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I'm not a subscriber to VOIP, but it is getting pretty interesting. The latest round of price cuts makes it almost worthwhile, but I don't make quite enough long distance calls from home to break even. But, if the prices keep going down, it might be time to unplug from Ma Bell.
There has been some recent coverage about Linux users migrating back to Windows, although I haven't seen any quantification of this trend. I have a feeling it isn't that many (just like there isn't a strong migration away from Windows). What it really points out is how much of a commodity the OS has become - businesses want the services and don't really care what OS is under the hood.
Did the run portion of the Outback Big Lick triathlon yesterday. Ran a pretty crappy 10K, but considering the sinus infection I have going on, I'm not too displeased. At least I managed to keep our final position in the standings (look for Hoos Cubed in the mixed team results) and it was a beautiful day.
Intelligent Life has a piece about "lifestyle drugs" - drugs that improve the lives of healthy people rather than curing the sick. Why is this controversial? If you have the money to buy these kinds of things and you aren't doing yourself any harm, then why not? If they ever make a pill that makes you smarter with minimal side effects, sign me up.
Thus quoth the 10K from MSFT:
The increase in Linux distributions reflects some significant public announcements of support and adoption of open source software in both the server and desktop markets in the last year. To the extent open source software products gain increasing market acceptance, sales of our products may decline, which could result in a reduction in our revenue and operating margins.
This is the most honest appraisal of the threat that open source has to MSFT's business. I guess the first step is admitting you have a problem.
All of the security upgrades that Microsoft has been focused on is probably a good thing for most users, but is a double-edged sword for Microsoft themselves as The Economist points out. Certainly Microsoft is allowed to fix security bugs but sometimes when more sophisticated functionality is requrired to plug security gaps, they start stepping on the toes of their various consent decrees. It is going to be interesting to see how they can play adding antivirus, firewalls and digital security to Windows over the next few years from both a technical and legal viewpoint.
I was just checking out the new Microsoft Music site which is supposed to compete with iTunes. Looks like they have a decent selection and it is nice to be able to use WMA since that works on a bunch of different devices. But, it doesn't have anything that will pull iTunes users away - same prices, same idea.
I do like MSN Radio, which I've been a subscriber to for a while now. Decent stations and it works anywhere you have connectivity (which is darn near everywhere I spend anytime). I don't see much significant in the upgrade though - if you liked it before, you will still like it. If not, then it probably won't change your mind.