₦airaland Forum

Is there any other naija musician that make the list ?

Facebook is considering ways users can express their feelings beyond the Like button, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during a Q&A at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park Thursday.

"We're thinking about it," Zuckerberg said when asked whether the social network would ever add the long-requested dislike button.
He quickly clarified that such a button likely wouldn't say "dislike" on it. Instead, he said, people often want to react to posts they see on Facebook with sentiments other than "like."

"Everyone feels like they they can just push the Like button, and that's an important way to sympathize or empathize with someone," Zuckerberg told the audience. But there are times when you may want the simplicity of a one-click response but a "like" doesn't feel appropriate, he added.

More...http://mashable.com/2014/12/11/facebook-dislike-button-3/


When will nairaland has its own dislike button?

I designed a wordpress site with wamp server on localhost (my PC). The web address on my computer is localhost/mysite . After uploading the site and database to an online server, it is only the home page "www.mysite.com" that is opening. If I click any other page(eg about page), it will display "404 page not found" and the web address in the address will be localhost/mysite/about . But if I put the wamp server online the address with localhost/mysite will open.

A SPOKESPERSON for the Vatican has officially announced today that the second coming of Jesus, the only son of the God, may not happen now after all, but urged followers to still continue with their faith, regardless of the news.
Cardinal Giorgio Salvadore told WWN that this years 1,981st anniversary is to be the Vatican’s last in regards to waiting for the Lord to return to Earth.
“We just feel Jesus is not coming back by the looks of it.” he said. “It’s been ages like. He’s probably flat out doing other really good things for people somewhere else.”
Nearly two thousand years ago, Jesus promised his disciples that he would come again in chapter John 14:1-3 of the bible: “There are many homes up where my Father lives, and I am going to prepare them for your coming. When everything is ready, then I will come and get you, so that you can always be with Me where I am. If this weren’t so, I would tell you plainly”
The Vatican defended Jesus’ broken promise, claiming “he was probably drinking wine” at the time when he made the comments.
“Having the ability to turn water into wine had its ups and its downs.” added Cardinal Salvadore. “We all make promises we can’t keep when we’re drunk. Jesus was no different.”
The church said it will now focus attentions on rebuilding its reputation around the world, but will keep an optimistic mind for the savior’s second coming.

http://waterfordwhispersnews.com/2014/04/18/jesus-not-coming-back-by-the-looks-of-it-admits-vatican/


hmm... is this man allright or high on something?

I am using this opportunity to send this message to the infidels in Nigeria and their rest infidels in the world in Hausa vernacular, the tongue that many understand and if the need arise, I will explain in Fulani and Kanuri, but let us explain to you briefly.People should know that it is Allah that we are serving, the Prophet of Allah SWT. This is what we put ahead of us; we are praying to die in this path and see heaven and begging Allah to grant us inner most part of heaven and may Allah shield us.You followers of the constitution, have you forgotten your what you said in your constitution when we were preaching in Maiduguri town? In you constitution, you cite section 8 verse 1, 2 to 3 in that your cursed document referred to as the constitution, that it is a law and not reversible. You came out in your radio and newspapers and say we are fighting for Islamic Caliphate, it is that constitution that stops us preaching in Maiduguri, and we move out because of exile Allah tasked us to embark.

Have you also forgotten? And you are now seating down and say you have reached ceasefire with us, with who? That your infidel Danladi Ahmadu, if he is our hands today he will not pass the day because we will slight his throat. When did we even know him? Who is Danladi in this world? Allah is the knower of everything.

Because of this, there is no any ceasefire or dialogue with anyone instead it is a war with beating and killings, and guns that we are hungry for like food with Maggi cubes. We are on course; our focus and determination is to see that only Quran is being use in running the world, with Allah this is what we put ahead of us.

That President Idris Deby of Chad and one Ambassador of Nigeria, with Cameroon that we are doing ceasefire, where did they see us? Your white man from Germany is with us presently, he is crying and if we like we will cut him into pieces, or gun him down. We are not afraid of anyone except Allah; this is our job.

Who have freed girls from Chibok whom we abducted in their school? Those girls that Shekau abducted and took them to place of his choice about six months today. Allah passed infidels; Allah is ahead of America, Allah is ahead of a plane called drone, nonsense, Allah is supreme ahead of everyone.

