no, Michael Bay ain't crazy.
,----[ Quote ]
| Been sitting on this for a while since I've been trying to figure out how to
| approach this topic. Some time ago I saw an editorial comic that portrayed
| Michael Bay, the director of Transformers, as a raving lunatic over his
| comments about the different High Resolution Digital Video formats. Michael
| Bay has gone on record saying that Microsoft is attempting to corrupt the
| High Resolution Digital Video format market so that neither of the leading
| formats win, and so that Microsoft is in a position to implement a DRM-laden
| download solution through it's Vista platform.
|
| [...]
|
| You don't actually buy Microsoft Products. You agree to licensing terms from
| Microsoft and Microsoft alone. Now, keep in mind that Microsoft can and has
| used the license terms to install software through Microsoft Windows Update
| that users have no legal recourse against. Microsoft can, and has, disabled
| installed versions of Microsoft products that were legally bought and legally
| installed, and the customer has no recourse but to give Microsoft another set
| of monies in order to receive operational products.
`----
http://zerias.blogspot.com/2007/12/no-michael-bay-aint-crazy.html
That's like America selling weapons in the middle east for countries to destroy
one another. Government sends ammunition; Microsoft writes checks (bribery).
Related:
Director: Microsoft fueling HD wars
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft is deliberately feeding into the HD disc format wars to ensure that
| its own downloads succeed where physical copies fail, says movie director
| Michael Bay in a response to a question posed through his official forums.
| The producer contends that Microsoft is writing "$100 million dollar checks"
| to movie studios to ensure HD DVD exclusives that hurt the overall market
| regardless of the format's actual merit or its popularity, preventing any one
| format from gaining a clear upper hand. Bay's own Transformers is available
| on disc only in the less popular HD DVD format despite his stated preference
| for Blu-ray. To the director, this is primarily a stalling tactic while
| Microsoft refines its own online-only technology.
`----
http://www.electronista.com/articles/07/12/04/bay.on.microsoft.hd/
Sony claims Blu-ray has over 95% of Australian HD market
,----[ Quote ]
| A Sony commissioned report released today claims the Blu-ray disc format had
| a 95.2% market share for home entertainment hardware and software in October
| 2007 while the HD-DVD format held just the remaining 4.8% share.
`----
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/15658/1023/
Two Studios to Support HD DVD Over Rival
,----[ Quote ]
| But money talks: Paramount and DreamWorks Animation together will receive
| about $150 million in financial incentives for their commitment to HD
| DVD, according to two Viacom executives with knowledge of the deal but
| who asked not to be identified.
|
| The incentives will come in a combination of cash and promotional
| guarantees. Toshiba, for instance, will use the release of “Shrek the
| Third” as part of an HD DVD marketing campaign.
|
| Paramount and DreamWorks Animation declined to comment. Microsoft, the
| most prominent technology company supporting HD DVDs, said it could not
| ^^^^^^^^^
| rule out payment but said it wrote no checks. “We provided no financial
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| incentives to Paramount or DreamWorks whatsoever,” said Amir Majidimehr,
| the head of Microsoft’s consumer media technology group.
`----
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/21/technology/21disney.html?ei=5088&en=d4e1f285e2f41437&ex=1345348800&adxnnl=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1187698143-B5wO3L/F+4r1NyAsum87vQ
Is Toshiba Giving Away The Razor [HD DVD] To Get You To Buy The Blades?
,----[ Quote ]
| I just received an e-mail tonight from the folks at the EMA (Electronic
| Merchant's Association), who are responsible for a big industry event next
| week, the Home Media Expo.
`----
http://www.dvddossier.com/2007/07/a2-toshiba-hd-d.html
Tosh to tempt laptop buyers with free HD DVDs
,----[ Quote ]
| Buy it and the company will send you the discs - worth £75, it said.
`----
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/11/21/toshiba_hd_dvd_offer/
Cringely the Unemployable on the fallacy of Web 2.0, Microsoft ruthlessness,
and the CB radio of our decade
,----[ Quote ]
| Davidson: Which software company would you hate to compete against? What
| makes you single them out?
|
| Cringely: Microsoft of course. They have the deepest of pockets, unlimited
| ambition, and they are willing to lose money for years and years just to make
| sure that you don't make any money, either. And they are mean, REALLY mean.
|
| Davidson: Why do you think Microsoft is mean? Are you implying some kind of
| malicious intent rather than just ruthlessness?
|
| Cringely: Maybe "mean" is the wrong word to use for Microsoft. "Ruthless" is
| good. The company is built in the image of Bill Gates and Bill is a guy who
| gets caught-up in the game of business and doesn't typically see its personal
| cost. To use what might seem to be an obscure example, just look at all the
| various partnerships and industry consortia that Microsoft has announced
| through the years that never produced a product or even a usable
| specification. There have been literally dozens of these operations that are
| intended solely to freeze the competition until Microsoft can figure what the
| heck it actually wants to do. To Microsoft its a PR exercise that helps them
| compete but to customers it is just a damned lie. That's ruthless. There are
| plenty of other examples I can give but you get the point. I represent the
| concerns of users, not vendors, and Microsoft doesn't really care about
| users.
`----
http://blog.businessofsoftware.org/2007/07/cringely-the-un.html
,----[ Quote ]
| "Let me be clear, ladies and gentlemen, there is one company that will
| have to change its illegal behavior as a result of this ruling, and
| that is Microsoft," Kroes said at a news conference.
`----
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/332064_msfteu18.html?source=mypi
Corrupt countries were more likely to support the OOXML document format
,----[ Quote ]
| Is this just a random coincidence? The median of the CPI index of the above
| mentioned 70 countries is 3.95. Of the most corrupted half (CPI index less
| than 3.95) 23 or 77% voted for approval (approval or approval with comments)
| and 7 or 23% for disapproval; 5 abstained. Of the least corrupted half (CPI
| index more than 3.95) 13 or 54% voted for approval and 11 or 46% voted for
| disapproval; 11 abstained - see the table below.
`----
http://www.effi.org/blog/kai-2007-09-05.en.html
Microsoft buying it's way into OOXML ISO certification?
,----[ Quote ]
| It appears that Microsoft is just buying the OOXML ISO certification!
`----
http://masuran.org/node/90
Ecuador Tax Agency Closes Microsoft Branch Offices For 7 Days
,----[ Quote ]
| "We have twice requested balances, payment reports and complete tax
| information, but the company hasn't given it to us, so in accordance with our
| laws we have proceeded with the closure," the SRI official in charge of the
| proceeding said.
`----
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200710041610DOWJONESDJONLINE000810_FORTUNE5.htm
Microsoft Office raid in Hungary
,----[ Quote ]
| "Such behavior could lead to the exclusion of competitive products from
| the market and violate European Union rules, according to the authority
| known as the GVH."
`----
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/26/ap3957835.html
|
|
