent trolls . It therefore does not surprise us that Facebook is joining Microsoft's attack on rival office suites, based on the following news:
Docs.com: Facebook and Microsoft Go After Google Docs
During today's F8 keynote, Mark Zuckerberg announced a number of new products and features for Facebook, including a new collaboration with Microsoft. With Docs.com, Microsoft's FUSE labs just launched an online document editor and viewer that connects directly to Facebook and uses all of the new social features for third-party sites that Facebook announced today.
Getting back to Oracle's apparent neglect of ODF for Office users (it is not too likely that many companies will pay when they already have fake 'support' from Microsoft [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]), Andy Updegrove emphasises that $9,000 — not $90 — is the cost of this package (it comes in larger units).
Moreover, it's not just $90 you'll need to fork over – the plug-in is only available in packages of 100.
Before you ask: (a) yes, an Office 2007 service pack released some time back by Microsoft allows users of that version of Office (and also of Office 2000, 2003 and XP) to work with documents using ODF 1.0, but not the most current version of ODF, which is version 1.2; and (2) no, unlike OpenOffice, the plug-in was never made available by Sun as open source software.
For me, this raises three important questions:
1. What is Oracle trying to accomplish?
2. Is it likely to work?
3. Given that Oracle controls OpenOffice.org, developer of the most widely used desktop direct implementation of ODF, what does this indicate for the future of that software?
Conclusion: While the existence of OpenOffice was essential to ODF in the first few years after Peter Quinn's quixotic decision to support the rebel standard, ODF is now past the point where it's future is dependent on it. And in point of fact, Sun was always at best a flawed steward for the poster child implementation of ODF, keeping too close control over it to attract the kind of broad individual and enterprise support that flocked to contribute to Linux and Apache, for example.
Overall, though, I think that Oracle has probably made a reasonable decision insofar as its own self interest is concerned. It does leave open one tantalizing question though, that's harder to read: does the decision to charge for the plug-in indicate that Oracle is taking its ODF-compliant office suite unit seriously as a money maker, and plans to put serious resources behind it, or that it is simply imposing a bean-counter's discipline on the unit to make money?
If it's the former, than that's good news for the ODF community, because OpenOffice still has the most dedicated users, and the most credibility, of all the alternatives. And if the paid version gets traction, there will be more third party software developers, like those that create crucial software, such as document management tools, that will take the time to integrate with it. This is essential to creating a true proprietary as well as an open source competitor to Office.
One news outlet says that "Oracle Wants to Charge $9,000 for 'Free' Download" and Rob Weir is trying to identify the positives, but he is biased because his current career depends on ODF. He writes:
At the risk of pouring oil on the fire, let me say that I think this is an exciting development for ODF. We have three solutions for providing ODF support in MS Office:
1. Oracle's Plugin
2. CleverAge Add-in
3. Microsoft's native ODF support
These three solutions have always varied in terms of quality of conversion, versions of MS Office supported, versions of ODF supported, level of integration into MS Office, etc. And now they vary based on price. This is a good thing. It is called "competition". I like it.
Here is an opinion from someone who commented in Weir's blog:
It seems entirely likely that this will allow ORCL to say "We gave it a fair shot, but there's just no demand for it." With that, Oracle could abandon the ODF-translation field, leaving it to the Microsoft-sponsored Clever Age plugins project and the not-so-interoperable built-in functionality in recent updates to MS Office.
As an aside, is it likely that something like this is coming to MySQL soon?
What does this say for the OpenOffice.org project? Obviously, no one knows yet. At least, no one outside of Oracle knows.
Regardless of Oracle's plans, there are many other companies which are involved in ODF, so the standard ought to thrive. Here are two new reports, one from Document Freedom Day in Slovenia and another from the ODF Plugfest in Granada.
The first Document Freedom Day in Slovenia has passed and it went pretty good.
I know that for the biggest impact I should have reported about it the very same day or at least the next one, but a) I was too tired b) I had to much other important tasks to do and c) I wanted to gather everything so I can submit a nicely rounded off report. Warning: longer post ahead.
Rob Weir of IBM summed up the status of the next version of the standard. ODF 1.2, which is almost done, will be divided in three parts: one for the core schema, one for the container and one for OpenFormula (do you remember that the first generation of ODF compliant spreadsheet suites lacked formula compatibility? This should fix that problem for good). New features will include digital signatures, support for RDF capabilities (see below) and native tables in presentation slides. An Interoperability demonstration of ODF 1.2 will take place at the OOoCon Conference in Budapest next September. Rob also mentioned that everybody can send in suggestions for the next version of the standard, that should include things like modularization, web profiles, enhanced SVG support and Xform integration. You can either answer OASIS calls for public comments, join the OASIS ODF TC or implement ODF 1.2 and send feedback.
OOXML is a one-company format that no company has implemented (Microsoft says it might implement it within several years), whereas ODF is here and it is properly supported by many companies, excluding Microsoft which is conveniently faking support. █
