Tadeu

A series of ads for Samaritans of Singapore illustrate how people who suffer from depression often mask their real state. The graffiti, expressed in ambigrams, says something completely different when turned upside down. See more examples at Laughing Squid. Link

No início do mês, documentos vazados revelavam o PRISM, programa da NSA (Agência de Segurança Nacional) para obter informações privadas – como e-mails, fotos e arquivos – de alvos estrangeiros. O grau de envolvimento de grandes empresas como Google, Apple e Facebook ainda não está claro.

E a pessoa essencial em revelar o PRISM é Edward Snowden, ex-funcionário da CIA. Em 9 de junho, ele revelou sua identidade – e desde então, tenta fugir para evitar a ira do governo americano.

Snowden estaria buscando asilo político no Equador, depois que ele foi acusado formalmente de espionagem e o governo americano pressionou Hong Kong – onde ele passou as últimas semanas – a ajudar em sua extradição.

Inicialmente, Snowden estava se escondendo em um hotel de Hong Kong. Ele escolheu o país por supostamente ter “um compromisso intrépido com a liberdade de expressão e com o direito de dissidência política”. No entanto, várias pessoas apontaram que isto não é bem verdade: Hong Kong tem um tratado de extradição com os EUA desde 1996, e os dois países têm um forte histórico de colaboração. Depois que surgiram essas informações, Snowden desapareceu do hotel.

No dia seguinte, em 12 de junho, ele ressurgiu: disse ao South China Morning Post que planejava ficar em Hong Kong por se sentir seguro, e que tem mais segredos para revelar. Snowden recebeu apoio de Julian Assange, o ativista símbolo do Wikileaks.

Enquanto isso, as empresas de tecnologia supostamente envolvidas no PRISM negam que a NSA tenha “acesso direto” a seus servidores, e que só entregam informações privadas quando exigido por ordem judicial. No entanto, fontes dizem ao New York Times e Washington Post que as empresas têm esquemas especiais para entregarem seus dados às autoridades. Facebook, Apple e Microsoft receberam permissão para revelar alguns números sobre os pedidos feitos pelo governo americano – mas como o próprio Google aponta, isso ainda é pouco.

E segundo a Associated Press, o Prism pode ser apenas a ponta do iceberg: a agência estaria de olho em todo o tráfego de internet que entra e sai dos EUA, armazenando-o para depois analisá-lo:

… enquanto o Prism tem chamado a atenção recentemente, o programa na verdade é uma parte relativamente pequena de um esforço de espionagem muito mais expansivo e invasivo… que obtém os dados à medida que passam através dos cabos de fibra óptica que compõem a espinha dorsal da Internet. Esse programa, conhecido há anos, copia o tráfego de internet que entra e sai dos EUA, e então o encaminha para a NSA para análise.

Além disso, graças a mais documentos vazados por Snowden, sabemos que a GCHQ – equivalente à NSA no Reino Unido – também está espionando todo mundo de forma indiscriminada, acessando e-mails, histórico de buscas e até telefonemas. Eles compartilham esses dados com a NSA.

Nesta sexta-feira (21), Snowden foi acusado formalmente pelo governo americano de revelar informações confidenciais e roubar propriedade do governo, obtendo documentos secretos usando um pendrive nos computadores da NSA.

Então o governo americano começou a pressionar a China – da qual Hong Kong é região administrativa – para entregar Snowden: segundo o Washington Post, pediu-se que ele fosse detido, enquanto os EUA organizavam tudo para extraditá-lo. Um alto funcionário do governo disse ao jornal que “se Hong Kong não agir logo, isso vai complicar as nossas relações bilaterais”.

Neste domingo (23), Snowden deixou Hong Kong. O governo do país permitiu sua saída, dizendo que o pedido dos EUA de prendê-lo “não cumpria integralmente os requisitos legais sob a lei de Hong Kong”. O governo americano revogou o passaporte dele, mas isso não o impediu de viajar.

