[ale] Ha! You were right! (was RE: [ale] Dan Gillmor on Microsoft)

Fri Oct 18 15:55:26 EDT 2002

First, you need to put OT in the subject of these OT posts.  (sorry, my
sense of humor is a bit dry).

I've seen this done anyway, it doesn't work.  Some people subscribe to
one or the other, people get half of a conversation which drags the
whole thing to the wrong list anyway.  Then you get the conversations
that are fine at first and then go OT.  Half the people move the
conversation to the OT list, half don't and you end up with 2 very messy
OT conversations.

Thus spake John Wells (jb at sourceillustrated.com):

> Date: Fri, 18 Oct 2002 15:49:11 -0400 (EDT)
> From: "John Wells" <jb at sourceillustrated.com>
> To: <gljay at earthlink.net>
> Cc: <dhurst at kennesaw.edu>, <jcphil at mindspring.com>, <ale at ale.org>
> X-Mailer: SquirrelMail (version 1.2.8)
> Subject: [ale] Ha! You were right! (was RE: [ale] Dan Gillmor on Microsoft)
> 
> I have to find this humurous. Back a few months ago, we were involved in a
> discussion about job postings, which turned into a discussion about
> off-topic posts, which turned into a discussion about creating a new OT
> list.  Some oracle (can't remember who) said:
> 
> Look, this is how it goes at Ale.
> - For awhile it's relatively quiet (OT posts down).
> - All of a sudden, we'll get a period of high amount of OT posts.
> - Invariably, someone will suggest creating an OT list.
> - Much OT discussion about whether or not to create the OT list occurs.
> 
> This cycle seems to repeat itself indefinitely.
> 
> Good call. ;-)
> 
> John
> 
> George Johnson said:
> > It does sound like a good idea to start another list with discussions on
> > the antics of the likes of M$.   This would be a good way to keep each
> > other informed on what is going on.  Discussion of issues like these is
> > what starts movements to counter these things and we cannot have enough
> > of those.
> >
> > george johnson
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Dow Hurst [mailto:dhurst at kennesaw.edu]
> > Sent: Friday, October 18, 2002 2:02 PM
> > To: jcphil at mindspring.com; ale at ale.org
> > Subject: Re: [ale] Dan Gillmor on Microsoft
> >
> >
> > We need to start a ALE-depressinglyMS mail list so those who want to get
> > depressed can just read that list.
> > dow
> >
> > Jim wrote:
> >
> >>-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> >>Hash: SHA1
> >>
> >>Microsoft is reporting record profits from the last quarter, which they
> >> attribute largely to their new, extortionary licensing scheme. I
> >> thought htese words from Silicon Valley columnist Dan Gillmor were
> >> worth sharing
> > with
> >>everybody on the list:
> >>
> >>Microsoft Piggy Bank Tops $40 Billion
> >>Posted by Dan Gillmor
> >>
> >>What happens when a monopolist raises prices? One guess.
> >>
> >>Microsoft hit the jackpot in the most recent quarter, ringing up a
> > staggering
> >>$4 billion profit on sales of $7.7 billion. I hope reporters covering
> >> this story note some of the subtleties, including Microsoft's strategy
> >> of not counting some of the profits until later years and its continual
> > accumulation
> >>of cash.
> >>
> >>As of Sept. 30, Microsoft had gone over the $40 billion mark in cash
> >> and short-term investments (effectively the same). Think about that --
> >> $40 billion.
> >>
> >>What is Microsoft going to do with this money? They can't spend it fast
> > enough
> >>internally, and the top shareholders, who control the company, refuse
> >> to issue dividends (this saves Bill Gates et al billions in taxes).
> > Prediction:
> >>Once Microsoft is out from under what's left of the antitrust case,
> >> it'll
> > go
> >>on a strategic investment and acquisition spree the likes of which you
> > cannot
> >>even imagine.
> >>
> >>The monopoly continues, unabated, and could even grow stronger.
> >> Innovation
> > is
> >>almost dead in desktop software, where Microsoft has sucked the
> >> financial oxygen out of the system. The company's behavior doesn't
> >> improve. It's no coincidence. Too bad we no longer have a government
> >> that's willing to
> > enforce
> >>the antitrust laws, and technology buyers who feel so trapped they
> >> won't
> > even
> >>consider alternatives. Life, circa 2002.
> >>
> >>http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/columnists/dan_gill
> > mor/ejournal/4307752.htm
> >>-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
> >>Version: GnuPG v1.0.6 (GNU/Linux)
> >>Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org
> >>
> >>iD8DBQE9sDgzmqVh/g13CaoRAosSAJ9WiQpg3aW2fGT6r6+o43BOhI7hPgCeJIdU
> >>XDvuBM1d0rR70aTwhMO+ly8=
> >>=KXVJ
> >>-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
> >>
> >>
> >>---
> >>This message has been sent through the ALE general discussion list. See
> >> http://www.ale.org/mailing-lists.shtml for more info. Problems should
> > be
> >>sent to listmaster at ale dot org.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> > --
> > __________________________________________________________
> > Dow Hurst                  Office: 770-499-3428
> > Systems Support Specialist    Fax: 770-423-6744
> > 1000 Chastain Rd., Bldg. 12
> > Chemistry Department SC428  Email:dhurst at kennesaw.edu
> > Kennesaw State University         Dow.Hurst at mindspring.com
> > Kennesaw, GA 30144
> > *********************************
> > *Computational Chemistry is fun!*
> > *********************************
> >
> >
> >
> > ---
> > This message has been sent through the ALE general discussion list. See
> > http://www.ale.org/mailing-lists.shtml for more info. Problems should be
> > sent to listmaster at ale dot org.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ---
> > This message has been sent through the ALE general discussion list. See
> > http://www.ale.org/mailing-lists.shtml for more info. Problems should be
> >  sent to listmaster at ale dot org.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ---
> This message has been sent through the ALE general discussion list.
> See http://www.ale.org/mailing-lists.shtml for more info. Problems should be 
> sent to listmaster at ale dot org.

:wq!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert L. Harris                

DISCLAIMER:
      These are MY OPINIONS ALONE.  I speak for no-one else.
FYI:
 perl -e 'print $i=pack(c5,(41*2),sqrt(7056),(unpack(c,H)-2),oct(115),10);'

---
This message has been sent through the ALE general discussion list.
See http://www.ale.org/mailing-lists.shtml for more info. Problems should be 
sent to listmaster at ale dot org.