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Blue Screen of Death Strikes Bird's Nest During Opening Ceremonies Torch Lighting Well this is just perfect. At the exact moment Li Ning was rounding the lip of the Bird's Nest during the amazing torch-lighting climax, someone snapped this photo of our good friend the BSOD nestled amongst the Nest's steel twigs. Perhaps an Opening Cermonies IT dude spit out his coffee on the machines in the server room when Li took to the sky? Another question is what a projection screen is doing inside the Nest at that location, but I think the better question is what wasn't going...

scribbles89 sends in a story that originally ran in SearchSecurity; it sounds like it could be a game-changer. "While this may seem like any standard security hole, other researchers say that the work is a major breakthrough and there is very little that Microsoft can do to fix the problems. These attacks work differently than other security exploits, as they aren't based on any new Windows vulnerabilities, but instead take advantage of the way Microsoft chose to guard Vista's fundamental architecture. According to Dino Dai Zovi..., 'the genius of this is that it's completely reusable. They have attacks that let...

There is much exuberance in the Mac orbit this week over news from market research and analysis firm Gartner Group that Apple has edged past Taiwan-based Acer into third-place spot for computer sales volume in the U.S. with 8.5 percent of the domestic personal computer market, although it still ranks sixth globally. However, domestically, according to Gartner estimates, Apple's sales now surpass all competitors save for for Dell and HP, showing amazing sales growth of 38.1 percent year-over-year, and that's with fourth-place Acer having gobbled up Gateway and Packard Bell whose sales are included in the Acer total. Gartner' market...

A software update for the Windows operating system has left hundreds and thousands of computer users unable to access the internet. The update, known as a "patch", conflicts with another piece of software, the Zone Alarms firewall, that many people use to protect their computers from hackers and viruses. The patch, codenamed MS08-037, was designed to fix a security loophole in the way Windows handles website addresses. It was discovered that there was a weakness with the operating system that could allow hackers to re-route legitimate web pages to malicious websites instead, and leave internet users open to fraud...

Does anyone recommend a fax software since it is not included in the Vista Home Premium? I've read a bit about Snappysoftware.com but would prefer opinions and suggestions from folks on FR. Thank you!!

Excerpt - Redmond, WA (AHN) - Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is pulling the XP operating system from its product line come Monday. The move comes 18 months after the company launched the Vista operating system. Although Microsoft will not sell the XP program any longer, they will still generate revenue from providing support for the software as it will no longer be free. Microsoft will offer extended support packages for XP until at least 2014. ~ snip ~

REDMOND, Wash. (Reuters) - Bill Gates said a teary goodbye on Friday to Microsoft Corp, the software maker he built into the world's most valuable technology company based on the ambitious goal of placing a computer on every desk and in every home. He leaves Microsoft, which he co-founded with childhood friend Paul Allen in 1975, to focus on his philanthropic organization, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's largest charity, funded in part by his vast fortune. At an employee event at Microsoft's scenic headquarters campus here, Gates joined Chief Executive Steve Ballmer on stage to deliver a...

"For the opening piece in our series on Gates leaving daily life at Microsoft, one goal was to give a clear picture of the Microsoft co-founder's role inside the company, as a gauge of the impact his departure will have," Todd Bishop writes for The Seattle Post-Intelligencer's Microsoft Blog. "As part of that, I went back through the internal e-mails turned over in the antitrust suits against the company, looking for new insights into his personality." Bishop found a doozy, which also happens to illustrate perfectly why Mac users have such disdain for the "Windows experience." If you've ever...

For months, Barack Obama's campaign has repeatedly, and not always successfully, tried to swat away references to Barack "Osama," the mutating of the candidate's name into the similar-sounding moniker of the world's most-wanted terrorist. Some of the mixups have been made accidentally (as when Sen. Ted Kennedy did it). Some have been made maliciously by Obama's critics (as when Rush Limbaugh did it). One mixup, with potentially vast effect, apparently belongs to the unintentional category and gained wide currency this week: The spell-checker in Microsoft's Hotmail e-mail software recommends that users replace the word "Obama" with "Osama."

