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[News] Microsoft's Anti-Linux FUD, Shills, Stereotypes Proving Effective, Yet Unethical/Illegal

  • Subject: [News] Microsoft's Anti-Linux FUD, Shills, Stereotypes Proving Effective, Yet Unethical/Illegal
  • From: Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 03:56:30 +0000
  • Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy
  • Organization: Netscape / schestowitz.com
  • User-agent: KNode/0.10.4
Myths Stymie Linux Growth

,----[ Quote ]
| Regardless of the advantages offered by Linux, no one seems to be adopting it 
| wholeheartedly in the business world. What makes that even more fascinating 
| is that the backlash against Windows Vista is not reason enough to fuel the 
| move to Linux.   
| 
| The problem here is that the powers that be have created enough FUD (fear, 
| uncertainty and doubt) about Linux that most decision makers feel it is safer 
| to stick with Windows (including XP). That FUD is fueled by many myths and 
| misconceptions about what Linux can and cannot do.    
`----

http://www.channelinsider.com/article/Myths+Stymie+Linux+Growth/220508_1.aspx

But Linux Keeps Growing...

A New Strategic Alliance Between Patrick Townsend & Associates and BalaBit IT
Security Brings Syslog-ng to IBM System I Customers

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20071129005194&newsLang=enhttp://tinyurl.com/38osdp
http://tinyurl.com/38osdp


Related:

http://antitrust.slated.org/www.iowaconsumercase.org/011607/3000/PX03096.pdf


Recidivist M$ Up to New Tricks

,----[ Quote ]
| Unleash the Astro-Turfers!
| 
| Already on Apple oriented developer mailing lists one can see the 
| astro-turfing has begun. A really amateurish attempt by 'Mac Developer' (no 
| one uses a stupid handle like that) turned up today.  
`---- 

http://rixstep.com/1/20071004,00.shtml


Meet Thomas Brooks. He's a viral marketer for Microsoft. 

,----[ Quote ]
| It's unfortunate that paid blogging is becoming all the more prevalent in 
| communities like 1UP. And it's not just the blogs or reviews, it's also the 
| message boards. Microsoft, for instance, also has a person (or people?) who 
| is paid to post on some of the popular gaming boards (and no, Jeff Bell 
| wasn't part of that plan). But it's not just Microsoft -- I know of a few 
| other game publishers who pay users to blog. They don't necessarily require 
| bloggers to say positive things about their products, but it's certainly 
| implied with the paychecks.       
| 
| What bums me out about all this viral stuff is that, to some extent, you 
| don't know who to trust anymore. There was a time when, if you no longer 
| believed in what the professional editors where saying, you could at least 
| count on your fellow gamers for honest opinions. Not anymore. In a sense, 
| perhaps that helps elevate the importance of the professional word once 
| again, which I suppose is a good thing for us. But I'm still not happy about 
| it.      
`----

http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8281416&publicUserId=4561231


,----[ Quote ]
| In 2001, the Los Angeles Times accused Microsoft of astroturfing
| when hundreds of similar letters were sent to newspapers voicing
| disagreement with the United States Department of Justice and its
| antitrust suit against Microsoft. The letters, prepared by Americans
| for Technology Leadership, had in some cases been mailed from
| deceased citizens or nonexistent addresses.
`----

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing


MSN Is Spamming The Blogosphere

,----[ Quote ]
| Mr. Youth LLC is a marketing firm and lists MSN as a customer.  Their
| website is here: http://www.mryouth.com/  Their phone number is
| (212) 779-8700.
| 
| I've talked to a couple of other bloggers who said they are receiving
| similar comments on their blogs.  This pisses me off because MSN/Mr.
| Youth should 1) be more upfront about their true identity, and 2)
| provide a real e-mail address so that I can request they take my
| blog off their marketing campaign.
`----

