Tag Archives: Apple

December 31, 2023 · 13:03

Jan Klaassen, horn blower

Yup, at times this happens. We all have a need to blow our own horn. I am no different and as the world is not giving me any interesting news items. I decided to blow my own horn (of sorts) today. The thought got to me when I saw the article (at https://www.arabnews.com/node/2434076/saudi-arabia) called ‘Year in review: How Saudi Arabia made its mark in tech, tourism, diplomacy and entertainment in 2023’ where we see “Successful bid to host World Expo 2030 and ambitious infrastructure projects make the Kingdom a must-visit destination” but that is not the part I saw pondering. It was “Saudi Arabia will look back on 2023 as a year of triumphs, having hosted major events in the fields of technology, culture, sport and diplomacy, while continuing on its path of impressive economic expansion and diversification.” With the added “The Era of Change: Together for a Foresighted Tomorrow,” I offered the Kingdom (via its Consul General) another option to impact millions of Islamics in a few ways, but alas I was turned down. This happens, no hard feelings. My thoughts might not be the thoughts of others and I did try to pass this onto The Kingdom Holdings (apparently also unsuccessful) and that is on me. It might be my wrongly stated view, but I feel strongly about that IP and I believe it would give the Kingdom additional options, especially in diversification. Now, I am trying to complete a ‘novel’ (my personal view) on a script that might appeal to Al Saudiya. Of course I have no high hopes that I will be successful, but I did put my foot in this and I plan to carry it through, successful or not. You see, we all tend to worship success, but I have seen innovation in failure. Innovation missed by Amazon, Apple, Google and IBM (no one cares about the other one, the company with the ‘M’ of mouse) and it matters. In this day an age where they are all presenting AI (which does not yet exist) where they all present on what comes next, I have shown them to miss all manners of innovation on several matters and my previous articles expose some of them. So whilst I am blowing my own horn (scandalously, I admit) we must consider that some are not as hungry for revenue as they seem to be, which was why I tried to sell some of my IP to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It was not that the United Arab Emirates were less of an option, but when the IP is shown in its full view, the choice of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia would make more sense to a whole lot of people and both could easily (very easily) afford it, that and the fact that both want to diversify I felt comfort in making the offer I did. 

Even now I see additional options in several fields (not all directly involving the Middle East), but as time lines go, they could benefit from at least one such path (one shown yesterday at https://lawlordtobe.com/2023/12/30/almost-circular/). As such when diversifying it pays to consider paths that are not on everyones mind, but when you consider that path makes sense to many people. That is one side of innovation that we tend to forget. It is not the innovation where everyone is looking at (like no real AI), it is looking in the opposite direction and see what could be done there. As no one is looking, the player doing that could be the only one for some time. And when others wake up they either follow behind, pushing you to make a better product or set the stage for others to become serious players in that field. 

All this matters as it changes the fields and it changes the interactions between players and that matters because that change could affect a whole range of other issues.

Just my $0.02 on the matter. Enjoy the day and the festivities that follow today.

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December 24, 2023 · 17:47

Through views reenforced

That is the setting and before we go into the news that the CBC is giving us, we need to take a look at a few past settings. I mentioned it going back to way before June 25th 2021 when I wrote ‘Non Comprehension’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2021/06/25/non-comprehension/) then there was ‘Inspiration and realisation’ on August 7th 2022 (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2022/08/07/inspiration-and-realisation/) and several more mentions. I even made mention that the UK firms who got the portfolio for Neom city were making mistakes. You see, social media is a bottomless hole, it is like shouting against a wall that is white wondering why the wall doesn’t answer whether it is a vestal virgin, or merely a decently clean wall. It is as I personally see it a decently meaningless metric. Marketing firms like OmniChannel and TRO had figured out years ago that the true metric was engagement. Engagement is pretty much everything. You can rely on the millions of messages you send out through social media, but does it help? Does it basically do anything more than gobble up your budget? Those 2 million placements are close to useless. It is the 5,000 – 25,000 – 125,000 engaging responses that really matters. It mattered to them to respond and it is not “there are 10 non responses to every response”, that too is too hollow for consideration. It is the responses towards engagements that matter, it is the bread and butter of any influencer. 

So now we see (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/malls-death-experiences-luxury-retail-1.7065690) ‘Some Toronto malls are booming, but not necessarily because of the shopping’, as such we see that the CBC (and the mall) are figuring out why their malls are now busty with ‘life’ with the added “Instagram-worthy experiences and unexpected places are part of malls’ future success, experts say”. So who are these experts? I have been making clear statements for well over two years. Where were they then? I even created IP to nudge engagement forward, where were they? So when we are given ““In the mall business, you always have to be fresh. You always have to think about what your customers are after and remain relevant for the customer,” said Robert Horst, vice-president of retail at Oxford Properties, which operates Yorkdale.” Where was Robert Horst when I stated this well over two yeas ago? Did he adjust to augmented reality? No, he did not. In the meantime Amazon could come in and make a killing. Consider that America has 116,000 malls, Canada has allegedly 2818 malls, where is their adjustment towards engagement? Oh and that is before you consider that the EU, UAE, Asia adds a lot more to the total number of malls. So where is the nudge towards engagement there? Google and Amazon had 3-5 years to wake up with new technologies at their fingertips. They did nothing and the malls did nothing either. So when we are given “Malls such as Yorkdale and The Well, which recently opened in downtown Toronto, are offering fresh takes on retail and expanding the mall experience beyond simply shopping. Yorkdale estimates it has 18 million visitors a year” did anyone consider just how much they are missing? 

