The Ghost In The Machine - Microsoft Haunts Android Success

Article first published as The Ghost In The Machine - Microsoft Haunts Android Success on Technorati.

That's a snazzy slick super cool new Android device you have there! Most likely, you chose it because Android is a new open source OS based on Linux, and you wanted some independence from the usual iPhone / Blackberry / Microsoft Windows Phone options. Not so fast.

Microsoft actually has their hand in your pocket. Welcome to "Microsoft Android".

Impossible you say? Android is from Google, and has nothing to do with Microsoft? Just like Voldermort, it seems Microsoft has gone over to the dark side, the "Ghost In The Machine", haunting the success of Android.

For those who aren't well versed about Android, allow me a moment to fill in a few quick details. You see, Android was a relatively new OS. Android is actually a software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware and key applications. Google Inc. purchased the initial developer of the software, Android Inc., in 2005. Android's mobile operating system is based on the Linux kernel. Google and other members of the Open Handset Alliance collaborated on Android's development and release, and the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is tasked with the maintenance and further development of Android. The Android operating system is the world's best-selling Smartphone platform. 

STOP RIGHT THERE. The last sentence above is the only excuse Microsoft needs for an all out attack. In an effort to delay the success of Android, and profit from it at the same time, Microsoft decided to get a "FEE" for every Android device sold.

How is this all even possible? How does a company, any company, up and decide they are going to get a fee? Simple.

Either an Android device manufacturer pay Microsoft a "patent fee", or Microsoft will sue them. Whether valid or not, just the prospect of a massive company like Microsoft with infinitely deep pockets taking you to court... smaller companies simply roll over and pay the fee. That's protection money. Some are saying that this is basically mafia behavior. Can you say Mafiasoft?

Most people have no idea, but behind the curtain, Microsoft actually is making more money from Android than they are on their own Windows Phone OS. Mr. Walter Pritchard, a Citi analyst, revealed that Microsoft extracts a $5 "patent fee" from HTC for every Android device they sell. Microsoft is also suing other Android makers, and is seeking $7.50-$12.50 per device.

Going back to almost since Linux was created, Microsoft has argued that it infringes on Microsoft Intellectual Property, and as a result, Microsoft has often sought, some say bullied, royalties from businesses who base their products on Linux.

Because Microsoft is upping their offensive with Android, there are whispers and rumors that Microsoft and Apple may tussle a bit in new court action as well.

The problem, is that large tech companies, such as Microsoft, have purposely vague, huge patent portfolios. This vagueness overlaps with some other large company's vague portfolio, and BAM. You have the decision to go to court, threaten to go to court, or... extract a fee and label it "licensing fee" or "patent fee".


As an Android device owner, I can just hear you now...
"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in."


I would love to know what you think.
Please leave comments and share this post with your friends.

You can always find me on Twitter @TheCyberati

Medical CyberBots May Be Crawling Around Inside You.

Article first published as Medical CyberBots May Be Crawling Around Inside You on Technorati.

It may sound like something straight out of The Matrix, but advances in robotic miniaturization have made it a reality. It isn't a future concept anymore.
"They're Here!"

Example: Israeli researchers from Technion (Medical Robotics Laboratory at the Israel Institute of Technology) created "ViRob", with a diameter of just 1 millimeter wide, 14mm long, it was designed to crawl through vessles and cavities. It can deliver a dosage of medication to a precise location in the body, or pull a microcatheter deep inside where it would normally not have been able to reach previously.

Photo credit: Medgadget.

Researchers can also use ViRob to deliver drugs in lung cancer patients, as well as take tissue samples from different areas inside the body.

As development progresses, it will be possible to add miniature tongs, video camera, and other extra functions as needed. ViRob is just one of many different types of medical microbots being developed.

Research is under way to make nanobots even smaller, much smaller... down to a MOLECULAR level. The NANOBOT. When this happens, we will have hundreds of medical cyberbots patrolling our bodies, carrying out routine tasks such as scouring the insides of our arteries to remove plaque, all but eliminating heart attacks, atherosclerosis, and much more.

Mollecular bots could assemble other bots while inside the body as needed for specific tasks.


A first wave of molecular bots could detect cancer cells, target them, and remove them before cancer can get started, while a second wave delivers anti-cancer medication to the exact spot where the cancer cells were just targeted and removed.


While this is truly an amazing thing, a benefit to mankind, it also brings with it some very ugly and serious ethical questions...


Who will be able to afford this? Only wealthy individuals, or will the common peasant in a third world country be able to have it as well?

Some doomsayers may go so far to say thing such as: If mankind eliminates cancer and heart attacks, people start living much longer, world population increases beyond any normal conditions, famine and world starvation kick in because we can't produce the quantity and volume of food to feed everyone.


You can always reach me directly on Twitter @TheCyberati. I would love to know what YOU think. Please leave comments, please share this Technorati post with your friends.

