Actually, it looks like it might just be anti-trust.  No big whoop: the Bush Justice Department probably just wants to look like it’s doing something.

Google recently announced a deal with Yahoo! to provide advertisement on Yahoo!’s network, sharing the profits with the portal company.  This deal, should it be put into action, would make Google the soul source of 80% of all Internet advertising revenue.  That’s a fairly staggering figure that does make you wonder about the potential monopoly.

But what is genuinely amusing about all this is having Microsoft lawyers tsk-tsking over Google’s dominance in search and advertisement:

Microsoft also has objected to the deal, saying it would unfairly foreclose competition on the Web. In Senate hearings in July, Microsoft’s general counsel, Brad Smith, testified that “if search is the gateway to the Internet, and most people believe that it is, this deal will put Google in position to own that gateway and the information that flows through it.”

Well, now. Ain’t that rich?  Basically, Microsoft objects to Google’s dominance primarily because they want to be the dominant company.  If anybody should be sued for anti-trust, it should be Microsoft.

How can you tell a project at Microsoft isn’t going too well?  I mean, really isn’t going too well?  Check out their latest advertisement on Hotmail:

Microsoft is in the midst of a bid to buy Yahoo! Wonder why? Well, they’ve lifted the veil a bit on their newest product line, Live Mess Mesh:

BBC NEWS | Technology | Microsoft unveils its web vision

Live Mesh is designed to blur the lines between running software and storing data on a desktop and “in the cloud”.

You know? The last thing I want Microsoft to *intentionally try* to do is “blur the lines” between anything. How ’bout you folks work on establishing something clearly-delineated first, and work your way up? I remember working for Comcast as a tech support rep, patiently explaining to customers that they didn’t need to be connected to the Internet to view their Word documents. Trust me, the lines are already plenty blurred.

Seven freakin’ years of this is quite enough.  Yesterday, the EU spanked Microsoft for it’s anti-competitive practicing of over-charging developers for rights to ASP.NET projects.  And they spanked them hard: 1.3 billion dollars in penalties.  Ouch.

But when the same company that makes it nearly impossible for other companies to compete in the same market - the same company which threatens to sue any company with even appearance of violating one of their dubiously-held patents - violates the patent of another company and gets pinched for it in the U.S., what do you suppose happens?

Why, the penalty established in a lower court gets bounced back once it gets to a high enough court, close enough to the Justice Department.  But of course.  Practically from the inauguration of this ill-gotten president, this White House has done everything it can to keep Micro$oft out of whatever trouble it might have gotten itself into.

If you need still further evidence that Internet Explorer is a losing bet - if better standards compliance, superior plugins, great skins and overall better performance don’t sway you - check out The Beeb’s latest article on yet another Windows virus propagated through IE on malware sites.

I can understand why people who don’t know much about computers or people who don’t care to know much about their computer don’t switch to something like Linux. But what I really don’t get is the people who are PC-savvy enough to be professionals who are constant cheerleaders for this asshole company. Look at what nastiness is in store for users of Windows Vista Beta:

Techworld.com - Vista beta prepares for self-destruction

Unless Vista Ultimate Beta 2, Release Candidate 1 (RC1) and RC2 are upgraded to a legal copy by Friday, machines running those editions will automatically reboot every two hours. This crippled state will continue until Aug 28, at which point the operating system will refuse to boot.

Jackasses! I can understand (or at least, I can take as predictable) the desire to make people all use paid-for versions of your Operating System. But why do you have to be such an asshole company about it and go through all that crap? I mean, even an unregistered version of Windows XP will just stop working.
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Google is set to merge with DoubleClick, and that fact is causing some real concerns among privacy advocates:

Google Deal Said to Bring U.S. Scrutiny - New York Times

In the complaint, the groups noted that Google collects the search histories of its users, while DoubleClick tracks what Web sites people visit. The merger, according to their complaint, would “give one company access to more information about the Internet activities of consumers than any other company in the world.” Google has built a lucrative business in selling small text ads that appear alongside its search results and on other Web sites. DoubleClick is the leader among companies that specialize in placing graphical and video ads online.

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The cracks are forming in Microsoft’s latest crap legal battle against the Open Source community.  PC World is now writing articles clearly pointing to the Redmond Monstrosity’s soft white underbelly, hanging in the wind with this new ploy.

Why would a company like Microsoft go to the trouble of making vague threats about some 200+ patents years after they’ve already filed those patents?  They’ve used litigation many times in the past to stomp competition out of the market, as I’ve pointed out earlier.  Why not just pull the cord like always, and why on Earth would they have waited so long?  Because it’s all crap, and Horacio Gutierrez inadvertently hits the nail on the head of why:

PC World - Microsoft Patent Claims Hint at Internal Issues

However, Gutierrez also acknowledged that Microsoft’s decision to seek royalties for patents is a business one. “Microsoft invests over 6 billion in research and development a year, and that’s an investment that results in innovation,” he said. “Our shareholders have a right to expect that we are going to protect that innovation.”

Ah, but you haven’t innovated, and that’s the problem.  Not only has MS not innovated in a long time, they’ve either built crappy versions of other people’s software or just rehashed their own crap. Creating a new OS that’s totally incompatible with current software and hardware whose only stated “benefit” is the ability to prevent users from copying music (the chief reason that most new PC users cite for wanting a computer, actually) or use a bootleg version of the OS.  Ooh!  Where do I buy me a copy of that?

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Open Source, Innovation, PC-Tech

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The below-linked article is probably one of the best-written pieces of journalism on the subject of the Free Software/Open Source community and Microsoft’s relationship with it.  Non-technical readers, fear not!  The best part about this article is that, while it’s long-winded, it’s just technical enough to be accurate without being geek-centric like so many others in this genre. 

In fact, I highly recommend that you read it especially if and specifically because you are non-technical, as it does a good job of laying out the foundations of what is an extremely important issue in the computer world.  It also shows off just how sleazy Microsoft can get in a way which might make more sense to some than the monopoly suit of a few years back:

Microsoft claims software like Linux violates its patents - May 28, 2007

. . . now there’s a shadow hanging over Linux and other free software, and it’s being cast by Microsoft. The Redmond behemoth asserts that one reason free software is of such high quality is that it violates more than 200 of Microsoft’s patents. And as a mature company facing unfavorable market trends and fearsome competitors like Google, Microsoft is pulling no punches: It wants royalties. If the company gets its way, free software won’t be free anymore.

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This is kinda funny. It seems Microsoft has created a new sorta virtual reality bot-type thang search engine called Mrs. Dewey. The comely mrs. Dewey doesn’t necessarily add much to your searching, as you might expect a bot to do. Rather, she serves as sort of a cheesy, wouldn’t-it-be-great-if automated personality that says things in response to what you type in for a search.

If you’re tempted to type filthy things just to see what she says, let me assure you, you’re not alone in your juvenile pursuits. And in fact, speaking of searching for adult content, perhaps Microsoft should have done the same thing (perhaps on Google, where you get good results) prior to hiring Janina Gavankar to star as the lovely Mrs. Dewey. In doing so, they might have run across Cup of my Blood (FAIR WARNING! There be naked boobs ahead, matie!), the soft-core film of her past.

Not that I personally think that this should really invalidate her as a pseudo-sexual talking Widget, you understand. But I’m afraid that some folks in the upper offices in Redmond will likely not approve.