Inspectors General from the 1st Theater Sustainment Command-Operational Command Post inspect a fuel “bladder” at a fuel farm in central Iraq, recently. U.S. Army Central uses forward logistical elements to maintain fuel farms under contract with U.S. Army logistical specialists called contract representatives to ensure the operation is being conducted to the Army standard. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Brandon Hubbard, USARCENT Public Affairs)

It is like pushing an Army fuel bag up a hill, you know it goes nowhere without serious added manpower, and now consider what is required to get new tech and the new IP to get adjusted to a totally new kind of audience. This requires a new kind of nudging. And it is important to use the word nudge and not push. Engagement is not achieved by ‘Do this’, but by ‘Did you try or consider this?’ That is how new waves of engagements are created. I had a similar setting of creating more and more awareness for Neom city (as well as the Line and Mukaab) it is achieved through engagement. As such I wonder who else is asleep at the wheel. 

So it is nice that we see the CBC article and I have nothing against the article, but as my blog shows I was ahead of these people by years and my blogs point that out. Not merely my blog, players like TRO Marketing services and Omnichannel marketing were ahead by close to a decade, but the other voices. Feel free to listen to them whilst they shout at walls. The response is negligible and that is what needs to be seen. We can believe that malls are dying, or we can set a new stage where their lease on life is renewed. It might not help getting an immediate influx on revenue, but these influencers will start something that gives a new second tier revenue and that matters, because in a stage where economies are dwindling, the second tier is all you need to survive a little longer. Will it save every mall? Nope, it will not, but it will save the early adopters and those willing to invest and that is also the path that Amazon (and optionally Google too) needed to realise. Who many companies are in more then 20 malls? We see Zara, Sephora, Gap, Apple and several others (OK, Victoria Secrets too) in these places. So what did their ‘marketing representatives’ do to boost their visibility and boost engagement? I am willing to hazard a guess that it is very little and I left enough clues lying around for well over 2 years that it needed to be done. There is only one Harrods, there is only one Dubai Mall. The rest? They better work harder to carry the favour of engagement. It was the only way and now we see that I am proven correct yet again.  What a lovely way to get to the end of the year.

So enjoy your day before Christmas and enjoy the last week of this year.

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December 22, 2023 · 02:52

In titles

It is a setting we do not see, some of us will never see it. That is not on us, it is not some flaw. We look ahead, we never ever look in a mirror at ourselves whilst acting. As such we will only ever know what we look like through the eyes of others. This is how it is. It remains simple.

We see events, we see some as acts against us, we see some as acts against those who act against us. It is not simple, but it tends to be straightforward. In America a weird setting is going on. It is depriving America to be America and its land to be land of the Americans. We can blame so many people but that is the blame game. We can act against actions seen and perceived, but is that the right action? Consider that one state alone, the state of Colorado has now said that Trump can no longer be on the ballot for the primary citing the insurrection of January 6th as a reason and it was not unanimous. Now we see “Lawyers for Donald Trump on Wednesday urged the US supreme court to reject a request from the special counsel to expeditiously decide whether he was immune from prosecution over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, contending prosecutors lacked standing to bring the petition.” Lets look at the simple setting. “whether he was immune from prosecution over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results” Is that an admission of guilt? We have two distinct settings here. The first is the inability to prosecute all parties to the United States Capitol attack on January 6th 2021, now almost 3 years ago. American law failed on several levels. Now we see “The papers filed by Trump’s lawyers in essence amounted to an attempt to refreeze the case – and indefinitely delay the March 2024 trial date – after prosecutors sought to bypass the potentially lengthy appeals process by directly asking the nation’s highest court to resolve the matter.” As I personally see it, should the Trump legal team pull this off, it will not be a victory. It will be the first clear sign that America is out there to protect bullies and criminals above all else. It will impact American lives for the largest setting. Their allies will stop being allies, corporations will start moving away from the US because the setting has changed and in other settings will we see that others will take a chance on BRICS and its members to give them a fair shake. 