Ele agora estaria em Moscou, segundo o Wikileaks e a empresa aérea Aeroflot; no entanto, nenhum oficial russo confirmou sua chegada ao país. Se ele estiver mesmo lá, provavelmente não será seu destino final: segundo a agência russa Interfax, ele irá para Cuba e depois para o Equador, “já que não há voos diretos para Quito” saindo da Rússia.

Ricardo Patiño Aroca, ministro das relações exteriores do Equador, diz que seu governo mantém relações diplomáticas com a Rússia, e diz que está considerando oferecer asilo político a Snowden. Uma porta-voz do WikiLeaks defende o histórico de liberdade de imprensa no Equador.

Mesmo com a tensa história de fuga, Snowden lembra que não quer que isso seja o foco: “eu não quero a atenção do público, porque eu não quero que a história seja sobre mim. Eu quero que seja sobre o que o governo dos EUA está fazendo”, disse ele ao revelar que vazou dados secretos da NSA.

O novo escândalo de privacidade nos anos recentes, por sua vez, continua: Snowden diz que “a verdade está chegando, e não pode ser interrompida”. [Front e Guardian]

The perigee ‘Super Moon’ of June 23, 2013 (21:43 PHT) over Marikina City, Philippines compared to the apogee Moon of November, 2012. Credit and copyright: Raven Yu.

The full Moon of June 23, 2013 was the largest Moon of the year. This so-called “Super Moon” was at perigee — or at its closest point in its orbit to Earth, and was 14% bigger and 30% brighter than other full Moons of 2013.

But, if you looked up at the Moon last night and didn’t know about this, you may not have noticed! Some claims circulating on the internet tended to exaggerate how large the Moon would actually appear. However, that doesn’t mean the Moon wasn’t photogenic last night! The Moon is always a great target for photography or just gazing with your own eyes, and these images from Universe Today readers attest to the beauty of our closest companion in the night sky.

This lead image from Raven Yu from the Philippines shows the difference in size between last night’s perigee Moon and the apogee Moon (when it was farthest from Earth during its orbit) last November.

If you want to find out more about the science of the perigee Super Moon, read our detailed article here.

See more beautiful images, below!

(...)
Read the rest of ‘Super Moon’ Images from Around the World, June 2013 (787 words)

© nancy for Universe Today, 2013. | Permalink | 6 comments |
Post tags: Astrophotos, Moon, Supermoon

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Snow Violent design have created these sugars shapes for coffee. A creative design that should be marketed, as the entire CubeMe Team is already in love about these skulsl and bones sugars.

Continuing a series of interviews with designers and artists that bring user interfaces and graphics to the big screens, today I’m honored to host Joseph Chan. You have seen his work on “Tron: Legacy” and “Oblivion”, as well as one quite a few motion ad campaigns for companies such as Sony, Google, HP, Intel, Blackberry and others.

Kirill: Please tell us about yourself and how you started in the field.

Joseph: I’m a motion graphic designer and I’ve been working in the industry since 2007. I graduated from Pasadena Art Center in 2006 with a degree in graphic design, specializing in motion graphics.

Before that I attended UC Irvine, I didn’t have a major and was deciding what I wanted to do as a career, and it was around the year 2000 when the .com boom was in full force. It was a great and inspiring time for me, people were designing amazing abstract graphics from 3D programs that I had never seen before. I learned Photoshop and put together a portfolio with personal projects that I did in my spare time. After I was accepted into Art Center, I transitioned from graphic design into motion design which had started to ramp up midway through my college years.

Kirill: What happened after you graduated?

Joseph: During school I took two internships. One was in an interactive design studio, creating graphics and content for websites. In my latter terms at Art Center, I took a class with Chris Do who owns and operates Blind which does motion graphics, and I interned under him and Tom Koh. From then on I decided to focus entirely on motion graphics.

Kirill: And here you’re not talking about Flash / VRML containers that were very popular at that time in the browser environment.

Joseph: I wasn’t into the technical side of Flash or into creating websites. I was mainly using it as a tool for simple layer and text animations, because that was what people used at the time. But the designers who were using Flash in amazing ways, creating beautiful websites full of motion really caught my eye and pushed me towards my career.

