Tag Archives: Microsoft

One topples the other

That is at times the setting. It is basically defined under ‘the cost of doing business’ and at times companies big and small go under from that overset risk. It is of course due to the pussies overhang nations that they made all this ‘tax deductible’ and as such governments and its citizens  pay the price in the end. So as we see seeking Alpha giving us ‘Microsoft: An OpenAI Problem’ (at https://seekingalpha.com/article/4867091-microsoft-an-openai-problem-rating-upgrade) a few settings with in the first place “First, given that 45% of RPO comes from OpenAI, MSFT stock is now a beta around the pessimism that surrounds this startup, especially in the last week”, as well as “the market is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Microsoft is part of the software infrastructure industry, which is dragging down tech” which all seems to make sense, but in that same setting what does set the matter separate is “I don’t think Microsoft will write down its RPO due to OpenAI not being able to pay in the future, but I’m mindful shares could remain under pressure in the near term” and here I am considering the larger stage of “due to OpenAI not being able to pay in the future”. A setting that too many are overlooking. The ‘AI’ baby of all greed driven entities are not looking at what is holding up this figment value. It lost against Google’s Gemini and I understand and I also herald the setting that a lost battle is not a lost war, but too many are ignoring this fact because they are seemingly going all in and bad news is seemingly being filtered away. And in the second we see Seeking Alpha giving us “I think Microsoft has two main problems right now. One of them is called OpenAI (OPENAI). The sentiment around Sam Altman’s firm is anything but positive, and in this piece, I will discuss the key issue that is pressuring the most important startup in the world. The other factor is the selloff in software. Microsoft is part of the software infrastructure industry, and the risk-off move among investors is way too strong.” And why do I think that?

Because these vultures are feeding Oracle to the wolf wannabe’s and to the turmoil of the greedy driven capitalist waves of whatever floats their boat, whilst Oracle is the one stage that is the most  stable at present. Now that the game is close to up for some, now we see that Microsoft is having a problem all whilst no one is clearly digging into the settings of OpenAI as well as the settings that processors and even energy cycles should be having. These facts are casually thrown aside and there is something massively wrong with the stage we see here.

And as we are given (by Seeking Alpha) that “Aside from one point. RPO was up 110%, totaling over half a trillion dollars ($625B to be precise). While any company would have jumped double digits following this announcement, the fact that 45% of that RPO is attributed to OpenAI makes the quality of the backlog questionable (in my modest view)” because what ROI is OpenAI actually giving its shareholders? Where is the profit? It is not there and it will not be there for at least 5 years (a number voiced by some). As such the equation doesn’t seem to hold, but the investors went all in on this and they are playing some kind of poker (where you increase the investment doubling again and again until the pay off comes, I am not into poker) and that is the problem. So what is RPO here? Remaining Performance Obligation or Recovery Point Objective and in the second question setting, we wonder where that the Remaining Performance at the Recovery Point exactly is? You see, at no point in this article we see ROI (Return on Investment) and why not? Is the story that this is 5 years pending too hard to sell?

So, as I see it, it is 2008 al over again but the impact will be much harder, the economy does not have the resilience to go through that again and the US Administration is throwing a dozen sabot’s in that engine, as such the impact will be a lot harder and I spoke of that almost 6 months ago (not sure where) and as we look into this we see no answers and isn’t that weird? The players who are all about ROI and revenue forgoing that setting? So where are Sam Altman, OpenAI and Return on Investment? Even Bloomberg is telling its readers that ‘Microsoft’s Deal With OpenAI Now Viewed as a Risk, Not Reward’, so where are all these Bloomberg wannabe’s? It seems that the stakeholders are filtering out what some need to know right of the bat and that seems not to be coming (at present). In addition to all this Seeking Alpha gives us “The pressure on margins due to the buildout should have been priced in since October 2023! I think it is pretty much mainstream (ask your cab driver next time, for real) that the hike in depreciation is a natural effect of the AI buildout. However, and this is the main risk to being bullish right now, I don’t think the market is willing to recognize this fact. I think the market wants to see a return on the AI data center buildout, and any deterioration in earnings (both revenue growth and margins) is used as an excuse to head for the exit. This remains the largest risk, as Q3 will see a deterioration in Q3 gross margins (per management guidance).” Personally I see that Microsoft should survive this, but to what extent? I want to be clear here, because I have given an anti-Microsoft view before (they deserved this), but here I am out of my depth because I do not have an economic degree. But the people at Seeking Alpha did (a speculative expectation) and the stage of “pressure on margins due to the buildout should have been priced in since October 2023” is something that we haven’t seen, did we? At least I never did (mainly because I do not care) but the people who did, did they see that?

The entire setting smells like yesterday’s diaper (see: Baby Herman) and no one seems to be catching on that something doesn’t feel right. So will the investors claim foul play when they lose their investment? Will the stakeholders be held against the light? All valid questions and I am certain that no answer will follow by anyone who has the valid jurisprudence title and now that the Federal Reserve is no longer hands of Jerome Powell, it will be anyones guess what comes from that corner.

Have a great day today.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, IT, Media, Science

The Grass on the grave

It comes with a setting. The first is the grass is always greener on the other fellows grave. The other setting is that we are on the setting that we are given that one good turn deserves another.

Do I sound a little weird? Yes, that is the case, but it comes with the numbers that we are being smacked with and as we are considering what a brain drain will do to the United States. This setting is one that might need work.

To set the first stage we are given: 

It concerns over 88,000 people who are getting made redundant in these 5 companies alone, I reckon the whole set will be a lot worse soon enough and when you think that they are with their backs against the wall, consider the following.