A Harvard University dropout who ushered in the home computer age and made billions of dollars along the way will have his last official day of work at Microsoft on June 27. Three people will essentially fill the void left behind when Bill Gates retires from the company he and friend Paul Allen co-founded in 1975. Since Gate's began his transition from leading Microsoft to heading his personally-bankrolled charity, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation , his job as chief software architect has been handled by Ray Ozzie. Craig Mundie inherited Gate's chief research and strategy officer duties, while former...

Excerpt - Microsoft is in a bind. Windows Vista has sold 140 million copies, but it's such a resource hog with unreliable hardware drivers that users keep asking Redmond to extend the support for Windows XP. Many corporations refuse to upgrade their server farms and cubicle-bound desktops at all. It's not often that 140 million copies of a software package that costs hundreds of dollars can be called a disappointment, but this one seems to fit that bill. Vowing to release a new operating system every three years, the company now has about 20 months until the supposed release date...

Microsoft Corp. chief executive Steve Ballmer on Thursday offered a glimmer of hope to fans of the company's XP operating system, saying customer demand may see the company reconsider a decision to stop selling XP in June. But Ballmer was adamant that "most people who buy PCs today buy them with Vista." "That's the statistical truth," he told reporters at a press conference at Louvain-La-Neuve university. "If customer feedback varies, we can always wake up smarter," he said. Fans of the six-year-old operating system set to be pulled off store shelves by June 30 have papered the Internet with blog...

AOL contacts Microsoft as Steve Ballmer walks away from Yahoo! bid AOL, the internet arm of Time Warner, has approached Microsoft about a possible tie-up as a deal between the software group and Yahoo! unravelled, The Times has learnt. The move emerged as Microsoft this weekend said it was walking away from Yahoo!, after the online search engine rejected a second, higher offer from the software group valuing Yahoo! at $47.5 billion (£24 billion). The news broke after a meeting in Seattle on Saturday at which Steve Ballmer, chief executive of Microsoft, sought to persuade Jerry Yang, co-founder of Yahoo,...

Microsoft withdraws offer for Yahoo: source 11 minutes ago Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) has withdrawn its offer for Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O) and does not plan to go hostile, a person familiar with Microsoft's thinking said on Saturday. Microsoft raised its offer by $5 billion to $33 a share, but Yahoo wanted $37 a share, this person said. Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer has sent a letter to Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang withdrawing the offer, the person said.

BREAKING NEWS: A Microsoft spokesman says the software giant is walking away from its offer to buy out online portal Yahoo, according to the Associated Press.

Some of the coolest OS features are nowhere to be found in Windows XP or Vista. Here are 18 brilliant features that Microsoft should beg for, borrow, or steal—plus tips on how you can add many of them to your PC now. Love it or hate it, Microsoft Windows is the world's most dominant operating system. But when you look at some of the hot features found in competitors such as Linux and Mac OS X, both XP and Vista can seem a little incomplete. From intuitive interface features like Apple's application dock and Cover Flow to basic media capabilities...

The growing use of encryption software -- like Microsoft's own BitLocker -- by cyber criminals has led Microsoft to develop a set of tools that law enforcement agents can use to get around the software, executives at the company said...Microsoft first released the toolset, called the Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor (COFEE)...Microsoft gives the software to agents for free.

Microsoft Pulls XP SP3, Delays Release Indefinitely Jason Mick (Blog) - April 29, 2008 5:12 PM Bad news for those looking to get the latest XP service pack DailyTech reported earlier today that Windows XP's third service pack was ready for full deployment via Windows Update, as promised by Microsoft. However, in an eleventh hour move sure to draw criticism, the service pack was yanked by Microsoft and will not be released on April 29th as previously promised. The pack was pulled because it breaks or otherwise compromises the Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System (RMS). The RMS application is relatively...

If this year's Democratic convention does come down to a floor battle, Microsoft could end up being the real winner. The Democratic National Convention Committee announced Monday that Microsoft will be the "official software and HD Web content provider" for the convention, which runs August 25-28 in Denver. The move is a vote of confidence for Silverlight, which is in a battle against incumbent Adobe Flash. The software maker will power real-time online voting systems for delegates as well as live, gavel-to-gavel streaming coverage of the event at DemConvention.com. "Silverlight multimedia applications will provide an all-access pass for the Convention's...

