Sunday, October 26, 2014

Review: Cataclysm

It is not often that a book will make you say “Wow! I didn't expect”. Karice Bolton's Cataclysm is such a book. Cataclysm is the aptly named conclusion to Ms. Bolton's supernatural adventure Watcher's trilogy. In the book we continue to follow fallen angels/white demons Ana, Athen, Arie and Cyril as prepare to lead their fellow white demon into the climatic battle against Azazel and his army of dark demons. From the very start of the book you be hooked as there is a seamless transition from the end of the previous book Legions. There is plenty of action that keeps your attention as our heroic group uncover and attempt to thwart Azazel's plan of building up hs army while raising their own forces.

As always Ms. Bolton adds a cast of rich vibrant characters to an ever-growing cast. One of these new characters is Noah, a white demon that lost his soul-mate to the forces of darkness, who proves himself as a valuable to the group with his skills at intelligence gathering. Returning is the evil seductress Lilith who we first meet in the Awakening in one of Ana's vision. Topping off this cast is our heroine Ana the eternal optimist that finds the power to make her visions come true.

One of my favorite scenes is when Ana first discovers the way that the dark demons are building their army by turning humans. At first she is shocked and horrified at the sight she is witnessing. She later realize though that with the help of the other white demons they can use this to their advantage.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone that has read the other two books, likes romance, adventure, supernatural or believes in the existence of angels & demons.



Saturday, October 25, 2014

Why did Amazon's Fire phone fail?

In today's mobile age of technology you don't have long to make a splash in the marketplace. So when your new mobile device has only sold 35,00 units, been the main cause of a $170 million dollar write-off and you still have $83 million dollars worth of inventory in limbo all after just 3 months it is time take a look at what went wrong. This the problem that Seattle-based Amazon faces after their first attempt at enter the smartphone marketplace didn't quite go as planned. Now they need to ask themselves: What went wrong? Can we salvage this or do we need to start over?
Shortly after Jeff Bezos first announced the Fire smartphone in June the critics started their attacks. Their was talk that limiting it an AT&T exclusive was a big mistake, others cited that users will not want to abandon their android smartphones for an offshoot that has less apps and the smartphone is just poorly constructed inside and out. Where the critics right from the start? Was Amazon that far off base with their smartphone? On the first two it seems the critics were right on the mark.
Even thought the iPhone was a success when it started out as an AT&T exclusive that was in 2007 when the smartphone market was still in the growing stages. In 2014 with the smartphone market more developed it seems that the days of exclusives are over. Looking at the marketshare of mobile device it does appear that the quality and quantity of available apps does matter. While Amazon uses android as the base for their operating system has been altered to the point that it can not use the apps from Google play and is limited to what is available in Amazon's app store. On the third criticism the verdict is sort of a mixed bag with some people split on the outward design of the smartphone. The two problems here seem to be the interface that is constantly moving your apps with their last used functionality and the lack of popular apps.
All of these problem can be overcome but to what cost to Amazon? The interface problem could be just a matter of a simple update. The amount of apps that the smartphone can use might be a little more with either Amazon going to start android or speed up the rate of app compatibility. The carrier problem could just be a matter of unlocking the smartphone altogether so a wider group can use it.
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Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Microsoft clears up video misunderstanding

Many of us were upset yesterday when we went to YouTube for tutorials & reviews on Microsoft Windows only to find that they had been deleted. We just started at the television icon and could not believe our eyes when we saw the explanation stating “this video is no longer available due to copyright claims by Microsoft Corporation”. We were scratched our head trying to figure out just what the violations could possibly be that would make them force YouTube to take them down.

The people that made those tutorial & review videos were just as confused and upset when they checked their email and found the deletion notice. Technology analysis Bruce Baylor was one the people that received one of the notices telling him that his Windows 8 update 1 review had been removed from his FrugalTech channel on the site.

It is my opinion that because I was very, very negative in the video about Windows 8, that it was taken down,” Bruce Naylor said. “It really pissed off somebody. They are looking for an excuse to take that video down.”

Another perso that was confused by the deletion of his video was Scott Hanselman, a Microsoft employee, when he received the same e-mail that his Windows 8.1 tutorial had been removed. After seeing the notice he went on his twitter account and sent out a tweet show his frustration.


This morning Redmond-based Microsoft reached out to Google, who owns YouTube, to clear up the matter. They explained that the mean of their concern was some of the comments that had embedded codes in them. It was those comments they were ask the video streaming service to delete and not the videos. Since clearing up the problem YouTube restored all of the videos minus the comments that caused the uproar in the beginning.  

