10.29.12
Posted in GNU/Linux, Marketing, Microsoft, Vista 7, Vista 8, Windows at 11:44 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Desperate and expensive measures include AstroTurfing tactics and blocking of Linux by subversive technical means
IN ORDER to avoid clutter and repetition we no longer post many articles about Vista 8 like we did Vista 7. Vista 8 is also self-destroying (there’s some short burst of links about it in Twitter, Identi.ca, etc. for those who follow me more closely).
As Cringely put it over the weekend, “Windows is doomed.”
To quote further: “Having not invented any of the products it is known for, why should we expect Microsoft to invent its way out of declining markets? We shouldn’t.”
Microsoft has begun doing what it does best with a budget of (reportedly) a billion and a half dollars. Through its PR proxies, which have astroturf patents, it is planting favourable coverage and there is aid from former Microsoft staff with a “journalist” hat (offering no disclosure of that conflict of interests). Microsoft also fakes excitement. It knows it won’t get sued for it.
Additionally, Microsoft has made it harder to install or run GNU/Linux and it shows:
This is how SecureBoot is managed in Ubuntu and Fedora. Debian is still unclear as how they will manage SecureBoot.
The second stage features a GURB2 bootloader which does usual tasks as before. Earlier Canonical had plans to use a non GPL bootloader here, but they were thrashed.
Langasek says that they will backport the secure boot mechanism to Ubuntu 12.04 release as well, so that the LTS version can be installed in Secure Boot devices. So the next major service pack of Ubuntu Precise (12.04.2) will include support for SecureBoot.
Steam, in the mean time, targets Ubuntu because Vista 8 sucks. Microsoft is alienating developers further and further on all fronts, not just the desktop:
Microsoft annoys developers with Windows Phone 8 secrecy
The company is accepting requests for the Windows Phone 8 software development kit (SDK), but only from a select few. The rest will have to wait, as Microsoft is trying to keep some of the OS’s features secret for now.
This closed-source nonsense in due course annoys developers, many of whom already move to Android. Open Source and Free software empower developers. giving them greater advantages. No wonder Android is taking over and becoming the dominant OS. Windows revenue is down sharply. █
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10.25.12
Posted in Marketing, Microsoft, Vista 8, Windows at 6:05 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Graphics by Will
Summary: Vista 8 is not wanted by businesses and tablets that it runs on are failing because of software bugs, deficiencies, and relatively high cost
Microsoft and the abusive monopolist which (co-)created it have begun working to save the sinking ship (a pivotal franchise known as “Windows”). We shall give some examples.
The disaster which is Windows phone will soon infect the desktop side, striving to be Android (in vain of course). Sites that are paid by Microsoft and Gates have been poking fun and on the face of it Microsoft leaves old versions of Windows well behind, knocking down fallbacks for those who require them (recall the role of XP SP3 in the days of Vista).
“The disaster which is Windows phone will soon infect the desktop side, striving to be Android (in vain of course).”Some of the usual suspects have been starting entire new sections titled “Windows 8″ and ZDNet, which did this for Vista 7, is also part of this media charade (Microsoft spends a billion dollars on it) that includes criminal celebrities with a media empire in their pockets. Never mind if those celebrities cheapen and harm workers, those celebrities are being used as a promotion tool [1, 2, 3, 4] for Vista 8. There are many articles that are just ‘planted’ in sites in order to promote the unwanted software. It is worth noting that real journalism is overwhelmingly negative on Vista 8. For starters, companies already reject Vista 8. To quote Reuters: “There was once a time when the launch of a new Windows operating system was a huge deal for the technology departments in many businesses. Not anymore. Microsoft Corp’s release of Windows 8 on Friday is likely to be a non-event for most companies — and some experts say many may never adopt it.”
Cringely predicts a failure:
What we have here is the Microsoft Bob effect, where change runs amuck simply because it can, compounded in this case by a sense of panic in Redmond. Microsoft so desperately need Windows 8 to be a huge success that they’ve fiddled it into a likely failure.
He noted that: “Beta versions of Windows 8 this week lost their nifty Aero user interface, which Microsoft’s top user interface guy now calls “cheesy” and “dated,” though two weeks ago he apparently loved it. Developers are scratching their heads over this UI flatification of what’s supposed to become the world’s most popular operating system. But there’s no confusion at my house: Aero won’t run on a phone.”