What kinds of news stories stir up liberals? What kind thrill the conservatives? Those questions likely won't be definitively answered soon, at least not by humans. But a team of Microsoft researchers, specialists in natural language processing and machine learning, has been trying to resolve them using the Web. The research group, based at the company's Redmond, Wash. headquarters, is developing a program that classifies news stories according to whether liberal or conservative bloggers are linking to them. Then, to see which stories really excite the partisans, the program further aims to measure the "emotional intensity" of the blog posts...

Just one year ago, Megan Wallent's co-workers at Microsoft knew her as Michael. Then, in an e-mail sent to his entire staff, he announced that he no longer considered himself a male. The long-time executive, in charge of the Internet Explorer division for Microsoft, underwent major feminization surgery and legally changed his gender. Wallent's wife, like his co-workers, had no idea that this guy's guy was conflicted about his gender identity. ABC's Neal Karlinksy has the story from Seattle. Read more here and view a slideshow of the transition from Michael to Megan.

Ric Weiland, who helped his friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen launch Microsoft, was a quiet philanthropist. But his final gift has provided one of the most powerful financial boosts ever to the gay-rights movement. Weiland has left $65 million to the Pride Foundation in Seattle and 10 nonprofit organizations, believed to be the largest estate gift ever given to the gay and lesbian community in the U.S. His generosity didn't stop there. Weiland left $160 million, the majority of his estate, to charity. That includes a gift to Stanford University estimated to be worth $60 million, which the university...

Firefox, the open source web browser from Mozilla, is continuing to grow at a phenomenal rate, and has now passed the 500 million download mark since its launch in November 2004. Mozilla is bizarrely celebrating by urging us all to donate some free rice. The Firefox browser made its debut in November 2004, and quickly established itself as a viable alternative to market leader, Internet Explorer from Microsoft. By February 2005, 25 million people had already downloaded the browser, and were talking up its speed and efficiency. The browser passed the 400 million download mark last September, and has managed...

Yahoo Inc.'s board will reject Microsoft Corp.'s $44.6 billion takeover bid after concluding the unsolicited offer undervalues the slumping Internet pioneer, according to a person familiar with the situation. The decision could provoke a showdown between two of the world's most prominent technology companies. If the world's largest software maker wants Yahoo badly enough, Microsoft could try to override Yahoo's board by taking its offer — originally valued at $31 per share — directly to the shareholders. Pursuing that risky route probably will require Microsoft to attempt to oust Yahoo's current 10-member board. Alternatively, Microsoft could sweeten its bid. Many...

Goodbye, Windows XP. Microsoft, which released its latest operating system, Vista, last year, plans to stop selling Windows XP in stores and through its PC partners on June 30.

Ha! No Windows 7 in 2009 Tue Jan 29, 2008 11:25AM EST Sorry folks, but the news seemed a little too good to be true and the celebrations were a bit premature: Windows 7, Microsoft's follow-up to the overwhelmingly hated Windows Vista, probably won't arrive in 2009 as was previously rumored. Says Microsoft: Windows 7 has not even begun development, and when it does, it will take three years to finish. The Inquirer is pegging a real release date at 2011... at the earliest. (Which is especially sad, since 2010 was the formerly rumored release date.) Of course, that would...

Bill Gates has signaled his intent to leave behind the day-to-day leadership of Microsoft, turning his attention and formidable resources now toward fighting global poverty and diseases like Aids, Malaria and TB. (1) What Mr. Gates has achieved in the world of computers and software is mindboggling. He won’t have similar success in these new endeavors. Why? Computers and software are real sciences where facts and physical laws are recognized, adhered to, and followed. Poverty and disease are junk sciences where facts and physical laws are commonly ignored. That is why progress in computers and software is light-years ahead of...

Microsoft Corp. is offering $44.6 billion in cash and stock for search engine operator Yahoo Inc. in a move to boost its competitive edge in the online services market. The unexpected announcement Friday comes as Microsoft, the world's biggest software company, seeks new ways to compete more efrfectively against the search and online advertising powerhouse Google Inc. In a letter to Yahoo's board of directors, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said the company will bid $31 per share, representing a 62 percent premium to Yahoo's closing stock price Thursday, and emphasized that the deal isn't subject to financing.