The Microsoft Who Cried "Wolf!"
Posted in Antitrust, Free/Libre Software, Microsoft, Windows at 11:00 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
"We will really behave this time, we promise!"
Summary: Mozilla Firefox and other Free/libre Web browsers are discriminated against in Microsoft's ballot due to yet another "error"
Yesterday we showed that IBM's Rob Weir had pointed out yet another Microsoft ballot error. This is not the first time that Weir spots and/or reports such an issue; he is not alone, either. Just watch the wealth of previous examples found and accumulated in:
Browser Ballot Critique
Microsoft's Fake "Choice" Campaign is Back
Microsoft Claimed to be Cheating in Web Browsers Ballot
Microsoft Loses Impact in the Web Despite Unfair Ballot Placements
Given Choice, Customers Reject Microsoft
Microsoft is Still Cheating in Browser Ballot — Claim
The latest ballot error (or 'error' with scare quotes) is now being confirmed by Microsoft, which will be "kind" enough to address the problem.
But there's a glitch in its Polish language page, wrote Rob Weir, an ODF (Open Document Format) architect with IBM, who wrote on his personal blog that he was tipped off to a problem.
Microsoft acknowledged the error.
Microsoft keeps making errors and "fixing" them. How many times? Like 5 times already? How come so many failed attempts? How hard is it to just make a simple screen with selections. This is the type of JavaScript exercise that can be assigned to a high school student. The headline says "Microsoft agrees to fix error in Polish browser ballot screen"; barring the possibility of inaccuracy in reporting, it's like saying "Toyota agrees to fix faulty brakes".
Microsoft keeps talking about "the new Microsoft" or use the above ballot as an example of fairness (it's not fairness, it's compliance with the law, which Microsoft is repeatedly failing to comply with). Are any more "oops moments" over Microsoft's horizon? █
"When people understand what Microsoft is up to, they're outraged."
–Tim O'Reilly
ACTA Versus Software Freedom
Posted in Free/Libre Software, Intellectual Monopoly, Patents at 10:39 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Opinions on the emergence of the ACTA text and what it means to Free software, as well as other aspects of decreasingly-free life
YESTERDAY we wrote about the ACTA [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14] only as a reminder that it affects patent policy all around the world [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] in one fell swoop.
The Against Monopoly author compares the ACTA to the DMCA, which now pales in comparison.
ACTA is also similar to another arcane law, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which, under the guise of protecting "property rights," snuck in provisions that criminalize even the mere possession of technology that can be used to circumvent digital protection systems (see, e.g., my post TI Uses Copyright Law to Attack TI Calculator Enthusiasts). Likewise, under the guise or protecting property rights in inventions and artistic works (patent and copyright), it "seeks to provide legal authority for the surveillance of Internet file transfers and searches of personal property". As one group notes, "ACTA goes way, way beyond the TRIPS (the copyright/patent/trademark stuff in the World Trade Organization agreement), creating an entirely new realm of liability for people who provide services on the net". More invasion of personal liberty and property rights in the name of false, artificial property rights.
Our reader Ziomatrix said that the ACTA is "a flood of intellectual property law and DRM forced down as many throats as possible" and Hugo from the FSFE explained the threats to Free Software as follows:
Second, ACTA is not a trade agreement. Whatever the EU negotiators claim, the fact is that ACTA goes beyond current legislations and aims at creating internationally harmonized legislations on how "intellectual property rights" should be enforced. This is one of the reason why ACTA is creating its own body (the Committee) with its own executives (the Secretariat), independently from the World Trade Organization within which international trade agreements should be negotiated, and independently from World Intellectual Property Organization within which international treaties dealing with copyright, trademark and patents are usually negotiated (and open to NGOs like FSFE). The threat to Free Software is that there is absolutely no safeguards as to how the principles of freedom and sharing software would be kept intact.
Glyn Moody has tried hard to find some positives:
This is certainly a victory for transparency, if only a partial one. It's a victory because it would never have happened had not countless organisations and individuals protested loudly and repeatedly against this travesty of democracy whereby we would be presented with a fait accompli once the trade agreement had been signed. It's a victory because certain of the worst clauses, present in the leaked version of a couple of months ago [.pdf], seem to have disappeared according to a thorough analysis on Ars Technica.
Simon Phipps from the OSI wrote: "They couldn't keep it secret any longer because too many people – including those inside the process – thought it was a disgrace. I wonder if they had to surrender any principles to the US in order to gain that unanimous agreement? We'll know on Wednesday, after which the "you're wrong and I'll not tell you why" defence for ACTA's apologists is also off the table."
The ACTA is very relevant to Free software and to more aspects of life. It is by all means a suppressor of freedom and it gets rammed though under the disguise of "fighting fake medicine" (which has nothing to do with multimedia and digital copyright that it's being lumped together with). █
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text:
Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh (, born 9 July 1945, in Tabriz)is an Iranian politician who was minister of industry of Iran since he was approved by the Iranian parliament on 15 August 2013 until 20 August 2017.