That is just Saudi Arabia who is in need for thousands of position, as such the Muslims in America might have a decent solution coming their way and the UAE is in a similar state, both nations needing IT staff, which puts the people at Amazon, Microsoft, IBM and Oracle in a decent state. Both places are in a good setting for job placements and those who cannot live in a more strict muslim way might consider the UAE, but that is not me side setting the job offerings in the mix, but most of these forms are doing it to deal with the cost of data centres and that is not a good enough reason for me. The brain drain that it leads to might be more disastrous than anything else the United States could be headed to.

Now both Saudi Arabia and the UAE could post advertisements in the metro sections of the news papers in the places where these job losses occur with an optional website where these people could apply and upload their resume. At that point it becomes the setting for these two nations to see who they could use and who not. At the setting we see with Aramco (Saudi Arabia) and ADNOC (UAE) and that is before they are looking at people for their data centres. I reckon that the braindyain will be very real for the United States. I reckon that the advertisement we see in the Arab News might soon have a much smaller number. 

So that is the small setting that we are facing now and the job cuts that American companies are putting themselves on, might be the solution that Saudi Arabia, the UAE and even other nations might need. So if you are on that redundancy train, here is a little reminder that “Your next big opportunity may be where you are right now” and lets see that solution work for you, because when you are one of 88,000 the setting does not work in your favor, as such I thought of giving some who might need your expertise to set the stage for you and not against you. 

So you all have a great day and I will find a way for others to know what some of you might be going through at the start of 2026.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, IT, Media, Science

Filters

If life is filtering, we are thrown between conspiracy theories and perceived loyalty information. Then there are the setting of media influencer and media de influencing. We are thrown in these 4 battles and the media is part of at least two of them, almost all time. And there is no going back. Yes, this is highly speculative but there is an underlying consideration to that. I am forgoing the first two for now (even as my view might be seen as ‘evidence’ of the first view. 

When we go for the second two there is ‘new’ evidence. I have said over the last 5 years that nothing gets printed by the media unless it has approval of the shareholders, the stake holders and the advertisers. That is how the media tends to work and then there is a new layer that works for some of the media. Flames are published at the bequest of the designers (or the editors) through which the digital dollar elopers work. Flames get people riled up, they respond to flames more eagerly and that results in clicks, hence digital dollars. As such the media has lost their point of neutral view and left us with the view that captures their clicks. This is not only detrimental to the truthful view (aka the news they bring) but it also gives us their wanted view, their ‘click-ability’ as views go. 

So the new ‘evidence’ is seen in a few ways. There is Forbes who gives us “Over the past decade, Oracle stock has emerged as a premier capital-return engine, distributing a remarkable $158 billion to shareholders—the 9th highest total in corporate history. This payout is composed of $35 billion in dividends and a massive $123 billion in share buybacks, representing roughly 31.5% of the company’s current market capitalization. Separately, earnings and revenues beat expectations, but the stock went down? Supported by resilient cash flows from its shift to cloud-based infrastructure and database services, Oracle’s strategy emphasizes enhancing earnings per share through aggressive stock repurchases. While it trails leaders like Apple ($847 billion) and Microsoft ($368 billion) in sheer volume, Oracle’s consistent return of capital highlights a mature balance between funding its high-growth cloud and AI initiatives and rewarding its long-term investor base with reliable financial yields.” Forbes gives us this news (at https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2026/01/29/how-oracle-stock-returned-158b-to-shareholders/) and could be seen as ‘news’, some will see it that way (including me) but what caused this all? Was it a mere setting that players like the Motley Fool (at https://www.fool.com/investing/2026/01/29/why-oracle-stock-slumped-on-thursday/) who gives us ‘Why Oracle Stock Slumped on Thursday’ with the subtext “There was no company-specific news to explain the enterprise database and artificial intelligence (AI) specialist’s decline. However, a cloud competitor posted results that investors found wanting. Oracle released the results that were greeted with a similar, chilly reception. Revenue of $16.1 billion grew 14% year over year, while adjusted EPS of $2.26 jumped 54%. Its remaining performance obligation (RPO) jumped 438% to $523 billion, highlighting Oracle’s vast backlog.” It could be seen as news and perhaps it merely is. There is however a new power in play and I cannot see the full form because the bulk of the media is hovering away from visibility and they no longer have trustworthiness. I believe that a new power is rising to undo what corporations are doing, I merely believe that it works at the bequest of some governments to either short sell whatever these companies have or represent, or to gain through short selling. I know it is merely speculation but this is my belief. Now there are ‘hairy’ investment settings and they are on Microsoft, Amazon and Oracle to some degree, but there is another force at work here and I cannot see the complete stage, merely shadows and shims of it, the media has become too unreliable and they want to cut back on the value of these three participant (optionally more participants). I know I have spoken out against AI on numerous occasions, but now we get certain parties illuminating the parts the required no illumination and I don’t think it is by accident.

What Gives?
SO, am I the conspiracy theorist, or the perceived loyalty information giver? I could be the second part (the first one too). I almost blindly belief in the good of Oracle, so the second is an option and it is perceived as I do not work for Oracle, as such I am not in the know. Oracle has been a force for good for over 30 years, as such the faith in Oracle is almost blindly, is that a correct setting to take?