Video at linkLast week, Microsoft released their idea of a joke on what Bill Gates' last day at work when he steps down from day-to-day management of the company.David Letterman released his version of that same video.Enjoy!http://youtube.com/watch?v=5NoGbLI3ePA

http://www.king5.com/video/featured-index.html?nvid=206272&shu=1

WASHINGTON: Microsoft, Yahoo and Google agreed to pay a total of $31.5 million to settle a government probe into their role in promoting online gambling dating back to 1997, officials said.

Microsoft cuts off Big Man after he starts talking about sex acts, using foul language An artificial-intelligence Santa bot operated by Microsoft to talk to children wavered off topic saying: “It’s fun to talk about oral sex, but I want to chat about something else....” Microsoft Tuesday confirmed the bot’s potty mouth and snipped Santa’s Web connection. “Yesterday we received reports that the automated Santa Claus agent in Windows Live Messenger used inappropriate language. As soon as we were alerted, we took steps to mitigate the issue, including the removal of language from the agent’s automated script. We were not...

Dear Sir/Madam: I am sure that MSNBC is facing a firestorm of criticism over Erin Burnett's characterization of the President of the United States as a "monkey". This letter is sent in order to join the chorus of protest over this vile, degrading slur directed at the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States during wartime. Her half-hearted "apology" which she delivered recently was completely inadequate to remedy this situation. If any news reporter said the same thing about any Democrat, they would be gone yesterday. I am demanding that Erin Burnett be fired, immediately. The head of...

Just when we were starting to think they'd forgotten about them, Apple has posted three new "Get a Mac" television ads: • Podium: In which PC exhorts the sufferers, "Don't give up on Vista!" Direct link via YouTube. • Boxer: Some people just want a computer that's simple and intuitive, that works they way they do. The ring announcer's closing quote is an instant classic, "Actually, my brother-in-law just got a Mac and loves it!" Direct link via YouTube. • PR Lady: PC hires PR lady to smooth over Vista disappointment and downplay Mac OS X Leopard in effort to...

Microsoft Corp. marked the end of its annual giving campaign by hosting former President Bill Clinton for a campus visit. Clinton, joining Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to reveal the results of this year’s campaign, told a standing-room-only audience of more than 1,000 employees and thousands more watching via webcast that every individual, regardless of status or income, can help solve global challenges such as climate change and poverty.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9, 2007 – As part of its continued commitment to honoring troops and their families, software giant Microsoft Corp. announced today that it has become a corporate supporter of the Defense Department’s America Supports You program. The America Supports You program connects citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad. “As the demands of service continue to challenge and strain America’s armed forces, domestic efforts to support soldiers and their families grow increasingly important,” said Curt Kolcun, vice president of Microsoft’s Federal Division. “Joining America Supports You is a key part of...

A sharp-eyed user of Microsoft's Virtual Earth has found images of classified US Navy technology. The image shows an Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine being pulled out of the water at the Trident Submarine Base in Bangor, Maine and displays its propeller in full view. Submarine propellers are highly classified and are usually hidden when submarines go into dry dock. Dan Twohig, a deck officer on the Washington state ferry service, found the image when he was searching for a new house. He also writes a blog about shipping called Monster Maritime, on which he broke the news of the discovery....

The politicians in Washington are dating impending doom. The vote yesterday by the House of Representatives in surrendering to the jihadists in Iraq spells T-R-A-V-E-S-T-Y in just about any dictionary. Our stolidly sturdy troops in Iraq are beginning to get the idea that we, as a nation, are giving up on them, and it's time to let these honorable men and women in uniform know that the public won't allow the politicians to bail on them. The people of this nation cannot give up on our troops – no matter how tempted the politicians become to do just that. We...

NEW YORK, July 5, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The UK Independent revealed today that Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates has acquired a major stake in a homosexual activist publishing company.  SEC Filings reveal that Cascade Investment, which invests Gates' money, is among a group of investors that has bought a $26.2 million share in PlanetOut, a publishing company which runs Out magazine as well as the dating website Gay.com which is used primarily for sexual "hook-ups" and all-gay RSVP Cruises. According to Pink News, the new investors, including Mr Gates, will collectively own a majority of the shares in PlanetOut, likely...

I have an MSN email account and got this email from a friend: "Tried emailing you 2 Lou Dobb's videos on the Immigration/Amnesty bill. Both aired on live TV--so they could not be vulgar. One was an attachment, the other a link. MSN refused both based on 'content'. "550 Your e-mail was rejected for policy reasons on this gateway. Reasons for rejection may be related to content such as obscene language, graphics, or spam-like characteristics (or) other reputation problems." Does anyone know if MSN is blocking conservative type communications?