America has taken ‘Innocent until proven guilty’ to new directions and in new settings. It is not some setting I can prove, but I see that many others feel the same way. America is no longer the dream we pursue, it is a place where the bullies and the woke decide on the fate of others, regardless on what the others want. A new form of Shanghai recruitment a naval activity going back to the 1850’s is now in a new setting. For some to take what they want, not what they are entitled to. It changes the game and when corporations start feeling that impact, they will all leave and then what will the big boys do? When these engineers feel that they are no longer treated fairly places like IBM and Google will need to set up new headquarters, one that is nowhere near America. Yet in that same setting what law will they rely on? That is not an easy question to answer. Because when America crashes, Japan will follow soon, no more than 3 years behind America and that takes a whole range of stages in new directions but the larger stage which would be the past tense of America will see places like Amazon, Apple, Google and IBM to save whatever they can, because the simple truth is that without its engineers, training and service solutions these firms will not get anywhere soon and that opens up new players and all of them non-American players. A stage we would not have deemed realistic before Trump started to mess things up. We see (with laughter) that the American Qanon Shaman now reels against Matt Gaetz, but that is merely the beginning. When these people don’t get ‘their’ promised land chaos will come a lot faster. Even now we see threats against judges in Colorado because they upheld the law. 

This is (as I personally see it) getting bed fast and it will get worse soon after that. Stages in motion, motion through the momentum that cannot be controlled and control though laws that are faltering. It seems a simple line, but it is not that simple and the levels of interactions on multiple levels make for what I would see as escalation towards levels of worse. It is not scientific, but it is my view.  So when we go from one view to another view we see the self destructive path that America is on. It is not an accusation, it is an observation. You see, some see suicide as a right, not because it is a right perse, but anyone is entitled to be stupid. And stupid acts tend to end badly. The stage of all this was seen before 2018 when Jamal Khashoggi went missing. The continuation of ignoring basic facts, the stage of evidence to be replaced by the CIA setting of ‘highly likely’ as evidence, which it never was. And as one stage was replaced by another stage we see more and more presumptions, more emotions and lacking more and more facts. The media is largely to blame for all this and as they delved into the world of digital dollars we saw less facts and more emotions. All these events are connected but not linked. It is my personal view that certain people rely on stakeholders to path the way as they do with corporations and policy makers, but now the impact is larger and these stakeholders are getting in each others way. For them it is ego and the money they gain, but in that setting America has been losing more and more and now they rely on less intelligent administrations to claim their goals and bonuses and that is where the train goes off the rails. It is my view and it might be a flawed one. Yet in all this consider that I saw certain military changes to come in late 2020 and these changes are now upon us. It is not the strongest part, but the clearest one as America is down 20 billion in revenue. So how do you think infrastructures are paid for? That and a debt of 31 trillion makes for a really bad setting. Then they upset their wealthiest allies and let China walk in and capture more and more of that revenue. So how will this end? Well, I do not believe it will take much longer for the beginning of the end to come out, but as the ties between China and BRICS become stronger, Europe needs to make choices and they are on their own side, not on the side of anyone else. All this is happening at the same time in many places and I believe that this is due to stakeholders, although I am not sure how they are doing this, I feel that they are gaining terrain at the expense of everyone else. All due to the fact that cash was king and the law fell short. 

I might be completely wrong but that is how I am seeing this.

Enjoy the day, it is Friday here.

 

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December 11, 2023 · 12:32

Tomes

This is a word that has held a magical sway on me since 2000. It was I reckon the first time the word struck a chord with me. You see, there are two ‘version’ for the word. The first is “a large, heavy book”, nice, but as I personally see it inaccurate. The second version is “Tome is often used to refer to a scholarly book that is unusually important” and this is the version I am partial and taken to. You see, Tomes can be used in a few directions and this morning I considered a second direction. You see, my new IP is all about traction. I see (and hear) the giggles and the statements of my delusion. Yet when you consider the application of traction consider something like YouTube. It was launched on February 14th, 2005 (yes, Valentines day) and it went from a few million to 2.5 billion monthly users. It was bought for $1.65 billion. Now it annually makes $29.2 billion. It starts with traction and all the big wigs laughing at what I proclaim forgot about traction. When this sets off (still hopeful that Amazon, Tencent Holding or Kingdom Holding buys it) they get more than the start that leads to 50 million users. It has the option to take away close to 10% from Microsoft and Facebook in the early days. By the way, Apple is still an option too. Now consider that Microsoft just spend close to $100,000,000,000,000 and they lose 10% of their population, how much hardship will they face at that point. I heard all the howling, but consider that they made a swing and a miss five times over, now consider that Facebook is about to get hit in similar ways. Now, Facebook will shrug this off, they have no issues. But it starts with traction and that was what my solution offered. Traction to grow a new business and now based on something new, some hype. It was based on sound practices all the other runners forgot about and now I have the opportunity to walk in sit in the centre of the trade hall stating “We are open for business”. When the betrayed people get another option, what do you think they will do? They will not switch to me, but they will add me on their side and over time traction becomes a serious setting of numbers and that is when traction becomes its own perpetually driven engine where the people, those who the big wigs forgot about curt their losses with the other players. You see presentations only go so far and now a new setting opens up and within a few years that engine will become a power player. It will not surpass TikTok or YouTube. It was never meant to do so, but these three players losing around 10% is a different setting. I made the ‘boast’ that in stage two it could grow from 5 to around 20 billion, now consider $9.4 + $116.8 + $198.3 (in billions), and beyond its own abilities it gets an additional $32.4 billion, surpassing my phase two prediction by 60% that is what traction will do and as I stated at first Microsoft is clueless on what is about to happen and now with the new Tomes setting that engine will become even more powerful and it got there by remembering the actual users of a system, not the advertisers. And in all this there are several income sources that are not considered at present and when this becomes a reality, I wonder how many sniffling little sales shits come to a limelight stating that they were cheated and that it is all so unfair. I merely have to point at my blog and show their inactivity for well over three years and howl laughs of deriving laughter whilst doing so (sorry, Monty Python).

