Posted: 2013-03-22 20:03
Evernote, Box executives warn developers not to avoid Windows platforms.
Hah! They are getting desperate now.
Hah! They are getting desperate now.
Where freedom is unlimited.
http://www.techtalk.cc/
wastingtimewithforums wrote:Yummie, according to Microsoft's own docs, the new Xbox will be:
"Always on, always connected"
"Kinect is required to be plugged in"
"All games must be installed on HDD"
http://n4g.com/news/1213397/vgleaks-doc ... st-install
Let's not forget that the Kinect is actually a camera! Apart from blocking used games (very possible given this specs) it means that you're buying a 24/7 connected-to-the-mothership camera here, usually directed at the living room to boot.
In short: You're buying a real-life telescreen! (Telescreens are the television sets in "1984", they act as display devices but they also work as surveillance cameras, monitoring the room they are in and sending the stream to the powers that be)
Given this setup, I think it's only a matter of time before it user-identification through the camera is REQUIRED before using the console (according to rumors, your real name is a requirement for using the PS4, so this will be only a step-up). Maybe this will happen in the next version. You know, to prevent abuse, hackers, cheaters, pedophiles in in-game chats etc.. don't worry, an excuse will be found. Don't call me alarmist. Just a few years ago, the thought about blocking used-games and an mandatory always on-power/on-line console would have been absurd.
I also like it how the new Xbox SDK installer uses the Matrix font. Freudian slip?
Using footage from a movie about being a slave for machines from birth to death sets the mood quite nicely for Telescreen 720.
I haven't made the stuff up, it's right from Microsoft's SDK:
http://www.vgleaks.com/durango-xdk/
Quote:
----
Durango will implement different power states so that it can always be powered on, but will draw minimal electricity when not in use. [...] and will always maintain a network connection.
Every Durango console will be sold with a new high-fidelity Kinect Sensor, which will be required for the system to operate [...] Active infrared illumination will provide high-quality monochrome images even in low ambient light conditions (!)
----
Didn't you know that a perma-connected console is just bricked without a mandatory infrared-enhanced camera?!
By the way:
http://www.neowin.net/news/how-microsof ... -via-Skype
I laughed about this stuff too, but the direction in the last few years (not only Microsoft's) made me cautious.
Oh yeah? Give it time.
I can remember when activation was something that was only for high-end custom software.. I can remember when DRM was utterly despised, and now it quite often gets defended on forums.
Blocking used games was absolutely unthinkable, it was bad sci-fi, and now it's something that is openly discussed by the vendors, maybe going even to be implemented. And the fanbois are starting to defend it.
Forced real names, operating systems that urge you to create accounts relentlessly, forced appstores with no sideloading functionality, forced cloudification, dubious studies that allude people who don't want to striptease their privacy on Facebook as psychopaths(http://mashable.com/2012/08/07/no-facebook-psychopath/)... And now always-on consoles with mandatory cameras.
Those Xbox docs look absolutely legit to me, because it's the logical next step in this path.
And the ubiquitous spyware functions just about everywhere don't even raise eyebrows nowadays. I can remember when it was called "phone home" and caused uproars.
For many of these things I had understanding at first, but that understanding grows thin. It's obviously not about piracy anymore, it's about milking the customers and, yes, control.
The tech landscape transforms straight into those b-movie sci fi flicks, where you always think how did the people let this sh*thole scenario happen. Well, now I know. They always forget to include the enablers known as "fanboys" in those movies.
Bass wrote:Enough with the paranoid freetard talk. Our Corporate Benefactors always have Our interests in mind.
In fact, normal people like us Demand from Our Benefactors that the increasing amount of appliances we "own" should be remote controlled by our Corporate Benefactors with full Trusted root access. We are inherently Untrustworthy, we do not deserve any equal level of control over Our Electronics. Only our Corporate Benefactors are Trustworthy.
You should buy all the latest products like a Good Consumer and shut the hell up. Get with the times, you tinfoil hat wearing neckbeard.
Got a tech idea and want to make a fortune before you're out of your teens? Just do it, is the advice of the London schoolboy who's just sold his smartphone news app to Yahoo for a reported $30 million.
The money is there, just waiting for clever new moves, said 17-year-old Nick D'Aloisio, who can point to a roster of early backers for his Summly app that includes Yoko Ono and Rupert Murdoch.
Virtualization, cloud services and software-as-a-service (SaaS) is making it much easier to shift IT infrastructure operations to service providers, and that is exactly what many users are doing. Of the new data center space being built in the U.S., service providers accounted for about 13% of it last year, but by 2017 they will be responsible for more than 30% of this new space, says IDC. 'We are definitely seeing a trend away from in-house data centers toward external data centers, external provisioning,' said Gartner analyst Jon Hardcastle. Among those planning for a transition is the University of Kentucky's CIO, who wants to reduce his data center footprint by half to two thirds. He expects in three to five years service provider pricing models 'will be very attractive to us and allow us to take most of our computing off of our data center.' IT managers says a big reason for the shift is IT pros don't want to work in data centers at small-to-mid size firms that can't offer them a career path. Hank Seader, managing principal of the Uptime Institute, said that it takes a 'certain set of legacy skills, a certain commitment to the less than glorious career fields to make data centers work, and it's hard to find people to do it.'
Non Hic wrote:They are really pushing it now, almost forcing people into it.
swheaties wrote:Windows 8 speech sent to microsoft - Just bought a lumia 920, I absolutely love it its a beautiful phone. Its my second windows phone. I went to use the speech feature to compose a message and was amazed to see that I will "Send the words you speak and supporting data, including recent contact names to Microsoft..." Amazing. Unbelievable. If I speak an intimate message to my girlfriend, which I often do, I have all the employees at MS listening to me so they can "... improve the speech recognition service". Is there any ms employee here that will honestly say they will use the windows phone speech recognition service for private conversations without constantly wondering what dork in a server room somewhere is listening in?? Be honest. YES I KNOW the dork has access to every email and text message I send, every physical location visit and take my phone, where I surf on the internet, what I buy, where I buy, where I work, where I live, what I earn, my hobbies and interests. But now the dork is going to be STANDING IN THE SAME ROOM WITH ME while I speak a message to someone? What a complete and total intrusion. It actually changes what I will say and how I will say it. The thought that my message may be the joke of the day at Microsoft and their numerous "affiliates" will be constantly on my mind while I speak. I don't want to return this phone. I already returned an android. I'm going to try an iphone, if their privacy isn't any better it looks like I'm going to be back to a basic flip phone. I'm so bummed. I've never posted a video to youtube. I think I will post this feature on youtube to help others make an informed decision before they purchase a windows phone.
The chief executive officer of Sun Microsystems, Scott McNealy wrote:...consumer privacy issues are a "red herring." - "You have zero privacy anyway," Scott McNealy told a group of reporters and analysts ... at an event to launch his company's new Jini technology. "Get over it."
JoshRoss wrote:You have zero privacy anyway, get over it.