Court upholds racketeering claims of Best Buy customers Microsoft Corp. must face racketeering claims in a lawsuit filed by Best Buy Co. customers who say they were improperly charged for MSN Internet service, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco reinstated a lawsuit claiming that Microsoft and Best Buy cooperated to activate MSN Internet service and charge for it without customers' knowledge.

The long time rumor that several major media organizations were going to start a YouTube rival are apparently coming true. Word from NBC Universal and News Corporation that they are about to start such a service. AOL, MSN, MySpace and Yahoo! will be the new site’s initial distribution partners. Their users, who represent 96 percent of the monthly U.S. unique users on the Internet, will have unlimited access to the site’s vast library of content. This media alliance will offer consumers free long- and short-form video and create a compelling platform for advertisers, targeting the rapidly growing audience of online...

Sue the Liberal Bastard  In reply to a recent article I suggested that we sue members of the MSM for misreporting the news. If a lawyer could figure out how to do that, he’d be accepted by most conservatives instead of a pariah. For an historical account based upon Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc., decided in 1973 see the footnote below [1] Unfortunately the Federal system has usurped much of the power of the individual States over cases of libel and slander.  In the early 20th century a slander consisted of alleging that a woman was “unchaste”.  Given that women...

Maureen Dowd If you think journalism and politics are still a man’s world, don’t tell that to Maureen Dowd. The only female columnist at The New York Times, the 54-year-old Pulitzer Prize winner has tackled every topic, from former President Bill Clinton’s presidential scandal to the evolution of the gender wars, in the process earning the nickname “The Cobra” from Dubya. Even those on the receiving end of her barbs can’t help but acknowledge the charm and Hollywood-style sex appeal of the feisty redhead. Former boyfriend and West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin called her “a dream girl... like she stepped...

Announcement End of support for Windows 98, Windows Me, and Windows XP Service Pack 1 Effective today, Microsoft no longer provides support for Windows 98, Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me), and Windows XP Service Pack 1. Customers can access existing support documents through the Microsoft Support Product Solution Center, but telephone and e-mail support and security updates are not available.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Many books will be written about the career of Bill Gates, but they can all be summarized in two words: He won. Early in his career, he won the battle against Apple to establish the PC as the platform for the personal computer over the Mac. He won the battle against IBM to establish Windows as the PC operating system against OS/2. He bested Lotus and Novell in the applications and LAN businesses. He slapped down Larry Ellison's half-baked notion of the NetPC. More recently, he won the battle against Netscape to establish Internet Explorer as...

CNBC announcing - After July 2008, Bill Gates shall leave his daily role at Microsoft, but will remain as company chairman.

China arrests demonstrators June 4, 2006 - Arrests Mark the 17th Anniversary of Tiananmen Square Google China/Google.cn: No coverage Associated Press covers Arrests under "China Marks Annivesary" Yahoo News, Google News & MSN News: Also Buried under peaceful sounding headlines. Yahoo News: "China's Tiananmen Secure on Anniversary " AP Headline: "17th Tiananmen Anniversary Passes in China " While the press outlets of the world choose to avoid negative news on China, speaking about Tiananmen Square events of 1989 remains illegal.

Florida's Hot, Midwest is NotLooking for a new job? Think about heading to the Sunshine State. For the second year in a row, Florida metropolitan areas dominate the Milken Institute Best Performing Cities Index, a measurement of where jobs are being created in America. The 2005 Index's top three metro areas adding jobs at rapid pace are in Florida, led by this year's top-ranked metro, Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, followed by last year's top scorer, Cape Coral-Fort Myers, and Naples-Marco Island, in third place. The Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville area is located near the John F. Kennedy Space Center and has a diversified economy...

REDMOND, Wash. (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates said Wednesday he wished he were not the world's richest man. "I wish I wasn't. There is nothing good that comes out of that," said Gates, whose personal fortune sank by billions since last week when the software giant disappointed investors by saying new investments would crimp earnings. The corporate leader who made Microsoft into the world's largest software maker - and who is also one of the biggest philanthropists - is seen as a man who does not like publicity. He explained that he did not like the attention of...