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Air Force space plane returns from 3rd mission

From 8 a.m to 5 p.m Vandenberg Air Force base in California will be closed as they prepare for a special visitor. It is not a politician or some high ranking military officer. It is the return of the United States Air Force's secretive unmanned space plane.

"Team Vandenberg stands ready to implement safe landing operations for the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, the third time for this unique mission," Col. Keith Baits, commander of the 30th Space Wing, said in a statement.

Today's landing will complete the third mission of the two Boeing built x-37 series space drones. The mission began in December 11, 2012 when it blasted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida. When the craft launched it was suppose to be a 9 month mission that would have had it coming back to Earth in July or August of 2013. The unknown mission was later extended to the current 22 month long journey.

The X-37B "is designed to demonstrate reusable spacecraft technologies for America's future in space and operating experiments which can be returned to, and examined, on Earth," an Air Force statement said. They later added, "Technologies being tested in the program include advanced guidance, navigation and control, thermal protection systems, avionics, high temperature structures and seals, conformal reusable insulation, lightweight electromechanical flight systems, and autonomous orbital flight, re-entry and landing."

The previous mission for the x-37 lifted off from Cape Canaveral on March 5, 2011. That mission lasted 469 days until the space plane landed at Vandenberg Air Force base on June 17, 2012. Prior to that mission the x-37 was launched on April 7, 2010 and returned to Earth on December 3, 2010. Both of those missions were also a closely guarded secret by the U.S. Air Force.

Speculation of the purpose of these missions have ranged from repairs on our satellites to spying. What is known is that the equipment the x-37 carries can easily be re-calibrated for each mission. The drone can also be maneuvered to change its orbit during its missions.
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Iliad stops perusing T-Mobile

It seems that the suitor well for Bellevue-based T-Mobile has dried up for the foreseeable future. The French-based Iliad group decided to take a look at other prospects after T-Mobile's parent company Deutsche Telekom said no to a second bid to buy the Bellevue-based cellular provider.

The Ilaid group first became interested in back in July when the French company was looking to grab a foothold in the United States cellular business. From the very start Iliad had some competition as Sprint-Nextel was also bidding to win the hand of the Bellevue-based T-Mobile. For the next months both suitors wined and dined T-Mobile until early in August when T-Mobile told Iliad that their offer just wasn't good enough. The next day Sprint-Nextel walked out leaving T-Mobile standing alone again.

Not long after the double break up Iliad went to T-Mobile's parent company Deutsche Telekom to say they would look for help to make a better offer. When the Iliad group came back they said they were prepared to up their offer from 56.6% of T-Mobile's stock to 67%. At hearing the terms both Duetsche Telekom and T-Mobile said no. With that second rejection Iliad said we will not try again.

"There haven't been any other viable offers that have emerged since Sprint backed out, and that was not a formal offer to boot. There may be some questions about the price a larger buyer is prepared to pay in turn for a regulatory battle they may have to face," said Bill Menezes, an analyst at Gartner.

Dish Network also had at onetime showed some interest in T-Mobile but seems to have had cold feet and backed out. At one point Dish had said that they probably would not make an offer until after the spectrum auctions in November so there is still a chance they are in the running.
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Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Hewlett-Packard to divide into two companies

With the rise of the mobile generation several of the well established technology giants have seen their once powerful empires in a downward spiral. Much of that spiral can be attributed to stubbornness about sticking with the way they have been doing business for decades. Even the companies that thought they were doing a good job at keeping up with current trends have seen a down turn.
"There's a significant transformation going on in that industry, and maybe now HP can make its move," said Forrester tech analyst Peter Burris, one of several analysts who say the iconic tech giant will need to get better at building and selling mobile gadgets if it wants the new spinoff to succeed.
This caused several of these once giants of the industry scrambling to right their ships. Some of the strategies that companies have been trying over the last few years are changing CEOs, re-organization, privatization and even selling off part of the business. The latest of the companies to join the trend is Hewlett-Packard as they get set to split the company into two businesses.
"The decision to separate into two market-leading companies underscores our commitment to the turnaround plan. It will provide each new company with the independence, focus, financial resources, and flexibility they need to adapt quickly to market and customer dynamics, while generating long-term value for shareholders," said Meg Whitman, HP chief executive officer, in a press release.
Current Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman will retain control of the business software & cloud storage parts of the business. The part of the business will be renamed Hewlett-Packard Enterprises. She will then split the PC &mobile devices along with printing into a second business that current Vice President Dion Weisler will become CEO. Mr. Weisler's new business will be called HP Inc.
Hewlett-Packard hired Ms. Whitman in September of 2011 to resurrect the struggling company. Before Ms. Whitman was hired by Hewlett-Packard she had proven herself as President & CEO of Ebay where she over saw 10 years of growth before leaving in 2008 to run, a failed campaign, for governor of California.
Mr. Weisler was hired by Hewlett-Packard in December of 2011 as a Vice President. Before coming to HP, Mr. Weisler spent almost 5 years with Levono where he was both a Vice President and COO.
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Saturday, October 4, 2014

Review: Beyond the softness of his fur part 3

The third and final of TammyJo Eckhart's Beyond the Softness of His Fur series is even better than the previous two. In this last installment of the series you will want to take your time and savor every word. Once again we are captivated by the attention craving Fox morph Wynn. This time Wynn amazes us with the way that he blossoms by overcoming his jealousy, his eagerness to learn and re-awaken abilities that are discouraged in most morphs. You will further into the book as you follow the growing relationship between Emily, Lindsey and Wynn as they grow into a caring family. There also plenty of other situations in this book that will keep your eyes glued to the pages.

Once again Ms. Eckhart does a great job of giving voices to Emily, Lindsey and Wynn giving us a better understanding of how each of them view the various situations they face on a daily basis. A good example is how the three of all have a differing view when it is Lindsey that into all the details like the color scheme, Emily is more focused on the wedding overall and Wynn isn't quite sure what they are discussing but it is cutting into his time with his Mistress.

I would recommend this book not just to those that enjoy erotica or romance but also to those like self help books on building better relationships, in or entering into a management role. There is something for the person that falls into any of those categories.


Amazon and Disney come to an agreement

While we have all been paying attention to Seattle-based Amazon's on-going battle with Hachette we missed their two month long battle with Disney. As reported by The Wall Street Journal battle started in August. Unless you had children you probably didn't notice that you couldn't pre-order Million Dollar Arm, Maleficent, Capetian America: The Winter Soldier and other new releases. There was no big blow up that has been associated with the 9-month long book publish feud.
"They are squeezing studios on DVD pricing, understandable given their market position," said Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter. "Disney can't cut them off, and Amazon can cut Disney off, so I would say Amazon has the leverage."
The details of just what the caused the dispute between the two media giants is not entirely known. The one thing that we do know is there was talk about who would make up for any loses that Amazon might incur promotional offers by Disney. Pricing and discounts of DVDs are probably involved to some point in the negotiations. It is almost certain there was also some talk about returns and supplies.
Disney has also been having a dispute with Bellevue-based Outerwall over the over how long the Bellevue company should have to wait between the time a DVD is first release before they can offer it in their Redbox kiosk. Disney wants the Bellevue company to wait 28-days just like they do with every other movie studio. Outerwall, on the other hand, argues that since Disney is so family oriented there is a uniqueness to them and they should be able to offer Disney movie closer to the release date. The dispute has been going on for two years and in that time Outerwall has been purchasing the movies from distributors other than from Disney.
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Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Microsoft says no Windows 9 but Windows 10

In a media event yesterday, in San Francisco, Redmond-based Microsoft officially announced their next operating system code-named 'Threshold'. The new operating system will bring back the start menu and a few other familiar features that where lost when Windows 8 came out almost two years ago. While Microsoft executive Terry Meyerson told us about the feature of the new feature it was much of what we expected. The return of the start menu and more emphasis on keyboard and mouse functionality.
The one thing about the new operating system that was a surprise was the name. With a few exceptions Microsoft has used a sequential numbering system to name the newest OS. Going along with that system we all expected this OS to be Windows 9. The front office at the Redmond-based giant seemed to have other plans when they went from 8 to 10.
"When you see the product in its fullness, I think you will agree with us that it is a more appropriate name," Myerson said.
What Mr. Meyerson said in that statement might well be true but why skip over 9? That depend on whom you ask. Use on the micro-blog site twitter commented about the reason being the old math joke that 7 ate 9. If you asked a computer geek they would probably tell you the reason is that in our industy we count in bytes so after 8 we start over at 1 and add a 0. The answer that Mr. Meyerson gave us for the name is that they wanted to stick to the current trend in product naming.
Microsoft considered the name Windows One,” he said, “to match products like OneNote and OneDrive and its One Microsoft business strategy.” He went on to point out that 'Windows 1' had already been used.

During the presentation of the new operating system there was no set date given for when we will see product in its fullness. There a Beta version of the operating system that can be found on Microsoft's website.