Kirill: So back to what you did after graduating…

Joseph: I graduated in mid December in 2007, took some time off for the holidays, and started freelancing at different motion graphics studios around LA and Santa Monica, and I’ve been doing it ever since. I’ve never been staff at a studio before, at this point in my career I feel freelancing is the way to go as I have a little bit more freedom in terms of studio and project choices.

Kirill: Are you also involved in art direction / concept design?

Joseph: Sometimes I am brought in to a project midway or near the tail-end, so therefore I won’t be as involved with the concept as someone who had been on the project since the beginning. So in that scenario I’d be helping out with animation and finishing. Other times I am brought in from the pitch phase, and that includes art direction, concepting, and designing. I do enjoy all parts of the process, designing and animating, and personally I like to find a balance between the two, trying not to do too much of one thing for long stretches of time.

Kirill: You’ve worked on projects with rather different styles. For example, the spot for the first launch of Google Chrome, the recent spot for Google Now and the one for the Gates foundation are semi-vintage illustration style, while Beats Envy and Sony spots have a very modern high-tech industrial feel. Do you like exploring radically different styles?

Joseph: Absolutely. I’m influenced by all kinds of different styles and I try not to limit myself to a particular one per se. I’d like to think that each project has a different and unique solution, so I keep my mind open to what the project asks for.

Kirill: How many people do you usually have collaborating on a single spot?

Joseph: It all depends on the project and what it entails. The spot for Google – compared to other big budget projects that I’ve worked on – was quite simple from the start and we knew that. We did everything from concept to delivery – illustrations, design, compositing and animations – with a team of four people. The spot for Beats Envy also had a small team, but it was a little bit more complicated due to the need for 3D modeling and animation. I worked on the UI designs, compositing of 2D and 3D elements, and the overall grade. The team was four or five people. And then of course we had producers and the creative directors.

Kirill: Was the spot for Sony more complex?

Joseph: The UI and graphic design, a little bit. We had a small graphics team in charge of about 30 screens, so that was a bit daunting. But the direction was very open and we had time to experiment in Cinema 4D and After Effects.

With regard to the overall project, it wasn’t too complex. We weren’t in charge of compositing the graphics so we did our own thing and handed it off.

Kirill: On a spot such as Sony, do you limit the design to be just beyond the edge of what is generally available in consumer electronics and software? Do you aim to create something explicitly futuristic?

Joseph: I feel designers are best when they aren’t constrained by the software. My philosophy is to really design without worrying too much about the technical limitations. That way, the design will be the best possible solution, and that rings true for animation as well. It can always be pushed, experimented with, and figured out.

On a spot such as the Sony Mouse & Cat, we were given free reign on the look of the UI, so naturally the designs were quite far out, futuristic. I think it fit quite well with the techy nature of the campaign.

Kirill: And then a few years ago you worked on “Tron: Legacy”. How was the transition to working on a much bigger project?

Joseph: I always wanted to work on something related to film, especially in the sci-fi genre because of the futurism involved. There’s always a lot of potential there, and I was very happy to be a part of Tron: Legacy. It was unlike anything that I’ve worked on. Not just being involved with and experiencing the massive Digital Domain pipeline (we were a small team of graphic designers and animators sitting in a small corner surrounded by them). But also knowing that your work is going to be viewed by people from all over the world, really challenged and inspired me.

We were creating our content with the usual toolsets (Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, C4D), with the exception of some generative art, and handed the results off to the compositors.

Kirill: What is compositing?

Joseph: The compositors take the graphics that we’ve created – 2D or 3D – and implement them into the shots. It’s the layering of these separate objects, put together in order to get the final picture.

Kirill: And then you reunited with most of the people on the same team to work on “Oblivion”. How was it?

Joseph: It was fun. It was pretty much the same team, with a few newcomers. Gmunk contacted me to bring me in, and opined that it wasn’t going to be as big as Tron: Legacy, but it was with the same director (Joe Kosinski), with a lot of freedom to do what we do, so I was immediately on board.

It was also exciting for me because I took on much larger role than on Tron: Legacy. This time I was able to be involved with the project from pre-production to post, and that allowed me to have more design and animation input.