In Robocop (1987) the character played by Kurtwood Smith states “Good business is where you find it” and he was right, too bad the bigwigs who wanted to be everywhere all forgot that lesson. It was a simple enough lesson not to forget.

What a lovely Monday this is.

 

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November 30, 2023 · 02:23

Memories

We all have them. And for a lot of us it goes back to almost simpler times and we miss them. As such I was hit by them when I got to the page (at https://www.tomshardware.com/news/windows-xp-wallpaper-takes-spot-on-microsofts-new-ugly-sweater) with the appealing title ‘Microsoft’s 2023 ugly sweater lets you wear the famous Windows XP wallpaper’ I had to read it. You see, I was never aware that they had an ugly sweater and one could say that it is so ugly, it is actually cool again.

That is not me. You see, the Bliss image takes me back to 2004. Things were simpler then and to be honest, I have never known a negative day with my XP, not with Office, not with the Adobe suite. In those days things actually worked correctly. Yes, they screwed it up with Vista, but that is the nature of the beast. 

I was set in a stage of things working, Microsoft not being evil (or more accurately not being stupid). Bliss and XP took me back to the good times and that matters to a lot of people, we all revere the good times we had (or have). The really odd part is that for the bulk of all people, the good times is in the past, in some cases the distant past. 

As such, whomever brought life to this idea at Microsoft has earned a raise. To be honest I did not expect Microsoft to ever surprise me, but they did. And for all the good times reporting they are giving the world with expectations being surpassed. Lets not forget that they just spend well over $65,000,000,000 on a setting that has given them a few issues. One voice gives us “Bethesda tried to make a brand new game concept/idea using old ideas and an old game engine. It just didn’t work. Even modders will have a hard time because the game engine is one of the biggest problems and modders can only work within the limitations of the engine”, you think it is the big tamale, but it is not. You see, most people will overlook the fact that fixing the game is seemingly in the hand of modders. So, when did you rely on your price turkey being fixed by a third party? Add to that the redfall fiasco and you have the making of a problem and the beginning of what I would consider a fiasco. We see all kinds of news on exclusive games coming in 2024, but the larger setting is already that the games they have so far just aren’t adding up. You see I do not care about the Xbox, I dumped mine. What is important that Sony games were better because Microsoft was on their heels, now that the PlayStation has an overwhelming advantage, they might not go all out on the PS6 (whenever that one comes). Good gaming is where it is at and that is why I have been handing over gaming IP to the independent developers (as long as they were not releasing on Xbox). Simple, Microsoft bought it all, now they can prove they actually have it all and have good gaming solutions WITHOUT my IP, they paid enough for it, so now prove it.

In the end this started with the sweater, because that showed us our memories for better and simpler times. It matters to me because the Xbox360 was awesome. Now we see that the Xbox One and the two iterations after that, they are nowhere near what they had. They might claim they have the most powerful console in the world, but the Nintendo Switch being the weakest of them all had much better sales results. It is that bad for Microsoft. We see the mention that Azure is doing better, but what we aren’t told is the simple fact that Oracle saved their bacon. Bing currently has a market share of 3.02% or Microsoft has failed to pick up even 3% of market share in its 10 years of selling Surface PCs. A mere 11% against the 39% that Apple has with the iPad, a superior system. We can argue on how it will come (not ever likely), ore can see that consider that Microsoft is the De Ponzi solution to tech schemes (a I personally see it). Buying more and more and when it does collapse (still set for December 2026) this all falls away. I reckon that late 2025 people will start to realise how dangerous Microsoft has become and I reckon that a early indication will be that Azure users will move towards the AWS flock. It is a speculative view but I believe that I will be proven correct in a years time. The fact that Microsoft is either in denial or refuses to see this is up for debate. But the surprise was the ugly sweater, that win they deserved and according to some sources is almost sold out, so they have that going for them. So what revenue was theirs? And how much revenue are they not getting from their Surface Pro, their Xbox, their Bing and their Azure? That is merely four sides where they never got any decent traction. So what happens when a Google/Adobe partnership impedes on their Office and Office365 setting? How far from home will they be then? Their Office solution is keeping them afloat. For the most their Excel is doing all the heavy lifting. Their Outlook showed issues in the last 24 hours. So when others come calling with solutions that actually work Microsoft will have a a lot more problems and no sweater will save them then. 