If parents of Chibok girls will know the condition of their children, they will not be worry; it is either to be with their conversion to Islam or you die with pains. You don’t know that the over 200 Chibok girls have convert to Islam, they have memorized several sections of Quran, they have finished in the midst of John, Luka and others, they have realized that Christians have filled old testament with lies.

Small girl from Chibok insisting that Islam is the true religion, just form six. We have married them off, and they are in the house of their husbands. To hurt people is Shekau, they are saying Shekau is a throne; it is me Shekau whose father is Muhammadu, Shekau the man that hurts infidels, staying in the world will be difficult for you, you are just misbehaving in the world.

Who created you? We have not done any ceasefire with anyone; we did not, we did not do ceasefire with Chad, we did not do same with Cameroon and we did not do same with Niger and Nigeria. We did not do same with Ambassador of Chad, and we did not do any dialogue with Africa. We did not do same with Europe and Asia; we did not do with America and the useless United Nations of nonsense.

We did not, who is dialogue? It is a lie; it is a lie, we will not do it, Allah said no to it. We are working with Quran, and no infidel will threaten us. You lacked what to do; you want to please your leaders, and you are lying, the likes of Solomon Darlung, Abdullahi Wase, the likes of Senator Ndume. The people are tired, whether you like it or not we are working for others to convert Islam.

What is my business with you? Me that left my parents in our house; I left my mother and father. I came out to team up with those that want to promote Islam; you are just deceiving people with ceasefire.

It is with a single knife that I started and today with more than 20 vehicles I ceased from you, and they are saying Shekau is not a person but a special name. I greet you SSS; I greet you that went to study in Israel, I greet you a member of psychology origin; I greet you descendants of biology. I greet you fools that pledge to Nigeria.

You pledge to Nigeria your country, I Shekau pledge to Allah my God. If you don’t know, today you will know, I pledge to Allah to be faithful. This is Shekau, nonsense like you people. This is my brief talk; this one is okay for you, and you should convert to Allah and follow Quran.

You are unlucky to have missed Quran and stopping those doing it; it is a lie anyone that refuse will see.

http://www.africaeagle.com/2014/11/full-video-and-transcript-of-boko-haram.html

If you are looking to be a great developer and not just an experienced one, then you need to work upon your programming abilities a little more. It's possible that you have worked with several companies so far and have noticed that each of them work in their own way. In some companies value is being put in TDD while others prefer clean code.
So, being a great programmer, is not that much easy as it involves more than one opinions. The answer lies in constant leaning. Programmers themselves have come forward to help out their global colleagues with a list of eight practices which can make you the best one in this competitive industry. Check them out in the following list:

#1. Code Review:

Do you allow other developers to have a glimpse at your code? And have you ever noticed how they do it? If someone else is looking at your code then your code will seem like more or less foreign. It's possible you have missed something or you could have written shorter or more efficiently. Now you should learn to take advice from others and also share your advice as much as possible.

#2. Pair Programming:

If you want to get your job done in the fastest way possible, then pair programming is one of the best ways to execute the same. You can form a friendly team with your office colleagues or university friends and spend some time together in front of your computer. For pair programming you can use ScreenHero or Google Hangouts.

#3. Analyse Your Team:

With whom you are working, it matters a lot as it impacts your workflow. Identify those people who inspire you or disturb you and how they do so. Also try to identify how much supportive they are. Try to work with those people mostly who you think fits you the most and list down strengths and weaknesses of each member too. You can also discover some new ways to improve co-operation with other people.

#4. Break Routine:

Sometime, to move forward, you need to look backwards too. May be you have been a senior PHP developer in past, but when you changed your company you may have become junior again. So always introspect if it's right time for you to challenge yourself. If you restart your learning from the very beginning then it can help you grow faster. Always try to learn a new language along with a side project in your hands.

#5. Create Webinars:

Webiners are getting more popular these days as they are easy to get organised and people across the world can join the conference to learn new things. If your organise these kind of web-based seminars then it can boost your career a lot and also your community. You can start with one-hour sessions including four to six people and share knowledge and ideas with each other. It's a very good way to learn as the knowledge shared by others can teach you many new things.