Microsoft mouthpieces like Bott get rebutted after they echo Microsoft talking points in ZDNet. Surely the propaganda campaign starts when ZDNet hails Surface success while no numbers are even disclosed!!! To quote: “The 32GB version of the Surface tablet without a Touch Cover — a type of keyboard/case — is currently listed as “Temporarily sold out” on Microsoft’s UK online store. It’s not known how many units Microsoft had available to order in the UK…”
Of course not, it is a marketing strategy. Pamela Jones wrote: “Remember when they told us the Nokia Lumia with Windows 8 had sold out when it first launched?”
“The same model sold out in the US last week, but we are reluctant to associate that too closely with actual popularity because we have no idea how many units were available in the first place,” notes The Inquirer. “Shipped is not the same as sold,” writes a reader of ours, noting this article. Speaking of this tablet, it has been receiving many negative reviews [1, 2] primarily for its software side, i.e. Windows, being unfit:
Tech bloggers and other reviewers praised Microsoft Corp’s new Surface RT tablet for beautiful design but said a shortage of applications and a slow operating system meant the result was heartbreak for users.
As for the mobile side of Windows, it gets ridiculed except when the writers are Microsoft boosters. longtime Microsogft boosters like Ben Worthen try to put lipstick on a pig and other Microsoft boosters like Mr. Bishop and NetworkWorld's fake FOSS blog do this on the desktop side. The Windows promotion has been sickening and it almost always comes from sources close to Microsoft or shallow thinkers (repeating Microsoft’s claims). It’s more like a favour than actual coverage. GNU/Linux users doubt Microsoft’s claims, whereas Gates- and Microsoft-funded mouthpieces like the Gartner Group get pulled into rebuttals as it becomes clear that spin-doctoring is far too rampant. Microsoft said it would spend a billion dollars on it, so this was all along expected. Interestingly enough, Forrester has not been soft on Microsoft when it comes to Vista 8. It’s a mixed bag:
As Microsoft launches Windows 8, and with it, an attempt to stabilize a precipitous decline in its share of operating systems for “personal devices,” 2013 is going to be a tough, very tough year, research firm Forrester said today.
“This is a pivotal movement for Microsoft,” said Frank Gillett, an analyst at Forrester and the lead on the report “Microsoft: The Next Five Years,” that was released Monday. “But 2013 is going to be ugly.”
Who paid for this report and what does the remainder of it say? Either way, some of the analysts whom Microsoft has been paying for years are unimpressed by Vista 8 even before its arrival (which is when Microsoft typically bribes people the most in exchange for favourable coverage). This happens every time.
Android is already the best selling operating system; Vista 8 will do nothing substantial to change this. █
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08.24.12
Posted in Apple, Marketing, Microsoft at 9:57 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Microsoft Florian and his AstroTurf activities highlighted after virtually forced admissions that he was paid by those whom he had lobbied for
THERE are rules and regulation in place — constraints whose purpose is to mitigate corrupting influence in the court system, the government, the press, etc.
Microsoft Florian was pressured to reveal some payments after a lot of pressure from his critics and after orders from a judge [1, 2]. He mass-mailed many journalists over and over again for years, using false pretences, all whilst offering no disclosure. We documented this for years.
Most pro-Linux bloggers knew what was going on, but the lobbyist was never punished for what he did; the damage he has done is quite real and the lies were profound.
Here is the complaint I sent this afternoon.
Subject: AstroTurf Marketing by Microsoft Corporation, Lacking Disclosure
To:
Federal Trade Commission
Consumer Response Center
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20580
E-mail: antitrust@ftc.gov
It has come to my attention[1] that you are working to end the practice of unethical marketing on the Web, or paid bloggers whose purpose is to influence the media or public while pretending to be “independent”. As one who followed a longtime lobbyist called Florian Müller[2] for the past two years I hereby wish to file a complaint about Microsoft Corporation, whom he provided AstroTurf services to, concealed under the guise of “consulting”. Microsoft Corporation is lodged at the following address:
Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052-7329
USA
Tel: (425) 882-8080
Fax: (425) 706-7329
With payments from Microsoft Corporation, Mr. Müller, who was previously a soccer lobbyist for Real Madrid, has been littering the Web by mass-mailing journalists and pushing the agenda of Microsoft promotion, using their talking points. He offered no disclosure until the pressure grew too cumbersome and even a judge demanded disclosure.