Believe me, don’t believe me. It is up to you, but when you start looking at multiple reliable sources the puzzle becomes a reality and it is not a pretty picture, no bliss in sight.

Enjoy the day.

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November 19, 2023 · 16:56

Right in front of you

We all have this at times and sometimes it doesn’t even apply to us. We sometimes see the setting and we see the elements, but it takes something more to connect the parts. It can be timing, it can be the past, it can be budgets, there are a whole range of settings and they could all optionally apply. 

As such I was looking at the MacBook Pro. Not for any massive applicable reason, I am quite happy with my own laptop edition (and I am roughly 99.9% missing for the $6,799.00 acquisition). And this was not about the money (the article that is). You see, we all have budget constraints and   choices to make, but at this point as Thanksgiving is merely days away and soon we get Saint Nicholas (Netherlands and Belgium) and Christmas an opportunity opens up for both Apple and Adobe.

You see, most of you might have seen the offer below 

Yet the setting is that plenty cannot apply for that offer (the are no longer, or never were students) and a larger stage comes into play. What if Apple makes a deal that whomever buys a MacBook Pro before the end of the January 2024 (Just to offer a timeline) get in addition a Creative Cloud subscription for 2 years. Time to get adjusted to what Adobe can do, people who want to improve their needs for vlogging and all kind of self presentation will have the best tool at their disposal. Suddenly the need and the contemplation of a MacBook Pro becomes a much larger need. When you can avoid up to $2,500 in Adobe fees, that MacBook Pro becomes a whole lot more appealing. In addition to that after two years people will start to see the benefit of what Adobe brings to the table. One year is not enough, two years could do the trick for both Apple and Adobe. Lets face it, they are well established, but in the holiday season that stage is under duress and to give any customer the best of both worlds tends to be the self fulfilling prophecy any day of the week.

So was this something that was right in front of anyone? The same could be said for the MacBook Pro and a GoPro, but many will have a decent, optionally overkill option in the camera on their mobile phones, as such the connection Apple and Adobe seems more apt for many people. I have been looking at the settings and I was a little surprised that these two had not made such arrangements weeks ago, in that way they optionally had thanksgiving as well in both Canada and  America. So, was that right in front of you? It might not have been and plenty of people aren’t contemplating the MacBook Pro at present, but with all the noise on becoming the next Google partner, or TikTok diva that sets a stage. There are at present 1.1 million TikTok creators and that group is growing rapidly, as such the new players will either go big or go home. I do not always agree with that greed driven term, but in this case you either offer a lot more or you get overlooked. The stage is Youtube is not completely the same. They have 60.2 million creators, there the stage is becoming more and more that either they upgrade or lose people. There are still a fair share of newbies in that regiment, but not as much or as loud as the TikTok community. 

All elements that that I personally believe Apple could and should have considered many weeks ago, but that could be me. 

I will let you sort it out and if you go this path, see what you need and make a proper budget of what YOU can afford. It is wrong to steer anyone into a path they CANNOT afford, my intent is making an optional solution more affordable and the link Apple-Adobe does that. To be honest, unless you have aspirations into Photoshop or Premiere Pro there might not be a reason to go the way of the MacBook Pro, I get that. Still this solution is taring me in the face and it could be for a lot of people a match made in heaven, but that could merely be my view on the matter.

As such Apple (and Adobe) time to wake up, my weekend is still 7.1 hours active and I seem to more awake than they are (optionally a delusional statement).

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November 9, 2023 · 17:07

The dark mark

We all have it, a dark mark. For some it is jealousy, for some it is envy and I have one dripping with creativity. You see dark marks aren’t always set to the seven deadly sins, or are in any way connected to them. OK, there tends to be a connection to lust and desire whenever we act. There is also the claim some make that our actions tend to be induced by lust, pride and/or vanity. And I get that, but what happens when it is not the seven deadly sins? What happens when the push is a simple mere exercise of creativity?

That is where I found myself this morning. I am currently rewatching NCIS and during season 7 which is on right now I (my mind) suddenly redesigned a new kind of gun, one that makes nearly all forms of ballistics useless. A form that redesigns a new kind of barrel and when an element is changed, merely one element, most of the ballistic tests fall through the floor and make them obsolete and optionally redundant. 

Is this a good thing? I don’t think so, but the larger setting wasn’t to give the law a hard time, it was about the simple setting that any test can be overruled and overwritten. Even as I come up with a new idea ballistic tests will be upgraded. Yet in the mean time defence attorneys all over the world (where common law is in place) will have a new handle to include enough to create reasonable doubt. All these issues are a simple consequence through the vitriolic well that others pushed me into and now my mind becomes a mind forever voyaging and through that more and more creativity is released. First there was the idea to create a new way to meltdown a nuclear reactor and all I had to create this idea was a simple snow globe. As I also saw the issues with deployment and hiding the solution, I designed a new kind of valve and I also created a new spray paint canister, one that can alter colour on the spot. I described the foundation of that in ‘After a fact to begin a fact’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2021/12/16/after-a-fact-to-begin-a-fact/). A simple solution I never saw in the shops, but these solutions would have multiple applications and now I have created a new solution to upset ballistic tests. 