#6. Attend Conferences:

You can attend some fantastic conference but travelling for the same to a distant place is not a very cost-effective idea. So you can figure out something out-of-the-box. You can share the idea of attending a conference with one of your colleagues, collaborate with each other in organising the trip, know the ticket price and then ask your company to co-sponsor the trip. You can use the attained knowledge not only for your career but also for the company's growth.

#7. Workspace:

Organise your workstation in the best way possible, no matter you are working from home or office. Your workstation should comprise an adjusted desk, a comfortable chair, think about your co-workers or the people who are around you while you are working. Make a strict rule so that nobody disturbs you when you are working and keep your main focus on your work. Manage time properly by setting boundaries, like when you are available for others and when you are not. Be very strict about time and your space.

#8. Link Aggregating:

You must have the habit of using at least one link aggregator everyday but more importantly is to read articles regularly or at least scanning them on daily basis. Store them in one place and select and read articles according to topics, as per your requirements.

So keep learning and don't be afraid of any mistake. Make the best out of social interaction. Happy programming.

http://efytimes.com/e1/fullnews.asp?edid=146356

1.JPC

JPC is an x86 emulator written in pure Java. It can run on any platform that supports the Java Virtual Machine. It creates a virtual PC compatible machine that can run MS-DOS and other x86 operating systems.

2.World Wind

World Wind is an open-source (released under the NOSA license) virtual globe developed by NASA and the open source community for use on personal computers.

3.JavaFX Mobile

JavaFX is a software platform for creating and delivering rich internet applications (RIAs) that can run across a wide variety of devices. JavaFX is intended to replace Swing as the standard GUI library for Java SE, but both will be included for the foreseeable future.

4.Blu-ray BD-J

BD-J, or Blu-ray Disc Java, is a specification supporting Java ME (specifically the Personal Basis Profile of the Connected Device Configuration or CDC) Xlets for advanced content on Blu-ray Disc and the Packaged Media profile of Globally Executable MHP (GEM).

5.UltraMixer

UltraMixer is a DJ Software for so called digital or virtual DJs, wo are not using Vinyls or Audio-CDs but using digital music formats like MP3. UltraMixer is designed especially for the need of mobile DJs, who work as an entertainer for events like weddings, it is also used in dancing schools and restaurants.

6.Rhino

Rhino is an open-source implementation of JavaScript written entirely in Java. It is typically embedded into Java applications to provide scripting to end users. It is embedded in J2SE 6 as the default Java scripting engine.

7.Project Looking Glass

Now inactive, the free software project under the GPL was meant to create an innovative 3D desktop environment for Linux, Solaris, and Windows. It was sponsored by Sun Microsystems.

8.Sun SPOT

Sun SPOT (Sun Small Programmable Object Technology) was a sensor node for a wireless sensor network developed by Sun Microsystems announced in 2007. The device used the IEEE 802.15.4 standard for its networking, and unlike other available sensor nodes, used the Squawk Java Virtual Machine.

http://www.efytimes.com/e1/fullnews.asp?edid=139818

Smartphones today have become an amalgamation of many tools. Gone are the days when you would use a phone simply for making calls. Today, you can use your smartphone to click pictures, edit them and set up cloud servers even. That's not the end of it, if you're an electronics engineer, you can download a variety of apps that help you analyse circuits using your phone. Pretty great, isn't it? Here, take a look!

1. Short Circuit Analysis

This app can be used for short circuit analysis using the point-to-point method for systems that are up to the 600 V service range.

2. EveryCircuit

EveryCircuit is not just an eye candy. Under the hood it packs custom-built simulation engine optimised for interactive mobile use, serious numerical methods, and realistic device models. In short, Ohm's law, Kirchhoff's current and voltage laws, nonlinear semiconductor device equations, and all the good stuff is there. There are free and paid version to this.

3. Matrix Operations

This application can be used for performing simple operations with matrices, like,

- Transposition
- Calculate determinant
- Sum and diff of matrices
- Multiplication of matrices
- Multiplication of a matrix by number
- Calculate rank
- Find inverse
- Solve systems of linear equations (with Gauss algorithm) A*X=B.