Kirill: How are you preventing yourself from falling into the trap of not using the same graphic and animation elements in different projects?

Joseph: Sometimes recycling ideas, elements or animation is required for the sake of time and to make ones’ life easier, but personally I try to push myself to learn something new, perhaps something that I’m not comfortable with, in the projects that I work on. It could be a very small or big thing, but I feel it’s a good challenge. In order not to fall into the trap of rehashing things, you just have to be aware of it.

Kirill: How did you handle the on-set playback schedule of “Oblivion”?

Joseph: The Light Table was shot on set, so we made sure that the graphics looped, with startup and turnoff animations. We packaged everything and delivered it to a company called i.Solve who took our graphics and ran them through their software. They were on set, controlling the specific timings of each animation.

Kirill: And then you had screen designs for the automatic drones. They don’t really need to project that information for themselves, but you also can’t just show a blank screen. You need to support the narrative with some kind of a menacing automated scanning interface.

Joseph: It’s part of the magic of designing these interfaces because we’re essentially creating stylized, almost exaggerated versions of information that may not make perfect sense in the real world. Like you said, the drones would obviously not display information for themselves, but we decided to allow it anyways while also maintaining its menace, danger and mystery.

Kirill: Are you concerned about how this work will look like in 15-20 years? How it will have “survived” the actual technological advances known to that future audience?

Joseph: I’m not too concerned. Things change, technology, styles, taste. New things will get introduced and change the way we think and that’s just the nature of it.

I guess if you look back at Oblivion in 15-20 years, it’d be like looking into a little time capsule, where you can see the choices we made based on the technology available at the time. Our research and influences–the functionality of interfaces and HUDs that exist today–reflect the times, and we used that as a base to make sure it was grounded in reality.

We also looked at other interfaces to see what others have come up with. Movies, video games, all have great examples of what others have thought up. I think we’re all in the same camp where we don’t really know what the future may hold, but we’re excited and we’re inventing as we go along.

Kirill: Are you comfortable with having this work described as Fantasy UIs?

Joseph: I think that’s a nice way to put it. Technology is all about enriching humans in some way or another, so inventing the design, look, and animation of how we interact with new technology really gives it that fantasy element.

It’d be a totally different beast if we were designing for real life applications though. The research and development process alone would take years, every detail has to have a real function. So it’s nice working with Fantasy UIs.

Kirill: How were you able to validate some of the explorations for this big light table in “Oblivion”?

Joseph: The Light Table was basically three flat screens horizontally and one that went vertical. Joseph Kosinski [director], the director, decided to use HDTVs and even shared a photo of himself sitting and interacting with a screen laid flat just to give us a sense of scale. So the design fit the 1080p dimensions of the screens perfectly.

The main section was the map which the character in the movie, Vika, interacts mainly with. Then we had a Drone monitor, HydroRig monitor, and a weather map, which took up the vertical screen.

After the design phase we took a trip to i.Solve’s studio with some stills of the Light Table, and we were able to get it up on the screens. We checked for any color or size discrepancies, and they took it from there.

Kirill: What are you thoughts on the software tools that you’re using? Are you frustrated by them? Do you wish to see a radically different way to interact with them?

Joseph: You learn not to be frustrated by them. They are just tools and in the work that I do the concept is always the most important. When you get to art directing and having a more hands-off approach, then the software tools and its limitations do not become so much of a problem as you have technical teams that take your direction and help bring your designs to life.

In terms of interaction, I am open to new things. Years ago I never experienced working with a Wacom tablet and now I can’t work without it. Touch screens allowed us to interact with our fingers. And if something new becomes introduced that changes the way we interact with software, then I’ll be the first to try it.

Kirill: Where do you see the human-computer interaction heading in the near future?

Joseph: I sometimes wish that I’d be able to interact with holograms the way Tony Stark does in Iron Man. As a viewer, it just looks so cool, but I don’t know how functional that would be in real life. I can only guess, but I do think touch screens are going to be more and more relevant in the future, and so the devices that we have now, iPhones and iPads etc. which use natural gestural elements, are maybe preparing us for that.