All Fiber Optic Internet A Future Reality

Article first published as All Fiber Optic Internet A Future Reality on Technorati.

Every day we upload and download more and more data, in fact we are encouraged to use more, stream more, share more. Our data consumption rates are astronomical.


We went from acoustic couplers that screached into the mouthpiece of telephones at 300 BAUD... shudder.
(Let's take a moment of silence, and be thankful we evolved past this!)




Then came dialup internet access via modems, to DSL (Can you say filters?), to cable modem, and some now to FIOS, a bundled home communications (Internet, telephone, and television) service, operating over a fiber-optic communications network that is offered in some areas of the United States by Verizon Communications.


Our data consumption doesn't just stop at just our home computers. Oh no, we now have our mobile / cellular phones connected with mobile web at broadband speeds no less as well!


As we enjoy the fruits of our never ending hunger for faster data connectivity, we are reaching the limits of what was once thought an infinite resource.


We are quite literally running out of fiber optic bandwidth... unless we figure out a way to increase the capacity of the infrastructure we already have in place.


Somebody once said "Hurry Up Quickly". This age old wisdom just might be the key to speeding up the internet even more, by slowing parts of it down, by using "Meta Materials", the same magical things that might make the possibility of invisibility cloaks a reality.


The speed limit of today's internet comes not from the transfer of information, but in the routing and conversion of electrical signals which are stored, routed, and turned back into optical signals with lasers. The conversion, besides adding significant cost and complexity, also slows down the data transmission. "Meta Materials" would replace the relatively slow electronics that use use for routers, etc., leaving only the speed of light transmission of data.


E=MC2. Nothing is faster than light. It travels at 186,200 miles per second. The high speed fiber optic cables that span the globe are what make the internet possible. 


Fiber optics can easily sustain data rates at multiple TERRAHERTZ speeds, while electronics max out at a few Gigahertz. By using Meta Materials to make the light hurry up and wait, deliberately slowing light down. This would allow a single chip made of Meta Material to do all the work, the effect could be used to store light signals, with different delays for different frequencies, in a so-called "all optical network".


This is all decades away from being a practical reality, but it is definitely something to look forward to coming down the pipe.

I would love to hear your thoughts and comments.

As always, you can find me on Twitter @TheCyberati

Sony Hacked Again - Competency Questioned

Article first published as Sony Hacked Again - Competency Questioned on Technorati.

April 20th, 2011, the day the nightmare began for Sony, and it's still ongoing.

However, millions of PlayStation users have started to realize, it's not a game anymore. Suddenly, the question has gone from "When can I play my game again" to "What has happened to my personal information?".

The Sony PlayStation Network and Qriocity music streaming service have been shut down since the 20th of April, when the breach was detected. Hackers stole personal details belonging to 77 million users including names, addresses, email addresses, birth dates and passwords.

Increasingly, Sony has been coming under fire for competency, and even outright negligence with regards to their handling and safekeeping of user's private information. For example, when Mr. Bruce Schneier, chief security technology officer at BT (British Telecom) and a world expert on cryptography, was asked if Sony should have known better, he said “definitely”.

While it is easy to point fingers and blame Sony, there is an equally important point that it seems everyone is missing entirely.

I don't hear anyone blaming the hacker(s) for bringing down the service and inconveniencing millions of fellow generation game players in the first place.

PlayStation Network users are angry and frustrated at Sony for having the network down for so long,. Why can't they realize it wouldn't have been down at all if hackers hadn't ruined it for them.

Certainly, Sony should have done things differently, that is an absolute, indisputable fact, but that doesn't excuse the hacker(s) actions and give them a green light.

Let's look at this a moment. Literally, one or more individuals took it upon themselves to knowingly break into a system to take things, personal information and details for their own personal gain, and no one is putting up a fuss against the hacker(s). Where is the logic in that?

That is the same as ME breaking into YOUR home, stealing something, and the police blame you for not locking your door securely.

The fact is, there is an ongoing cyber war between hackers and IT network security professionals. Ask any of them, on either side, they will tell you there is no such thing as hacker proof.

Just a few days ago, (May 18, 2011) in order to prevent and defend against just such attacks, the State of Israel created "The National Cybernetic Taskforce" to secure the country against hacking attacks on its key networks, and boost the competitiveness of local industries specializing in high-tech security".

Going forward, Sony needs to invest in, and implement much stronger network security methods.

As we see, hacking afflicts us all with an extra price to pay. Sony has to pay to beef up security, and that takes away investing in new games. Now, players may have to wait a little longer for the next new release, but they will be safer and secure.

Please leave a comment, I would love to hear your thoughts. You can also follow me on Twitter @TheCyberati

A big piece of Pi!

The fascination with π (PI) is as irrational as the equation itself. The digits never end or repeat in any known way.