Early life and education
Born in Tabriz in 1945, Nematzadeh received his elementary and secondary education in Tehran and a bachelor of science degree in environmental engineering from California State Polytechnic University in 1968. He was a graduate student in industrial management at the University of California (Berkeley) but was unable to continue and returned to Iran.

Career
Nematzadeh was the minister of labour in 1980 and served as the minister of industry from 1980 to 1981, and again from 1989 to 1997. He also chaired the presidential campaign of the current Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, which led to an election of Rouhani in June 2013. On 15 August, he was confirmed by the Majlis as minister of industry, mining and trade, receiving 199 Yes votes and 60 Nays. 24 Majlis members did not attend the session. He was announced on 26 July 2017 that he will not be in Rouhani's second cabinet.

References

1945 births
Living people
People from Tabriz
California Polytechnic State University alumni
Government ministers of Iran
Moderation and Development Party politicians
Executives of Construction Party politicians
Islamic Republican Party politicians
Iranian campaign managers

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The message from Fort Worth, Texas: no more religious advertisements allowed, at least on its transit system.
The pro and anti-religious ad battle has been front and center this holiday season. Atheist groups and the Catholic League had a billboard brawl in New York late last month, and now the fight has reached Texas.
The Board of the Fort Worth Transportation Authority (The T) voted unanimously last week to formally adopt an advertising policy for all T property which includes a ban on faith-based ads.
The vote was prompted after a recent ad purchased by The Dallas-Fort Worth Coalition of Reason which caused a lot of commotion in town. The ad posted on four buses reads "Millions of Americans are good without God."
Joan Hunter, communications manager for The T, said the decision for the ban was not based on the content of the Coalition's ad, but rather the amount of resources the department had to spare to field concerns in reaction to it.
"The demands on our time to respond and trying to engage us as a public forum was pulling us from focus on the operation of a transit agency and that is our business," Hunter said in an e-mail message to CNN.
The T already had guidelines in place against tobacco and alcohol ads, some local political ads, and those deemed obscene. In a news release, The T says the new policy will "exclude any ads with religious, non-theistic, or faith-based content and all political ads."
"Our policy regarding belief ads that we had was impartial and had worked without interruptions to our time and resources in the past," Hunter said. She also noted there are several other ads posted on their bus fleet right now, including one that says "Jesus is the reason for the season" and another paid for by a Catholic organization.
Terry McDonald, coordinator of the Coalition, said the group's campaign was not scheduled to come out during December. It was being worked on last summer to coincide with a book signing by Harvard humanist chaplain Greg Epstein. When the event fell through, the Coalition thought the title of Epstein's book, "Good Without God," still held an important message.
"The reason for our campaign is to let people who are nonbelievers know about the Dallas-Fort Worth Coalition of Reason and that has succeeded very, very well," McDonald said.
He said the group didn't expect there to be anywhere near this much publicity but with the media coverage of the controversy the Coalition's affiliates are seeing their memberships increase and they've received donations from across the country.
Kyev Tatum, pastor of Friendship Rock Baptist Church in Fort Worth, called The T Board's vote "a dangerous precedent" because it only took a matter of days for religion to be taken out of public policy. Tatum had called for a boycott of the buses when the controversy began.
"The compromise was worse than what we had before," Tatum said, "because the compromise says Christians can no longer advertise and we don't like that."
Any current advertising with The T that falls into a banned category will be allowed to remain in place through the remainder of the contract. The Coalition's ads will expire in early January.
Hmmm... a bunch of christians complaining about the actions of other christians (look at who runs the T), and blaming it on atheists.
When you people start thinking, I'll start giving you credit. But, for now, I'll do as you do and blame your ignorance on your imaginary friend, afterall... everything flows from your imaginary friend, right? The good and the bad, your intelligence and your ignorance. Why take ownership of your own failings or successes when some imaginary being pulls all your strings?
Try all you want fools you will never get rid of God!
Let me see if I understand this correctly. To gain entry into heaven I must accept Christian doctrine by faith and obey God's laws. If I succeed I spend eternity in heaven, if not eternity in hell. Eternity must be longer than a thousand years, a million, or even a billion. Quite a reward for blindly accepting a doctrine by faith alone. Quite a punishment for making the wrong choice. And if I choose to be a Hindu, worship Buddha, follow Spinoza or Confucius, I get forever in torment by default. Doesn't seem quite fair to me. Don't think I want to worship the god that has those requirements.
Religion is simply a matter of geography. It has nothing to do with the existence of mystic deities. Your faith is what you were born into, not what you chose by examination. All men fear dying, religion eases the pain. One thing is provable, the more dogmatic the believer, the less intelligent he is.
GINCAS, you have no basis for this and we KNOW you have no basis for this because no reliable statistical study of American prisoners has ever been done. And we also know you are not only wrong, but dishonest because you are using a bait-and-switch on his definition of atheist; only 0.7% of Americans actually call themselves atheists versus the 15% who the American Religious Identification Survey describes as None/No Religion.
Moreoever, we actually have comprehensive data regarding the United Kingdom. In fact, that's likely where you got your imaginary number for American atheists in prison, from the UK, which reported 122 atheists being held in English and Welsh jails That just happens to be 0.2 percent of the 65,256 prison population there.
But in addition to those 122 atheists, there also happened to be another 20,639 prisoners, 31.6 percent of the total prison population, who claimed to possess "no religion." And this was not simply a case of people falling through the cracks or refusing to provide an answer; the Inmate Information System is specific enough to distinguish between Druids, Scientologists, and Zoroastrians as well as between the Celestial Church of God, the Welsh Independent church, and the Non-Conformist church. It also features separate categories for "other Christian religion," "other non-Christian religion," and "not known." At only two-tenths of a percent of the prison population, self-identifying atheists are, as previously suggested, extremely law-abiding. But when one compares the 31.6 percent of imprisoned no-religionists to the 15.1 percent of Britons who checked "none" or wrote in Jedi Knight, agnostic, atheist, or heathen in the 2001 national survey, it becomes clear that their practical atheist brethren are nearly four times more likely to be convicted and jailed for committing a crime than a Christian.
In other words, No Religion atheists are without question much more criminally inclined than Christians even if self-identified Scarlet-A Atheists are not. And since you used the much larger 10% figure, you clearly have the No Religion atheists in mind, which shows the disingenuous nature of your original comparison between the ratio of Christians/Christians and Atheists/atheists. Remember, you can't have your own facts, GINCAS!
sheep will always be sheep! All religions are the subjugation of self AND others. No more; no less.
Agnostics and atheists think for themselves – no doctrines, fable, fairytale, scripture, etc. crap.


