Here's some reader thoughts on Microsoft's sue-happy approach to patents:
Is MS patenting code or ideas? The idea of efficient page loading... Right. Someone else seeing your implementation and figuring out their own way of doing something like that is not patentable.
Even in the patent litigious drug market there are many medicines for headaches. Did the other drug makers copy the idea of the first?
Lawyers are bringing down this country and stifling innovation.
-Anonymous
'Striking upon the Google OS with great vengeance and furious anger. And instead of lightning or pestilence, Microsoft is using U.S. courts, laying its vengeance ...'
Ezekiel 25:17 -- famously quoted buy Jules (Samuel L Jackson) in Pulp Fiction
-Trent
If you were MS and had a bevy of corporate lawyers on retainer, many of which specialize in patent law, and you were getting your bloated narcissistic butt kicked in an entire computing market sector, what would you do? Don't give me that "I would develop a better product and win customer loyalty" crap. You would do what the rest of American mega-corporations would do: litigate.
-Mike
One Redmond Report reader shares his insight on Microsoft's product naming policy:
Several years ago, I asked a Microsoft employee about the products marked by their year. He told me the year on those products refer to the Microsoft fiscal year they were shipped. I believe their fiscal years end June 30.
It's possible he was talking out of his rear, but I thought I'd pass that along.
-Tony
Share your thoughts with the editors of this newsletter! Write to [email protected]. Letters printed in this newsletter may be edited for length and clarity, and will be credited by first name only (we do NOT print last names or e-mail addresses).
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/25/2011 at 1:18 PM0 comments
This week I brought you news that RSA's SecurID token, which protect online banking and other key services (services for which substandard security is not an option), has been at least halfway cracked by hackers.
These devious digital intruders learned enough about SecurID to launch what are called "persistent attacks." They can't crack it in one fell swoop, but can wage regular assaults that could ultimately cause harm (the way Jersey Shore doesn't make you stupid overnight, but after years of watching, who knows?).
RSA is not taking this lightly and (for now) has stopped sending out SecurID tokens. It is also giving those that depend on this security detailed advice on how to make SecurID more secure.
Hackers know quite a bit about SecurID, but in order to bypass it, hackers need the clients to divulge security information.
Customers need to scour event logs for attempted breeches and make sure their security databases are protected.
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/25/2011 at 1:18 PM1 comments
Windows Phone 7 is actually pretty cool. But that is like comparing a Creed concert tour to Led Zeppelin or The Who. Creed members can play their instruments reasonably well, but the band ain't no legend.
The iPhone is, and now Android devices are superstars that sell out stadiums. Meanwhile, Windows Phones are playing at community colleges and large nightclubs.
So it is no surprise that the world is not shaking on its axis on the news that a software update will be hitting carriers soon for Windows Phone 7 devices.
The update is largely about adding copy/paste functionality, increasing the speed at which you can get to your games and making it easier to blow your hard-earned bread buying stuff from the Windows Phone marketplace.
The crazy thing is if these phones came out six years ago, they would rule. But Microsoft is nothing but patient. My guess is Windows Phone 12 will be a blockbuster!
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/25/2011 at 1:18 PM1 comments
Digital certificates are supposed to protect our security. But hackers have somehow managed to create nine bogus certificates that could be used to violate the very core of your network.
Even though hackers hacked into certs from the Comodo Group, Microsoft was the one who first brought the issue to light this week.
Maybe that's because the certs can be used to breech the defenses of Windows Live and Google. For some reason, Google didn't raise any major alarms.
The hack was made possible because a major jerk somehow managed to get the password and user name of a Comodo worker. The source of the hack appears to be Iran but the hacker(s) could have been spoofing the IP address.
Thankfully, no attacks have been thus far reported. But if that changes, the exploits could include phishing and other nefarious deeds.
Browser providers Google, Mozilla and Microsoft have all sent out patches.
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/25/2011 at 1:18 PM1 comments
Microsoft has weird ways of naming products. Some just have sorta real names, like the Xbox. Others have version numbers, like Windows 7. And others are marked by the year they presumably ship, like Office 2007.
System Center is using that last nomenclature, and this week in Lost Wages, Microsoft detailed just what we can expect next year from System Center 2012 (though sometimes the products ship the year before the name actually indicates).
At the Microsoft Management Summit, the company laid out what is now a family of management tools: For the virtually inclined, there is the beta version of System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012 (SCVMM 2012). The big deal here is the tool will manage Xen from Citrix, in addition to the current support of VMware and Hyper-V of the current version.
Another new tool is System Center Operations Manager 2012, which lets developers and IT find problems in J2EE and .NET apps.
