Microsoft: Your new Big Brother

Microsoft security riles competitors

Source: http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2006/100906edit.html

I've been following the coming release of Microsoft Vista(November 2006 for business, January 2007 for consumers) rather closely as of late, deciding whether I should go for it or not. This is a clear cut example of Microsoft's true intentions: monopolize the entire PC market, and essentially have every computer out there run Windows so they can have the entire world rely on them like a crutch. They are getting closer and closer to this goal, owning 90% of the total market. Just imagine the type of control they could have with what they put on your computer, if there are no competitors around to keep them in check. The internet will be completely commercialized and tightly controlled by Microsoft strictly adhering to the will of the world governments. Right now, there is a 90%-95% chance I will not be getting Windows Vista when it comes out. I'm going to try to run completely with Linux, and perhaps even a Mac. Linux, with it's massive open source communities and free software, is the biggest stand against this threat Microsoft poses. Programmers willing to work together for little more than pride, is not something Microsoft can just buy out. Many companies(rightly so) run Linux on their servers for security purposes, and it's just something Microsoft can't compete with(even though they claim to). I intend to move to linux fully soon and perhaps help the development however I can. I only hope that Linux will become more accessible to the common crowd and can recieve a respectable share of the market. For now, I plan on learning as much as I can about the Linux operating system, since many companies are going to need Linux operators once Vista is released.

Toiletgate

So I know I'm late with this for all you chess fans.. Mig Greengard's chessninja.com and chessbase.com both have plenty of backround info on what happened about this, if you want more info. Basically, the Topalov team accused Kramnik of going to the bathroom 50+ times a game and possibly cheating. An appeal was submitted and ruled in favor of Topalov, Kramnik refuses to play game 5 and it's officially forfeited in favor of Topalov. This came after Topalov was down 2 points already after 4 games. I find it rather ridiculous myself. I blame all parties involved: FIDE for not creating a flexible enough contract to actually allow themselves to control possible cheating, Topalov for making a big deal out of this after losing 2 games that obviously weren't played well by either party, and Kramnik for not sucking it up and playing anyways to try to keep it a respectable match. The FIDE appeals committee ruled that both player's personal bathrooms be closed and one opened that would be shared by the players. People cite that a personal bathroom might be needed for Kramnik because of the health issues, but let's face it: if he can get through a press conference without rushing to the bathroom 10 times, he can get through a game sharing a bathroom with one other person. The fact that he complained about this doesn't give me any more respect for him. As far as I'm concerned, I'll grudgingly accept the winner of this to be the world champion, though a weak one at that, and hope that FIDE will learn from it's mistakes. I really don't feel like watching the match closely anymore, it's more of a circus these days than a chess match. Counting the forfeited game(which is being appealed by Kramnik, of course, though I think he has a good case to get it overturned), after 9 games the score is 5:4 in favor of Topalov, he came back and won 2 games himself. Grandmaster analysis of each game is provided at chessbase.com and Susan Polgar's Chess Blog.