text:
Palsgaard emulsifiers promise low cost mayo production
By Anthony Fletcher
06-Dec-2005 - Last updated on 19-Jul-2008 at 08:51 GMT
Related tags: Emulsion, Milk
Palsgaard has developed two emulsifier solutions that it claims
could cut the cost of producing quality all-vegetable low-fat
mayonnaise.
"For 30 per cent mayonnaise, we've calculated that manufacturers can make a saving of €15.64 for every 100kg of mayonnaise produced, taking into account what ingredients have been added and what have been taken away," said Kristian Hansen, application technician at Palsgaard's Lipid Fine Food Group.
In addition, theproduct could also help food makers tap into the growing trend towards low fat food.
"This has led to increased interest in the development of all-vegetable mayonnaise in many countries in and outside Europe," said Hansen.
In all-vegetable mayonnaises the egg and milk protein content is substituted by other emulsifying agents such as emulsifying starches, which reduce the interfacial tension between the oil and the water.
By using emulsifying starches, a stable emulsion with small oil droplets is obtained. The attraction to consumers is that such a product offers no cholesterol and no lactose.
This however is not easy to achieve. "All-vegetable mayonnaise means no eggs, no milk solids and the achievement of a fat content of between 20 and 60 per cent," said Hansen. "There is also local legislation to be taken into consideration."
As a result, Palsgaard was on hand at FiE last week to demonstrate the effectiveness of its emulsifier/stabiliser systems Palsgaard 5413 and Palsgaard 5414. These consist of different types of modified starches and gums and are designed to secure good emulsion stability together with a pleasant texture and a good mouthfeel.
"It is possible to produce vegetable mayonnaise with a fat content of 60 per cent to 20 per cent," said Hansen. "In fact, the production process for all-vegetable mayonnaise is similar to that of normal types of mayonnaise."
The advantage for manufacturers, according to Hansen, is that they are able to replace expensive raw materials with a simple emulsifier solution.
The all-in-one blend is also easy to handle in production, and offers the same quality all year around. There is no need to label a product as containing eggs and / or milk, which could also be an advantage in targeting consumers with allergies.
"Looking at the market in the EU and the rest of the world, the trend is for high quality but low cost," said Hansen. "The market for medium cost products is declining. With this product you have both - high quality and low cost."
Related topics: Science
Emulsifiers vital for chocolate coating, says Palsgaard
Scientists unlock secret to whey-based 'mayo'
Palsgaard improves emulsifier range
Palsgaard launches emulsifiers for very low fat spreads

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Education Essay: Homework helpers chemistry all papers checked!
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text:
England all-rounder Moeen Ali believes Pakistan's decision to honour their commitment to tour England in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic this year played a role.
Ali played in Pakistan in the Pakistan Super League and he thinks England's decision to play there will have positive, far-reaching consequences for the game, not least in Pakistan.
"It's a massive moment for cricket going forward," Ali said on a conference call from Cape Town ahead of a Twenty20 international series against South Africa.
"I think it's right we go back after such a long time for the game itself and for Pakistan and cricket in the country.
"We can't wait to go there."
ECB chief executive officer Tom Harrison hailed the move as a "significant moment for both nations".
Harrison said the priority would be to ensure the squad operated under the tightest security possible.
"We are working closely with the PCB to ensure all the necessary plans are in place," Harrison said.
"Especially concerning the anticipated levels of security around the team, the proposed travel protocols and of course the situation regarding the fast-moving and ever-changing Covid-19 pandemic."
International cricket in Pakistan was put on hold in 2009 after gunmen opened fire on the bus carrying the visiting Sri Lankan team in Lahore, killing eight people and wounding several players and officials.
Pakistan Cricket Board chief executive Wasim Khan said England's tour was confirmation of the positive steps Pakistan had taken in assuring security for visiting teams, which has encouraged nations to return. Zimbabwe toured last month.
"The nation has waited patiently for cricket to return sustainably to Pakistan," Khan said in a statement.
"The enhanced progress made over the last two years has been down to nurturing relationships with various cricket boards and international players, as well as building trust and confidence.
"The ECB's confirmation further endorses Pakistan as safe and secure."
– 'Helped massively' –
Pakistan head coach Misbah-ul-Haq said England's decision will encourage other countries who have yet to commit to follow suit.
"I think there can't be bigger news for Pakistan cricket that England will tour Pakistan next year," he said.
"A successful step towards the revival of the game.
"It will go a long way in helping players as well as for the game.
"Once England tour, then confidence will grow for major teams to tour. This is big news and a big achievement."
England had tentatively suggested they would tour in early 2021 but due to prior commitments to Sri Lanka and India they would have been compelled to field a second string squad.
The T20 internationals will serve as a warm-up for the World Cup being hosted by India in October and November.
Pakistan gained favour with the ECB in going ahead with their tour of England earlier this year — as did the West Indies — despite the restrictions placed on the squad due to coronavirus protocols.
Pakistan played three Test matches and three T20Is (although one game was a no-result wash-out) in England.
"The teams that came over — West Indies and Pakistan –- were amazing to have gone through the whole bubble after the coronavirus and all the news that cricket was on the edge," said England's Ali.
"They helped massively with that."
Players free to quit tour if they are down, says England skipper Root
India include Natarajan in test squad for injured Yadav
Narendra Modi makes fresh appeal to farmers protesting over new laws
Passenger flights from UK to India resume after 16 days
Graceful Gaur goes for glory
Narindar Saroop brought the Tories closer to Asians
India's Serum Institute expects approval for AstraZeneca vaccine 'very soon'
Ayushmann Khurrana to celebrate New Year with his family in Chandigarh after a decade