This phenomenon is widespread and I shall produce substantial proof when you require it. I suggest contacting those who have used the services of Mr. Müller. In order to crack down on the practice of paid (AstroTurf) blogging, those who hire them need to face the consequences. Deterrence does not emanate from mere declaration of intent to address this endemic issue.
With kind regards,
Dr. Roy Schestowitz
[Home address omitted]
_____
[1] http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10269962-38.html
[2] http://techrights.org/wiki/index.php/Florian_Müller
Despite being exposed to the core, the lobbying carries on. Some of the latest lobbying revolves around painting Motorola as the ‘bad guy’. To quote some new articles:
-
Cupertino has been doing its best to sue Samsung’s Android tablets and smartphones out of the market rather than compete with them. Now, Motorola — under Google’s control — is returning the favor. Motorola Mobility is asking the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) to ban the import of iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
-
Many bloggers are pointing at Google as ArsTechnica publishes this story criticizing Google: “Three days after suing Apple, Google says patent wars hurt consumers.” I don’t know how big corporations work, but Google is the only company which has been one of the staunch supporters of users’s freedom, open source and free culture. This is also a company which never sued anyone and always improved its products to compete in the market.
Sadly, Apple has left Google owned Motorola with no other option. However, we should applaud Google for still maintaining its stand on patents and sending out a sensible message to Apple. Pablo Chavez, Google’s director of public policy, said, “One thing that we are very seriously taking a look at is the question of software patents, and whether in fact the patent system as it currently exists is the right system to incent innovation and really promote consumer-friendly policies.”
Notice how the Microsoft booster spins it so shamelessly, turning defence into offence. It’s all spin and it is spreading quite “ironically”.
The truth is, Google wants patent reform and Australia takes note because Google has a lot of impact. There are many articles about it mostly in the US [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] and unlike the spin from the Microsoft/Apple lobby, the coverage is fair. Just days ago we found out that Apple and Microsoft were secretly collaborating on patents. To quote: “The latest update in the Apple vs Samsung saga reveals that the Cupertino firm has an ‘anti-cloning’ deal in place with Microsoft”
This is why it’s natural for the lobbying to be of the same flavour, too. Microsoft Florian also received payments from Apple, not so surprisingly.
Apple and Microsoft sure share a pain. Apple sees Android growing far faster than before and Microsoft cannot even get started. As one Finnish blogger put it,”[t]his is the blog of what happens when Two Plus Two is Less Than Two. Not less than four, that was not a typo, I really meant less than two! Or in other words: why do we know now, that Microsoft’s Nokia gambit has failed beyond recovery.
“This blog is not about Nokia’s record-setting failure in smartphones. I have written enough about why I evaluate Nokia CEO Stephen Elop as the worst CEO of all time. If you want the first 19 reasons, they are here. The 20th reason is here, and the 21st reason is here. I am not alone in calling Elop incompetent and one of the worst managers alive, or even possibly the worst CEO of all time. This blog is not about the Nokia point-of-view. This is now the calculation from Microsoft’s angle. How did it turn out for them. The Nokia partnership was the most certain slam-dunk gambit that could not fail, no matter how badly it might be botched, this was so pure gravy for Microsoft, they would always end up roses in the end. The scheme that could not fail. Like Baldrich would say on The Black Adder, I have a cunning plan…”
Nokia has had Microsoft pass its patents to trolls that cannot hurt Microsoft and Apple, leaving just Android as the expected target. Those companies realise that patents are the only weapon that can hinder Android growth. As the blog puts it in another post: “I just learned a few hours ago, via Kauppalehti in Finland, that there is now a buzz around the Finnish shareholders association, to consider getting signatures to get Elop fired (special shareholders meeting and all that). I had not in any way thought about writing any Nokiastuff today, but just reading some of the discussion at Kauppalehti’s forum had me instantly motivated, that I should say something. Not to my regular readers who on this blog know my views very well – I was one of the first to demand Elop be fired, that is no surprise. But the honest discussion and debate that the Kauppalehti forum had in Finnish, among shareholders, with legitimate concerns. Is this Elop’s fault, would removing him resolve anything, etc. So I instantly dived into writing from my heart to Finnish Nokia shareholders, in Finnish, why I think yes, Elop should be fired and why it actually could result in reasonably rapid improvement in Nokia’s predicament.”
