What is good for Microsoft is also good for the families
,----[ Quote ]
| It seems to be nice to have politicians as Brian Baird ask you staged
| questions, so you can elaborate on your own business agenda and the public
| benefit of your commercial activities. Watch Mr. Gates speak on OOXML.
`----
http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-47895/what-is-good-for-microsoft-is-also-good-for-the-families
Next agenda: pretend that Microsoft is good for America. Never mind the
offshoring for cost savings...
Rumble in Kuala Lumpur!
,----[ Quote ]
| I don't know what took place in the meeting, because I wasn't there, but it
| seems Microsoft certainly pushed hard to justify the case for OOXML and why
| Malaysia should change its vote from "Abstain" to "Agree". I don't think
| the 'other side' needed to do much; the evidence is right infront of
| everyone's eyes. If PIKOM represents the industries view, and Microsoft is
| just a mere member in its roster, then the consensus is blatantly clear.
`----
http://www.openmalaysiablog.com/2008/03/rumble-in-kuala.html
Recent:
Gates goes to Washington as US OOXML decision nears
,----[ Quote ]
| Gates answered that Microsoft wants to see OOXML become an ISO standard, in
| part, "so that families and researchers and archivists will be able to access
| information from the past and use it to interact in the future.
`----
http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php?id=1466102525&rid=-50
Related:
Microsoft Looks for the Big Guns in OOXML In-Fighting
,----[ Quote ]
| Bill Gates has reportedly been making phone calls to the Secretary of Defense
| and the Secretary of Commerce to push the American National Standards
| Institute to ignore the votes of its advisory committees and vote "yes" on
| ISO standardizing Microsoft's Open Office XML (OOXML) format, the one in
| competition with the OpenDocument Format (ODF) pushed by IBM and Sun.
|
| Gates reportedly picked up the phone when the last INCITS ballot failed by
| one vote to support Microsoft.
`----
http://xml.sys-con.com/read/419573_p.htm
Microsoft influencing partner NGOs to support OOXML in India
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft is encouraging its business partners to promote its Office Open XML
| specification (OOXML) to the Indian Bureau of Standards (BIS) and Ministry of
| IT. This move has incensed supporters of the rival OpenDocument Format (ODF)
| who fear that the "soft" Indian state may not be able to stand up to
| Microsoft pressure tactics.
`----
http://www.linux.com/feature/128528
Microsoft India using NGOs to fake support for OOXML
http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-44038/microsoft-india-using-ngos-to-fake-support-for-ooxml
Becoming a better company: Microsoft helps NGOs in India
,----[ Quote ]
| Of course, there has to be some trade-offs, because there should never be
| free lunch, even for the ones who starve: Microsoft, according to this
| article, has conditioned its help to Indian NGOs to their support of OOXML.
| What the NGOs had to do was to send letters of support on OOXML to the
| federal government of India.
`----
http://standardsandfreedom.net/index.php/2008/02/29/becoming-a-better-company-microsoft-helps-ngos-in-india/
Microsoft "persuades" NGOs to support OOXML
,----[ Quote ]
| Our friends at Linux Delhi have put up a copy of the form letters that
| Microsoft has been sending NGOs on the OOXML issue. Apparently, these NGOs
| have been sending copies of these letters to the Ministry of IT and Bureau of
| Indian standards.
`----
http://osindia.blogspot.com/2008/02/microsoft-persuades-ngos-to-support.html
Developers around the world, unite!
,----[ Quote ]
| Monopoly and proprietary software have an advantage in influencing state and
| governmental institutions because of their large market base and ready
| capital. Unscrupulous ways of influencing state governments have persisted in
| India, for example, where executives of proprietary software cajole
| government heads to promote their brands in lieu of some form of charity
| given. FLOSS activists must overcome this huge challenge in order to get
| their philosophy accepted and model implemented for the good of people who
| are still on the barren side of the digital divide.