Interface to show a drop-down list of pickable options. Used by the SelectItem and ComboBoxItem classes.
Specifies an alternative field from which display values should be retrieved for this item.
If this item is not databound (optionDataSource is unset), or bound to the same dataSource as the form as a whole, this is implemented by picking up the value of the specified field from the Form's values object.
Otherwise this item will attempt to map its underlying value to a display value by retrieving a record from the optionDataSource where the valueField matches this item's value, and displaying the displayField value from that record.
This essentially enables the specified optionDataSource to be used as a server based ValueMap.
Returns the displayField for this form item.
Empty message to display in the pickList if hideEmptyPickList is false.
If this item has a databound pick-list (for example optionDataSource is set) this property can be used to provide static filter criteria when retrieving the data for the pickList.
If this item is part of a databound form, and has a specified valueMap by default we show the valueMap options in the pickList for the item.
If this form item maps data values to display values by retrieving the displayField values from an optionDataSource, this property denotes the the field to use as the underlying data value in records from the optionDataSource.
If unset, assumed to be the name of this form item.
Getter method to retrieve the valueField for this item.
If this item is part of a databound form, and has a specified valueMap by default we show the valueMap options in the pickList for the item. Setting this property to true will ensure that the options displayed in our pickList are derived from the form's dataSource.
When applying filter criteria to pickList data, what type of matching to use. Legal values are "substring" (value contains user input) or "startsWith" (value starts with user input. Both matches are case insensitive.
For a databound pickList (optionDataSource set), textMatchStyle is sent to the server as textMatchStyle.
textMatchStyle - textMatchStyle Default value is "startsWith"
Getter method to retrieve the valueField for this item. If unset, default behavior will return the name of this field.
The default implementation applies the criteria returned by #getPickListFilterCriteria to the data returned by getClientPickListData(). A record passes the filter if it has a matching value for all fields in the criteria object. Matching is performed according to textMatchStyle.


Hewlett-Packard's decision to acquire Palm and "double down" on its webOS operating system has so far proven a regrettable and costly mistake. How costly?
Non-GAAP earnings and operating profit information excludes after-tax costs of $3.3 billion, or $1.56 per diluted share, related to the wind down of HP's webOS device business, impairment of goodwill and purchased intangible assets, amortization of purchased intangible assets, restructuring charges and acquisition-related charges.
Update: I originally read that list of items as all connected to webOS, but the related expenses seem to break out like so: $885 million from the "impairment of goodwill and purchased intangible assets" was largely tied to webOS and Palm, and $775 million in one-time charges were related to the wind down.


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Is Student Loan Assistance the New 401K?
When it comes to financial responsibilities, few things are as daunting as repaying student loans.
Did you know that as of July 2018 there is $1.5 trillion in total U.S. student loan debt? To put that number into perspective, $1.5 trillion can cover a year's salary for over 20 million teachers. Plus, student loans are now the second-largest category of household debt in America, trailing only behind mortgages.
Millennials and Generation Z are in the midst of understanding their repayment structure and plan, which is likely overwhelming and causing anxiety on some level given that those numbers are no small thing. A PwC survey found that 40 percent of Millennial employees have a student loan, and over 80 percent of them say their student loans have a moderate or significant impact on their ability to meet other financial goals.
Federal statistics show that a typical 2017 college graduate owes about $39,400 in student loans, and borrowers ages 20 to 30 are making average payments of $351 a month to service their loans. That's a significant chunk of change for young professionals starting out in their careers and looking to make any major financial investments.
According to an Oliver Wyman 2017 survey of employees, when asked what they would want if their boss offered to put $200 a month toward benefits a whopping 45 percent said they would want that money to be put towards paying off student loans. In comparison, only 29 percent wanted that money put towards retirement and 17 percent said they would want help paying for health insurance.
Employers have the opportunity to aid this younger demographic with meeting their financial goals – and one key way is through student loan contribution programs such as matching contributions, making direct payments and providing access to more resources.
The number of employers offering student loan benefits is small, but that number is expected to increase in the coming years with a number of recent bills seeking to make this kind of assistance tax free for companies. Big names such as Starbucks and Verizon have expressed interest and support for this measure.
Our 2018 State of Workplace Empathy Study found that 92 percent of all employees say student loan assistance demonstrates an organization is empathetic towards employees. With 9 out of 10 employees reporting they are more likely to stay with an empathetic employer, student loan contributions can be a powerful tool for attracting and retaining top talent.
Recruitment: If a candidate has offers to two different organizations with exact same pay, benefits and work perks, but one offers student loan repayment and the other doesn't, it's an easy decision to opt for the one that will help them pay off a portion of debt.
Retention: When an employee hears their friend is getting employer help with their student loans, and your organization isn't offering that benefit, it could perk up their ears for new jobs.
These are simple examples – and feel obvious – but yet only 1 in 10 employers with over 40,000 employees offer a third-party repayment assistance program. You could be the head of the pack when it comes to attracting, and keeping, top talent.
So, what's the bottom line? Your younger workforce is feeling the financial strain of student loans, and as a tactic to keep that talent and invest in your organization's future, you should consider offering student loan contribution programs.
Want more employee benefits tips?


