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But you didn't answer my question.
With the limited downside and the potentially large upside, what makes ANY a good short right now?
The truth is that you DO NOT KNOW exactly what involvement Microsoft has with Sphere and GlassWare or what their plans are for it. That is why you asked the question you did in the comment section of that container article.
The truth also is that longs DO NOT KNOW exactly what involvement Microsoft has with Sphere and GlassWare.
So both sides are speculating. Speculation, of course, is what the stock market is all about so nothing wrong with that.
The question to me becomes: which side is right and what will the benefits be for being on the right side?
Let's assume that you are right and GlassWare is not the great disruptive product that longs believe it is. Well, that would seem to eliminate Sphere being the great wealth builder that longs anticipate it becoming. BUT, there seems to be enough evidence that GlassWare actually does have SOME value. Why else would companies like Microsoft, Ericcson, Promark, Atos, etc. be screwing around with it. And, it appears that Overland/Tandberg/V3 products do sell and have value. Possibly enough to produce $100M or more in sales. So, this combination probably has enough value to justify a share price of $2 or more. So even if the shorts are right, they could end up with a profit from here of about $1.50 per share.
On the other hand, if the longs are right and GlassWare is a unique and disruptive technology involved in the hot and growing cloud/virtualization/container technology market, even as a relatively small percentage player, the upside for the share price could easily be $10, $20, $30 per share or more.
So if nobody really knows for sure, and it looks like the PineTree overhang is either gone or close to gone, and it is difficult to borrow shares to short, and the price to do so is high, can you please explain to me why ANY is such a great short at this point. Thanks.
"Note NDAs do not trump securities laws. "
HA!
I have no idea how GlassWare is involved with Microsoft, but based upon the manipulation that goes on in todays stock market I would guess that the rules for use of a McDonalds bathroom trump securities laws.
Looks like your manipulation machine must have broken down.
That's the problem with making it in Cuba out of old auto parts.
Sphere3D Awarded New Patents for Peer Set Data Protection Technology Designed for Hyperscale Environments
Last update: 05/06/2015 1:00:00 pm
Sphere3D Awarded New Patents for Peer Set Data Protection Technology Designed for Hyperscale Environments
Peer Set Protection Technology Tackles Scaling Issues Impacting Traditional RAID and Replication Approaches in Order to Address Today's Cloud Needs
SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwired - May 6, 2015) - Sphere 3D Corp. (NASDAQ: ANY), a virtualization and data management solutions provider, today announced it has received two patents for its next generation data protection technology. The United States Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. Patents No. 8,296,398 and 8,856,233 for Peer-to-Peer Redundant File Server System and Methods. These patents cover the file system and data protection technology used in Sphere 3D's SnapScale enterprise scale-out storage system, also known as "Peer Sets".
Most data protection technologies used by traditional storage solutions employ a traditional data protection architecture that was designed to protect data in the 1990s single client application environments. Customers who are building cloud-integrated IT environments seek a web scale data protection architecture optimized for today's proliferation of unstructured data.
Sphere3D's Peer Set data protection technology, utilized in the SnapScale product portfolio, solves key scalability issues that plague the traditional RAID and replication approach by offering an extremely efficient data distribution mechanism. Additional features include built in load balancing, tunable replication schema, and an efficient use of both computing power and network bandwidth. Peer Sets provide the unique ability to both scale up heterogeneously (add drives of higher capacity to an existing system without affecting existing data) and scale out (add storage nodes to a deployment and expand the existing namespace).
"Some of today's largest data repositories can be found driving businesses that did not originally anticipate their future scaling needs. This led to expensive rip and replace requirements in order to support their growth," said Nilesh Patel, VP of product management and marketing at Sphere 3D. "Whether you are a local office or designing the next web scale datacenter, deploying Peer Set technology will protect your organization's data and scale as business needs dictate."
About SnapScale
SnapScale, available from Sphere 3D resellers, is a clustered NAS solution that is the storage industry's simplest and largest scale-out solution. It solves the problems of traditional storage by enabling organizations with rapid or unpredictable data growth to scale capacity and performance infinitely without adding management complexity. SnapScale eliminates islands of storage, enabling easy and affordable scaling without having to predict capacity in advance. Offering user-selectable levels of data protection, SnapScale writes data across multiple nodes and drives simultaneously for instant protection and high availability by ensuring no single point of failure ever exists. The SnapScale hardware architecture and "single pane of glass" management creates a consistent user experience while both managing the existing "Global Namespace" and scaling storage as needed, all without additional layers of administration.
"The sky is the limit to how Glassware can be applied and optimized. To date we have delivered reference architectures on many hardware platform offerings. Glassware 2.0 has been delivered on what was previously a storage appliance, traditional servers, converged appliances, and even on laptops. Ultimately, Glassware 2.0 technology will manifest itself in as many variations as application circumstances will call for. With our unique approach of containerizing applications and utilization of microvisors, we give software direct access to hardware. As a result of this unique approach, we anticipate there will be a number of permutations of Glassware 2.0 to address the specific needs for applications that rely on the underlying hardware for optimum performance
Because the Glassware 2.0 reference architecture appliances pull from the Glassware technology stack, purpose built appliances can be built for any type of application and work with cloud based desktop delivery solutions."
I noticed this on your Twitter:
Jason Katcher
@jkatcher74
Disrupt, Displace, Transform. 10 yr Googler leading Americas Education Sales. Fantasy Football, Wellness/Fitness, NIN, Knicks,…
Jason Katcher is very familiar with GlassWare 2.0. Have you discussed it with him? He supposedly is also a Sphere shareholder.
This sure sounds like what you are looking for:
"At these events attendees will explore how new technologies are enabling organizations to easily virtualize and migrate legacy and Windows-based applications to the cloud. In addition, attendees will be able to participate in demonstrations of new container based technologies for virtualizing applications, regardless of their hardware or operating system platform dependencies, and get a glimpse at new virtual storage options for the enterprise."
Simple.
Register and go.
http://sphere3d.com/events/microsoft-azure/
So what you are saying is that YOU CANNOT FIND ANY QUOTE FROM ANY TECH EXPERT WHO HAS WRITTEN THAT GLASSWARE 2.0 DOES NOT DO WHAT THE COMPANY CLAIMS.
Why don't you just admit that instead of diversionary tactics like saying they only give it to "friendly" tech analysts or the claims as to what GlassWare does are vague.
WHAT NONSENSE. About as silly as you saying that you bash Sphere 3D as a public service. I am still chuckling.
And how do you account for all this:
Laura Didio, acclaimed tech reviewer tested GlassWare and said: " it does everything it claims to do. Sphere3D Glassware 2.0 & V3 Appliances are all excellent."
Simon Bramfitt says: "both Glassware and V3 have a genuinely new take on the business of getting Windows applications (Glassware) and Windows desktops (V3) in front of end-users."
Dustin Hardin, Director of Technology of New Caney ISD, a current Glassware customer said: "We tried traditional virtualization techniques but the specific applications we needed couldn't virtualize or wouldn't scale. With our Glassware 2.0 enabled Dell(TM) server, we were able to virtualize the applications we needed and future proof our investment in Chromebooks for our students."
Paul Shumway, Senior Vice President of Novarad said: "We have tested many of today's leading virtualization technologies and have looked at a number of potential solutions; none were able to deliver the simple migration to virtualization and incredible performance that we get from the Sphere 3D approach to virtual computing. The first time we saw our products run on Glassware 2.0, we were sold."
Vibhor Kapoor, Director, Microsoft Azure Product Marketing said “By working closely with Sphere 3D, we are able to continue to deliver on that commitment and provide a new level of flexibility for organizations looking for scalable application delivery from the cloud.”
Bryan Bleil, vice president of online technology implementation at Pearson. “We welcome Glassware 2.0 into the TestNav Qualified program as a technology provider that shares our goal for enhanced learning capabilities through technology adoption.”
" I comment on ANY as a public service. "
Tell me you really didn't say that so that I can stop laughing hysterically. Thanks.
And while you are at it, don't forget my previous question:
"Now I will ask you again as I have asked every Sphere basher: Provide a quote from any tech expert who has written that GlassWare 2.0 DOES NOT DO what the company claims.
So far every time I have asked this the response has been either silence or an attempt to change the subject."
"Those are kind of relevant questions to an "any app on any device" company, no? "
Well, here is what the company says:
"Published on Dec 4, 2014
Container visualization with Glassware technology makes it so an application is containerized and can be delivered to any device regardless of Operating System. The operating systems in Glassware are templates complete with binaries and libraries specific for each OS, making it possible to run the containerized application with the respective OS template.
By using containers and templates, Glassware is able to give applications the ability to work with any device regardless of Operating System."
I am still not convinced that the recent selling has not been PineTree. It also seems coincidental that as of today April 30th they had previously announced that they would be redeeming $10M of their debentures. That certainly could account for them divesting large amounts of Sphere this week.
Isn't there also a requirement that a holder as large as PineTree would have had to divulge all those sales of Sphere you say they made recently? I haven't seen any record of this.
"PineTree has no shares left."
Is there a public source for this information?
Yo Hugo,
Finally something we agree on 100%.
It is impossible to determine the actual attitude towards the companies share price and future unless you know the status of PineTrees & Sheldons holdings.
Judging by the unseemingly trading, my guess is that someone (most likely PineTree) is just dumping shares at every opportunity without too much regard to the price they are getting.
If that's true, the bad thing is that it almost guarantees that the price will go down until they are finished.
The good thing is that once they are finished the price could go to $5 or more in a heartbeat.
Does anyone actually know how many shares PineTree has left?
"And after the feedback from the last CC suspect management will be VERY talkative and informative. "
Please add ENTHUSIASTIC to that list. Thanks. And maybe a POSITIVE ATTITUDE too.
Well, that's odd.
I guess IHub feels that I am not worthy of reading Just 10's messages. Or, maybe FINRA thinks I am one of the manipulators and doesn't want me tipped off. Or maybe my computer has the hiccups.
Here's what mine shows:
#23306 Very strange. commoncentsinvestor 04/30/15 11:35:59 M
#23304 Chart just changed pretty fast. Fguy2 04/30/15 11:23:10 M
#23303 I think hugosnacks was being sarcastic, as is epotter M
#23302 Thank you. eom. mamabear1 04/30/15 11:12:22 AM
#23300 That is remarkable. Good work. streamingeagle88 7 M
#23299 Thank you for contacting them. JB3729 04/30/15 10:54:46 M
#23297 Forget FINRA - what did FOX News say??!!! Hugodrax
#23295
Very strange.
When I bring up the Sphere IHub message board, messages number 23296, 23298, & 23301 do not appear on the list. These are all messages by JUST 10-11-12 pertaining to his FINRA call.
They don't seem to be fully deleted as you can get to them through other posters response to them. But why would they not show on the message list.
Anyone else see the same thing?
"Projected close today $3.53."
WOW. I criticized you previously for being wrong about your short term predictions so I guess I have to give you kudo's for this spot on one.
If you can do that all the time you can become my personal guru.
This is not the place for political hate talk.
If you want to do that there are any number of chat boards to do so.
Am I missing something here.
Sphere just announces a joint collaboration with Microsoft which will be presenting their innovative technology in several Microsoft Technology
Centers What a great way to get the story out with the backing of one of the worlds great tech companies.
AND, the share price jumps from around $3.25 up to as high as $4.50 in a couple of days and closes over $4 for a gain of about 25%.
Yet all I seem to be reading are fear mongering messages about the shorts being in control and how smart they are. HUH?
And then there's some guy making price predictions as if he knows what he's talking about. First says there will be no gap up today, which there was. Then says it will go down today to $3.70 which it didn't. Then after it bounces up from $3.90 to around $4.25 again says it will go down to $3.70 which it didn't again. Now says it's going back down to $2.50.
I guess in the prediction business "3 strikes and you are out" doesn't apply.
Then on the same day I see headlines like this: "Microsoft shares soar as cloud business fuels profit."
And I remember the Microsoft guy recently saying this:
“We are committed to providing our customers with new and innovative ways to implement their cloud strategy,” said Vibhor Kapoor, Director, Microsoft Azure Product Marketing. “By working closely with Sphere 3D, we are able to continue to deliver on that commitment and provide a new level of flexibility for organizations looking for scalable application delivery from the cloud.”
Seems I would be paying a lot more attention to what Microsoft is doing and saying then I would about the blather from shorts & traders. SHEESH!
I didn't know MicroSoft was so stupid.
For all these months we have been told by the Sphere bashers that GlassWare 2.0 was just vapourware, that it was nothing new or innovative and that there are all kinds of other products that do exactly the same thing.
Of course many tech experts and GlassWare customers have disagreed with that and have written glowingly about the advantages of GlassWare. The bashers would always come back with their lies that these people must be getting paid to say that or else they just don't know what they are talking about.
Now, one of the largest tech companies in the world is collaborating with Sphere by presentations in their Tech Centers to " showcase its technologies and product solutions."
Here's what MicroSoft says about their Tech Centers:
"Microsoft Technology Centers (MTCs) are collaborative environments that provide access to innovative technologies and world-class expertise, enabling you to envision, design, and deploy solutions to meet your exact needs."
Somehow this stupid MicroSoft company has been DUPED by Sphere into believing that Sphere has innovative products. But never fear. I understand that right now a committee is being formed which includes flyboys, zigzagjones, techstockfordummies, Keubiko, Hugodrax and derek32smith. They are going to descend on MicroSoft headquarters and explain to their executives that they really don't know what they are doing and that they must have been hypnotized by that evil Eric Kelly.
I have great confidence in this crackerjack team. BUT, you guys, just to be safe before you head out you might want to cover some of your shorts.
Sphere 3D and Microsoft "Technologies to Power the Next Cloud" Events
Please join Sphere 3D and Microsoft for an exclusive event to discover the technologies that will drive the “Next Cloud” for your business Sphere 3D
You are invited to the Sphere 3D / Microsoft roadshow. The events will be held at Microsoft Technology Centers in Silicon Valley, New York, London and Toronto, and provide an overview of Sphere 3D’s technologies and solutions for the "Next Cloud" featuring Glassware 2.0 Windows container technology for application delivery and the latest in virtual storage technology.
Adoption of cloud-based deployment models continues to accelerate and so does the need for the evolution of the associated architectures and business models to ensure success. This means enabling new and innovative capabilities that support public, private, and hybrid deployments in the cloud.
At these events attendees will explore how new technologies are enabling organizations to easily virtualize and migrate legacy and Windows-based applications to the cloud. In addition, attendees will be able to participate in demonstrations of new container based technologies for virtualizing applications, regardless of their hardware or operating system platform dependencies, and get a glimpse at new virtual storage options for the enterprise.
Dates: May 20, 2015 – Silicon Valley / Mt. View, CA and
May 27, 2015 – New York, NY
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon followed by lunch
Location: Microsoft Technology Centers
Silicon Valley:
Microsoft Technology Center
1065 La Avenida
Building One
Mt.View, CA 94043
New York:
Microsoft Technology Center
11 Times Square, 7th Floor
8th Ave. between 41st & 42nd St.
New York, NY 10035
Homework assignment: How much is the recent MicroSoft deal worth to Sphere?
So, just as I thought, you can find no quote from any tech expert who has ever written that GlassWare 2.0 DOES NOT DO what the company claims.
Yet, for months the main basher talking point was that GlassWare was "vaporware" and didn't do anything new or different.
Now you (with all your supposed great knowledge about GlassWare and Sphere) are asking what the company claims it does? Wow. That's really sad. Suggest you go to Spheres' website. Click on the GlassWare section and you will find all kinds of great stuff the company claims it will do.
But now you say it doesn't really matter if GlassWare does do what the company claims. Now that's really dumb. If a company has a product that does things better, faster, cheaper and more efficiently than other products in one of the hottest segments of the tech market, "it really doesn't matter". Give me a break.
"You're not really expecting an honest response from that cretin, are you?"
No. I am not expecting a response either honest or dishonest because I have asked it of every known Sphere basher and so far not one has given a direct answer.
One of them even emailed Laura Didio and asked her if GlassWare did what the company claimed. He was obviously expecting her to say no. Instead she said:
" it does everything it claims to do. Sphere3D Glassware 2.0 & V3 Appliances are all excellent."
Of course that dishonest basher never did post that response on a message board. It took some sharp IHub poster to find & post it.
The funny part is that for months the main argument of the bashers was that GlassWare didn't do anything the company claimed. So with all their supposed tech knowledge they have been completely wrong all along and anyone who takes what they say as fact should do so at their own peril.
Well, Hugodrax you seem to be quite verbose so I imagine you would be quite willing to answer the one question that all the Sphere bashers (flyboys, techstockfordummies, zigzagjones, keubiko, etc.) have been unwilling or unable to answer. So here is this very simple question:
Can you give us a quote from one tech expert who has written that GlassWare 2.0 DOES NOT DO what the company claims?
Now, I don't need a many paragraph answer. If you have such a quote just answer YES and provide the quote, who the source is, and a link. If the answer is NO than just say NO. I am sure you can handle this simple task.
I don't get it.
What is the need for a private message board? Seems like it would be a very one-sided conversation. Why not post on the Yahoo public ANY message board? Plenty of bashers over there that need to be converted.
"And Go Duke."
Very disappointed in you S.E. Loyal ANY longs are supposed to be of the nature to root for the little guy. You know, the one with the great product who is trying to make inroads against the already successful behemoths.
Well that's the case with the Badgers against first Kentucky and now Duke.
Here's a message I put on another message board a month ago in response to a poster who said Kentucky was going all the way.
commoncentsinvestor • Mar 9, 2015 11:00 AM
I would not bet against Wisconsin. Probably not as physically talented as some of the other teams, but they play terrifically solid basketball.
I am sticking to my guns and besides those smart folks up in Madison probably had good reason to reject you. LOL.
IBM to splash out $3bn on IoT and cloud-based open platform
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2402238/ibm-to-splash-out-usd3bn-on-iot-and-cloud-based-open-platform
NEWS FLASH!
It has been announced that the FDA has approved a new drug. The purpose of this drug is to diminish a persons Enthusiasm, Excitement and Positive Outlook. A clinical trial was held and the potion was discreetly inserted into the water bottles of 3 executives of the Sphere 3D Corp. shortly prior to their appearance at an earnings conference call.
The results were so good that the FDA felt there was no further testing needed and approved the drug immediately.
"Didn't ANY report about 4M rev for Q3'14?"
No. They reported $1.62M.
When that 4Q estimate came out I wrote this message:
"If it did contain OVRL revs, it would be only for a maximum of 28 days. Looking back at 2013 for the same quarter, OVRL did $10.6M in revenues. While December is a great month for retailers it tends to be an off month for companies selling business equipment. So let's assume for the 2014 quarter OVRL did twice as much business as in 2013. That would be $21M in revenues. If that is true, I would expect that about $16M of those revenues would have occurred in Oct. & Nov. That would leave $5M for the short month of December. Again if true that would mean the $9M in total ANY revenues consisted of $5M from OVRL & $4M from ANY. That would represent more than a double in ANY revenues from the previous quarter. I would be extremely happy with that, as I am for the $160M in projected revenues for 2015."
Don't know how accurate it might be, but I think it might be closer to reality than the $7M/$2M breakdown by 451.
If mine is better, in the future I will be charging for my estimates.
I actually thought it was a pretty good report with the exception that it is obvious that whoever wrote it had never actually used GlassWare, tested it or is aware of its unique differences from the other virtualization products he mentioned. I guess that's why he started off by saying: "What still puzzles us a little is the continued focus on Glassware, which still gets the headline billing in press materials."
It is sort of like if 2 people review the same new automobile. One just looks at pictures of it and reads the specification manual. The other actually takes it for a test drive. If its a great car the article written by the guy who took it for the test drive would most likely be far more enthusiastic.
Actually silverline has made a whole string of excellent posts in the comment section of the S.A. article. Suggest everyone seek them out. Here is one where he was responding to someone who was praising the author on his great due diligence:
His DD was from behind a computer screen, and customized to help a group of completely trapped shorts, whose necks are now in the proverbial noose. To characterize this as due diligence is insulting to anyone reading this. This could never be held up as DD, nor is it even an opinion, or an argument. It is nothing more than a single purpose hit piece.
I am a long not associated with the company, but I and many others have visited their head office, met their senior management, they have shared the basics of their business plans, they have demo'd their technology to myself and others personally (some are tech experts who came away in awe), they have explained to us the basics of how it works, we have attended their AGM in May of 2014, we had one on ones with their tech development group, their marketing execs, and their CFO, we have attended some of the trade shows and conferences they presented at, and spoken with some of their early adopters and customers. We have observed, analyzed, and studied the company as it moved from development and strategic planning, to adoption, and now the early beginnings of monetization.
And you have the unmitigated gall to "warn us"?? With all due respect (which is a stretch), you should put your water wings back on and quickly move back to the shallow end of the pool where you clearly belong.
Thanks Babykahn. I had found out his name also and have been looking for an email address. Haven't found one yet. Like zstockings I also don't use twitter.
Would you be able to tweet him to ask the date of this email?
http://static.cdn-seekingalpha.com/uploads/2015/3/8393471_14272321157541_61.png
I would apologize for having to contact him but explain the importance as we believe someone is trying to use this email to perpetrate a fraud on investors.
Talk about being in the right place at the right time.
From CIO Journal:
March 25, 2015, 7:21 PM ET
Virtualization Is the Top Priority for IT Leaders in 2015: Report
By STEVEN NORTON
Virtualization is top-of-mind for CIOs and other tech chiefs as they undergo large-scale IT transformation projects. While servers have been virtualized for years, a recent survey of CIOs, IT VPs and IT directors highlights the growing number of functions that can be virtualized beyond servers – from networks to security systems – and the push to inject more efficiency and flexibility into corporate IT stacks.
Consulting firm Protiviti surveyed more than 1,000 IT decision makers on their priorities and found virtualization, essentially replacing hardware with software, to be at the top for 2015. It was followed by cyberthreat detection and response, privacy and enterprise architecture.
More than half of respondents said they were undergoing a major IT transformation that will last a year or more. These projects highlight the pressure CIOs face to embrace new technologies while phasing out legacy systems and strengthening security. About 64% said their IT transformation projects are aimed at simplifying existing systems and reducing costs, while 55% noted enabling new functionality as a driving force.
In many large companies, “the technology has been in place for decades, and there’s a certain amount of plaque that’s built up in the environment,” said Ed Page, who leads Protiviti’s financial services IT practice in North America. “You can’t just add new tech to the top of the heap, you’ve got to learn how to simplify in order to take advantage of new capabilities.”
FULL ARTICLE: http://blogs.wsj.com/cio/2015/03/25/virtualization-is-the-top-priority-for-it-leaders-in-2015-report/
Pontoon,
I don't know what you were thinking, but would you please see that your last message is removed. Why in the world would you post a link to that crap?