The larger station is not why I did it. At times I cannot control my creativity. I considered a new way for a tracking system (a highly flawed one), but it was a solution I never considered before. Then I had the nuclear solution, which was to stop Iran, but over time I figured it could possibly  work on the Russian systems too. Then I had some ideas on cyber protection for flying equipment of the airforce. Some of them might have been solutions that DARPA considered and rejected for whatever valid reason I am unaware of. 

The idea I believe that is in play is an image I added to ‘IP Intoxication’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2022/05/27/ip-intoxicating/). As I place it, where I am now is beyond the edge of what is, because as I see it, that is where innovation lies and that is (a personal believe) is where too many big-tech companies are not willing to be. You see, it is much easier to iterate and market that as innovation and I personally believe that is where Microsoft is and that is why they lost battles eight times over to Sony, Amazon, Apple, IBM, Huawei, Adobe and Google. It sounds harsh, but that is where it all is. the setting of the next tech-war will be who has the most innovative ideas. And all that time Microsoft is delusional even to itself. You do not lose eight times over unless there is a massively wrong point of view in place and that is why I will not allow them near my IP. 

But this is not about Microsoft, it is about my dark mark. I know I have it because if I didn’t have a dark mark, the ballistic solution would never have come to mind. And even as I was delusional myself at some point (making claim that Me vs DARPA was 3-0) the larger setting was that I personally believed it was a reality. But there is also the simple fact that an idea is no guarantee to a working solution. I get that, but it is time to watch a little more NCIS so that I can watch season 20 tomorrow (I will skip 12 seasons and rewatch those after I saw season 20). 

All in all I wonder what I will come up tomorrow, hopefully a new idea for a new game which would make it not a dark mark element.

One day away from Friday, hip hip hurrah.

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November 5, 2023 · 19:36

Thinking towards the past

This is the first part, the second part is not related to this in any kind, but I just got a second confirmation from Beijing and it matters towards this as well. You see, the first part is merely for (or on) Apple. The article (at https://www-bleepingcomputer-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/apple/apple-find-my-network-can-be-abused-to-steal-keylogged-passwords/amp/) comes from Bleeping Computers and the text ‘Apple ‘Find My’ network can be abused to steal key-logged passwords’ seems to be worrying and it very well might be. We see graphics and we see the setting of the consumer (yet again) getting screwed over because BigTech wanted ALL the data they could get. This is not an accusation, this merely is what it is and Apple is not as innocent as many others. 

Yet I thought back to around 1990. In the Netherlands someone came up with a solution named Aegon LAR and it was an awesome solution. The solution does not matter, but the approach to it does. You see, Apple had the longest of times to get a solution in place. The solution was to pair one device to a ‘master’ and THAT master alone. We could set it to daily, weekly, or even monthly. With the optional setting to send one more bleep when the power is down to 5%-15%. 

It would need to be paired by the owner at the beginning and we could pair through an app to PC’s, to our mobiles (iOS or Android) and so on. So instead of getting “They integrated a key-logger with an ESP32 Bluetooth transmitter into a USB keyboard to show that it’s possible to relay passwords and other sensitive data typed on the keyboard through the Find My network via Bluetooth”, Apple had the option to create a service where EVERY Apple user had an option to relay a clear message to ONE receiver instead of someplace abusers could hijack anything you have. But I suspect that the powers that be at Apple wanted more data and now it could cost the consumer a lot more than they thought. The fact that ‘Find My Network’ could be abused is no small issue and I do expect that Apple has been on this from the start, but as I fear the need for data exceeded the need for safety as this article highlights and that is a problem and not just for Amazon, Apple, Google, IBM and Microsoft. The moment players like Huawei and Tencent Technologies SHOW the people that they are more reliable they will gain marketshare and a lot more and a lot faster than ever before. Don’t forget that the western consumer base was never given actual and explicit evidence of any Huawei transgressions. A mere settled case of 2011 was at the most given and that was not showing ay interference by the Chinese government, merely an optional oversight by Huawei.

Getting back to the Apple issue, it needs to be said that I found more voices all quoting the same voice, so there isn’t a second independent voice. It lowers reliability. I am saying that upfront, one voice is not a given but a worrying setting none the less. The larger issue that is this (at www.Heise.de) is correct, the setting is a worrying one, especially if there was a 1990 solution that could have enabled more consumer safety. My setting comes from the front of my mind and it is not tested, but at least I am trying to relate a solution, not merely state that bit one and bit zero indicate that you are either 10 or 17 years old (a byte of a joke). 

Now we have a larger stage, the media at large did not touch this even as the news is more than 2 days old, so in light of all the new Apple products, was this not tested (optionally debunking Heise)? When a new device is $1,849, or perhaps even $8,699 would you not want the guarantee of consumer safety? I reckon it is much more important than seeing it in Space Black (in space no one can here you frustrate) or Silver (when you merely have golden dreams). To know and to see that YOUR safety is adamant matters and I think that Big Tech is forgetting about that part of the equation, but that could be my view as I tend to get exposed to a lot more negativity that others and the media with its approach to deafness isn’t helping any, but that could be my view on the matter.