Diego Zuluaga is a policy analyst at the Cato Institute's Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, where he covers financial technology and consumer credit. Before joining Cato, Zuluaga was Head of Financial Services and Tech Policy at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London. While at the IEA, he authored papers on the social value of finance, the regulation of online platforms, and the taxation of capital income, among others. His work has been featured in print and broadcast media, such as the Times, Newsweek, and the Daily Telegraph. Zuluaga is a prolific public speaker as well as a former lecturer in economics at the University of Buckingham.


text:
Parent and Child Together
Delivering a high standard of supported accommodation for vulnerable families
Parent and Child Together North East (PACTNE) is an innovative supported housing charity which is committed to assisting vulnerable families to stay together and thrive.
Formed as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) in October 2016 PACTNE has just one objective which is:
"To promote and preserve good health among parents and children living in the Tees Valley and surrounding areas, in particular but not exclusively by providing supported accommodation, support, advice, training and therapeutic services to young persons and adults who are pregnant or parenting children and who are made vulnerable by homelessness, need, hardship or distress."
Many families in distress or crisis lack the personal resources, skills or extended family support needed to stabilise and as a result, children are effected adversely and might ultimately need to become Looked After by the Local Authority. Our goal is to prevent this from happening, whenever possible, by providing a comfortable home, intensive support, relevant group and individual training, and where appropriate counselling for families who are struggling for a variety of reasons. These may include temporary or ongoing physical or mental health challenges, homelessness, financial crisis, physical or learning disabilities or difficulties, domestic violence, inadequate parenting role models, and the after effects of previous life style choices. This list is far from exhaustive and PACTNE will consider referrals for any family who can be described as vulnerable and in need of supported accommodation.
Parent and Child Together North East (PACTNE) provides a high standard of supported accommodation for these vulnerable families. Based on the outskirts of Darlington in a rural location, the charity occupies a three acre site on which six log cabins have been built. Resident families can stay for up to two years before transitioning back into the wider community.
Our seven homes are situated on a spacious open site in a quiet rural environment on the edge of Darlington.
To date our supported housing has been used by families from Redcar and Cleveland, Middlesbrough, Stockton, Hartlepool, North Yorkshire and Darlington.
Comfortable Homes
Each of our well furnished homes have an open lounge and kitchen, a good sized bathroom and up to three bedrooms.
We have recently developing a two bed accessible home which is suitable for a family with a parent or child with mobility issues.
Communal Facilities
Our open site offers lots of opportunities for recreation for children and families. The play area provides swings, slides, trampoline and tree house, and the raised bed allotment offers space for hands on activities for the whole family.
Parent and Child Together North East
Eagle House, Hurworth Moor, Darlington DL2 1QE
Email: pactne@gmail.com
Tel: 07535977188 (office)
Who is PACTNE?
How to make a referral?
Supporting PACTNE
What others say about us?
Look at the accommodation
Designed by Grant Roets


A new book written by a Texas Technological University professor trained in empirical science targets the strong-willed, spiritually-challenged person who has a hard time arriving at faith.
In "god.online: Seeking God in the 21st Century" (Mead Publishing, 2003), Dr. Jim Wetherbe provides an approach that allows an individual to draw conclusions about the existence of God based on what one can reason and experience. But at the same time, the author builds a biblically consistent case for believing.
Wetherbe, who has spent more than 30 years in academia and industry and lectured worldwide on management and information technology, says at one time in his life he approached the things of God with great skepticism. Before he became a Christian he was skeptical about many things that seemed to be believed by others without much difficulty, he says.
In god.online, the scientist and academician makes use of his basically skeptical nature, using it to answer questions often posed by those who have no faith in god. "In my book, I offer an approach for someone who likes to think logically and likes to base things upon what they can see and observe," he says.
He acknowledges that this approach does not work for everyone. "If that isn't the way for you, then keep looking for other ways," he advises, "because you're trying to build a bridge from non-faith to faith. I think the most important thing is to never give up seeking God. The more you seek, the better you'll understand."
And toward the objective of helping post-moderns understand the quest for faith, Wetherbe extends throughout the book a highly relevant 21st Century metaphor: the Internet. "If I were to tell you 30 years ago about the Internet, you'd have a hard time believing what I was describing could possibly be true. Similarly, the concept of an omnipresent, invisible God that can have enormous wisdom and capability to add to your life is a real intellectual stretch," he says.
"But," the author continues, "as the Bible says, you have to seek and you will find. And just like with your PC, you have to decide to go 'online.' You have to make the decision to try to make that connection."
And, Wetherbe adds, just as computer users need to guard themselves against viruses and offers that often come disguised in the form of a friendly message or greeting, individuals need to guard themselves spiritually. Like cyber-surfers, those seeking to live for God must be wary of all kinds of evil thoughts and temptations that may seem good at first but can ultimately lead to destruction.


Public buildings can be a magnet for germs and bacteria. Having a janitorial crew come in daily is not always enough to keep a building germ-free and safe. If you have a business that is open to the general public, like a retail store, restaurant or office, consider offering a cleanliness training program for your employees.
Hands transfer most of the bacteria that is passed from person to person in public areas. Countertops, doors and tables can hold onto germs throughout the day and spread like wildfire. Believe it or not, floors are also a potential breeding ground for hearty types of viruses. Cover cleaning these areas as well.
Planning a routine disinfecting program for high traffic areas will keep not only your customers free from germs, but your staff as well. Train employees to know how bacteria is spread and what types of cleaning products work best. Always have the proper type of cleaners on hand to use.
There are many different types of janitorial supplies in St. Louis that are designed to attack certain types of germs and bacteria. Some carry a large spectrum of germ fighters while others are specific to certain strains. By learning the chemicals that are most effective for your establishment and equipping your workplace with the right supplies, you can be sure that you are delivering the best possible protection possible.
For instance, treated matting is designed to capture outdoor particles that can hold germ-carrying disease and other filth. Just don't forget to routinely clean your mats so large particles of dirt will not be tracked in or cause customers to slip.
It only takes a small amount of time to educate staff on the precautions of maintaining a healthy environment. By being proactive in cleanliness, your establishment can be a welcome place for customers to visit. Employees will also learn valuable knowledge about the importance of cleaning or disinfecting supplies and be able to incorporate into their own lives.
Only by education can a society become better equipped to create a better environment. Start your own cleanliness training program today and get staff in the habit of reducing germs through knowledge and supplies.