4. CalcPro

This is an application has been designed for engineers but can be used by anyone. Once you open the app you'll see a simple calculator with a swipe keyboard but there's much more behind it. This is an engineering calculator, with equation solvers, interpolations, matrices, wolfram alpha, converter, complex numbers, custom functions, variables, with more to be added in the future.

5. Automotive Electronics 2

Automotive Electronic Diagnostics (Course-2) is the second of a two book series that deals with this subject. This course 2 covers in great detail how to interpret automotive wiring diagrams and most important of all, how to follow the current path. Subject matter such as current path, data path on automotive networked computers, motor ripple counter, and various other automotive circuits. This book is a natural follow up to part-1 or course-1, which deals with principles of electronics and various automotive components. Both these books are compliments and companions to a DVD-Video series by the same tittle. These two books should also prepare anyone interested in the automotive repair and diagnostic field for the present and future state of automotive technology.

6. The Electric Game

The Electric Game is a fun way to learn or teach basic electronics and electricity. Activities relate green energy to electronic principles. This is not another electronics calculator. Players must apply electrical principles to progress in the quests. Topics on Ohm’s law, electrical power, series circuits, parallel circuits, Kirchhoff’s voltage law, Kirchhoff’s current law are included.

7. All Charts Pro

The pro version of All Charts (also available in a Free version) comes with the following added features,

- Wire ampacities with derating and temperature correction
- Grounding Table
- Conduit spacing and knockout diameters
- Point to point short circuit analysis
- It has additional functionality for conduit fill, voltage drop and motors than what the free version offers.
- It also enable the user to screen capture the result page and share it via email, SMS etc.

8. Analog Electronics

With a list of 33 features, this is a very good circuit analysys application to keep on your smartphone.

- PI and T attenuator
- Power and voltage converter
- Parallel LCR impedance/resonance
- Series LCR impedance/resonance
- Inductor impedance
- Capacitance impedance
- Ohm's Law
- Radio equation calculator (1-way path loss)
- Air Core Inductor Inductance Calculator
- Capacitor impedance
- Noise floor
- Amplifier cascade (NF, Gain, P1db, OIP2, OIP3)
- Low Pass filter
- High Pass filter
- Helical antenna
- Band Pass filter
- Band Stop filter
- Peak to RMS (peak, RMS, average, CF)
- Mixer harmonics
- Resistor Color Code calculator.
- PCB Trace Width and Clearance Calculator
- Series and Parallel component (R, L and C) calculations.
- Reverse Series and Parallel resistor calculations.
- Inductor Color Code Calculator.
- Capacitor Charge Calculator.
- Led Resistor Calculator.
- Voltage Divider Calculator.
- Opamp Calculator
- Wavelength calculator
- LCR Parallel - Series Conversion Calculator
- Inductor Charge Calculator.
- Heat Sink temperature calculator
- Thermal via calculator

9. Automotive Relay Circuit Guide

This book is a comprehensive work on automotive relays and their circuit analysis. It is also a companion to a video DVD series of the same title. It analyses how automotive relays are connected with their peripheral components. Each section starts with the specifics of the components used in that circuit and then there’s a deep analysis of how current flows on the circuit. The idea is to first explain and give the reader the particulars of each circuit, then go deeper and analyse why the circuit behaves the way it does, how to diagnose it and how to connect it in case the whole wiring is missing, obsolete or simply was never present to begin with.

http://efytimes.com/e1/fullnews.asp?edid=140725

The world of programming has come a long way and given rise to the most innovative and advanced programs, some of which were beyond anyone's imagination. But before we got to this, there were men and women who paved the way for what we have today.

Here they are!

1. Ada Lovelace

It may be seen as a new age thing with millions of lines of codes and imensely powerful computers, but one of the pioneers of programming was a woman named Ada Augusta King, a.k.a. Ada Lovelace. She was a mathematician who worked on Charles Babbage's mechanical general purpose computer known as the Analytical Engine.

2. Niklaus Wirth

Widely recognised as one of the pioneer's of programming, this is the man who created languages like Pascal, Euler, Algol and many others.

