Bonum Certa Men Certa

TechBytes Episode 45: Skype, Facebook, and Weekly Musings

TechBytes
Direct download as Ogg (1:45:25, 21.1 MB) | High-quality MP3 (38.8 MB) | Low-quality MP3 (12.1 MB)



Summary: Tim and Roy have a loaded discussion about Skypocalypse, rogue PR agencies, and a variety of other topics regarding the growth of GNU/Linux and beyond

THIS show covers the Skype acquisition, Google's GNU/Linux products, confirmed cases of AstroTurfing, and common FUD that resurfaces.

Feedback on the show can be posted in comments, in Identi.ca, and in the Techrights IRC channels (among other means of communication).

Today's tracks are "El Camino" by No te va gustar, "Future Eyes" by Ear Pwr, and "Tokki no Rassha " by Dolly (I made a mistake by introducing the song as "Dolly", not the artist). We will try to include more music in the future as well, mainly from SXSW 2010 Showcasing Artists (get the torrents legally here). We hope you will join us for future shows and consider subscribing to the show via the RSS feed. You can also visit our archives for past shows. If you have an Identi.ca account, consider subscribing to TechBytes in order to keep up to date.

As embedded (HTML5):



Download:

Ogg Theora
(There is also an MP3 version)



Our past shows:

November 2010



Show overviewShow titleDate recorded
Episode 1: Brandon from FedoraTechBytes Episode 1: Apple, Microsoft, Bundling, and Fedora 14 (With Special Guest Brandon Lozza)1/11/2010
Episode 2: No guestsTechBytes Episode 2: Ubuntu's One Way, Silverlight Goes Dark, and GNU Octave Discovered7/11/2010
Episode 3: No guestsTechBytes Episode 3: Games, Wayland, Xfce, Restrictive Application Stores, and Office Suites8/11/2010
Episode 4: No guestsTechBytes Episode 4: Fedora 14 Impressions, MPAA et al. Payday, and Emma Lee's Magic9/11/2010
Episode 5: No guestsTechBytes Episode 5: Windows Loses to Linux in Phones, GNU/Linux Desktop Market Share Estimations, and Much More12/11/2010
Episode 6: No guestsTechBytes Episode 6: KINect a Cheapo Gadget, Sharing Perceptually Criminalised, Fedora and Fusion 14 in Review13/11/2010
Episode 7: No guestsTechBytes Episode 7: FUD From The Economist, New Releases, and Linux Eureka Moment at Netflix14/11/2010
Episode 8: Gordon Sinclair on Linux MintTechBytes Episode 8: Linux Mint Special With Gordon Sinclair (ThistleWeb)15/11/2010
Episode 9: Gordon Sinclair returnsTechBytes Episode 9: The Potentially Permanent Return of ThistleWeb17/11/2010
Episode 10: Special show formatTechBytes Episode 10: Microsoft FUD and Dirty Tactics Against GNU/Linux19/11/2010
Episode 11: Part 2 of special showTechBytes Episode 11: Microsoft FUD and Dirty Tactics Against GNU/Linux - Part II21/11/2010
Episode 12: Novell specialTechBytes Episode 12: Novell Sold for Microsoft Gains23/11/2010
Episode 13: No guestsTechBytes Episode 13: Copyfight, Wikileaks, and Other Chat28/11/2010
Episode 14: Patents specialTechBytes Episode 14: Software Patents in Phones, Android, and in General29/11/2010
Episode 15: No guestsTechBytes Episode 15: Google Chrome OS, Windows Refund, and Side Topics Like Wikileaks30/11/2010


December 2010



Show overviewShow titleDate recorded
Episode 16: No guestsTechBytes Episode 16: Bribes for Reviews, GNU/Linux News, and Wikileaks Opinions3/12/2010
Episode 17: No guestsTechBytes Episode 17: Chrome OS Imminent, Wikileaks Spreads to Mirrors, 'Open' Microsoft5/12/2010
Episode 18: No guestsTechBytes Episode 18: Chrome OS, Sharing, Freedom, and Wikileaks11/12/2010
Episode 19: No guestsTechBytes Episode 19: GNU/Linux Market Share on Desktop at 4%, Microsoft Declining, and ChromeOS is Coming16/12/2010
Episode 20: No guestsTechBytes Episode 20: GNU/Linux Gamers Pay More for Games, Other Discussions18/12/2010
Episode 21: No guestsTechBytes Episode 21: Copyright Abuses, Agitators and Trolls, Starting a New Site20/12/2010
Episode 22: No special guestsTechBytes Episode 22: Freedom Debate and Picks of the Year27/12/2010