http://www.scott-o-rama.com/2006/12/06/msn-is-spamming-the-blogosphere/


,----[ Quote ]
|     "Some years back, Microsoft practiced a lot of dirty tricks using
| online mavens to go into forums and create Web sites extolling the virtues
| of Windows over OS/2. They were dubbed the Microsoft Munchkins, and it
| was obvious who they were and what they were up to. But their numbers
| and energy (and they way they joined forces with nonaligned dummies who
| liked to pile on) proved too much for IBM marketers, and Windows wont
| he operating-system war through fifth-column tactics"
|
|     Mr Dvorak wonders if Microsoft is today using reverse-dirty-tricks
| to promote the Xbox 360: pay people to create Web sites that slam the
| gaming computer in order to provoke a barrage of defenders.
`----

http://worldcadaccess.typepad.com/gizmos/2005/11/2_grassroots_an.html


Microsoft really loves Bloggers !!!

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft regularly flies customers and industry experts to its
| campus in Washington to listen to the feedback given by those
| people.The company invites dozens of key customers and partners
| to the event,where they spend brainstorming as a group.But as of
| late, Microsoft has changed it's strategy and the company is
| making extensive use of blogs to get direct customer feedback.
| 
| Within a year,more than 1000 Microsoft employee blogs featured
| developers and product managers talking directly to customers every
| day, instead of once a year.Microsoft employees read dozens of
| blogs every day to see how customers react to Microsoft products
| and services. In fact,Microsoft employees have taken a bigger leap
| and even contribute to other's blogs in the expanding space of
| Blogosphere.
`----

http://thoughtsprevail.blogspot.com/2007/03/microsoft-really-loves-bloggers.html


Microsoft Traps and Hunts for Bloggers in India !!

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft has announced the "Microsoft BlogStars" contest, to Hunts
| for Developer Bloggers in India. After feeling the power and increase of
| the Bloggers community in India, Microsoft tries to trap and hunt Bloggers
| in India to buildup the blogging community, for writing blog posts
| supporting towards Microsoft Technologies.
`----

http://i5bala.blogspot.com/2006/10/microsoft-traps-and-hunts-for-bloggers.html


Seattle Area Bloggers Needed for Microsoft User Research Study

,----[ Quote ]
| For your participation, we'll give you your choice of retail
| software and hardware from our extensive list. Current titles
| include the latest Xbox, Xbox 360, and PC games, keyboards,
| Microsoft Office, Windows, productivity software and much more.
`----

http://blogs.msdn.com/usability_recruiting/archive/2007/01/05/seattle-area-bloggers-needed-for-microsoft-user-research-study.aspx


Bloggers meet Mr. Bill (Gates)

,----[ Quote ]
| That meeting is to help Web developers understand how to "unlock new
| revenue opportunities" through technology and content, which could
| include podcasts and blogs. The Microsoft sessions wraps up with a
| one-hour q-and-a up with Bill Gates.
`----

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7BD18F3BC9%2DF59E%2D4DB4%2DB978%2DD4651079E274%7D&source=blq%2Fyhoo&dist=yhoo&siteid=yhoo
http://tinyurl.com/yjaseg


Bribing Bloggers

,----[ Quote ]
| This is the most frustrating thing about the practice of giving
| bloggers free stuff: it pisses in the well, reducing the credibility
| of all blogs. I'm upset that people trust me less because of the
| behavior of other bloggers. Don't even get me started about PayPerPost.
|
| [...]
|
| Do not, under any circumstances, consider upgrading an XP system to
| Vista... even if it's fairly new and even if it's Vista Supremo
| Premium Ultra-Capable.
`----

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2006/12/28.html


Microsoft's Laptop Giveaway Becoming PR Disaster?