Kirill: What happens the first time you watched the movies you’ve worked on?

Joseph: It can be quite distracting. Personally I have a hard time focusing on the story the first couple of times. I watched “Oblivion” three times. The first was an early cut on our first day of work, which didn’t have any VFX and graphics in it. The audio and sounds effects also weren’t complete so it really left a lot to the imagination. We were invited to the screening a few weeks before the premiere, and this time it was distracting because I was mainly paying attention to our work, trying to pinpoint anything that might have went wrong, even though there is no way that we could have made changes. It was however great just experiencing for the first time our graphics composited, colored, and implemented into the shots. Digital Domain and Pixomondo did a great job, obviously. The third time I watched it with a few friends, and that’s when I enjoyed it the most, being able to take in the story, the great audio and visuals.

Kirill: Where do you see yourself moving forward?

Joseph: It was a great experience working on several film projects as it’s completely different from motion graphics. I had the chance to work with small tight-knit teams that allowed me to have more creative freedom and input. Working directly with a film director like Joseph Kosinski allowed a close collaboration that sometimes is rare in a motion graphic setting as things get convoluted dealing with agencies and clients.

I hope to continue doing what I’m doing, having fun working and learning from great people, on meaningful projects that I care about. And to continue growing as a designer and story teller.

And here I’d like to thank Joseph Chan for this great opportunity to talk about his work. You can find Joseph online at his portfolio site.

gasstation:

Leonard Nimoy as Spock smiling on the set of Star Trek 

thefrogman:

The Canadian T-Rex.

By Dakota McFadzean [website | tumblr | twitter]

As I was researching yesterday’s post on The Oocyte Cartel I came across an old MR post from 2003 on plans in Canada to restrict the import of American sperm:

The US is a world leader in sperm exports primarily because sperm banks in the U.S. are run on a for-profit basis. As a result, US sperm is reckoned to be of high quality particularly because the US version comes with a background on the vitals of the donor. Denmark also exports a lot of sperm because of high standards and demand for that blond, blue-eyed look.

Exports to Canada have increased in recent years because of a scandal involving poorly screened Canadian sperm. Canadians also import a lot of US eggs. The Canadian government, however, is apparently miffed as a new law is being readied that would forbid donations involving a paid donor. The law would not only make paid donation illegal in Canada it would make it illegal to use any paid-for sperm. Canadian couples seeking fertility options will suffer and who will benefit? I cannot think that this law is anything but spiteful and ridiculous. Is paying for sperm an original sin?

So what happened? In 2004, Canada made it a criminal offense to compensate sperm and egg donors. Loyal readers will not be surprised by the results (as of 2011)

…currently, in the entire country, there are only 35 active sperm donors. Over the last decade, our government has made its donation system so thoroughly unappealing that this ubiquitous fluid is almost impossible to obtain through official channels. There is a single operating sperm bank in all of Canada.

…If 35 national donors is an ugly statistic for the most removed observer, it’s especially devastating for the women and couples who have come to rely on our lone sperm bank in order to have a child.

Ironically, it’s been easier to prevent payments to Canadian donors than it has been to police sperm and egg imports because it is still technically legal to use paid-for sperm just not to buy sperm. As a result, the importation of US sperm has increased:

Patients here obtain more than 90% of semen from the United States, and the federal government appears to turn a blind eye to the fact they buy it from mostly for-profit sperm banks — a criminal offence in this country.

Addendum: Some readers may find all this talk of sex and sperm to be risque but do remember this is a family-friendly blog.

When they are asked — and not when they are paid  — at least when it comes to one recent study of the Swiss:

In the early 1990s, Switzerland was getting ready to have a national referendum about where it would site nuclear waste dumps. Citizens had strong views on the issue and were well informed. Bruno Frey and Felix Oberholzer-Gee, two social scientists, went door-to-door, asking people whether they would be willing to have a waste dump in their community. An astonishing 50% of respondents said yes—this despite the fact that people generally thought such a dump was potentially dangerous and would lower the value of their property. The dumps had to go somewhere, and like it or not, people had obligations as citizens.