I know that Oracle is in the deep with all these data centres, but are then all owned by Oracle? Are certain governmental parties driving the price down so they can cut costs? As per now Major hyperscalers (Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta) are expected to invest approximately $400 billion in 2026 alone to meet this demand. In the U.S. specifically, nearly 3,000 new data centers are planned or under construction, adding to over 4,000 already operational. 3,000 planned per 2026 as such Oracle stock should be going through the roof (Alpha, Amazon and Microsoft wouldn’t be doing so badly either), but that is not what we are seeing. And I have to wonder why. There are of-course energy issues, but Oracle is providing the technology. So how many data centres are owned by oracle? The image does not compute (as the term goes) and the image is not being given to us clearly by the media and that gives us the two second filters. So isn’t anyone wondering what is in play here? Most will not care either way and for the most neither do I, but in the current political situation where the United States does what it damn well likes regardless of all other voices now gives us a new setting, the transference of powers to a new wielder and neither of them likes the power the current 4 biotech are wielding and they might have gotten away with it if they left Oracle alone, that gave me the lights and some might say they are merely pretty Christmas lights, they are a little out of time, but I am seeing dashboard warning lights and not the good kind. As such is it me (it could be) or is there more to this all?

That is now the question and as such as the weekend is starting for me and Vancouver has to go through today, find your way to coffee because there is never a bad time to have a cup of that.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, IT, Media, Science

Relation to all settings

That is what I had two days ago. I didn’t act on it, because I had an IP idea and that tends to take precedence. But two days ago and for more the entire last week I have been ‘brooding’ over these grocery stores (Microsoft and Amazon) giving us that they were setting ‘localised’ protection settings and there was the rub. So here goes and I am trying to do it in certain orders (mostly chronographically). So I saw news that was a little weird, because “The U.S. CLOUD Act (passed 2018) empowers U.S. law enforcement to compel American tech companies to provide data stored on servers globally, regardless of whether the data is in the U.S. or overseas. It focuses on data control by U.S.-based entities rather than physical location. Separately, “American Cloud” refers to an independent provider offering zero egress fees, focusing on data sovereignty.” And with the intellectually challenged person they put in the white house and his ‘power hungry’ grabbing notions, the world is in clear and present danger. It was only a moment that I was confused, but this made a lot more sense than trying to grab Venezuelas oil. And I think that was what is seemingly all that need for all those data centres, the AI was merely icing on the cake, the real price is the global data that is now slowly heading to all these data centres and only localised non American set data centres are safe. As far as I know there is merely one in Sweden and that is basically it. And don’t think that you are safe, the image below shows the tainted corporations that have at least one American data centre.

The Dutch Netherlands Broadcasting Foundation (NOS) gives us that 100% of the Dutch media has American links (what a surprise) and for the rest, there is little else, only the psychiatrists have only 56% ‘tainting’ by yanks as the expression goes. As such this was brought to the surface by the Conversation who (at https://theconversation.com/microsofts-ai-deal-promises-canada-digital-sovereignty-but-is-that-a-pledge-it-can-keep-272890) gave us ‘Microsoft’s AI deal promises Canada digital sovereignty, but is that a pledge it can keep?’ Which was given to us on January 19th, as such it is BS in a jar, because as you saw, the 2018 act gives America access to it all and you have seen how boated this White House is, so as such you have no chance in hell to keep your data safe. Fortunately I had a second setting and as I ‘exploited’ a Banyan vices weakness in cloud settings, I am a little more safe than most and do you think that this is limited to global personal data? How long until you are forced to watch how American ‘corporation’ use whatever IP they can find? Some give us ‘OpenAI Plans to Take a Cut of Customers’ AI-Aided Discoveries’, so how long until the fading between that and ‘OpenAI Plans to Take a Cut of offered AI-Aided Discoveries’ that threshold is a lot smaller than you thought possible. And whilst other sources (read: NBC) give us at https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/15/amazon-sovereign-cloud-europe-expansion.htmlAmazon’s European sovereign cloud launch is a ‘big bet,’ AWS CEO Garman tells CNBC’ Yes and it makes no difference. Amazon and AWS are American companies as such America can grab that data. It’s like a sugar addict telling you that your jollies are safe. In this regard no follies are safe and as I see it several government should have acted in 2018, but most of these governments were possibly lulled to sleep with BS promises. As such the world has no longer any time to adjust. Personally I think that a specialized form of what was called in the 90’s as the DB virus. The virus was incredibly clever. It was a data virus unlike any other. The virus changes all your data and data went from 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 to 5 2 7 5 9 0 4 1 3 the problem was that until the virus was removed no one had a clue what was going on and when the virus was removed all numbers got to be hustled up, making the data useless. I reckon that a slightly more evolved setting is required here. And whomever objects can go catch an arial coitus (they are in towns with a population of 1 (you). It is all I can come up with in a few seconds but that is set into a larger setting, the viral setting is the desktop, and as it is ‘divided’ from the cloud data there is nothing America could do about it. All those Exabytes of useless data, makes my cry with laughter that is. So whilst AWS is giving us “The cloud will be “physically and logically separate” from other AWS regions, the company said.” It wouldn’t mater because AWS/Amazon is still an American company and this white house doesn’t care what you think. It is all America first, as such my option might make a little more sense. And there is still those dedicated Swedish (optionally Danish) cloud providers too who rely on Linux or at least non-American software solutions. And we all need to consider what is at stake, because this White House is a lot more desperate that we think they are. I am still sifting though data (and I have too little validation) but it seems that Goldman Sachs just offloaded $847 Billion in US Bonds (a part I cannot validate yet, but the papers are allegedly with the SEC) and if that is the case, the final pushes are now in play in America, as such they need all our data as they are getting desperate, which might take a while because the SEC has over 4400 documents involving Goldman Sachs.

But the premise of this situation is a little too dire for me to blatantly copy what other media is stating, and the media is not the trustworthy in my book. So have a great day this Sunday and as It is 14 degrees cooler than yesterday, I should be good, but with this heat I would rather be in Canada (and I reckon they prefer to be here).

