EU fines Microsoft

The latest round of fines on Microsoft by EU seem a little harsh, although I could care less. But what is interesting is how are these cases determined. From what I understand the charge against Microsoft is that they took advantage of their dominance in the OS world to promote IE & windows media player to curb competition. I am not sure but doesn’t a MAC come with the Safari browser & it’s own quick time player? Would it be monopolistic if Apple used it’s market share with the iPhone to promote their Safari browser? Or for that reason is Google monopolistic in using it search dominance to push ads priced @their own rates to other websites without any freedom to the user to make a determination on what they want to display on their website. Not that Microsoft is of the noble kind. I constantly hate the fact that 99% of their stuff only works with windows & the interoperability of most of the standards they come up with is poor. It is always intriguing to see how the argument is always pitted against Microsoft the bully just because they are so huge.

Bloglines Syncronization

I recently made a switch from FeedReader to Bloglines primarily because it is web based. Once you read a feed content from one machine & then log back to your account from another machine the content re-appears as new. Strange! I should note though that this observation was mainly on their beta version. Not sure if their standard release also does that. It is kind of annoying. Somehow did not want to use Google Reader & this is supposed to be one of the best readers. Anyways looks like they have a synchronization problem. Still can’t comprehend how a web based tool has variations between different PC’s for the same user account.

The Democratic Battle

So much for all the talk about a splintered Republican Race a few weeks ago. Look at how close the Democratic race has been. Hopefully for them they will have a nominee after the Texas & Ohio primaries. With all the focus on their primary race, McCain is even getting away with allegations about his ties to lobbyists, the very basis of his political campaign being the fight against them. Obama is looking more & more likely to secure the Democratic nomination. But you never know, a good win in Texas can turn things around for Mrs.Clinton. But her every move is back firing right now & isn’t scoring her any political  points(like her plagiarism charge).Well it will definitely be interesting to watch all the events unfold for the political junkies in the months to come.

Yahoo vs. Microsoft

Yahoo vs. Microsoft: the winner is Apple & of-course partly Google. Although Apple is not competing in the same space these guys are fighting for, it is quietly gaining market share for it’s OS while building a substantial advantage in the entertainment & wireless phone market with it’s iPod, iTunes & iPhone. While Google’s Android project doesn’t seem to be spitting out any great news, Microsoft isn’t going great guns with it’s mobile platform either. On the other hand Apple is quietly starting to tie all its entertainment devices together. A recent post on TechCrunch noted that Apple filed a patent for a way to bring widgets & chat to TV. Ads anybody, alongside streaming data? Not that this is going to take off right away. There was also an article today in WSJ that ISP’s along with tech companies are looking at ways to track user behavior without physical identity to bring targeted ads to the consumer. With all these distractions none of the other 3 will be in a great shape to fight against Apple or somebody else if a whole new segment emerges that will eventually make the market these guys are fighting for a little less relevant. 

Gasol trade outcries!

Read Popovich’s comment’s about the Gasol trade today. Can you believe this. Did you hear any of this bickering when the Celtics were making similar big name trades earlier in the year? Don’t think so! Agreed, that the Grizzlies did not get much right away, but how ’bout 3 first round draft picks, along with a second round pick & an expiring contact. Wow! Comon’ guys, it is not the worst trade atleast.