January 2011



Show overviewShow titleDate recorded
Episode 23: Tim, Gordon, and RoyTechBytes Episode 23: Failuresfest and 2011 Predictions2/1/2011
Episode 24: Tim, Gordon, and RoyTechBytes Episode 24: Android, Microsoft's President Departure, and Privacy10/1/2011
Episode 25: Tim and RoyTechBytes Episode 25: Mono, Ubuntu, Android, and More14/1/2011
Episode 26: Tim and RoyTechBytes Episode 26: €£98 GNU/Linux Computer, Stuxnet's Government Roots, and More18/1/2011
Episode 27: Tim, Gordon, and RoyTechBytes Episode 27: Linux Phones, Pardus, Trusting One's Government-funded Distribution, and Much More22/1/2011
Episode 28: Tim, Gordon, and RoyTechBytes Episode 28: The Weekend After Microsoft's Results and LCA30/1/2011
Episode 29: Tim, Gordon, and RoyTechBytes Episode 29: KDE, Other Desktop Environments, and Programming31/1/2011


February 2011



Show overviewShow titleDate recorded
Episode 30: Tim, Gordon, and RoyTechBytes Episode 30: Microsoft at FOSDEM, Debian Release, and Anonymous7/2/2011
Episode 31: Tim and RoyTechBytes Episode 31: Nokiasoft and Computer Games13/2/2011
Episode 32: Tim and RoyTechBytes Episode 32: Desktop Environments, Computer Games, Android and Ubuntu as the 'New Linux', Copyright Mentality22/2/2011


March 2011



Show overviewShow titleDate recorded
Episode 33: Tim, Gordon, and RoyTechBytes Episode 33: Patent 'Thieves' and News That Deceives6/3/2011
Episode 34: Tim, Gordon, and RoyTechBytes Episode 34: Done on a Dongle13/3/2011
Episode 35: Tim, Gordon, and RoyTechBytes Episode 35: You Can't Please Some People19/3/2011


April 2011







Show overviewShow titleDate recorded
Episode 36: Tim, Gordon, and RoyTechBytes Episode 36: “Come to Take Me Away”3/4/2011
Episode 37: Tim, Gordon, and RoyTechBytes Episode 37: Escaping the Soaps4/4/2011
Episode 38: Tim, Gordon, and RoyTechBytes Episode 38: Thanks for Reaching Out11/4/2011
Episode 39: Tim and RoyTechBytes Episode 39: Groklaw wins, Microsoft me too's and trolls fail13/4/2011
Episode 40: Tim, Gordon, and RoyTechBytes Episode 40: Video Begins at 4017/4/2011
Episode 41: Tim, Gordon, Rusty, and RoyTechBytes Episode 41: Going Rusty24/4/2011
Episode 42: Tim and RoyTechBytes Episode 42: Bandwidth, Android and Patents, Games, and Computer Nostalgia29/4/2011


May 2011





Show overviewShow titleDate recorded
Episode 43: Tim, Jono Bacon, and RoyTechBytes Episode 43: At Home With Jono Bacon, Ubuntu Community Manager4/5/2011
Episode 44: Rusty, Gordon, Tim, Roy, and Brandon LozzaTechBytes Episode 44: The Four Horsemen Reunited; Fedora Ambassador Interview7/5/2011


Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft Under Investigation for Breaches of Law in the UK
Just like the Microsofters
GAFAM is Connected to Misogyny, Almost All Founders Divorced
They're not good people, even if they pay the media to pretend otherwise
SLAPP Censorship - Part 83 Out of 200: Religion is Still Alive, But for Many This Religion is Monetary (Greed, Monopolies, Corporate Power)
If all you keep boasting about is being able to afford a hotel room and some domestic flight, then maybe you have no real accomplishments and are more like a "Facebook serf" with a credit card
 