3. Bill Gates

A list of influential or greatest programmers can never be complete without mentioning the founder and creator of Microsoft. He has both admirers and haters, but no one can deny his contribution.

4. James Gosling

This is the man who created the Java programming language, which is arguably one of the most influential languages of all time.

5. Guido van Rossum

Have you heard of him? You've definitely heard of the language he created. This is the man behind the Python programming language.

6. Kenneth Thompson

Call him Ken because that's what the hacker community calls him. He has worked for Google and developed the Go programming language while working there. He also developed the original Unix operating system and a programming language called B, which was the predecessor to the illustrious C programming language.

7. Donald Knuth

This man is known as the father of anaylsis of algorithms for his contributions to the field of analysis and computational complexity of algorithms.

8. Brian Kernighan

He is the co-creator and developer of the Unix, AWK and AMPL languages.

9. Tim Berners-Lee

If you don't know this name then you should really work on increasing your awareness. This is the man who created the World Wide Web and hence gave us the lives we have today.

10. Bjarne Stroustrup

This man created the C++ programming language. Yes, the language that gave rise to so many of the best known programs and programming languages.

11. Linus Torvalds

Little needs to be said about this man. He's the creator of the Linux kernel, which is the base for so many operating systems.

12. Dennis Ritchie

C++ is an offspring of the C programming language and Dennis Ritchie is the man who created C.

http://efytimes.com/e1/fullnews.asp?edid=137953

kellerman: i am really eager to learn pic programming and embedded designs.is it possible for me to learn it on my own? if yes,pls advice me on d steps to take.

Yes it is possible ( google is your friend)

Step 1: Download and install the software; mplab for assembly language, ccs or mikroc for C language programming
Step 2: Buy the programmer(pickit2 or pickit3) and deveoopment kit
Step 3: Saerch for online tutorials
Step 4: Start coding

Optimixim: My name is mr optimixim enyinna ekeke a resident of lagos state and have been following your thread on nairaland.com . I truly want to be a professional embedded programmer in all language worth learning. Please do you offer to help me. Thanks for your anticipated response. Thanks and God bless you. Reply please !!!
Help! help!! help!!!

What type of help ?

engrjidex: Hw much is an Arduino?

Is around N6000

engrjidex: I realy love Robots, bt hw can i get this so called Chips and other Neccessary materials in Ikorodu ?

Post the list of chips you want and I will send them to you in less than 48hrs

This morning as early as 4:00 AM i received phone call from more than 3 different people telling me to boil water with salt, drink some and bath with it before day break that there will be another serious air borne disease this morning. Pls have anyone received such call?

pricelessmr: Welcome on board. what compiler are you learning with?


@ princejude, I sent you a pm and no reply from you.

I replied u, may be u didn't see it

AYODEJI4LOVE: pls don't abandon this thread o.....thanks for the video.........just started with my own training on embedded system....using c ...pls i will need your help
when struck .......and advice......

There is a thread titled 'Microcontrollers' by hoodboi. It has enough C tutorials. The compiler used was CCS with pic microcontrollers. Search for it inside nairaland.

pricelessmr: Yes, we can. I strongly believe we are better than most Chinese and Indians. I would need your collaboration. What do you think?

Nice project, u can IM me.

pricelessmr: Nice.

That reminds me, I have a flexible moving message (LED Dotmatrix ) display that takes alpanumeric input from an infra-red remote control (simple and readily available tv remote) to update information for display, meaning, you can Change the displayed message on the fly without reprogramming the chip. It uses simple PIC microcontroller. I think I have a video of its operation on my desktop.

It was amazing how stress-free and flexible it was for students, hobbyists and some guys who build dotmatrix display for clients to assemble a customized display.


It's unprofessional to hard-code the message in the chip by knowing before hand what clients want to display and reprogramming the chip just to change the displayed message.

TV remote ?? Can you get all english alphabets (A - Z) from tv remote. I think the best option is sms based dot matrix using gsm modem

pumpindkay: .

What about c#/Vb.NET gadgeteer
www.gadgeteering.net/sites/default/files/users/user161/Learning%20to%20program%20in%20Visual%20Basic%20and%20Gadgeteer2%2013.pdf

Sorry C#/vb.net is not for microcontrollers.

