Credit Card with a 79.9% APR

Gordon Hageman couldn’t believe the credit card offer he got in the mail.

“My first thought, it was a mistake,” Hageman said.

The wine distributor called the number on the offer, gave them the offer code and verified his information. Sure enough, it was right: the pre-approved credit card came with a 79.9 percent APR.

Yes, 79.9 percent.

It seems almost criminal, no? That said, it one doesn’t like the APR they need not use the credit card.

Microsoft plug-in puts Firefox users at risk

An add-on that Microsoft silently slipped into Mozilla’s Firefox last February leaves the browser open to attack, Microsoft’s security engineers acknowledged earlier this week.

One of the 13 security bulletins Microsoft released Tuesday affects not only Internet Explorer (IE), but also Firefox, thanks to a Microsoft-made plug-in pushed to Firefox users eight months ago in an update delivered via Windows Update.

“While the vulnerability is in an IE component, there is an attack vector for Firefox users as well,” admitted Microsoft engineers in a post to the company’s Security Research & Defense blog on Tuesday. “The reason is that .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 installs a ‘Windows Presentation Foundation’ plug-in in Firefox.”

Can anyone say industrial sabotage? What really seems like a dick move on the part of Microsoft is the following:

What was particularly galling to users was that once installed, the .NET add-on was virtually impossible to remove from Firefox. The usual “Disable” and “Uninstall” buttons in Firefox’s add-on list were grayed out on all versions of Windows except Windows 7, leaving most users no alternative other than to root through the Windows registry, a potentially dangerous chore, since a misstep could cripple the PC.

Roman Polanski removed from Swiss jail for medical treatment

The director Roman Polanski, who has been held in Zurich since late September on a three-decade-old American extradition warrant, has been moved from prison for medical treatment, his French lawyer said, according to Reuters. “All I know is that he has been taken from prison for medical attention,” the lawyer, Hervé Temime, said. “I don’t know where he is or when he will be returned to prison.” Mr. Temime expressed concern for Mr. Polanski’s health last week after visiting him in prison, saying he was depressed and tired. Mr. Polanski fled the United States in 1978 before his sentencing after pleading guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl.

Let’s change the mood just a bit, put a little laugh into your day.  The first comes (well, came) from Microsoft search.  Make sure you click the pix for the larger verion:

And Burger King could NOT be outdone by the Quizno’s commercials where the oven is telling Scott, the cook, to “put it in me“.  What do you think of this one WC?

Finally, an old one that made me smile…

Microsoft did not escape the wrath of European regulators regarding Internet Explorer. Fines were paid. People were unhappy. Cat and dogs were living together. Basically, the EU made it as difficult for Microsoft as possible where the company was left with only one choice – remove IE or lose your ability to distribute Windows within the EU.

So, naturally, Microsoft said “Hey yeah, we’ll remove it!”

“We’re committed to making Windows 7 available in Europe at the same time that it launches in the rest of the world,” Dave Heiner, Microsoft deputy general counsel, said in a statement, “but we also must comply with European competition law as we launch the product.”

“We believe that this new approach, while not our first choice, is the best path forward given the ongoing legal case in Europe,” he added.

How couldn’t the company comply? When threatened with the loss of a major revenue source, this was the only logical step…. But… If there is no browser installed on the OS, how will anyone have the ability to get online?

Seriously?

If the OS does not ship with some browser, how will EU users have the ability to get ANY browser on their system without Microsoft developing a “Browser of your choice” delivery platform? I would think such a move on their part is unlikely.

Is this Microsoft’s way of trying to get back at the EU? Kind of a “You asked for it, it doesn’t make sense, but you got it”?

I’m just having a hard time seeing how this is going to work right now.

Today is Memorial Day, an touching holiday in the U.S.  Here is a little did you know – the holiday was originally started in order to honor Union soldiers who died during the Civil War.  I never knew!  Nothing like having a friend who is a college professor who’s background includes U.S. History.

Since everyone had the day off, the folks in my condo building had a BBQ.  Sure, it is raining and it is cold, but getting together was a good time. I wish that it didn’t feel like a damp fall day, but it did. The food was good (as usual) and the company was quite nice as well. It’s interesting how so many people, with such diverse backgrounds, manage to enjoy the time they spend together.  

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the concept of a media center once again. I’m thinking that a Mac Mini running Plex may be in order. 

Why Mac?