Some “get a kick out of grandiose schemes for world domination failing miserably” and this is what we see in the case of Microsoft. No wonder it resorts to dirty tactics such as AstroTurfing practices. For Apple and Microsoft, this is an alliance of convenience against a common enemy. The dirty tactics must be reported. The FTC did sent us back letters in the past, saying it was looking into the complaints we had filed. █
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04.24.12
Posted in Marketing, Microsoft at 3:14 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
“Microsoft corrupted many members of ISO in order to win approval for its phony ‘open’ document format, OOXML. This was so governments that keep their documents in a Microsoft-only format can pretend that they are using ‘open standards.’ The government of South Africa has filed an appeal against the decision, citing the irregularities in the process.”
–Richard Stallman, June 2008
Summary: Success for Microsoft propaganda amid FOSS spin and well-calculated PR campaigns
THE Microsoft press is not enough for PR campaigns which delude and forever deceive. Recently, Microsoft hired more PR people, whose goal is to sell the lie about Microsoft as a friend of FOSS. This PR agents ‘alliance’ needs some people (including new PR employees) to spread the lie and disseminate lots of spin so as to squash and maginalise truth-tellers [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,9, 10, 11, 12, 13]. If the lie is repeated enough, then enough people still start to believe it’s true. They are manufacturing consent, at least in the corporate press.
As we mentioned some days ago, the spin includes Red Hat-flavoured messages. The reality is that it's worse than nothing at all.
Here is how Simon Phipps put it:
But Microsoft’s overt hostility has given way to a more pragmatic approach, at least on the surface.
Microsoft has come to the realization that open source is an inevitable part of the marketplace and has instead tried to triage it, first at arm’s length, then increasingly through open source projects. Indeed, Microsoft is the 17th largest contributor to Linux, hosts project at its nonprofit foundation, supports the Apache Software Foundation, and regularly shows up as a sponsor of open source events.
Open source contact points are now all over the company, though no core products truly adopt an open source approach. Behind the scenes, however, Microsoft continues to subtly undermine open source, as demonstrated by this week’s FOIA-backed revelations from Glyn Moody about how Microsoft lobbied against open standards in the United Kingdom.
The new subsidiary is another evolutionary step in Microsoft’s open source pragmatism. Since, as Paoli is careful to say, this move changes nothing about existing engagements by Microsoft projects, why is the company doing it? I see little evidence that the hostility to open source has softened at the executive level, though Ballmer no longer derides open source openly. But on the ground, the market is forcing Microsoft’s hand.
Free/Open Source advocates need to spread the truth to counter Microsoft’s PR campaign. This is the company which is still suing Open Source using software patents. Only a few companies are deep-pocketed enough to be able to afford to fight back (in a way which is worth the legal expenses). Motorola/ Google is currently fighting back and here is the latest : “Motorola Mobility has won a patent ruling in its attempt to block Microsoft from importing Xbox game consoles.”
“U.S. International Trade Commission Judge David Shaw found today that Microsoft was infringing on some of Motorola’s patent rights, according to a Bloomberg report.
“The entire six-member trade commission, which has the power to block imports found to infringe on U.S. patents, is expected to review the decision and issue a statement in August.”
Motorola Mobility did not attack Microsoft. It was Microsoft which attacked, seeking to extort or ban Android. █
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03.15.12
Posted in Apple, Marketing, Novell, SLES/SLED at 6:42 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Another good example of paid-for Apple ‘fans’
THE CULT of Apple is not as organic as one might be led to believe. In the past we covered examples of Apple AstroTurfing and this new example shows us paid queue standers — people who are paid to hype up products:
Airtasker paying man to queue to buy the very first new iPad
STEPHEN Parkes is first in line for a new iPad at the Apple store in Sydney but it’s not because he actually wants one.
Instead jobs site Airtasker is keen to cash in on Apple’s cachet has paid the former truck driver $950 to wait there until Friday’s launch wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with its logo.
Airtasker.com is an online marketplace where people can bid for the right to earn cash for running day errands and completing everyday chores.
This is ridiculous. Sometimes celebrities are used like this too — a form of deceitful endorsement. Apple also gives the illusion/delusion of its products being the most wanted by providing ‘i’ Prizes in all sorts of competitions and raffles. It’s effective PR.