Assembly language is good but C language is best

In 2013 we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of hack attacks attempted against banks, credit unions and utility companies using various techniques including DDoS attack, SQL injection, DNS Hijacking and Zero-Day Flaws.

SQL Injection is one of the most common security vulnerabilities on the web and is successful only when the web application is not sufficiently secured.

Recently a hacking Group named 'TeamBerserk' claimed on Twitter that, they have stolen $100,000 by leveraging user names and passwords taken from a California ISP Sebastian (Sebastiancorp.com)to access victims' bank accounts.

A video proof was uploaded on the Internet, shows that how hackers used a SQL injection attack against the California ISP Sebastian to access their customers' database includes e-mail addresses, user names and clear text passwords and then using the same data to steal money from those customers.

Let's see what SQL Injection is and how serious an attack like this actually can be.

SQL Injection is a type of web application vulnerability in which the attacker adds Structured Query Language (SQL) code to web inputs to gain access to an organization's resources. Using this technique, hackers can determine the structure and location of key databases and can download the database or compromise the database server.

Hackers took just 15 minutes to hack into the website using SQLmap (Automated SQL Injection Tool) -- stole customers' database and then immediately accesses the victim's Gmail account, linked PayPal accounts and Bank accounts also.

It's so hard to remember multiple passwords, some people just use the same one over and over. Is your Facebook password the same as your Twitter password? How about the password for your bank's website?

Now the hack explains that this us why it's extremely dangerous to use the same password on more than one Web site. In the POC video, hacker randomly chooses one Sebastian username and his relative password against Paypal, Gmail and even Citibank account logins and seriously that actually worked, because the victim is using the same passwords for all websites.

Now that you've control of the situation, don't let this happen again! If you have a bank account, a few credit cards, and several other important sensitive accounts, conduct a thorough security audit on them. Be sure that you know when you last logged in. Be sure to keep using different and Strong passwords for each website.


Read more: http://thehackernews.com/2013/10/hacker-stole-100000-from-users-of.html#ixzz2iTgNBaUK

A California man this week filed a lawsuit against Apple CEO Tim Cook claiming the company installed its iOS 7 software on his family's iDevices without permission.

The plaintiff, Mark Menacher of Poway, Calif., filed the complaint Thursday with the Superior Court of California in San Diego. Menacher said he is seeking the "removal of iOS7 downloads from his family's iDevices and reimbursement of ancillary costs totaling $50."

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"Apple's disregard for customer preferences in relation to iOS7 is corporate thuggery," Menacher said. "Steve Jobs was reportedly rough on company employees in pursuit of happy customers, but Tim Cook apparently cultivates a culture of contempt for customer satisfaction in pursuit of corporate profits. It is a policy that will eventually fail."

Menacher filed the suit with the court's small claims division and is representing himself in the matter, though he told PCMag that he informed Apple's chief counsel Bruce Sewell earlier this month that his plan was to "start in the small claims court and work up."

The plaintiff said he had made numerous requests to remove the software from his devices directed at Apple's technical support staff, executives, and board of directors, "all to no avail."

In a copy of the complaint sent to PCMag, Menacher claims: "Unsolicited and undesired, the Defendant has downloaded software to several iDevices. This represents fraud, trespass, and theft. Plaintiff seeks removal of software download and restitution for time and expenses pursuing such."

He goes on to say that similar complaints about the installation of iO7 on consumers' iDevices "abound in the technological media and on Internet forums."

A trial date has been set by the court for Jan. 28, 2014.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2425990,00.asp

http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/10/18/california-man-sues-apple-ceo-tim-cook-over-automatic-ios-7-update

jetmaster: when i connect the usb cable of my topwin to the usb port on my window 7 64bit ...

Test the topwin with window XP first,may be the driver is not compatible with window 7. Topwin universal progrsmmer I have used only worked wiith XP.

wisemania: ^^Boss PrinceJude its unfair ,u just abandoned us...*

have u try the dot matrix display ?

Microsoft’s too bloated to innovate. Busting it up into specialized companies would solve that problem nicely.

Boss man: Steve Ballmer said he intended to step down as Microsoft’s CEO.