My weekend ends in 270 minutes, how about yours? Enjoy the day you have left.

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October 29, 2023 · 17:07

The students of Mediocrates

This is the setting I found myself in. Early this morning (0r late last night) I wrote ‘War never Changes’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2023/10/29/war-never-changes/). It was several hours after that when I got a message from JB-Hifi who was flogging the Microsoft laptop ‘Surface Laptop Studio 2’ and I decided to search on some reviews. I knew nothing of this device and soon enough I understood why. The Verge gives us ‘Surface Laptop Studio 2 review: this could be so much more’ with the byline “Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop Studio 2 has new chips, a new touchpad, and a very, very high price tag”, the review was given to the people on October 4th (world animal day no less) and there we see “there’s the biggest problem for the Surface at this price, which is that its battery life is not anywhere near what Apple can offer. I only averaged four hours and 19 minutes of continuous use out of this device with Battery Saver on” as such this battery is a lot less then what the MacBook Air gave us in 2020, the new MacBook Air is even better. More importantly it loses 7 out of 8 tests against the MacBook Air with a M2 processor. I was horrified that it took Microsoft 47% longer to export 4K video. That is nothing less than a joke. The larger issue isn’t this, it is that Intel just announced its “Meteor Lake” CPU generation, and we expect to see those laptops roll out around December. I have no idea how Microsoft stacks up against that puppy, but I fear the worst for Microsoft.

You see, we get that not every laptop is a given for everyone, I am fine with that. Yet to rely on an I7 processor implies you need a sturdy battery to begin with and that one is missing from the get go.

This is the larger setting of Microsoft, wanting to be in a race merely to compete, never to win it. They lost 6 times over already and they are losing more. How much longer before the Microsoft sycophants give up on the brand? Microsoft always had competitors (Asus, Apple, Dell, HP) and now Intel is in a position to surpass them as well. That is the problem with Microsoft, they aren’t in it to win it. They can claim whatever they want, yet when you get “Unfortunately, the Studio 2’s benchmark scores were underwhelming. Don’t get me wrong: it’s certainly an improvement over the OG Studio. Whether exporting in Premiere or running Tomb Raider, it is faster. But these are far from the best numbers you’ll see among premium workstations today.” To be labelled underwhelming is a problem. They shouted for the longest time that their console was the most powerful in the world and within 2 years it was surpassed by the weakest console of them all (Nintendo Switch) and I am about to hand 50 million potential customers (in phase one) to another vendor (preferably Amazon).

Microsoft is now the favourite corporation to end up with the wooden spoon (dead last in a race). They lost against so many (see previous article for names) and now we see that Intel and Tencent Technologies are potential better players too.
It puts Microsoft on a sliding scale of revenue. It needs to get $4 billion in interest alone on current loans and when their so called mountain of revenue dwindles down because they are losing too many places where they are in the top 2 it becomes awkward and disappointing on several levels. This is the setting I spoke about yesterday and some still call me delusional. Not to worry, the facts are out there and the Verge (at https://www.theverge.com/23900932/microsoft-surface-laptop-studio-2-2023-intel-review) added to the hardship of Microsoft. 

When you get quotes like “right now is a particularly not-great time to be buying a horrendously expensive 13th Gen laptop” especially when the 14th gen laptops are being released next month before Christmas. Then we get “the current Surface Laptop Studio is an okay convertible. For its price, it should be more than that”, as I see it it is Mediocrates all over again. He was the man famous for “Meh, good enough” and in IT that just doesn’t hold the mustard. If there is an upside then it would be the design and the screen. All these parts that I saw looked pretty spectacular. But does that warrant the $3,499.99 price-tag? I personally don’t believe so, but others might feel differently on that. It seemingly has more options to connect and that is good, but as stated lacks a full SD slot. That is an issue I had with the Lenovo Chromebook 5 years ago, but that thing was $349, for $3K more I expect better and the lack of a full slot tends to have other issues when working in laptop mode, but I will agree that could merely be me.

So on Sunday I learn that Microsoft still worships Mediocrates, not a good setting to be in, not at all.

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October 29, 2023 · 00:05

War never changes

I was about to look into something that bothered me in Saudi Arabia when news hit me. That news stopped me in my tracks. You see it is 15 years ago today that Bethesda launched Fallout 3. I had never forgotten about that game, I even missed it to some degree. Fallout 3 after Oblivion was a massive step forward and together they were the start of Skyrim. As Bethesda became a Microsoft subsidiary, Elder Scrolls VII: Restoration became lost to them and I started to push that game in parts towards public domain. But there was one part that was never part of this. The introduction and Fallout 3 reminded me on how important the introduction was. The entire introduction is seen in Vault 101. A simple but strong setting to get you into the game, to start the narrative and to give away a clue or two. I had forgotten about that part, I had forgotten on the importance of a start. In Dune (the book) the beginning is given to us as “A beginning is the time for the most delicate care that the balances are correct.” In the 1984 movie we hear “A beginning is a very delicate time” both are correct. I had never forgotten either, but I see that I overlooked parts of that. I didn’t in the movie I create ‘How to assassinate a politician’ or the TV series ‘Keno Diastima’ in both those settings the introduction is the start and the beginning are the connected prequels. There I have that space, in gaming you do not. In Restoration the game in the very beginning reflects back to Oblivion, a game too often overlooked. Bethesda did a really good job (until they became part of Microsoft). 