Techrights and Tux Machines Subjected to Cyberattacks for Several Weeks
In the past I spoke to the cybercrime unit of British Police. Maybe it's time to do so again.
The Register MS Has Become a 'Content' Farm Promoting Slop for Hostile Corporations
Now they call it "PARTNER CONTENT" - not "SPONSORED" - as if semantics make the difference
Latest Example of Widespread Fake Assertions (False News) About "Hey Hi"
The false narrative of "Hey Hi layoffs"
Links 21/05/2026: Facebook Rewarded With Tax Breaks to Destroy the Environment and Cause Global Warming, Shortages, Pollution; SpaceX (SPCX) Continues Losing Billions of Dollars
Links for the day
Codecs and Software Patents - Part VIII - GNU Audio/Video Team Has Chosen the AV1 Video Codec and It Explains Why (They've Researched Their Options)
AV1 video codec will be used to encode and share GNU videos online
Dr. Stallman Helps Establish Free Software Advocacy Outside the Free Software Foundation (FSF) as Well
The ideals or principles of Free Software needn't be centralised or monopolised; they can be federated
22 Years of Tux Machines and a Community Stronger Than Ever Before
We've already received some feedback from the community and improved it accordingly
More Microsoft Layoffs on the Way (June and July 2026)
with or without PIPs
LWN Sponsored by the Linux Foundation (Monopolies)
We must be able to casually point this out
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part XXIX - European Patent Office (EPO) Tells Staff "Speaking up" is Good, But Not When the "Brother-in-law" of EPO's President Does Cocaine
Do we still have a functioning democracy and potent press?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, May 20, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, May 20, 2026
Gemini Links 21/05/2026: Immigration, Slop, and Slop 'Code' Suggestions Infesting Code Repositories
Links for the dayGemini Links 21/05/2026: Immigration, Slop, and Slop 'Code' Suggestions Infesting Code Repositories
Oracle Seems to Have Popularised Overnight Layoffs, Now GAFAM Does the Same
layoff emails at 4 a.m. local time
A Lot of Fake News About Microsoft's LinkedIn Today, Some Comes From Slopfarms, Some Relies on Those Slopfarms
As usual, slopfarms make the Web a huge pile of garbage
IBM's Kyndryl is Circling Down the Drain, Say Kyndryl Insiders
"IBM Dinosaurs who were recycled and catapulted into the orange trash heap by IBM"
A Lot of Coverage Adding Hype Factor to Slop Bug Reports... is Made by LLM Slop
Local Privilege Escalation [...] the slop motivates some actual people to keep writing about it
Links 20/05/2026: Mass Layoffs at NPR (Bought by the Ballmers and Bill Epsteingate), Starbucks Korea CEO Fired Over ‘Tank Day’ Ad
Links for the day
Gemini Links 20/05/2026: Advantage of CD Collections, Geminaut's View of Nostr, and SSL / TLS Certificates
Links for the day
IBM is Becoming a Pile of Expired Patents and Abandoned Buildings, Assets of Little Actual Value
Having laid off a ton of people, borrowed lots of money to fake growth (by acquisition), and sent some jobs to low-paid regions where innovation isn't done
Links 20/05/2026: Looting of Americans for "White Grievance Reparations Fund"; "Mark Zuckerberg Used Shell Companies to Bully Native Hawaiians"
Links for the day
Web Browsers Are for Rendering Web Page, They Shouldn't Become PDF Editors
Linus Torvalds is quickly learning and speaking about this
SLAPP Censorship - Part 82 Out of 200: British Government Intervenes in the SLAPPs by Brett Wilson LLP
At this stage our matters are dealt with by a layer below that of the Prime Minister (adjacent to it)
LinkedIn Communications Reveal That LinkedIn - Like GitHub - Will Vanish Inside the Belly of Microsoft
This is definitely going to happen.
In Wall Street, Financial Difficulties Drive Shares Up
Wall Street doesn't work that way
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part XXVIII - European Patent Office (EPO) Guidebook Says Report Crimes Committed on EPO Premises. Some Did, But President Campinos Covers up for the Culprits.
The staff has long been on strike and the union (SUEPO) organised an enhanced day of action just two days ago
Gemini Links 20/05/2026: Fall of an Empire, "High Tech is a Social Exercise", and Big Cameras
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, May 19, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, May 19, 2026
LinkedIn Layoffs at Microsoft: Probably Well More Than 5% of Staff
In short, it's difficult to believe only 5% are impacted
It's Not Just a Widespread Theory, It's Apparently a Verified Fact: Home Appliances Not Made to Last Long
Washing machine repair man asserts that the machines sold a decade ago could maybe last a decade; now they last barely 5 years.
Torvalds Capitulated on Rust and Slop, Now He's Paying the Price
they are pushing Microsoft and slop for grifters and scammers
Whistleblowers Needed: We Are Seeing Many Layoffs in Red Hat (Not Just in China), We Want to Know More
Last week we learned about some people who said they had left Red Hat or are leaving Red Hat
Links 19/05/2026: More Obituaries for Peter G. Neumann, Taiwan Abandoned by Cheeto House for Don's Personal Gain
Links for the day
Links 19/05/2026: Online 'Storage' (Surveillance) Accounts Lower Thresholds (Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos), Slop Debacles Expand (False Promises Made to Staff Regarding Compensation)
Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 81 Out of 200: SLAPP Censorship Does Not Work If Your Sole Strategy is Revenge (and You Attack the Family)
Both yours and others'
Techrights at 20 (Soon)
It does not seek popularity or affirmation from "Establishment" outlets
We Pay More for Less, for Things That Last Less Time and Are Almost Impossible to Repair
Ever noticed how "modern" or "smart" TVs come with dumber and dumber (worse) controllers?
Vista 11 Turns 5 in a Couple of Months. Not Many People Use It.
It is the only supported version of Windows; many people move elsewhere
Head of GitHub Recently Left, Microsoft Need No Longer Report Mass Layoffs There (User Activity is Declining)
We've long said that LinkedIn and GitHub, which Microsoft bought, would likely end up like Skype
The Slop Bubble is Already Bursting
Slop is not desirable and the general public is growingly impatient, seeing that slop has improved nothing for them
Gemini Links 19/05/2026: Reliable Old Tech, Collection of Essays
Links for the day
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part XXVII - European Patent Office (EPO) Became a "Toxic Work Environment" When Cocaine Addicts Put in Charge
They are putting at risk colleagues by abusing them
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, May 18, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, May 18, 2026