Pi is a name given to the ratio of the circumference of a circle to the diameter. That means, for any circle, you can divide the circumference (the distance around the circle) by the diameter and always get exactly the same number. It doesn't matter how big or small the circle is, Pi remains the same.

Probably because of the simplicity of its definition, the concept of π has become entrenched in popular culture to a degree far greater than almost any other mathematical construct. It is, perhaps, the most common ground between mathematicians and non-mathematicians. Reports on the latest, most-precise calculation of π are common news items. The current record for the decimal expansion of π, stands at 5 trillion digits! Many schools around the world observe PI DAY, March 14th. This date is derived from the first 3 digits. Here, we have the first 30 digits of Pi:

3.141592653589793238462643383279

Well we have a surprise for you.

We have uploaded a .txt file with Pi extended out to 4 million places, available for you to save, examine, and melt your brain with! To download it, simple go to this URL:

http://www.TheVortexCorporation.com/4mpi.txt

Microsoft Late Again - Under The Microscope.

Article first published as Microsoft Late Again - Under The Microscope on Technorati.

As the news of Microsoft buying Skype for $8 Billion-ish races around the internet, let's take a look under the microscope, and see how many revolutionary events Microsoft has almost missed.


THE INTERNET: Going back to 1993 when the internet was just a seedling, Bill gates almost missed the internet entirely. At one time, he even considered it to be merely a passing fad. Only a small handful of people at Microsoft were working on the Internet Explorer browser, a distant afterthought in the mind of Bill Gates.


Other companies saw the importance of networks long before Microsoft saw the light.


By the time he finally realized the potential of the internet, he scrambled together a team and threw obscene amounts of cash at it. Microsoft spend over $100 MILLION per year developing the Internet Explorer web browser in the late 1990s, with other 1000 people working on it by 1999.


Microsoft won the browser war against Netscape because Microsoft had the war chest to fund it.


BLUETOOTH: The wireless technology we all know and enjoy, was shunned. Fact. Microsoft refused to join the Bluetooth consortium until late 1999 because it claimed the group did not have the backing of official standards organizations.


SKYPE: Why am I listing Skype? Didn't Microsoft just announce they were buying it? Yes, about 5 years later. Apparently, around 2006, Microsoft considered, and passed by Skype as an opportunity. Robert Scoble, a tech industry insider and influencer, worked at Microsoft between 2003-2006. Today, via his Twitter account ( @Scobleizer ) said:
"It's ironic for me to see Microsoft buying Skype. When I worked there, execs told me it didn't have enough business value to buy."


Luckily for Skype users, Microsoft C.E.O. Steve Balmer, promises they will not ditch
Mac, iPhone, and Android Skype users.


Once again, Microsoft is late to the game, some might say they consistently BUY their way in, instead of , INNOVATING their way in.


What do YOU think? I would love to hear your comments.


Follow me on Twitter @TheCyberati

Blackberry Playbook Kills iPad2

Article first published as Blackberry Playbook Kills iPad2 on Technorati.

It's a Blackberry. Nuff said.


For the legions of my fellow Blackberry afficionados who know what Blackberry is all about, that 3 word answer is all it takes, but for the rest of you, I have outlined just a few bullet points to illustrate why.


#1. Eye Candy: Measuring 7 inches with a resolution of 1024 X 600, it has better resolution than the original iPad, and the Playbook only weighs 0.9 pounds, less than the iPad or iPad2.


#2. It connects with Blackberry Enterprise Server right out of the box, and instantly pairs with a Blackberry phone, so anything you view on your Blackberry, you can view on the Playbook tablet.


#3. Blackberry Tablet OS, powered by QNX technology. The Blackberry Tables OS has QNX's Neutrino microkernel. This could easily have been part of #2, but it deserves a space to itself. Back in April of 2010, RIM bought the QNX company, for a very good reason. To make a long story short, the Playbook tablet is optimized and visually more appealing than Android, with a sleeker navigational interface, and true multitasking.


#4. It's 4G. O.K., O.K., I thought it would be cute to put 4G for #4.
… but it's still 4G, whereas the iPad2 is still… ahem… 3G. 


#5. Dual core 1GHZ CPU and 1GB of RAM. The Playbook isn't just another pretty tablet face. To power this supermodel, it puts some real power under the hood, (Think Lara Croft / Tomb Raider), allowing you to TRULY MULTITASK, (just like a standard Blackberry phone), run powerful apps, and, oh yeah, output 1080P video while your at it.


#6. FLASH 10.1 & Adobe AIR built in. So sorry, but the iPad2 STILL can't view flash enabled websites.


#7. 1080P Video recording… v.s iPad2 720p


#8. 5MP rear facing camera, 3MP front facing camera… v.s iPad2 720P rear, VGA. (640x480) front.


#9. Blackberry Playbook Price: $499 v.s. iPad2 $499-$829 depending on model.


#10. Amazon Kindle App… yup. That too.


I look forward to your comments. Follow me on Twitter @TheCyberati


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