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, IT, Media, Politics, Science

Counterpart of the equation

I saw something this morning that made me giggle. The Sydney Morning Herald (at https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/trump-sues-america-s-biggest-bank-and-its-billionaire-ceo-20260123-p5nwep.html) gives us ‘‘Blacklist’: Trump sues America’s biggest bank and its billionaire CEO’ where we see “President Donald Trump sued JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its billionaire chief executive officer, Jamie Dimon, for at least $US5 billion ($7.3 billion) over allegations that the lender stopped offering him and his businesses banking services for political reasons.” Like a toddler crying that mommy isn’t giving him a popsicle. I personally believe that there is another reason, but that is not how President Trump flies. No, his ego isn’t ready for that yet. Although should the EU collectively dump the US treasury bonds they have he will cry different tune. I was aware of the danger for over 12 years, but David Kelly at JP Morgan gave us (around January 9th) that the USA is going slowly broke and the tantrums that President Trump has been handing out all over the place doesn’t help. Tourism down, Commerce down, services basically gone and that list goes on. So as I see it, what was ‘defined’ as “going broke slowly” might not be so slow anymore. And now we suddenly see that “the lender stopped offering him and his businesses banking services”, I have my doubts. You see, when a customer comes in one bank and that bank states you aren’t welcome anymore that person should state “I’ll take my business across the street”, the fact that President Trump isn’t doing that shows a much larger play that he is preparing for. You see, when the American economy implodes he needs to have all his fish on land. First there was the BBC, then The New York Times and Penguin Random House and that list goes on, as such there is more than a ‘theme’ going on President Trump sees what is coming and he wants to sleep in utter luxury but as I see it, whatever he has in America would become cannon fodder overnight. And for me it is optionally great. When certain players see what Microsoft, Amazon, Google and a few others left lying on the floor. The optional come in (I personally hope Tencent will be among them) as such (as I personally see it) the station of utter BS given to us all by the American administration where I particularly like the quote given to us by Scott Bessent “the U.S. is unconcerned by Treasury sell-off over Greenland and calls Denmark ‘irrelevant’” and the was for $100 million, but the EU has over $2.8 Trillion and that will require a very different response, but as I see it, no one is ‘handling’ President Trump, to the chance of Europe dumping whatever bonds they have is becoming considerable. Then there is the offshoot that Japan will dump the $1.2 trillion bonds they have and vice versa. Should Japan dump whatever bonds they have as the setting for Japan is seemingly more dire than they ever faced, Europe is sure to follow. So as I see it, the American Administration is roughly in a tough spot. As I see it, President Trump pushed for the visibility that JP Morgan Chase is gaining partially due to the underlying setting of David Kelly. What a tangled web we weave ourselves, innit?

So the first question I have for myself is “Could I be wrong?” The answer is yes, definitely. But ask yourself, why does President Trump go for the suing procedure when he could have taken his business across the street of Wall Street towards Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Barclays, UBS, Deutsche Bank, Evercore, Lazard, Jefferies Group, Wells Fargo, BNP Paribas. With that many banks with service in the offering, why take the ‘suing’ route? Political ‘discord’ has existed in financial institutions for decades. As such my path makes a lot of sense (is it enough?). And as it was JP Morgan who alerted us to the ‘broke’ setting the path of suing makes also sense. It comes across as “I warned you not to illuminate our desperate standing” even though I already saw this setting come to the United States in 2013 and the path of Venezuela and Greenland merely sugarcoated the desperate setting the United States is under. For that matter, when this is brought to light be decent journalists the rest of the financial media is pretty much done for. I saw as a non-economist what these overpaid people did not? It will be less then a month when others start screaming the names of the involved stake holders. As such it will be quite the parade and the United States? I reckon that as their infrastructure will implode, it will face a full scale civil war like the Netherlands faced it in the hundred year war (it was part about poverty, hunger and the plague, it went from 1337 until 1453) it wasn’t a complete staged war, but several battles in a short term and it was the daily setting for close to 5 generations. That is what the United States is looking towards and with the weapons we have now, it will be a lot shorter, but the deaths will be on an increasing scale. And as I see it, President Trump sees what is coming, and with the friends he has, he needs to be certain he gets the amount of money so that he can outlast three generations and there is not much place for him outside of America, so he needs to be certain that he gets what he believes he is worth, the best he could hope for in Russia (pretty much his one ally) is a two bedroom flat somewhere in the MKAD (Moscow Ring Road) is pretty much all he can get and as such he needs another option. Perhaps he will go the way of Escape from New York, where the entire island of Manhattan becomes his personal prison, population 3. It isn’t realistic, but any person can dream can’t they?

So whatever the real reason that gave JP Morgan and Jamie Dimon got them their ‘blacklisting’, I have questions and I have doubts. Suing is just so over the top. What would happen if I sue Telstra in Australia as they didn’t want me as a business customer? No matter how valid their reasons were, Australia has Optus, Vodafone, NBN, Aussie Broadband, Superloop, Dodo, Exetel, Swoop, AGL, Origin and that list goes on for a while. The entire America settings feels wrong. And that is merely my view on the matter.

Have a great day today, it’s Friday (yay).

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Law, Media, Politics

The wannabe influencer?