Well, Plex is a rather flexible option for individuals who wish to develop a media center because of the open source aspect.  It is true that XP/Vista have open source options, but they are not as well developed for my taste. Plus, I don’t want to use the Microsoft created Media center simply due to the freakish desire for control issues Microsoft has.  

There are also Linux open source options, but there is a wide range of issues I would need to overcome with Linux as well. Mind you, I’m not saying Linux is a bad option – I have one system running it now – but the Apple option seems to be the right fit. 

I need to do a bit more investigation into the system before I make that jump.

Speaking of media…

I still cannot believe how slow The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is.  Beautiful movie, absolute shit from an execution perspective. The performances are Oscar caliber, but the constant talking… slow as slow can be pace just kills the movie for me.

Oh.  

So, I’m working on my final track of the “Enhanced” series and everything is coming together better than I had expected.  Thus far the track is 2:30 in length and I haven’t even formed the core of the song yet. 

This an “epic” type of track in the making.  It just has the sound and feel of something that I can look back on and be very proud of.

Anyway, I’m off.

With all the search engine news of late, why shouldn’t Microsoft get in on the action. Sure, they’ve had epic fails on the last two – if not three – iterations of their search engine, but why should they stop now? Ignore that whole “insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting to get a different result” and just give them a chance.

The rumor is the OS overlords will try a different way of presenting the material – breaking down the results into categories. I, frankly, have no clue what that means exactly…and how is that different than how Google breaking down results into News, Shopping, Mapped Results and then search results?

What is MSFT really trying to do? The obvious answer is to go up against Google. Microsoft’s first attempt at a search engine was to simply have msn.com using aol search (I believe), then they went out and tried to create their own search (Live.com) and that idea deflated in failure. So, 0 for 2. I wonder why they really think this will be any different. If MSFT wants to go up against Google, they need market share. If they want market share the will NEED to buy market share, and that means purchasing someone along the lines of Yahoo! or Ask.com

Microsoft is at the point in their history where they now need to ask themselves what they want to be when they grow up. They cannot be everything to everyone. Do they want to be an OS company? To they want to be an App company? Do they want to be a hardware company? How about a search company? Now is the time for MSFT to pick one – maybe two things – and just do it well. Otherwise the company will end up doing a lot of stuff half-assed… much like they are now.

Update: The New Search engine will be going under the name “Bing”, also known as Kumo, but it sounds like many of the features they are pushing are already included in Google or Yahoo! I once again ask… what are you thinking, Microsoft?

I ran across this interesting rumor yesterday, apparently a recently laid off Microsoft employee is claiming Microsoft has the ability to remotely disable Xbox 360s that are in violation of the terms and conditions of the Xbox Live network. That said, the developer claimed the procedure was never executed outside of a lab environment.  

But would Microsoft have the legal ability to disable an Xbox 360 for “questionable” behavior?  Jared Newman, of Technologizer.com, points us to the Xbox Live terms and conditions:

“(c) upgrade, modify, withdraw, suspend, or discontinue any functionality or feature of the Service, any game or other content available or accessible through the Service, or any hardware or software associated with the Service or with an original Xbox or Xbox 360 console, or personal computer, from time to time without notice, which may involve the automatic download of related software directly to your original Xbox, Xbox 360 console, or personal computer, including software that prevents you from accessing the Service, playing pirated games, or using unauthorized hardware peripheral devices.” 

For years, rumors circulated of the possibility of a remote Windows shutdown switch.  There were also rumors of a “back door” for law enforcement agencies directly to the user level OS.  While neither were proven to be true or false, it wouldn’t surprise me if there was a remote disable function included in the Xbox 360 to prevent piracy (or cheating).  

To me, it just seems like the Microsoft way.  From what I hear about the internal operations of the company, as well as little bits of rumor like this, I’m rather glad I passed on the opportunity I had to work for them.

Others have finally said the obvious, in regards to the Microsoft Bond offering:

Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft is sitting on $25 billion in cash, so the company doesn’t need the bond proceeds “unless they have something big in mind,” says Reena Aggarwal, professor of finance at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. Microsoft referred questions on the use of the bond proceeds to the company’s preliminary prospectus, which stated the issue would fund “general corporate purposes” that may include funding for working capital , capital expenditures, repurchases of capital stock and acquisitions.

Microsoft has wanted in on the search market for some time.  As all internal development efforts lead to sub-standard results leading to a lack of penetration in the search market.