Finally there is System Center Service Manager 2012. This cloud-friendly hunk of code lets line-of-business execs bypass IT and directly commission additional cloud capacity.
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/23/2011 at 1:18 PM0 comments
Readers chime in on what they think needs to happen in the battle against spam:
It's not about tougher laws -- it's about enforceable laws! Only in cyberspace can the law be broken without knowing the jurisdiction in which the law was broken -- and only in cyberspace can a criminal completely hide his/her identity.
If I am (or a member of my family is) driving recklessly, there is a license plate on my car which identifies me as the owner. If a gun is used to commit a crime, it is registered to someone. And, if I rob a bank while wearing a ski mask, there is still physical evidence which connects (and witnesses who can connect) me to the crime. But if I choose to sign up for a free e-mail account under an assumed name, and if I use a public link to the Internet, it is almost impossible to determine who I am and what I am doing.
The price of guaranteed anonymity is having to put up with other anonymous people trying to steal from me. I have no protection from these thieves and the authorities have neither the tools nor the time to try to catch them. Ironically, it is the very anonymity that tempts would-be thieves to use the Internet to break the law. I always use my real identity when I register for a Web site because I have nothing to hide, but how many people use bogus names so they can say outrageous things to their fellow human beings or do outrageous things to steal from their neighbors. This level of anonymity has contributed to the decline in civility at all levels of society.
Thanks for the opportunity to comment.
-Marc
How would global e-mail communication be if each e-mail message required some type of authentication? What if each e-mail received generated a 'confirmation' with in the protocol (SMTP?) that required the sending server to confirm that it really sent the message. That way, the header information would need to be legitimate if the message delivery is to be completed.
I think it would require millions of servers to change their SMPT settings...but think of the spam and viruses that would not be delivered!
I read your stuff all the time, please keep up the great work.
-Jeff
I really don't think new laws would help. Many of these spammers operate outside the justification of the U.S. -- new laws would be futile. We need better tools and education. People need to know that when they sign for things online, there is a very good chance someone they don't want will get their e-mail. I run an Exchange 2003 server with just under 100 mailboxes. I was using Sunbelt's Ninja for several years. It worked at first but as time went on the mail queue would often be overwhelmed with undeliverable mail and bounce backs from spammers using our domain for masquerading their spam to others. I now use an off-site solution through a local IT provider. All our mail goes through it first and there is hardly ever spam that gets through. No more need to restart the mail queue either. It only costs us $150/month, thanks in part to a non-profit discount.
-Anonymous
Share your thoughts with the editors of this newsletter! Write to [email protected]. Letters printed in this newsletter may be edited for length and clarity, and will be credited by first name only (we do NOT print last names or e-mail addresses).
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/23/2011 at 1:18 PM0 comments
This week U.S. government lawyers filed comments in support of i4i's position that there should be no change in the evidence rules concerning disproving patents in legal cases. Microsoft is contesting the burden of proof in such cases after losing to Canadian-based i4i in a patent infringement case involving the use of custom XML in Office software.
Still apparently believing in our patent system, Microsoft has been going after Android, striking upon the Google OS with great vengeance and furious anger. And instead of lightning or pestilence, Microsoft, is using U.S. courts, laying its vengeance upon Android through patent lawsuit after patent lawsuit.
Instead of going directly after Google, the latest suit takes on the selfish, tyrannical and evil Nook e-reader and Color tablet from Barnes and Noble, along with two of the bookseller's partners.
Microsoft claims the devices violate patents, including one related to serving up Web content before the full image is available (isn't this just efficient loading?), user navigation such as selecting text and getting information about how the download is progressing.
I'm not sure this suit is truly in the name of charity and good will. What are your thoughts on these kinds of suits, and what Biblical rhymes am I biting in this item? Answers to both righteously received at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/23/2011 at 1:18 PM4 comments
I meet with a lot of virtualization vendors, and while Hyper-V is on the move, VMware is still where most of the action is. Just don't tell that to Microsoft or retail chain Target. Target went with Hyper-V to consolidate the servers in its retail location, cutting them from an average of seven heat-dispensing boxes to just two.
That kind of move is a big deal in a number of ways. First, there is less power needed to run the servers. That can save some big bucks. And fewer servers should mean fewer admin headaches (and possibly fewer admins).
But the biggest deal is that as you add capacity, you needn't blow out the server room walls to make more room, beef up your AC and give more hard-earned money to utility companies. And this isn't a bad thing.
Are you looking at data center efficiency? If so, what is your approach -- simplifying, virtualizing, or going to the cloud? Lay it on us at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/23/2011 at 1:18 PM0 comments
Microsoft has long worked to thwart spam. And its privacy policies expressly forbid the company from spamming customers. If you are getting spammed by Microsoft, it probably isn't Microsoft!