That is my question at present. In comes a person with the ludicrous title of “Al & loT Expert”. You see, what makes it hilarious was the post I saw ‘fly’ by. He starts off with “OpenAl’s first hardware is… a pen?? (If they don’t call it O-Pen Al they have officially lost the Al race).” So that is what makes him an expert? I am no expert on any of that but I am highly knowledgable on matters including IoT. In some cases and in some places I am known as a guru. I have my niche settings. But what gets to me is that (although I am no OpenAI fan) OpenAI has ‘Yes’ lost the current battle against Google and its Gemini 3, which the media kept from you for weeks. Although I personally never used it, but people who did and are ‘regarded’ as captains of industry think so. So, as I see it, OpenAI lost a battle, but that doesn’t mean the war is over. You see, the war on AI (when it finally comes here) is in no means settled at present. And those who understand that battle know this and mostly unmentioned is the play that is left with IBM because they currently have the inside track, not Oracle, not Snowflake and definitely not Google, Microsoft or Amazon. You see, AI is more then what is out there today. It will rely on larger technological settings. They all have quantum systems, but who is the most advanced in Shallow Circuits? IBM was setting that stage in advanced settings in 2017 all whilst OpenAI hardly barely at that point. IBM was on the ball and the actual winner of what now is referred to as True AI, which is ACTUAL AI will need two additional settings the first is Shallow Circuits, a setting where only IBM is a straight forward contender. With that I say I have no idea where Google stands. And in that the next thing is that a trinary operating system will be required and as far as I know there is no current winner at present. I reckon that both Google and IBM have dabbled in this, but I do not know where they stand and when this comes to pass the winner will work with Oracle to make the connections in a much needed combined effort, because they all agree that Oracle is the one player that can make it work. Snowflake as well, but I have no idea where they stand in all this. What we currently have are DML/LLM solutions that are at times clever and functioning, but in too limited a setting. I call this Near Intelligent Parsing (or NIP), but it is not AI, even thought they all have the marketing calling it so. 

What we have now is a mere shadow of what Alan Turing envisioned half a century ago and leave it to sales teams to wriggle the straw until it bleed revenue, but as the class cases will explode in this year, they are left to ‘apologetically assume the position of miscommunication’, at least that is how I see it. So was this person a wannabe influencer and taking the LinkedIn cloud by humor? 

So this might optionally have been the pen that OpenAI is flaunting, but as I see it, this is their step into audio, which they advertised and having a pen recorder is a pretty contraption (aka gizmo, doohickey, or thingamajig) that propels the setting of OpenAI forward. And I reckon that within a month all wannabe AI experts want one. Audio is the next stage that require harnessing, so OpenAI is not out of the race, they merely got bruised in a race where they had the upper hand for three years. 

Perhaps they get the upper hand in other direction making them overall winner, but that is a mere consideration of option, especially when we realise the inside track that IBM has and where is that in his assessment? So I am not proclaiming the identity of that person, it lacks class and makes him a target. He made himself a target and I do not need to add to his current confusion. 

What is a stage is that there is a chance that OpenAI is moving to capture the stage of Audio enhanced NIP (Near Intelligent Parsing) making them first again and Google will need to play catchup, optionally Oracle (Snowflake too) will now have to adjust their tracks to get audio embedded in their database settings and whilst we do not know where IBM goes, we do know they have the inside track, they might rely on Oracle/Snowflake solving that problem for them and as I am a Snowflake person, I still believe that Oracle is likely to win this war for the mere knowledge that they have been on these tracks long before Snowflake got involved, so they have years and traction in their stride. This is not a certainty, but a presumed advantage. 

That is as good as I can give it to you and I have written other stories on the need for a Trinary operating system. I last did that in ‘Is it a public service’ which I wrote last November (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2024/11/16/is-it-a-public-service/) so this isn’t coming out of the left field, it was there for almost two months. Oh and to be certain that you do not mistake me for that wannabe influencer. I am in no way an ‘expert’ on AI, I merely have been dabbling in IT and data since 1981. So I have the mileage here, have a great day today.

Leave a comment

Filed under IT, Media, Science

Cracking on the down

That is at times the setting, but it is not always clear. As I personally see it, it has nearly always been clear as glass, but the ‘powered that could be’ doesn’t want to hand over any of the greed it can get, and as a result people get scammed. So I have a few issues with the Reuters article (at https://www.reuters.com/investigations/meta-created-playbook-fend-off-pressure-crack-down-scammers-documents-show-2025-12-31/) and as we read its headline ‘Meta created ‘playbook’ to fend off pressure to crack down on scammers, documents show’ we might think that this giant (aka Meta) is the cause of it all, but that isn’t exactly true. To see this we need to look back the last half century, slightly before Meta (then known as Facebook) was born. So as we are given “As regulators press Meta to crack down on rogue advertisers on Facebook and Instagram, the social media giant has drafted a “playbook” to stall them. Internal documents seen by Reuters reveal its tactics, including efforts to make scam ads “not findable” when authorities search for them.” We are shown a half truth that I see as a near blatant lie. You see, in 1961 a man named Luther Simjian came up with the father and mother of the ATM. An experimental Bankograph (as they named it then) was installed in New York City in 1961 by the City Bank of New York, but removed after six months due to the lack of customer acceptance. But on 27 June 1967 it was reintroduced by the actor Reg Varney as a push to control people pressure at Barclay in London. Think of this as the starting point. As security was upgraded, most security was still set to older concepts, they were not bad, but it all comes from this point. And as the law was set to this setting, it fell behind fast. As such things like Two-Factor Authentication are still concepts to be implemented in banking and auto banking and beyond. So as Meta and others are trying to make the sale of advertising ‘easier’ scammers are really happy to bank in on such opportunity. 

Consider three points, the advertiser, its payment and its location are three separate issues, whilst the initial setting is almost never confirmed as these players are set to ease of business and commerce instead of security of business and commerce.