Microsoft missed a golden opportunity when it settled its anti-trust case with the U.S. Department of Justice on November 2, 2001. The government had proved in court that Microsoft was a monopoly and had illegally “tied” the distribution of its Web browser Internet Explorer to Windows, but the court’s chosen remedy—breaking Microsoft into two companies—was thrown out on appeal.

It turned out the trial judge had given secret interviews to the media and publicly disparaged Microsoft officials outside the courtroom. And by then, the Bush administration had taken office and was not interested in breaking up a major U.S. corporation. Then the 9/11 attacks gave us new enemies to worry about. Microsoft got off with a slap on the wrist.

Today’s Microsoft is a behemoth. Apple may be making more money, but Microsoft is doing more things—from writing operating systems and applications, creating software for corporate servers, running cloud-based services for customers, developing hardware, and sinking billions a year into a still unprofitable Online Services Division, which runs the Bing search engine.

Having built Microsoft into a company that makes the vast majority of its income from catering to business customers, CEO Steve Ballmer announced last week that he is ending his 13-year run as Microsoft’s CEO.

The next CEO should break up the company.

The reasons are quite different from those that led to the U.S. case against Microsoft. That case revolved around the question of whether or not Microsoft could force customers purchasing its Windows operating system to also take a free copy of its Internet Explorer browser. Microsoft insisted the browser was part of the operating system. The government said the browser was independent and selling them together was an anti-competitive practice called “tying.”

What made Microsoft the giant it is wasn’t this tie-in, though. It was more like “lock-in.” Even when the case was being litigated, it was clear that the real source of Microsoft’s monopolistic power was the link between the company’s desktop operating system (Windows), its word processor, spreadsheet and presentation programs (Office), its corporate e-mail and calendar (Exchange), developer tools (Visual Studio), and many other applications

This suite of great programs worked best together, creating a kind of Venus flytrap effect for corporations and governments that fully committed to running Windows everywhere. Microsoft collected billions. By 2003, it had accumulated a $43.4 billion cash surplus. Today it has $77 billion.

But Microsoft also got locked-in—to the easy money that comes from satisfying a captive customer base. The company that had made its fortune by riding the disruptive technology of the personal computer became so focused on keeping those revenues coming in that it stopped being able to execute on the next big thing. Case in point: since Ballmer took over, the number of Internet users relying on Internet Explorer dropped from a high of more than 85 percent to roughly 12 percent today (53 percent use Google’s Chrome and 29 percent use Mozilla’s Firefox).

Microsoft has earned a reputation of hiring some of the brightest people in the industry—but when those people develop breakthrough technology, those products frequently have to be killed so that they do not threaten the company’s cash cows.

https://i44.tinypic.com/2gv0to7.png

One example is Courier, a clever two-screen tablet that 130 Microsoft employees developed between 2008 and 2010. Unlike Apple’s iPad, which is designed for consuming content, Courier was designed for creating it. The tablet would have launched around the same time as the iPad and might have fundamentally changed the way tablet computing evolved, but Microsoft killed the Courier because it was perceived as a threat to some future version of Windows. (Jay Greene wrote a revealing article explaining why Courier was killed, including photos of the tablet and its screens, back in 2011.)

While some Ballmer postmortems pin Microsoft’s downfall to the company’s inability to make that shift to mobile devices, the problems are deeper than that. Kurt Eichenwald’s August 2012 article in Vanity Fair, “Microsoft’s Lost Decade,” places the blame on internal conflicts and bureaucratic paralysis. Microsoft didn’t need innovation so much as a workforce of interchangeable programmers that could fix bugs, address security concerns, respond to customer requests, and bring out a new set of operating systems and applications releases every two or three years in order to force its customers to shell out more cash for upgrades.

To really innovate again, the next CEO of Microsoft should break up the company into parts (what some are calling “Mini Bills”). Here’s my prescription for a few of them:

An operating systems company. It would run Windows and capitalize on the huge ecology of business applications that’s built up around it. For a change, though, this company would open-source the operating system, creating a new version of Open Source Windows that is small, easy to maintain, efficient, and highly securable. Such a system would put Linux on the defensive. The company would derive its revenue from service, support, and consulting.