Frey and Oberholzer-Gee then asked a slightly different question. People were asked whether, if given an annual payment equivalent to six weeks’ worth of an average Swiss salary, they would be willing to have the dumps in their communities. So these people, who already had one reason to say yes—their obligations as citizens—were now given a second reason—financial incentives. Yet in response to this question, only 25% of respondents agreed. Adding the financial incentive cut acceptance in half.

The full story is here, and of course the actual answer might be different if you actually paid them.  One way to read this result is in terms of signaling: if they have to pay me to accept it, it must be really bad.  Another signaling explanation is that you look bad if you are willing to welcome a community harm in return for money.  Another option is that “reasons compete,” rather than serving an additive function.  The reason “being paid” may be crowding out the reason “being asked.”

Coming from another quarter, here is a dispiriting tale of commercialization, involving Alan Alda and Michael Sandel, among others.

Minha cópia de Laços, pelos irmãos @vitorcafaggi e @lucafaggi!! A edição está perfeeeita

Que a Globo esconde e não divulga algumas verdades, isso todo mundo sabe. Não foi por acaso que a REDONDA foi um dos alvos dos protestos (às vezes nem tão pacíficos) pelo Brasil inteiro.

Repórteres tiveram que sair na rua com seguranças e até os carros da emissora tiveram que ficar longe do povão por motivo de segurança. MAS AGORA FOI DEMAIS!!!

Esse IMPORTANTÍSSIMO pronunciamento da Presidenta(e) Dilma foi censurado de forma ABSURDA!!!!!! O povo está cansado de mentiras! O povo quer a VERDADE!!!!!

lolzpicx:

Baby tries to eat cookies from a magazine

Recentemente, tem rolado na internet alguns boatos de que o seriado Game of Thrones poderia ganhar um prequel.

Pra quem não conhece a palavra, “prequel”, segundo a Wikipédia, “é um termo não-dicionarizado em português utilizado para se referir a uma obra artística que contém elementos passados no mesmo universo ficcional, ou universo paralelo, segundo o contexto que uma narrativa prévia completa, desde que esses elementos ocorram anteriormente aos narrados no primeiro trabalho”.

Sim, há a possibilidade de uma espécie de “Game of Thrones Begins“, pra desespero dos fãs mais xiitas. Inclusive, a possibilidade está aberta não só para a obra literária, mas também para a televisão.

Mas, de acordo com a notícia abaixo retirada do site da revista Rolling Stone em Março desse ano, tudo levaria a assinatura de George R. R. Matin.

Foi aí que o usuário Trombley7 postou no Reddit algumas de suas apostas sobre potenciais atores e atrizes capazes de interpretar os personagens de GoT num possível prequel da série.

Acesse o post completo para ver todas as sugestões de elenco.

Chris Hemsworth como Eddard Stark aka “Ned”

Henry Cavill como Robert Baratheon

Liam Neeson como Lord Jon Aryyn

Garrett Hedlund como Stannis Baratheon

Jared Padalecki como Jaime Lannister

Bryce Dallas Howard como Catelyn Tully

Christopher Plummer como Hoster Tully

Sam Clarfin como Petyr Baelish aka “Little Finger”

Viggo Morteson como Lord Rickard Stark

Jonathan Ryes-Meyers como Brandon Stark aka “The Wild Wolf”

Gemma Arterton como Lyanna Stark

Orlanado Bloom como Prince Rhaegar Targaryen

Freida Pinto como Princesa Elia Martell

Charlize Theron como Queen Rhaella Targaryen

Jason Issacs como King Areys Targaryen II, aka “The Mad King ou Areys the Mad”

I’ll just wait

quirkbooks:

Literary baseball cards! Collect them all! 

thesochillnetwork:

Stay classy, Microsoft

In my opinion, for the last two years Microsoft totally lose any common sense. The company behaves like if a 1% small group of blinded managers took the power of decision and put all its energy in wrecking the work of the 99% others MSFT. Nowadays Microsoft is stressed by Apple, Sony, Google, Facebook … successes and need to take action to survive in the long-term, but this obvious lack of common sense starts to have solid harmful consequences. Here are some of the craziest decisions I took note:

• Windows 8 tiles and suppression of Start menu: This one is a really killer. While Windows 8 tiles make sense on a touch device, while we can forecast that in two years most devices running Windows will come with a touch screen, today 99% of real-world user of Windows 8 hate tiles (this number 99% is my own statistic, just by looking around me the real-world people behavior).  Not only tiles are barely practicable with a mouse, but they also are flat. Just by installing the common set of .NET dev tools and running under Windows 8 for a few months, I get hundreds of tiles randomly organized without any kind of hierarchy. There is no way I’ll take a few hours to try sort them out! I then installed a third-party Start Menu to have my Windows 8 looking like Windows 7. Unfortunately 50% of real world users (again my own statistic) are unable to imagine existence/find/download/install  a third-party Start Menu. The other half of users are totally stuck with their brand new PC fighting to do anything that used to be immediate under previous version of PC. Btw, some PC resellers I know just install by default a third-party Start Menu. I understand that Windows Blue will be released urgently to palliate this huge waste. But while Windows 8 is so much more superior than Windows 7 in many ways, PCs sales are dropping dramatically. It would have been so easy (and as far as I know everybody with a bit of common sense was fighting for that against the 1% managers with plain-power) to: 1) Propose tiles as the preference only on devices with touching screen 2) Keep the Start Menu anyway.

• XBoxOne waste, even before the release: Again, some of the 1% manager were so smart that they wanted to make more money by treating gamers like idiots by keeping them captive. An internet connection was mandatory and game sharing was forbidden. Of course they reverse their positions as soon as Sony jumped on the occasion to claim that PS4 will treat gamers decently, not just like wallet. The result is that the XBoxOne brand is already strongly diminished, while I have no doubt that the XBoxOne is an awesome piece of technology conceived by thousands of ultra-smart engineers, that cost billions of dollars in R&D.

• Visual Studio release schedule: Again, some of the 1% manager thought that it’d be so cool to start releasing a new version of Visual Studio every year. As a consequence VS2013 will be released in the 2013 calendar year, not even 18 months after VS2012 RTM. These guys seem to have no idea about how ISVs using VS are working. My own statistic shows that only a third of companies adopted VS2012, 12 months after RTM. VS2008 and VS2005 still represent more than 10% of VS in productions. And the largest the ISV, the more it tends to take time to upgrade to a new VS version because it takes so much energy and there are plenty of ascendant compatibility constraints around them. Having project/solution compatibility since VS2010, while good, is far from being the only parameter that ISV take account when they decide to upgrade to a new version of VS. Not only a yearly release is not suited for the bulk of users, but certainly this represents a big extra-burden for the developments team behind VS. VS releases are not anymore driven by a vision of what should be the next version, but each VS major version will just contain features that are done by the time limit, with sometime important features to be released immature, or postponed.

Microsoft is loosing market shares, not because of a lack of good engineered products, but a lack of common sense. I really hope this trend will change because I am starting to worry a bit!

Addendum: Sadly, I receive comments that ‘shoot the messenger’. They take me wrong. All my work for two decades is based on MS technologies and if I am critic today, it is because I am worrying for the future, because I don’t plan to change platform anytime soon. If MS sales numbers were up it’d be just me, but these numbers are collapsing. The web is filled up with ex-enthusiasts complaints on Windows 8 tiles forced on non-touch-devices (1) (2) (3)…  Here I report how drastic decisions can ruin the great work of thousands of engineers. Windows 8 is awesome, especially when it comes to performances gain + it works on different devices. But the transition between Windows 8 and Windows 7 should have been smoother concerning classic PCs users, especially by making the Start Menu cohabits with Tiles. Non technology enthusiasts (i.e the bulk of Windows users) are just lost. A wrong decision has been taken here despite the tsunami of pre-RTM complaints, and my point is about how common-sense has been discarded in decisional process, in the various cases I am mentioning.

Ping Pong Tube: WHOOOAAA slow down, future.

via