As such there were solutions. As a separate game it becomes a different puppy and that had be going. The entire setting is no longer on the elder scrolls list, as a separate game you need to set a different schooling and I did a dissimilar introduction, but now it becomes a much larger station. So what happens when we create not one, but three introductions? When we create introductions for the choices made we get a new gaming setting. We create a smaller infusion of longevity and that is the first step to LTG (Long Term Gaming) that is the stuff that streamers (Amazon, Tencent Technologies) require. Streaming relies on at least 2-3 LTG games and Microsoft has two, when we take those options away by creating a real LTG, we get a new setting, we deprive Microsoft of revenue, something they desperately need after spending $69,000,000,000. Soon they will be haemorrhaging all over the place and denied revenue is one, the other I keep for later. Those two will push Microsoft over the edge and I am driven to that because they invaded our safe gaming space by pushing THEIR needs on all gamers at the expense of everyone else. That angered me, they did nothing wrong in the legal sense, but they did in the spiritual sense and when Tencent technologies and Indies programming for them get that IP (as I am making it public domain) the Game pass loses value, especially as they denied certain games to be there in year one. The greedy will be served, that is what I always believed and now I am making it a reality. And as Microsoft seemingly invested $13,000,000,000 in genAI there shores are stacking up and a few more bad news (like missed revenue and less customers) will set their doomsday clock to 0:01, which works well for me in this case. As I said once before, I will hand my IP to Saudi Arabia for 35% of the value, before I will let Microsoft near it for 165% of that value and making a lot of it public domain works well for me, I might not get a dime of that, but Microsoft cannot make exclusive IP claims when it was published and that is the part everyone forgets about. You see “Software patents for computer-implemented inventions are treated as typical patent applications and must pass the same tests of novelty and inventiveness.” You see, when something is on the internet or a blog, it fails the novelty test. Microsoft will have to share space and cannot claim anything. I open the space for indie developers and they can go wherever they want to go and with thousands of indie developers in China, Tencent technologies will have an advantage and that mean more trouble for Microsoft.

They were warned, but they were eager to ignore everyone to the request of their board of directors. In the end they lose 5 times over. Apple took the tablet, Amazon the Web systems (AWS), Sony took the console, Tencent technologies is about to take streaming services (GaaS) and Google is biting into their office revenue (not as much as I hoped, but still). Bleeding on 5 sides and I will (hopefully) add two points of pressure. In the end their $82 billion investment will come up short. Yes GenAI is all the rage, but it needs a pedestal to grow from and that pedestal is vanishing fast. I wonder which banks will buckle first. Wall Street is at present obsessed with AI, but soon they will realise that this setting needs a platform top start from and the Microsoft platform is waning that much is a given all over. I wonder how long they will be able to keep the spin up. At some point these banks want evidence and if FTX is anything to go by, a lot of banks are starting to get worried, not in the least by my speculated weights of banks with too much US treasury bonds. We see the news on how 10-year treasury  bonds are a green light, but are they really? When that goose sparks a lot of people will be without savings and I fear that that moment is not too far away, giving more added pressure for Microsoft to perform. Consider that the ‘investments’ requires them to make AT LEAST 4 billion just to pay for the interest. Now consider that the media gives us that they made 198.3 billion USD, you would think that this is a no brainer and I would agree. Now consider that they lost 5 times over (6 if you include Bing) to competitors. They are still making some money, but the numbers aren’t adding up. Bing currently has a market share of 3.02%, which is nothing. There are too many cost issues that are not registering as I personally see it. So when we look at the whole picture, they are seemingly bleeding all over and the numbers cause me to show question marks. So am I wrong? I could be, but Microsoft has become too big, everyone is shouting against Amazon and Google, but they stay silent against Microsoft and they just got a new bigger player. 

War never changes the premise is sound, but you win the war by changing the stage the other one is stepping on, or you diffuse its support systems and the others all forgot one thing, the population is a support system in this war and Tencent Technologies is about to come into this field, Amazon had options for several years. They squandered it on I know not what. Now Tencent Technologies optionally with Huawei will get a larger stage to work from, all whilst the Microsoft stage is shrinking. As the middle East turned to China, Microsoft lost even more and that is what too many are trying to be in denial of. I wonder what Microsoft loses by the start of 2024, it will be something but I have no idea what they will lose at present. 

Enjoy the weekend.

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