Now, consider the fact that Novell keeps losing its free (voluntary) fans despite pretending to be “open” and soon enough it’s realised that a lot of this is plain marketing for Microsoft-taxed GNU/Linux like this SP2, which oddly enough was picked for review:
SLES 11 SP2 adds a new kernel, support for Btrfs and LXC, and Snapper to manage snapshots and rollbacks. Koen Vervloesem explains all…
Was the author contacted by Novell/SUSE to write this review? We saw Novell doing this before and even offering gifts for it. This is a subject for another day. █
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03.07.12
Posted in Marketing, Microsoft, Vista, Vista 7, Vista 8 at 3:05 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Microsoft reassures us that bribes are not a mistake but a deliberate act of marketing
THE MARKETING company known as Microsoft just cannot learn a lesson, or maybe there is no lesson to be learn when bribery is simply the business model rather than a “rotten apple”. Previously in this Web site we wrote all about Microsoft bribes that we are aware of. Vista 8 will be no exception because it is already happening. Ryan from #Techrights (IRC) writes: “They did something like this when Vista and Vista 7 went out. In that case, they sent out Alienware laptops to bribe favorable reviews for Vista from the people that got one. LINK (Archive.org copy, the original was disappeared)
“Now it appears they are promoting Vista 8 like this as well, only it’s tablets this time.”
Vista and Vista 7 had bribes as well. One former Microsoft manager wrote at one point: “I’ve been thinking long and hard about this, and the only conclusion I can come to is that this is ethically indistinguishable from bribery. Even if no quid-pro-quo is formally required, the gift creates a social obligation of reciprocity. This is best explained in Cialdini’s book Influence (a summary is here). The blogger will feel some obligation to return the favor to Microsoft.” The blog post is titled “bribing bloggers, █
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02.29.12
Posted in Apple, Asia, Deception, Marketing at 4:27 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Truth (or poison) leaks out amid PR campaigns from Apple and its allies
THE APPLE whitewash that we wrote about some days ago did not succeed entirely. This new report speaks of a lesser known problem: “Do you know what it is like to suffer neurological damage from toxins? I do not. I am grateful I don’t suffer from such toxicological poisoning. The Chinese workers employed at an Apple supplier factory did not expect to be poisoned. They did not expect to be suffering neurological damage when they signed on for long hours. They only wanted to improve their lives. The opposite happened and now, for some, it appears too late to reverse the damage.”
In recent days I had chats with someone who worked in such conditions. The grievances of such people are rarely heard. It’s implicitly assumed that their lives are of lower value. Apple is not the sole culprit, but Apple blatantly refused to look into the complaints, so it’s being singled out. █
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02.26.12
Posted in Apple, Marketing at 6:26 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: Burson-Marsteller turns out to be behind the reputation laundering at Foxconn
Nick Farrell reveals an important fact about the source of whitewashing that made us rather sick. As mentioned in passing the other day, Apple has had a commercial published for it, disguised shredly as reporting from ABC (at least they did disclose the conflict of interest).
Yesterday we came to discover that the firm behind anti-Google propaganda [1, 2] was in fact behind the Apple/Foxconn propaganda as well. We prefer not to links to the original video, which is whitewashing that got followed/accompanied by equally shallow articles that ignore the employees and the real people affects (with extra Apple advertisements on top). This whole thing was disussed in IRC for a couple of days, e.g. here. Slashdot gives the short version of the real story:
Foxconn is insisting that it has done no wrong. But it has hired Burson-Marsteller to deal with the press failout from recent child labour allegations. Burson-Masteller is a PR heavy hitter called in when outfits have big image problems. It handled Tylenol poisonings, and, according to Corporate Watch, the Bhopal disaster, and Three Mile Island. It represented the private military group Blackwater after Baghdad allegations. Its clients have included the Argentinian military junta led by General Jorge Videla and Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu and Saudi Arabia after it was pointed out that most of the September 11 attackers were from that country.
To quote part of the cited report: “According to a SACOM report, 16- and 17-year olds are allowed to work under Apple’s supplier code of conduct but with special restrictions on types and duration of their work, which Foxconn allegedly ignores.”
Burson-Marsteller is still doing very malicious things, covering up for abuses and thus essentially making these abuses persist. This behaviour is not without victims. The AstroTurfing industry is very much alive. █
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