Not every hero wears a mask and cape. Krispy Kreme wants to share some sweet love with your favorite hero with FREE donuts. On April 28, Krispy Kreme celebrates National Superhero Day by asking customers to give some doughnuts to the real-life everyday heroes among us, whether it's your mom, teacher, local police officer or firefighter, or school crossing guard.
Get a FREE dozen doughnuts to share with your personal superhero with the purchase of one at regular price at participating locations. Limit one offer per customer. The offer is not valid at grocery or convenience stores. For locations, click here.


Asian dishes with prunes, or dried plums. Recipes include Thai, stir-fry and salads.
23 Sep Asian No comments.
23 Sep Asian, Cuisine, Low-Fat, Popular Collections No comments.
21 Sep Asian, Low-Fat, Popular Collections, Recipes, Soup & Salad No comments.


a clue to their colour.
Caitlin Elizabeth Thomson's work has appeared in numerous journals including the Hart House Review, Going Down Swinging, Labletter, The Toronto Quarterly and Neon. Her first collection of poems, The Victims of Ted Bundy: Washington State and Oregon, is now available from Jeanne Duval Editions.


The H-1B category for temporary workers in a specialty occupation is often the only nonimmigrant visa category available for a U.S. employer seeking to employ a foreign national. The employer must be seeking to fill a "specialty occupation" with a qualified foreign national. A qualified individual is one who possesses the minimum credentials necessary to practice the specialty occupation, i.e., the appropriate academic degree or the equivalent of a degree. Where U.S. state licensure is required in order to practice the occupation without restriction, the USCIS requires the individual to possess the license before H-1B status is granted. There is a statutory cap that limits approval of new H-1B petitions in a fiscal year and the cap is currently set at 65,000.
Foreign nationals who are employed, or who have received an offer of employment, by institutions of higher education or a related or affiliated nonprofit entity, as well as those employed, or who will be employed, by a nonprofit research organization or a governmental research organization are exempt from the cap.
An H-1B petition filed on behalf of a foreign national physician must include evidence that the foreign national physician has a full and unrestricted license to practice medicine in a foreign state or has graduated from a medical school, whether in the United States or abroad. Physicians who are to perform direct patient care, need to have any license or other authorization required by the state of intended employment. The H-1B petition must also include evidence the physician has passed the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam or has graduated from a U.S. medical school. The physician must be competent in oral and written English as demonstrated by passage of the proficiency test required by the Educational Commission on Foreign Medical Graduates. If the physician has graduated from a medical school accredited by a Secretary of Education approved body, English language competency is not required.


text:
BabiesHealthPregnancy & Childbirth
What to Expect When You Have a Baby in Portlandia
Jenny Splitter Send an email January 18, 2014
Apparently Portland, Oregon is the second best city to have a baby. So sayeth our evil overlords at Watch What Happens Live! No wait. That's not it. I meant What To Expect When You're Expecting.
Portland, Oregon is second on the list — sandwiched in between San Francisco and Boise (I'm skipping the obvious Larry Craig joke right here, and for that you are very welcome).
Since the site's criteria apparently includes a head count on the doula population and proximity to farmer's markets (because where else do you go for placenta recipe inspiration?), perhaps I shouldn't be surprised, but it seems to me that we're missing some important data.
In 2012, the mortality rate for babies born at home in Oregon was six to eight times higher than the rate for babies born in a hospital. (The State of Oregon collected data on home births in Oregon for 2012; that information was analyzed by Judith Rooks, a certified nurse midwife and researcher, as described in her testimony at a 2013 legislative hearing.)
Should we just ignore that number? I don't think so. From Judith Rooks' testimony:
[O]ut-of-hospital births are not as safe as births in hospitals in Oregon, where many of them are attended by birth attendants who have not completed an educational curriculum designed to provide all the knowledge, skills and judgment needed by midwives who practice in any setting.
You shouldn't laud a city for its high number of midwives without looking at the whole picture of midwifery care — in Portland, in Oregon, and in the rest of the United States.
Featured image by flickr user David Berkowitz.
babies Childbirth home birth home birth death rate judith rooks midwives Oregon Portland science top cities to have a baby top ten lists what to expect when you're expecting
Jenny Splitter
Jenny Splitter is a writer, storyteller and over-scheduled mom of two living in Washington, DC. She spends her glamorous days trying to write whatever she can, counting 1-2-3 in a slow yet threatening manner to her children, playing with gluten and working to eradicate dog hair from the planet (or at least her home). Find her on Twitter , Google+ and Facebook
Sunday Self Care: Why we Fail
Sunday Self Care: My Year of "No"
Steven Olsen says:
That may be the case. But I can tell you that it's a pretty sweet city for raising a kid once they're born.
Jenny Splitter says:
You know what's funny? I keep taking that Buzzfeed test about where you should live, and I keep getting Portland. I actually like it quite a bit. I'm from the west coast originally, and my dad lives in Portland now. It's beautiful and the food is fantastic! But, you know, then there's that whole fluoride ban too…ugh. Still, the coffee…I could move just for the coffee…
zackrobbin says:
That site says they factor in infant mortality… but wouldn't perinatal and/or neonatal mortality be more relevant here? I'm always confused by references to infant mortality in the context of pregnancy and birth.
Also, if I were considering where best to raise infants, I'd like to know vaccinaton rates, which don't seem to be mentioned. Surprising, really, since I think even the antivaccers know that their own kids are safer when everyone else's are vaccinated.
Yes, either would definitely be more relevant, particularly the perinatal mortality rate. Of course, the number of home births (even in Portland) is still relatively low. I doubt that Portland's perinatal mortality rate is unusually high, although it would be interesting to know what percentage of perinatal deaths are associated with a planned home birth.
I agree with you about the vaccination rates too. It's certainly a blemish on my home state of California, although we also seem to have a sizable number of parents in my neighborhood in DC who refuse to vaccinate.
There are many things in life that are better when they're weird. Childbirth is not one of them (except for the weirdness inherent in both vaginal and cesarean births, of course). Considering that there are more requirements for hairdressers than for midwives in Oregon, I'd choose a slightly different word for birth there than "best." Perhaps… abysmal? Perilous?
With my first pregnancy, I actually remember saying to a friend — "This doesn't feel "natural." This feels entirely wrong!" Weird? Definitely. And also perilous. I had pre-eclampsia. Luckily my OB diagnosed me and I delivered in a hospital.
Women are naturally good at dying in childbirth and pregnancy.
I always shake my head at people who tell me "ach, I was also born at home and look I'm fine!" Because those who didn't make it can't tell their story, right? And usually that person also knows about a sibling or cousin who didn't make it, but somehow that is never chalked up to the lack of medical options back then…
Sadly, I think the only thing that will make people take notice is an increase in home birth mortalities and/or a high profile loss (celebrity home birth gone wrong or something).
By Jenny Splitter
5 Reasons Non-Browning Apples Could Change Your Mind About GMOs
Pizzagate Is Why We Need Skepticism
No, I'm Not Scaring My Kids By Discussing President Trump
How I Became a Reasonable Mom