If you know anything about Microsoft, their growth is based on technology acquisition.  While still a software company, the majority of their “new” ideas are things others created.  MSFT swoops in, makes a purchase and brands good as Microsoft products.

My guess is that leadership at MSFT sees an opportunity and will buy their way into a competitive position by picking up Yahoo!  If a deal cannot be had with Y!, look for Microsoft to go after Ask.com.

As I looked over the business headlines today there was one headline that really, really stood out to me:  Microsoft to raise $3.75B in first debt offering.  

Why did this stick out?  Simply because this company is flush with cash.  As of 3/31/09 the company had roughly $25B in cash and short term investments, so, obviously, they were not having a hard time with funding.

If you look a bit into the justification MSFT gives as to why they are moving forward with the Debt Offering, you’ll see:

The software maker said it will use proceeds from the sale for general corporate purposes, including possible acquisitions and stock buybacks. 

First – a stock buy back is usually a very poor idea.  It really doesn’t help create that much value for the share holders.

Second – We’ve already established that Microsoft has piles of cash, why would they need to sell debt for “general corporate purposes?”.  Again, makes no business sense and adds no share holder value.

I think the reason for the offering is the “including possible acquisitions” that is mentioned in the SEC filing.  It would make more business sense to have cash reserves and funding acquisitions via debt – cheap debt – during times of economic hardship.

Has the target on Yahoo! suddenly increased in size?

With every fiber of my being, and every bit of energy I can muster at this very moment, I can say that I truly hate Microsoft Windows Vista.

Three hours ago I sat down to work on a PHP project, expecting to work for about an hour or so before I ran of to bed.  Suddenly my wireless connection just stops working. I have a connection to my router, but I get an error stating “local access only” and that I am connected to an “unidentified network”.  

Turns out others have this problem.

A hotfix is available, and it looks like the cause may be due to the wireless protocols.  To be specific, Vista cannot obtain an IP via a DHCP server because it does not suppor the DHCP broadcast flag.

I spent almost 3 hours of my life trying to research and fix this issue when all Hotfixes and patches didnt work.

Seriously, WTF?  

This is major item #5 I’ve run into with Vista, time to investigate going back to XP for now.

Update:3:01AM

So it turns out that the scanner on my laptop had decided to no longer work as well, and now it wants to shut down at random times…

Throw all these things together you one could think virius – but n,o AVG picked up nothing, SpySweepr picked nothing and COMONDO firewall did pick up a single thing either.

Seriously crap product that was intended to be a copy of Apple’s OS at the time.

Update #2, 1/15/09

All of a sudden programs are no longer responding in Vista – Google Chrome, iTunes – for no reason that I can determine.  Also, Vista takes roughly 5 mins to shut down.  Seriously, MSFT, WTF?

I remember when I first found “The Google” back in 1999.  A fellow developer introduced me to the site as it, at the point, managed to provide outstanding search results for some rather obscure programming languages (Yes, it still does!).  How far they have come.

Anyway, one thing that really stuck out about the company was the motto it came to adopt – Don’t be evil.   While they never would specifically say they were trying to specifically call out a specific company, it’s clear who they were talking about Microsoft especially since this motto came out in late 2001 when started to really take heat for the practices and products.

For the longest time it appeared that Google could do no wrong, or do no evil, but then came 2005 when the company decided to censor search results in China so that they would be able to obtain a business license in China.  Did Google all of a sudden decide to forget freedom of speech in order to obtain a profit?

The company took quite a bit of flack for their decision, which prompted Sergey Brin (co-founder of the company) to say the following:

“On a business level, that decision to censor… was a net negative…perhaps now the principled approach makes more sense”

For the record, here are the censored search terms in China – such dangerous things as voting, politics, tank, jail, democracy, rights, human right and communism.

Enough time ended up passing and the world forgot about the acts of censorship… but all of a sudden Google is apologizing for not removing – or policing – their search results of pornographic images.  

Search engines link to a sea of materials and our plan is to conquer mountains of technical difficulties and do all we can to reduce the amount of vulgar material,” Google said in the statement. “Google is willing to be a law-abiding citizen in China,” it said.

So, is Google still “doing no evil”?  Can a company still contend that they are not harming others if they are filtering results for democracy? Has Google simply given up on the most basic of human rights – knowledge and freedom of speech – just so they can continue to profit from the Chinese search market?