Microsoft has helped the Feds bust a number of spam farms. It may have just brought down the biggest fish yet with the news that the Rustock spybot ring is busted.
This isn't some penny-ante operation. Rustock sends billions of spam -- not every year but every darn day! Experts believe it did so by commandeering over a million PCs. At its peak, almost half of all spam messages in the world came from Rustock.
The Can-Spam Act is now eight years old and has barely put a dent in this scourge. In fact, after the law passed, spam actually went up. We need tougher laws, more actions like those of Microsoft, and to use whatever spam defenses we have.
How do you fight spam, and do we need harsher laws? Legitimate mail always welcome at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/21/2011 at 1:18 PM8 comments
Here are some of your thoughts on Microsoft's media player:
Well, I have owned two Zunes and a few iPods. I gave all of the iPods to my sister and her husband when I got my 120 gb Zune with display for around $200 off eBay. I added that Zune to my Zune pass subscription and synced up my cd collection of about 30 gb, subscription songs, few dozen movies I converted using Cucusoft and some TV Shows I pulled from the Tivo. The Zune Pass radio stations are kind of weak and barely update, but any song download while subscribing plus 10 songs a month for keeps is hard to pass on -- even the 'free' music sites cost too much as far as time and effort goes compared to Zune Pass.
The 30 gb Zune never had any problems besides a lockup once; I promptly ordered the afore mentioned 120 gb before figuring out how to hard reset the old Zune. The 120 broke two times and now I have an 80 gb from Microsoft.
-Phil
We have one guy at work that has a Zune. Everybody laughs at him.
I still have some LPs and cassettes…but only because I won't let them go. I never touch them, unless they're unavailable elsewhere, and I've been to lazy to record them to an mp3 file.
For almost everyone I know, it's all about the iPod. And remember that an iPhone is an iPod.
Pandora is amazing, and personalized music choices in the cloud is the future. I just don't look forward to the time when somebody figures out how to charge us for it.
You didn't ask how we BUY music. I still like having that physical CD, even though I rip it once and put it on a shelf forever. My kids' generation, however, just buys songs on iTunes. I think they'll be sorry.
-Anonymous
I bought a Zune (40 gig or 80gig... Who remembers?) for my daughter about four years ago and it still works flawlessly. She loved it then and she loves it now. She uses it in the car or docks it in speakers while using her Droid 2 as a phone. She's crazy about that phone and it's packed with music, but she's constantly messing with the Zune. She says her friends don't care for her having to stop the music to answer the phone or text. Not a problem with the Zune.
My other daughter has been through just about every incarnation of mp3 player out there and recently (finally!!) bought a really nice Zune to replace all the mp3 players she's trashed. I'm hoping this means I won't hear anymore, 'Dad! iTunes isn't acting right. Dad! iTunes says I don't have the rights to play the music it sold me! Dad! I can't get iTunes to play the mp3s on the external drive! Dad! iTunes sucks!!' I know nothing about iTunes (or anything starting with a 'I') and don't plan to start, so I wasn't much help. The Zune's drag-and-drop feature has not caused a single issue. (I did load some music on a friend's Shuffle recently and I can honestly say that the last root canal I had was less painful.)
Though I know that the Zune is going to have its detractors, everyone I know that has one, loves it. Personally, I'd hate to see it go.
-g
Share your thoughts with the editors of this newsletter! Write to [email protected]. Letters printed in this newsletter may be edited for length and clarity, and will be credited by first name only (we do NOT print last names or e-mail addresses).
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/21/2011 at 1:18 PM1 comments
Microsoft may be pushing Windows Phone 7 as hard as Jack LaLanne used to push his juicer, but there is still room for Microsoft mobile partners. Microsoft last week cozied up to Research in Motion (RIM), agreeing to drop e-mail hosting fees to those that sign up for Microsoft's Exchange Online either through BPOS or the new Office 365. That could save you a cool $50 a month.
A broader deal between the two has also been struck, but not yet fully detailed. According to reports, Microsoft will handle the storage of BlackBerry customers' data through the cloud. Microsoft will also reportedly do the same for RIM's upcoming tablet.
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/21/2011 at 1:18 PM1 comments
When it comes to security, RSA is a bit of a gold standard. That's why I was shocked and chagrined to hear that RSDA's two-factor authentication tool, SecurID, has been compromised.
This is a big deal since SecurID is used in highly sensitive settings such as online banking.
It seems that hackers have learned the ins and outs of SecurID, but apparently haven't learned enough to launch a successful attack.
Posted by Doug Barney on 03/21/2011 at 1:18 PM1 comments