A desktop applications company, which would maintain and improve those apps that customers around the world rely upon. These apps, like Word, would remain closed source, but they would become operating system agnostic—running equally well on Windows, Mac, Linux, and in the cloud.

A server applications company. This company would be the closest to the Microsoft of today. Maybe it could even keep the name. It would continue to cater to Microsoft’s demanding business customers.

An entertainment spin-off. This one gets XBox, Microsoft’s hardware engineers, and the game designers. What their future holds here is anybody’s guess. Despite huge customer visibility, the annual report makes it clear that this division just isn’t all that profitable.

Finally, Microsoft’s online division will be forced to swim or sink. Microsoft has already realized that it never had any business running a travel agency (Expedia) or a cable news network (MSNBC). It probably doesn’t need to be running a search engine or a consumer e-mail provider either.



http://www.technologyreview.com/view/518776/why-microsofts-next-ceo-should-break-up-the-company/

Although there is a considerable amount of speculation, and even betting, on who will be the next Microsoft CEO, the job may be an unenviable one for anyone considering the position.

Microsoft is a behemoth that continues to acquire staff and resources as it chases the market transitions that it missed. And in the midst of the company, there are groups constantly at odds over the company's strategy. So, should the board be looking for a turnaround expert or should they be asking a much broader question: What is the best way to structure Microsoft?

After approving the current Microsoft strategy and all the acquisitions the company has engaged in, it is difficult to imagine that the Microsoft board, which includes the two previous CEOs, would consider breaking up the company, but maybe they should. Leading a giant that continues to be outflanked by smaller or more innovative competitors, may be a case in futility.

Microsoft, its partners, and stakeholders may be better suited by a new strategy that considers breaking the company up into pieces that have aligning strategies and expertise. It is much better to consider this now than when market conditions or investor frustration force the scenario. Recent break ups of companies like Motorola and Nokia come to mind. A break up at this time is also a much more attractive option than having to scale down and retrench into tradition segments at a later date.

This would alter the search criteria for the next CEO, or CEOs. Rather than debating between the benefits of a business vs. technical leader or an industry visionary vs. turn-around expert, the board could narrow the criteria for each of the individual pieces of the pie. These leaders may already exist within the company but may be encumbered by the existing politics of the current entity. This strategy could also lead to the divestiture of certain assets altogether.

In the end, whatever remains should be a better competitive position than Microsoft is in today. Adopting such a strategy would still require someone to oversee its execution, but maybe not a high-priced hired gun that may have his or her own objectives and opinions.

Breaking up Microsoft would undoubtedly change the landscape of the electronics industry. But then again, it is already changing and in many ways that are not favorable to Microsoft as it is today.


http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1319790

is this a joke ?

pheforusty: Is it possible 2 combine 2 voltage regulators 78XX to get a current of 2A.

It is possible, but you must add some diodes (D1 and D2) in the link below to protect the regulators.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Increasing-current-on-78xx-series-regulators/

You can also use a pass transistor as show below:
http://electronicsjmbh..com/2012/02/power-supply-5-volts-5-with-pass.html

...... your transformer must be up to 2A (or more)

Have you tried SRSRoot ?

http://www.srsroot.com/

http://hexamob.com/how-to-root/srs-root-method/

http://www.gurusmode.com/2013/07/srs-root-unlockroot-best-android-rooting-software.html

cjs10lib: @Prince. Please how long does the training for students last, how many programs are involved and how much is the fee. I appreciate ur tireless effort and would want to gain more knowledge. Am currently a windows programmer using vb.net and SQL server database. Your reply will very appreciated.

The training time table is here: http://www.microscale-embedded.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&Itemid=50

MST101: Embedded System Using PIC microcontroller with application in GSM modem ----- N65k

MST106: Embedded System Using AVR Microcontroller with application in GPS receiver ----N65K

MST108: Embedded System Using 8051 Microcontroller with application in RFID -- ---- N65K

Open the training link above to see other courses.
The duration depends on the type of training you choose.
The "Fast Track Courses" will be between 4 to 6 hours for 1 week
The "Modular Track Courses" will be between 2 to 3 hours for 2 weeks

The N65k covers the cost of all the training materials including development kit, programmer, microcontroller, training manual with sample codes, and all the software required for the training.