And we see this in the article as “Meta, owner of the two social media platforms, feared Japan would soon force it to verify the identity of all its advertisers, internal documents reviewed by Reuters show. The step would likely reduce fraud but also cost the company revenue.” This is true, but the setting goes far beyond Meta and that is as far as I can tell not set either. So as Reuters gives us “Meta launched an enforcement blitz to reduce the volume of offending ads. But it also sought to make problematic ads less “discoverable” for Japanese regulators, the documents show.” Which bus likely true, but it is a larger field. If the EU, the Commonwealth and America keep shoulder to shoulder to “verify the identity of all its advertisers” we could actually get somewhere, but then the conversation goes into the direction of complication and such, the greed driven are ready to hand victory to the scammers. And as we are given “The documents are part of an internal cache of materials from the past four years in which Meta employees assessed the fast-growing level of fraudulent advertising across its platforms worldwide. Drawn from multiple sources and authored by employees in departments including finance, legal, public policy and safety, the documents also reveal ways that Meta, to protect billions of dollars in ad revenue, has resisted efforts by governments to crack down.” The setting that Japan is trying to overcome, the establishment of identity of advertisers become frightfully clear. And that costs Meta revenue, but it goes far beyond Meta, Amazon is likely to have similar settings and they accept that as the cost of doing business, but the people caught in-between are  settled with the bill of BigTech doing business. So as Sandeep Abraham, a former fraud investigator at Meta gives us “Instead of telling me an accurate story about ads on Meta’s platforms, it now just tells me a story about Meta trying to give itself a good grade for regulators.” We are being told the picture that regulators are part of the problem. In stead of the cold hard question “How is the identity of the advertiser established” the people are told a different picture. It would be regarded as Artsy, but not the truth. So whilst the world is ready to accept “The tactic successfully removed some fraudulent advertising of the sort that regulators would want to weed out. But it also served to make the search results that Meta believed regulators were viewing appear cleaner than they otherwise would have. The scrubbing, Meta teams explained in documents regarding their efforts to reduce scam discoverability, sought to make problematic content “not findable” for “regulators, investigators and journalists.”” The larger question on what happens when these fraudulent go getters get access to more finely trained DML/LLM solutions, to capture the wallets of millions more? That question remains in the background and soon it will be too late, because soon places like America will try nearly anything to keep their shareholders happy and that comes with additional cost of doing business. And that setting is given with “The playbook, as it’s referred to in some of the documents, lays out Meta’s strategy to stall regulators and put off advertiser verification unless new laws leave them no choice.” And again, the lawmakers are shunning their duty, not merely in America, but in Europe and partially the Commonwealth as well. And that is, as I see it, the gist of the setting and whilst we might want to blame Meta, the direct setting is that places like Apple, Google, Microsoft are at least equally guilty. So, as I see it, Microsoft could have done something years ago, but they were chasing Google, instead of becoming real innovators. They might have trailed, but at this point they could have taken a lead and as I see it, they did not.

So as we see Meta, no one is asking where Amazon and Apple were at that time. So how many scammy advertisements did they make way for? I don’t know the number and it will be less than Meta, but is it small enough? I fear not (a speculation on my side).

Oh, and before you think this was all new stuff, consider that I raised this issue in ‘Enabling Crime’ and article I wrote in 2017 (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2017/12/02/enabling-crime/) so this has been over 8 years in rotation, 8 years that BigTech and lawmakers did close to nothing and I was taught an issue like “Two-Factor Authentication” in University (aka UTS) in 2012. So it is over a decade where legal Impotency is shown. It was in the trend of non-repudiation where you and you alone could have set this in motion. The law seems uneasier to bind itself and tech doesn’t want to be bound by this. So as I showed close to 13 years of inability to do something about that setting we are given a slightly different setting, not an incorrect one, but one that is slightly larger than anticipated. 

So I wish you all a good day and a lovely time enjoying coffee (I just had mine). Those lazy bastards in Vancouver are likely snoring the night away, it’s half past midnight this morning there.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, IT, Law, Science

The games we cherish

We (namely gamers) have a weird knack. When we go ‘gaga’ for a game we cannot help but try to improve upon it in our minds, optionally create new IP based on that game. In 2012 I created Elder Scrolls VI (now basically VII) and after Bethesda was bought by Microsoft, I thought it might be better to put parts of this on my blog, but now ‘altered’ to fit new IP and I basically handed it to anyone making games for non Microsoft systems. I thought it was a good idea to create new IP to cater to the new game designers. I also came up with a new idea of setting a larger combat setting, so that we would not fall for the usual culprits (by stepping out of that combat area, a new way to increase the deadliness of the NPC and I used an idea that Vint Cerf created and gave it new life, but now in gaming. I reckon that this was never done before, so there was a nice niche for that designer. This background was slightly needed as I created an idea for the upcoming (somewhere in the future) of Hogwarts Legacy 2, there is no real timeline, but several sources tell bye that Avalanche Software is on the ball. That didn’t stop me from slapping my mind about for some quick fixes and I wrote about this in the past in two blogs I gave Avalanche Software the ideas, free of charge. I did put one small barricade in place, because as I see it, Hogwarts is the IP of JK Rowling and I have no idea how this is set in the corridors of Avalanche Software, as such the small barricade was that they get it (still free of charge) only with the approval of JK Rowling. 

It seems flimsy, but I believe that IP is holy, messing with it is not my forte. As such I keep some ideas and they go straight to JK Rowling, because she owns that IP. As such I cover myself in some protection and no-one can come and go with the setting “But he gave this to us”. To prevent that, all Hogwarts related idea become property of JK and if she doesn’t approve no harm was done. 

Anyway, I was thinking or speculating on what HL2 would be like, and that is a waste of my time, so I thought that it might be an idea to set a threshold in place. As such we get a condition if you transfer you HL character. And if done splendidly, you get to do that 4 times. And that was how I came up with the setting of a part (could be a DLC) where your Hufflepuff character could become a junior wand-maker (at Olivanders) the small scene at Azkaban gave the idea that people from Ravenclaw could get one of three jobs at Azkaban, Slytherin gets to be a ministry of Magic employee and Gryffindorians become Aurors, it came with a few ideas. First it shouldn’t impact the game, so it might be either DLC, or unrelated at the end of the game where you could get into that phase after you do the main story (or graduate from Hogwarts) in any way, it shouldn’t interfere with the main game (because that would be a pig move) the added benefit is that you get a lot more if you have to replay HL to get into the other houses, but I reckon that most Harry Potter Fans have played it for every house already, so that makes the threshold rather slim. 