,----[ Quote ]
| This thing is starting to feel like a PR disaster. Bloggers are
| starting to smell blood and this thing very well may begin to
| turn into yet another episode of bloggers gone wild.
`----

http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/061228/23174_id.html?.v=1


Bribing Bloggers

,----[ Quote ]
| It's a bribe. Period. You say nice things about us, you get nice
| things from us. Heck, just say neutral things about us-we'll give
| you a killer new laptop and we know that you'll be inclined to say
| better things about us.
`----

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2077596,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03129TX1K0000616


Getting a Vaio [with Vista, from Microsoft, even in March 2007]

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Belgium rang me yesterday (I don?t think they realised it 
| was a public holiday here!).
| 
| [...]
| 
| The phone call yesterday was to confirm my address - the laptop (a
| Sony Vaio - dunno which model or spec yet) is en route with Vista
| Ultimate and Office Ultimate pre-installed.
`----

http://www.tomrafteryit.net/getting-a-vaio/


Microsoft pays star writers to recite slogan

,----[ Quote ]
| The stodgy old media industry has a rule that newspaper reporters, and TV 
| news hosts, shouldn't trade on their public trust to endorse products.
`----

http://valleywag.com/tech/federated-media/microsoft-pays-star-writers-to-recite-slogan-271485.php


Malik, Arrington and Battelle: X-22, come in [to Microsoft]

,----[ Quote ]
| What would possess a collection of online publishers and venture capitalists 
| to pimp a Microsoft advertising slogan?
| 
| Valleywag today reported about a site tied to a Microsoft ad campaign
| where the likes of Michael Arrington, Om Malik and others seemingly 
| lend their support to the "people-ready" catchphrase.
| 
| I sent e-mails both to Arrington and Malik and--surprise, 
| surprise--heard nothing back. (Obviously, they are not yet 
| sufficiently "Coop-ready.") Microsoft was still checking for me into  
| whether money exchanged hands. But even if not a single shekel exchanged 
| hands, I must wonder about the absence of common sense. Why would 
| ostensibly independent voices come across as Microsoft shills? If 
| they were hoping for a free dinner with Bill Gates, there are 
| smarter ways to go about it. 
`----

http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9733995-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20


,----[ Quote ]
| "The main thing I'm pissed off about right now is that they pulled all the 
| ads, which mean we're taking a revenue hit. We're running a business here, 
| and have payroll to make. We run ads to make that payroll. Those ads have now 
| been pulled." 
| 
| Microsoft once again corrupts confidence in the blogsphere. They 
| turn 'citizen journalists' to marketing people in disguise. 
`----

http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9734034-7.html?tag=head


How's the Reception at [Microsoft's] Channel 9?

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates emphasized the importance of blogging in a 
| May 2004 speech during the company's annual CEO summit. But Gates doesn't 
| blog; same for Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
|
| [...]
|
| Many Microsoft employees do blog, reportedly more than 4,000 of them.
| The number of employee bloggers was comparatively quite small, about
| 300, before the launch of Channel 9 and the success of Scoble's blog.
| 
| Last year could be called year of the blog at Microsoft. Employee
| blogrolls swelled and Microsoft bloggers disseminated lots of 
| vital information about the company. Increasingly, employee
| bloggers are becoming Microsoft's primary evangelists. They are
| certainly a group over which the company can exact some control
| and which can spin information to Microsoft's advantage. 
`----

http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/developer/hows_the_reception_at_channel_9.html?kc=MWRSS02129TX1K0000535


INQhack survives Vistability test in Volesville 

,----[ Quote ]
| The Vole (Microsoft) supposedly invited The INQ over for tea because
| we are notorious "Microsoft doubters" - and we were accompanied by
| other supposed Vole doubters such as the folk from lifehacker and
| a very nice man from Slashdot, as well as some Microsoft MvPs.
`----

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=36312


Microsoft desperately wants my love -- and yours

,----[ Quote ]
| I spent December seventh, eighth, and ninth in Seattle as Microsoft's
| guest. Microsoft flew me there from Florida at its expense, put me up
| in a nice hotel, provided decent food, and comped me and four other
| invitees to this "special conference" with presentations about the
| marvels of Vista and other recent or upcoming Microsoft products. They
| didn't quite play the old Beatles song "Love Me Do" in the background,
| but it was the event's unstated theme.
`----

http://www.linux.com/article.pl?sid=06/12/12/085222

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