`----
http://thepost.com.pk/OpinionNews.aspx?dtlid=147277&catid=11
Using NGOs to Push Agendas
,----[ Quote ]
| The extent to which Microsoft can go in its efforts to get OOXML is
| interesting. Microsoft has "persuaded" several non-profit organizations to
| bombard the Indian IT Secretary and the Additional Director General of the
| Bureau of Indian Standards with letters supporting its OOXML proposal. A copy
| of the form letter they have been circulating to NGOs is given below.
| Somebody should interview these NGOs to see how much they really know about
| OOXML and open standards.
|
| The sequence of events leading up to the spamming of GoI? is:
|
| Letter from an NGO thanking Microsoft (name changed to protect their
| identity)
`----
http://wiki.linux-delhi.org/cgi-bin/twiki/view/OpenStandards/MsNgoLobby
Evidence of Microsoft issuing money to tens of thousands to Indian charities
just days before the vote here:
http://boycottnovell.com/2008/03/01/bribe-charity-xooml-india/
Guess Who's Getting the Most Work Visas
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft (MSFT) and Intel (INTC) are the only two traditional U.S. tech
| companies among the top 10. Microsoft received 959 visa petition approvals,
| or one fifth as many as Infosys, while Intel got 369.
`----
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_11/b4075062465238.htm?campaign_id=yhoo
Study: There Is No Shortage of U.S. Engineers
,----[ Quote ]
| ...a new study from Duke University calls this argument bunk, stating
| that there is no shortage of engineers in the United States, and
| that offshoring is all about cost savings.
`----
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2111347,00.asp
Is There a Shortage of U.S. Tech Workers?
,----[ Quote ]
| Speaking before a Senate committee earlier this month, Gates said
| that America is facing a critical shortage of tech workers. He
| recommended boosting the number of H-1B visas to allow more foreign
| tech workers into the U.S.
|
| [...]
|
| "I think that has created an environment where the population of advanced
| skill workers has shrunk a lot in the U.S., because we just haven't created
| a fair system," he says. "Where if you go to other countries, you'll find
| national policy around broadband deployment, which creates a much more even
| playing field for people of all income levels to learn by and work by."
|
| "We did it to ourselves," he says.
`----
http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/career/article.php/3667376
Microsoft Sending All XP and Vista Tech Support Calls To India?
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft is sending ALL of its XP and Vista tech support calls to India
| starting March 29th, according to a call center insider
`----
http://www.consumerist.com/consumer/microsoft/microsoft-sending-all-xp-and-vista-tech-support-calls-to-india-245048.php
"Dear Microsoft": An open letter to Microsoft regarding the outsourcing of
jobs.
,----[ Quote ]
| Don't get it twisted: I don't have a problem with you outsourcing
| jobs to people that will work for next-to-nothing. It's just
| getting a bit out of hand, don't you think? I mean, there's no
| point trying to fool me.
`----
http://www.lastnameball.com/RantsandTirades/Pages/DearMicrosoft.html
http://airpost.org/microsoft.jpg
Bill Gates to address Senate panel
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is scheduled to descend on Capitol Hill
| next week to pepper a U.S. Senate committee with his suggestions for
| boosting American competitiveness.
`----
http://news.com.com/2061-10796_3-6163930.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news
Microsoft India centre working on Windows 7
,----[ Quote ]
| Designers and engineers at Microsoft R&D centre in India have a new mandate
| for development of Windows 7, the next generation operating system from
| Microsoft Corporation, slated for release in 2009-10.
`----
http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/news/business/microsoft-india-centre-workingwindows-7/09/56/296305
Is There Really an IT Labor Shortage?
,----[ Quote ]
| Despite what you've been told about the IT skills shortage, there's a
| multitude of evidence that suggests that line of reasoning is a self-serving
| myth. Baseline cuts in to the belly of the IT shortage debate.
|
| Over the last several years a number of IT industry executives and analysts
| have consistently promoted the idea that there exists an ever-present
| shortage of skilled IT workers in the market to fill the industry’s demand.
| High-profile executives such as Bill Gates of Microsoft and Craig Barrett of
| Intel have weighed in on their opinions about this shortage of good help in
| the server room and at the keyboard.
`----
http://www.baselinemag.com/c/a/IT-Management/Is-There-Really-an-IT-Labor-Shortage/
|
|