There was some idea where there were more jobs, and the idea was that one is perfect for the house you were in, but there would be the setting where Hufflepuff students could get a smaller function in Azkaban (the Ravenclaw choice) as would the Gryffindor student, on the other side we have Slytherin they are fit for the ministry, but there Gryffindor and Hufflepuff could get a smaller job. And so on, as such you get to play 3 jobs (not at the same time). It was merely a thought and it would enable larger lore to be created and given a larger setting towards the magical world. I took this idea and put it here for Avalanche Software to capture the idea and make it their own (if JK Rowling approves). I am adamant about the latter part of this as I consider JK Rowling to be the owner of the original IP, then as I got into this stage of Harry Potter there were more sides that I was thinking of, but in this case I will refrain from (for now) as I have no idea what Avalanche is doing. And I have no intent on getting into their fairway. 

In that same setting I had (before Microsoft bought it) an idea for Fallout 5, not the story, but a wrinkle to connect your Fallout Shelter profile to fallout 5 and it would transfer up to a shelter (your active shelter) to create that shelter in Fallout 5 as a standalone mission, and the programming needs to transfer that shelter into a 3D image and as it is a 2D presentation, there needs to be a setting where the corridors are automatically created, I had some ideas on that too and when you get that, you can have your own shelter in Fallout 5, with some additional safety (security) settings and a few security gimmicks. All part of the idea and that is merely what my mind was up to and there is a lot more, but I wanted to start the new year thinking of games, not on the political disasters playing now. This is not the day to make that happen, but gaming can be done any day of the week, including day 1 of 2026.

So have a great day and enjoy yourself either already in the new year of following us when you get there. Enjoy the festivities today.

Leave a comment

Filed under Gaming, IT

Are doornails really dead?

I got a nice surprise today. I got a story (at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/2025-was-the-year-xbox-died-130000467.html), the only inaccuracy I think is that the contraption was dead already, for about 2 years. So I got to wonder. What happened to:

Which gives us $78.7 Billion and it shouldn’t be allowed to go into a bad bank, that interest is still due. The last purchase was only completed in October 2023. So what happens, sell it to Saudi Arabia? The interest (said to be around 5%) implies that Microsoft is still meant to pay $3.935 billion interest on an annual basis and there is no way it gets to be reflected away, although I might advise Saudi Arabia in particularly Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi that he should not offer a Halala over $50 billion for the entire package. I don’t think Microsoft is allowed any leeway for their intentional stupidity. That being said, they bought Mojang studios in 2014 and they did mighty fine work on their Minecraft product, including the PS5 (which still needs the PS4 disc), but that is small fry. The result is truly amazing and the fact that it is still one of the most popular games on any console is due to the Microsoft teams and credit where credit is due I say. Still, as the optional spokesperson for Saudi Commerce, I think it is essential that the Saudi Fleet of airplanes need to be give to all its Microsoft 2024 Flight Simulator players free of charge the fleet of planes that are part of the Saudia airlines, which consists of Airbus A320-200, Airbus A330-300, Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 787-9 and Boeing 787-10, as well as include the King Abdulaziz International Airport (Jeddah) and the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh in the base setting of the Flight Simulator 2024. I think that Saudi Arabia is due some VIP treatment if Microsoft wants to flog away their failures. I think that Saudi Arabia is due that privilege. 

I think if you want the grease the wheels of commerce, you better take out your best effort, but that is merely me speaking. This all started in 2013 when they upset the gaming industry, by thinking they could strong-arm gamers towards the Xbox, whilst they never actually understood gamers (I point to the Don Mattrick, the former president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business, widely remembered for controversial stupid statement of “Fortunately we have a product for people who aren’t able to get some form of connectivity, it’s called Xbox 360”) my response was ‘Fuck you Mattrick” and I placed a handful of gaming IP on my blogs for anyone not Microsoft. That’s how I react and these people are still welcome too all that, especially as the Xbox is now dead on arrival, a proper vivisectioned console at your local morgue. So whilst the article gives you “Xbox didn’t enter 2025 in a great state, and it’s leaving the year grasping for help, like an Arc Raider player desperate for a revival after being knocked out. Microsoft cancelled the Perfect Dark reboot and Everwild, two of the most interesting games in its weak upcoming slate. The company brought titles like Forza Horizon 5 over to the PlayStation 5, which prompted Engadget Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham to declare he no longer needed an Xbox.” He never needed one and I did mine away years ago, it was just a dust collection setting and I merely held on to it because of Elite Dangerous and Subnautica, when they became available on PS4/PS5, the fate of my coaster to be (Xbox One) was set. Some regrets, but the Xbox360 was awesome, so not that much and it was my first setting for Oblivion and Skyrim, which I also have on Sony. We were also given “There was a chance for Microsoft to reinvigorate the Xbox brand with the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X gaming handhelds, but the $600 and $1,000 launch prices placed them out of reach for most gamers. It also doesn’t help that Windows still isn’t well-optimized for portable devices with touchscreens, and those systems also aren’t compatible with older Xbox titles like the consoles. At the very least, Microsoft now has a handheld foothold. But a future portable Xbox console would need to be significantly cheaper to compete with the likes of the Steam Deck, which starts at $549 (following the discontinuation of the $400 LCD model).” But as I personally see it, Microsoft tends to lose interests in solutions that dos not make them shine and the Xbox had nearly rusted through as I personally see it, but there was the news which was available for about three days now and I had other matters on my mind, so it was a nice setting today, I was proved correct all along and as Saudi Arabia is vying to be a digital powerhouse, the setting if upgraded to a better shine, what was left of Microsoft games, might get a decent second life, but the additions to the Microsoft Flight-simulator 2024 will be required, although they might include it as a package deal for the nice price of $50 billion, not a penny more, including the Flight Simulator 2024 might make it worth the time of Minister Majid bin Abdullah Al Qasabi, but that is merely my view on the matter. And there is the setting we need to consider, the Xbox came to life (with massive help of Dwayne Johnson) and grew to new heights in 2005, it actually became a competitor to Sony and made Sony release the PS4 and PS5 with the immense upgrades. Gamers rejoiced and then in 12 years (due to Don Mattrick as I personally see it) it went from hightop to basement level bargain value. Still, I am not happy. Sony was better with Microsoft chasing its tail and that needs to be said and the results as we still see every day its awesome and as I see it, Todd Howard now needs to say the words “Elder Scrolls 6 is coming to Playstation” the Sony and the gaming world needs to hear those words. The Microsoft blame game of ‘perhaps’ and ‘we will service all gamers’ is disingenuous at best and not appreciated. 