text:
package io.crate.execution.engine.distribution.merge;

import com.google.common.collect.PeekingIterator;
import com.google.common.collect.UnmodifiableIterator;

import java.util.Comparator;
import java.util.Iterator;
import java.util.NoSuchElementException;
import java.util.PriorityQueue;
import java.util.Queue;

import static com.google.common.collect.Iterators.peekingIterator;

/**
 * MergingIterator like it is used in guava Iterators.mergedSort
 * It has (limited) shared object support.
 * <p>
 * And it also has a merge function with which additional backing iterators can be added to enable paging
 */
class PlainSortedMergeIterator<TKey, TRow> extends UnmodifiableIterator<TRow> implements SortedMergeIterator<TKey, TRow> {

    private final Queue<NumberedPeekingIterator<TKey, TRow>> queue;
    private NumberedPeekingIterator<TKey, TRow> lastUsedIter = null;
    private boolean leastExhausted = false;
    private TKey exhausted;

    PlainSortedMergeIterator(final Comparator<? super TRow> itemComparator) {
        Comparator<PeekingIterator<TRow>> heapComparator = (o1, o2) -> itemComparator.compare(o1.peek(), o2.peek());
        queue = new PriorityQueue<>(2, heapComparator);
    }

    private void addIterators(Iterable<? extends KeyIterable<TKey, TRow>> iterables) {
        for (KeyIterable<TKey, TRow> iterable : iterables) {
            Iterator<TRow> rowIterator = iterable.iterator();
            if (rowIterator.hasNext()) {
                queue.add(new NumberedPeekingIterator<>(iterable.key(), peekingIterator(rowIterator)));
            }
        }
    }

    @Override
    public boolean hasNext() {
        reAddLastIterator();
        return !queue.isEmpty();
    }

    private void reAddLastIterator() {
        if (lastUsedIter != null) {
            if (lastUsedIter.hasNext()) {
                queue.add(lastUsedIter);
            } else {
                leastExhausted = true;
                exhausted = lastUsedIter.key;
            }
            lastUsedIter = null;
        }
    }

    @Override
    public TRow next() {
        if (!hasNext()) {
            throw new NoSuchElementException("no more rows should exist");
        }
        lastUsedIter = queue.remove();
        return lastUsedIter.next();
    }

    @Override
    public void merge(Iterable<? extends KeyIterable<TKey, TRow>> numberedIterables) {
        if (lastUsedIter != null && lastUsedIter.hasNext()) {
            queue.add(lastUsedIter);
            lastUsedIter = null;
        }
        addIterators(numberedIterables);
        leastExhausted = false;
    }

    public boolean isLeastExhausted() {
        return leastExhausted;
    }

    @Override
    public TKey exhaustedIterable() {
        return exhausted;
    }

    @Override
    public Iterable<TRow> repeat() {
        throw new UnsupportedOperationException("cannot repeat with " + getClass().getSimpleName());
    }

    private static class NumberedPeekingIterator<TKey, TRow> implements PeekingIterator<TRow> {

        private final TKey key;
        private final PeekingIterator<TRow> peekingIterator;

        NumberedPeekingIterator(TKey key, PeekingIterator<TRow> peekingIterator) {
            this.key = key;
            this.peekingIterator = peekingIterator;
        }

        @Override
        public TRow peek() {
            return peekingIterator.peek();
        }

        @Override
        public TRow next() {
            return peekingIterator.next();
        }

        @Override
        public void remove() {
            peekingIterator.remove();
        }

        @Override
        public boolean hasNext() {
            return peekingIterator.hasNext();
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub