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OT: Free Stock Photos
A great source of Free Stock Photo's
http://sxc.hu/index.phtml
OT: WinXP SUX's
In the last 15 years I've spent 60 % percent of my working life supporting various incarnations of Windows. So I have first hand IT experience.
Win 3.1 worked but the Mac OS was superior. Win 95 equaled if not surpassed the Mac Classic OS (Jobs was not at the helm of Apple at the time). Win 98 was a dog. Win 98 Second-edition the maintenace fix. Win Me a dog from the start. Win NT 4 solid but no plug and play functionality. Win2k (NT5) was awesome until Mac OS X 10.2. Win XP is just a merged version of Win2k (NT5) and WinME to support games. Mac OS 10.3 and the forthcoming 10.4 Tiger is vastly superior to anything MSFT can dream up. Microsoft's problem is Legacy support for insecure applications conceived before the World Wide Web. Windows will never be secure until they recognize and re-write the Win OS from scratch.
Any linux or unix flavor operating system running on an intel x86 system would be better than the beta ware of an Operating Systems MSFT sells ... It's bloat-ware designed to waste processing time.
A Windows Domain is typically optimized to authenticate Windows machines. See your domain admin for support. Better networking software exists but as I've heard so often its a Windows World.
So how much experience have you had maintaining Windows systems on a daily basis ?
BR, Altaire4
OT: APPLE SOFTWARE MIGRATION TOOL
Fi I've used the target disk mode transfer on at least three systems mostly between Powerbooks and it hasn't failed me yet. As Apple Users we take alot for granted the Windows Computing World is just so ..... last century.
BR, Altaire4
OT: Powerbook Video Considerations
The S-Video Output on the 12'"and 15" Powerbooks with a proper cable allows you to use a standard TV for your presentations if a projector is not available.
The 15" 1.5 GHZ G4 Powerbook has a 128 MB Video memory Option for $100.00 more. You should consider this if you want to drive these new Projectors at the highest resolution. This bumps up the price of the Powerbook at the Apple store to over $2600.00 ... Ooocchhhh.
Microsoft's Fear is Apple's Gain:
The MPEG-4 Part 10 Revolution
The EU AntiTrust Decision to throw out Microsoft's appeal puts alot of things in perspective. Just a little more evidence to back up many of my assertions about MSFT.
Analysis
Boo-Hoo Microsoft
There's been a lot of news of late concerning Microsoft, be it warning Asian Governments or being in denial when a European Union judge this past week denied Microsoft Corp. a reprieve from the antitrust penalties imposed by the European Commission in March—a serious blow to Microsoft's case. Microsoft said it would begin complying with the order immediately.
In a 91-page decision issued on Wednesday morning, Judge Bo Vesterdorf, the president of the EU's Court of First Instance (CFI), said Microsoft had failed to prove its case. "The application must therefore be dismissed in its entirety," he wrote.
Microsoft stated that they hoped the court's decision would help to reopen settlement negotiations with the Commission. The company stated it believes the remedies will "harm many users of the Windows operating system and the thousands of companies across Europe who have built their businesses on the Windows platform," but said it will comply with the court order.
You must agree that Microsoft's delirium is, at the very least, consistent with their famous line of, "will harm many users of the Windows operating system". Hmm, what do they feed their staff in Redmond? While their case with the EU is really far from over, I thought it would be appropriate to begin this report with a presentation of just one of perhaps many next generation Media Players that Microsoft is so afraid of. We always hear about QuickTime and RealPlayer being the beneficiary of the EU's ruling but there are others on the way in 2005. Grant you the following is not a "freebie player" but it's the trend that Redmond really fears: Users having choice of a media player and the MPEG-4 standard gaining ground!
Introducing the KDDI MPEG Intelli Player
Universal MPEG-1/MPEG2 (SDTV/HDTV) MPEG-4/HDV/H.264 with AAC+Software Player
http://www.apple-x.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1262
Great tip Cotton !!!
Well you can always look at it as the Bill Gate's Information Technologies Full Employment act. One man's Pork is another man's livelyhood. Personally I believe that Microsoft executives showing Windows Source code to foreign nationals borders on Treason, but what do I know .... GDUBBYA got re-elected for Four more years.
fools and their money are soon parted.
Quality should always matter... its msft that still doesn't get it.
Win, 11000 Applications is nothing to sneeze at.
http://osx.hyperjeff.net/Apps/index.php
http://www.apple.com/opensource/
http://www.kernelthread.com/mac/osx/software.html
http://www.kernelthread.com/mac/osx/conclusion.html
2B hope you and yours are enjoying the holiday.
Do you remember Zanny's long winded rants ? I'm known for getting a bit exuberant but Zanny never knew when to quit. Still, ACE (ALUMINUM) gets under my skin with the holier than thou Redmond Kool-Aide so I could relate to Zanny on a certain level.
I believe AAPL's best days are just on the horizon mainly because MSFT is in a no win position of its own design. In its quest to dominate the Personal Computer market MSFT has effectively alieniated software allies that are now powering the Open Source, Linux and APPLE camps.
MSFT's marketshare will continue to erode as security issues continue unabetted through 2005.
Apple iPod is just the beginning of a new APPLE renaissance.
BR, Altaire4 .... The best is yet to come .....
Great Post as Zanny would say it's Happenin'
CD's .... we don't need no stink'in Restore Cd's
Windows is a Patch work Quilt with a few loose threads
Windows PeeCee's are Cost Effective if you don't mind an occasional case of heartburn. You really do get what you pay for.
BR, Altaire4
Neo Office is awesome
I use Neo Office/J at work and I even rescued an MS Excel file that a user had a problem with. It's not fast but it works.
BR, Altaire4
MSFT vs AAPL perspective
I adore Apple, but every time I have touched the stock I've been burned, they have been my penultimate lesson in not falling in love with your stocks.
Dill, I've never lost a penny in any of my AAPL investments. MSFT was a great value 15 - 20 years ago but I wouldn't risk a penny on it today. MSFT's prospects are dimming for many reasons and I'm not getting into a long winded debate about it here. The Open Source community, APPLE, IBM and AMD are leading the tech industry while MSFT basically produces patches to fix their Windows software flaws.
Emerging Technology is still the best mid -long term bet in the equity market.
BR, Altaire4
AAPL vs MSFT
ACE, The leader in the desktop OS market: MSFT - expenses it options and even pays a dividend, yet its valued less than half that of AAPL !!! With the emerging ASIAN markets opting for alternatives to windows I hope your not holding on to MSFT shares it doesn't seem to have much upside. We'll see yeah when AAPL is trading in the 80's around the next blowout earnings quarter. We'll do another comparison then.
12/16/04 - MSFT: 27.01 - 27.28 vs AAPL: 66.05 - 67.50
BR, Altaire4 ..... When is Long (short) Horn coming out ???
Calling for iTunes
From Forbes
Get Ready To Call ITunes
Arik Hesseldahl, 12.16.04, 2:00 PM ET
NEW YORK - Apple Computer and Motorola could soon show us the mobile phone they are developing to play music purchased from Apple's iTunes online music store.
"We've said we have something coming on this in the first half of 2005 and we're definitely on schedule for that. Hopefully you'll be able to see more about it soon," says Eddy Cue, vice president in charge of applications at Apple (nasdaq: AAPL - news - people ).
http://www.forbes.com/personaltech/2004/12/16/cx_ah_1216aapl.html
Br Altaire4 .... Go AAPL !!!!
OT: MKTY 6.25 +
First Mobion product out .....
Takes aim on expanding Mobion(TM) products and markets -
ALBANY, N.Y., Dec 15, 2004 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- MTI MicroFuel Cells Inc. (MTI Micro), the developer of award winning Mobion(TM) technology suitable for handheld electronic devices, and a subsidiary of Mechanical Technology Incorporated (MKTY), announced the appointment of Alan J. Soucy as President and Chief Operating Officer.
BR, Altaire4
Panther 10.3.x is not capable of taking advantage of the G5's performance
The Current operating system 10.3.x Panther and the majority of the applications do not take advantage of the 64 Bit capabilities of the G5. When Tiger arrives and the developers catch up over time you will see a significant performance increase with these G5 systems. Its a matter of the G5 Power PPC hardware being ahead of the software developers.
BR, Altaire4
iPod demand is strong
But, I hear that traditional Pee Cee sales are down this holiday season. Can anybody confirm this ?
Br, Altaire4
Apple iPhone rumor re-surfaces
An Apple iPhone rumor has started circulating to explain the Flash memory deal with Toshiba. Jobs is on the record as stating that no Flash memory is being considered for an iPod.
AAPL trending back up to 64.00 a share.eom
OT: Now that article is serious FUD.
Know of a good Treasury Bond Fund ?
BR, Altaire4
On Money, Blonde's and iPods
Foreigners should want to buy dollars at these levels, no?
The weak dollar is great. Now the Japanese can afford to pay me more for the fish I catch.
Well, Herb it all depends on the percentage return and wether inflation stays in check. Other than fish, blonde's and iPods .... what else do we export to the Japanese ?
What happens when you've deplete all the fish stocks ?
BR, Altaire4
OT: Economic Ramification's of Bush's EU rebuffs
If you've read the reuters article I posted you begin to understand that many individuals are following G Dubbya's lead putting all on the credit tab. So many will continue to leverage equity in their homes to buy the Passat, Cayenne, Tareg, etc, ad infinitum. You cannot continue that kind of mortgaging of your personal and national debts indefinetly without some serious social and economic ramifications. We cannot sustain continuing job losses with minimal productivity before its start to impact our domestic corporate spreadsheets. It then becomes an economic spiral in which the economic pie continues to shrink.
Many of the EU partners have a social contract with their people so if you think they would set up Auto plants in the US I would re-think that. The French and the German's have no love for our current leadership. If anything ... you can expect our exports to these EU nations continue to slow.
If anyone benefits it will be the Asian economies which will continue producing cheaper automotive parts so that European manufacturer's can cut costs to sell us their Auto's.
If the current policies continue unchanged we will be looking at some serious consequences starting to surface over the next Four years. Hold-on, its going to be a bumpy ride.
BR, Altaire4
OT: IMHO, You have it backwards
The top Ten percent can afford to pay for the premium ticket items like Mercedes, VW/AUDI because they have a larger share of the discretionary income now due to the current windfall the current administration has granted them.
OT: US Fiscal Policy only part of the problem ...
Everything about the current administrations policies is impacting our Consumer driven economy.
U.S. Economic Outlook Dims
3:51 p.m. 12/07/2004
Provided by Reuters
By Alister Bull
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. economic outlook dimmed on Tuesday after reports said business productivity grew more slowly in the third quarter than first estimated, labor costs rose and other indicators signaled softening activity.
Chain store sales fell in the crucial shopping period after Thanksgiving, planned job cuts climbed during November and a survey of consumer confidence waned in possible pointers that the economy tempered its pace in the final months of the year.
Outstanding U.S. consumer credit swelled to $2.093 trillion in October, the Federal Reserve said.
The Labor Department said nonfarm business productivity, or worker output per hour, grew at a 1.8 percent annual rate in the July-to-September period -- the slowest clip since the fourth quarter of 2002. It also nudged up growth in unit labor costs to a 1.8 percent pace in a potential boost to inflation.
Wall Street had expected an upward revision to productivity growth to a 2.0 percent rate from an originally reported third-quarter pace of 1.9 percent. Productivity in the second quarter grew at a rate of 3.9 percent.
"The data tells us that companies have pushed existing workers as far as they can and that is why they are increasing employment. But this is also adding to their labor costs," said Gary Thayer, chief economist at A.G. Edwards & Sons.
A preliminary report released last month had shown 1.9 percent productivity growth in the third quarter and a 1.6 percent rise in unit labor costs.
Higher unit labor costs also backed views the Federal Reserve will stick with a measured pace of rate increases and lift its benchmark funds rate a quarter percentage point to 2.25 percent at its next meeting on Dec. 14.
"The Fed is watching productivity growth very closely and assumes that it is higher (on a trend-basis) than the current pace. If it stays this low it could change the Fed's view of inflation. But not at this stage," Thayer said.
The slowdown in productivity was traced to a rise in hours worked, which grew at a rate of 2.4 percent in the third quarter, the fastest pace since third quarter of 1999 as companies ran operations for longer to maintain output. This had been initially reported as a 2.1 percent growth rate.
JOBS
Productivity growth was also substantially lower compared with a year ago when it rose by 9.0 percent. But this is not necessarily bad news since it also reflects cyclical changes in company hiring and a welcome boost to job creation.
Officials had predicted productivity would moderate as companies exhaust ways of boosting output by making existing workers more efficient and instead lifted hiring. During the third quarter over 400,000 new U.S. jobs were created.
However, the November employment report said a much weaker than expected 112,000 jobs were created and the impression of a troubled labor market was backed by a report from employment consultant Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
It found that U.S. firms announced 104,530 in November, compared with 101,840 in October and warned this could crimp consumer spending at a critical time for the economy.
"The biggest worry for the economy is that the large number of lower-middle class and middle-class Americans struggling to make it paycheck to paycheck will be short of discretionary income during the holiday shopping season," said John Challenger, the firm's chief executive, in a statement.
A survey of consumer confidence told a similar story, with Investor's Business Daily and TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence reporting that their economic optimism index fell modestly to 54.5 in December after dropping to 55.1 in November. A reading above 50 indicates optimism.
Indeed, U.S. retailers continued to report disappointing sales in the key week after the Thanksgiving Day holiday, which kicks off the Christmas shopping season.
A report by Redbook Research, an independent company, showed sales in December to-date were down 0.8 percent compared with November.
A separate report, from the International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS, found sales fell 1.7 percent last week, compared with a 1.5 percent decline the previous week.
OT: The Bush Anomaly
The Biggest Anomaly is the current US economic situation, a federal government that has little in the way of a Sound Fiscal policy. Greenspan has spoken about this issue and still the debts continue to mount. With the Euro currency beating the dollar its only a matter of time before foreign investors dump the dollar in favor of the Euro ... then the fun really starts !!!
BR, Altaire4 ..... The Bush Doctrine Anomaly
Sold half of my AAPL holdings at 66.15 a share.eom
Go AAPL !!!
Mac OS X Hardline Stock Analysis Software
Giving this OS X software a whirl.
With so many features available at a great price, with outstanding convenience...we are confident that we have a product that will meet your analysis and trading requirements. Our range of three HardLine products provides you with a solution as your experience, confidence and lifestyle changes.
For your FREE TRIAL you will be using the HardLine proX version to ensure you fully appreciate the functionality and power available to you. We also recognise that you may not want all of the capabilities that you trial. Use the information below to pick the version of HardLine that best meets your needs.
http://www.hardline.ws/features11compare.html
BR, Altaire4
OT: MKTY could make a Big Move Up
After Hour trade over 6.50 cents.
Based on the following news.
Mobion(TM) Fuel Cell Power Product Receives UL and CSA Safety Certifications
Thursday December 2, 8:07 am ET
World's First for Portable Electronics
ALBANY, N.Y., Dec. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MTI MicroFuel Cells (MTI Micro), the developer of award winning Mobion(TM) cord-free rechargeable portable power technology suitable for handheld electronic devices and a subsidiary of Mechanical Technology Incorporated (Nasdaq: MKTY - News), announced today that it has received required safety certifications from Underwriter's Laboratories Inc. (UL) and CSA International (CSA) for its first product.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&prev=/search%3Fq%3DMKTY%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D&q=stock...
BR, Altaire4
KCMW, My Investment Strategy
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the decision to buy, hold, or sell should be a forward looking one. One should not let his/her purchase price determine what they think a stock will do in the future, right?
Investment Basic 101 is Buy low and Sell high. I've bought and sold Apple over the last Two years at least Six Times making dollars on every sale. I've used the profits to buy into other stocks which have the potential of 200 % - 400 % return over the next decade. Most of these other investments are or near profitability.
If I think a stock is likely to fall 10%, what difference does it make if I bought it at 65, or at 25? It is still a 10% loss from my current worth. In either case, sell. Tax concerns could affect these decisions, but I generally do not let the tax tail wag the dog.
I believe it depends on if you take a long or short term view of investing. Taking profits from one stock to buy into another stock at a low price with the potential for a much more significant rate of return is the strategy I'm pursueing. If I had a short term view and wanted instant gratification I'd sell now.
But, I never invest dollars that I might need for near term obligations so the money I invest is available to grow a long term nest egg. My investments over the last Two years have averaged a 12.5% annual return ... better than any bank I'm aware of.
Whatever strategy you take it still comes down to buying low and selling high.
BR, Altaire4
Still Holding AAPL
I've already made some serious dollars from AAPL this year so I'm staying pat and will consider averaging down if it gets below 60 dollars a share. Their is also a slim possibility of an AAPL stock split. .
Lots of new APPLE hardware spilling into the company especially new iMac G5's. More Windows users making the switch.
But if you haven't made some dollars during this AAPL bull run ... consider selling some shares.
BR, Altaire4
On Set-Top Convergence
Every effort to merge serious computing with TV entertainment have failed from Microsofts Web TV to Gateways Wide-screen all-in one Computer TV. This is not to say it may never happen .... the problem is in its complexity and the use of bandwidth.
The irony is that if Apple approached that market with a Quicktime based entertainment server it would have a better chance of success because of iPod/iTunes and Quicktime.
Lang does understand how AAPL could fail !!!
Apple must avoid the mistake they made with their Macintosh Personal Computer systems. At some point they will need to be competitive on price and go for complete domination of share. They also have an opportunity to steal back some of that Personal Computer share if only they would be willing to get just a little bit more competitive on price with their iMac/eMac consumer brand systems. The best time to launch such an effort should be in early 2005. At the right price point Apple could at least double its current computer marketshare. Dell continues to beat its competitors based on price and service. Wether APPLE emulates that approach to their PC business or not .... revenue will continue to grow for the next two quarters based on iPod/iTunes biz.
The big question is wether Steve Jobs has learned from Apple's business mistakes with the Macintosh ..... 20 years ago ?
I think most of us on this board knows what the answer is to that question.
As usual the Stock Analysts are late to the AAPL party .... how many investors lost out on 50% of AAPL's value run-up because the analysts did not do a good job of keeping tabs on this creative company.
Altaire4 .... Go AAPL !!!
Speaking of contrarian viewpoints.
IMHO,Apple has been able to out manuever the competition exactly because the big guys play it safe. It would take a concerted effort by three major players(Sony, Microsoft and Real) to even compete with the formidable market share lead APPLE has with the iPod/iTunes music store. If the competition is unable to mount a viable alternative by mid 2005 then APPLE's product becomes the defacto standard. The momentum is completely on APPLE's side. Apple's iPod division is hard at work with new products lined-up to fend of the competition. It's a Tortoise (MSFT) vs the Hare (AAPL) horse race .... and this time the HARE wins.
Altaire4 .... Go AAPL !!!
OT: US Debt the Weaking Dollar and an economic slowdown could spell trouble for the markets
I'm seriously considering converting 25 % of my Equity investments into cash.
BR, Altaire4
Saturday, Nov. 27, 2004
Stocks Decline in Late Afternoon Trading
NEW YORK (AP) - The weakening dollar and climbing oil prices
raised investors' concerns about an economic slowdown Tuesday,
pushing stocks modestly lower. Technology shares were pressured by
an analyst downgrade of Intel Corp.
With the euro reaching $1.3090 against the dollar, a new record
high for the European currency, Wall Street worried about a falloff
in foreign investment and more expensive imports that could curtail
consumer spending.
Crude oil futures hovered near the $50 per barrel mark amid
persistent worries about low heating oil inventories ahead of
what's projected to be a chilly winter. Light, sweet crude for
January delivery raced to $50.25 before falling back to $48.94, an
increase of 30 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Nymex
futures last closed above $50 a barrel on Nov. 3.
``Oil is obviously pressuring the market, the euro is at a
record high, so the dollar is reacting to that as well to general
concerns about the deficits,'' said Janna Sampson, director of
portfolio management for Oakbrook Investments. ``I think those are
the two things really pressuring the market today.''
Apple Retail Report
Just visited the Northshore APPLE Store in MA. In the hour I spent in the store I saw Two imac G5's, one PowerMac G5 and at least 6 iPods make its way to the checkout. At least Four times the traffic was visible. My son Picked up a Sim's expansion pack while I drooled over the new LCD displays. Gotta say that Apple's post Thanksgiving sale is a rousing success.
BR, Altaire4 .... Go AAPL !!!!
Thanks, Tomm
for doing such a great job moderating this board and allowing us to go Off Topic to discuss some of the most pressing issues this nation has ever faced.
BR, Altaire4