So whilst we are given “Its partnership with AMD could easily lead to new handhelds, and it also gives Microsoft a leg up in producing a compact and powerful Xbox PC. After all, why should the company keep trying to go toe-to-toe with Sony’s closed PlayStation platform? Why shouldn’t Microsoft embrace its PC roots to give us a gaming desktop under our TVs? The company has already committed to bringing new Xbox games to PCs immediately, so the line between the two is already blurring. It may be a risk, but evolving into a PC proves there’s still life in the Xbox brand. And crucially, it’s also something Sony can’t easily replicate.” You see, the gamers feel betrayed by Microsoft, even those having an Xbox, they aren’t (don’t say ever in this case) going to trust Microsoft, they tried to play gamers and these players don’t like to be played, they take this personally and that is what Microsoft did in a few ways as I personally see it.

So you all have a good day and those owning a Playstation have pleasant dreams, because Microsoft just bought the bucket from Davey Jones locker. I reckon that this setting is hardest on Phil Spencer, who tried to do everything to make Microsoft gaming work. I think he did a fine job, but Microsoft overhead was ruled (as I see it) by Excel users and that goes against the grain of gamers. Have a great day today, my time for a late lunch now.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Gaming, IT

The boat has left

That is a weird setting, but that might be the case for a lot of people. It is the Financial Express who gives us (at https://www.financialexpress.com/life/technology-ibm-to-skill-5-million-indian-youth-in-ai-cybersecurity-and-quantum-computing-by-2030-details-inside-4082018/) the headline ‘IBM to skill 5 million Indian youth in AI, cybersecurity and quantum computing by 2030’ you might think it is nothing to get hung over about, but you would be wrong. Even as some ‘claim’ to give good courses (some actually do), it is IBM who has had that inside track in several ways. As such (or perhaps to consider as I see it), the labour market will be drowning in Indian entrepreneurs by 2032 (and a whole before that). I reckon that these people will bolster the Indian go getter market and they will branch out to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and a few other places. As such if you think the US labour market is merely cooling, think again. These people will be highly wanted in India, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, UK, Australia, Canada and the EU long before we get to 2030. There will be an Indian wave of go getters all over the world and the places that needed to get active weren’t for much too long. So as we see “India possesses the talent and ambition to lead the world in AI & Quantum. Fluency in frontier technologies will define economic competitiveness, scientific progress and societal transformation,” said Arvind Krishna, IBM Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our commitment to skill five million people is an investment in that future. By democratizing access to advanced skills, we are enabling the youth and students to build, innovate and accelerate India’s growth.”” And these people will be highly skilled in all things IBM (perhaps not in IBM Statistics or IBM Miner) but that is little cause for alarm. These people will also bring forth IBM skills and products, so this setting takes care of two pipelines, skills and products. And all that time AWS was hounding the AI field. It is nice, but as these people are highly skilled in whatever IBM holds, there is a mismatch on what is required. OK, that last part is speculative, but that is what I would do.

I reckon that Microsoft and OpenAI also might have a problem here. You see we also get “IBM also continues to strengthen school-level readiness by co-developing the AI curriculum for senior secondary students, along with teaching resources including the AI Project Cookbook, Teacher Handbook and explainer modules. These programs are designed to embed computational thinking and responsible AI principles early, while enabling teachers to deliver AI education confidently and at scale.” As such these people get a schooling in evolved from famous systems like Deep Blue and Watson and as such IBM provides a flexible ecosystem allowing choice from various foundation models (like Granite, Llama, Mistral). Whatever they partnered with doesn’t matter. This is the IBM show, partners take a second stage chair. And as I see it, IBM did something nicely spectacular because they get a choir of 5 million evangelizing Watsoners all over the world and in that instance Watson grows from niche to mainstream and that will feel good for all the shareholders who kept their trust in Arvind Krishna (I will give a nice ‘Well done sir’) in this instance. Because it is starting to look like the old premise ‘When two dogs fight over a bone, the third one takes it gone’ So in the fight we saw with OpenAI and Google, we now see that the future is banked on by IBM. This doesn’t make the others useless in any way, but IBM set the future towards Watson in a rather nice way and that has to count for something.

What a nice end of year this will be this year. Because at the drop of a hat, it wasn’t merely Google or OpenAI, as I see it now IBM because the third major player in this duet and as I see innovation, this is how innovative strides are made, by having to refocus your tasks, that is the real innovation maker in this world. 

A lovely ending to Christmas Day. Have a great upcoming boxing day you all.

Leave a comment

Filed under IT, Science