Anyone who uses Skype has consented to the company reading everything they write. The H's associates in Germany at heise Security have now discovered that the Microsoft subsidiary does in fact make use of this privilege in practice. Shortly after sending HTTPS URLs over the instant messaging service, those URLs receive an unannounced visit from Microsoft HQ in Redmond.
Read more »Skype with care – Microsoft is reading everything you write
http://www.h-online.com –
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Why Is Google Not Supporting The Open Document Formats?
http://www.muktware.com –
Bhartiya writes: For ages I have been convincing people to switch from close source to open source, from Microsoft Office to LibreOffice. I have been telling people to ditch the controversial docx format and adopt .odt only to find myself in an embarrassing situation, thanks to Google.
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Seven Reasons for Choosing LibreOffice over Microsoft Office
http://blog.worldlabel.com –
LibreOffice is free for the download, and you can install it on as many different machines as you choose. But a free price and a free license aren’t much good if the software doesn’t have the features you want. Happily, that’s usually not a concern with LibreOffice
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Microsoft Threat Management Gateway blocks donate.fsf.org under the category of "Gambling"
http://www.reddit.com –
From Reddit user rebbsitor, "After reading about RMS having his laptop stolen, I clicked the link to donate.fsf.org. I'm at work at the moment, and our IT department uses Microsoft Threat Management Gateway to prevent access to certain types of sites.
Read more »Meet Mobster Bill Gates, the Man Who Charges Open Source Software even if is free Android Linux
http://www.wired.com –
Yes, Microsoft is demanding — and in many cases, receiving royalties — from companies selling devices that run Android, an operating system based on Linux. This shows that its place in the world remains complicated. Though it’s moving to the web, it is still very much a company that makes money selling software — and it still has an interest in protecting this business.
Read more »Microsoft confirms UEFI fears, locks down ARM devices
http://www.softwarefreedom.org –
At the beginning of December, we warned the Copyright Office that operating system vendors would use UEFI secure boot anticompetitively, by colluding with hardware partners to exclude alternative operating systems.
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Previous Article Barnes & Noble Blows The Lid Off Microsoft's Android Patent Squeeze
http://www.networkworld.com –
B&N claims that all of these [exposed patents] are "trivial" and "insignificant" in terms of Android's use. They claim Microsoft is using these patents for minor functionality to hold Android hostage. It is not just licensing fee's either, ...
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Consumers Don't Own Computers "Designed for Windows 8", and They Go to Landfills Earlier
http://blog.ofset.org –
What you should be aware of and concerned about as a consumer is those machines labeled as "Designed for Windows 8". Much more so if you care about the environmental and humanitarian problems caused by e-wastes, for these machines do end up much earlier as e-wastes than the ordinary machines manufactured now.
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Microsoft, Red Hat Spar Over Secure Boot-loading Tech
http://www.pcworld.com –
Is Microsoft using a next-generation computing boot-loading technology to lock out the use of Linux and other OSEs on certain computers? While Microsoft has denied malicious intent, one Red Hat developer maintains that this may be the case.
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European Commission buys Microsoft for 20 years without competition
https://www.computerweekly.com –
Karsten Gerloff, president of lobby group Free Software Foundation Europe, said the ongoing Microsoft arrangement was a "disgrace" for the European Commission (EC).
"It's astounding that every single agreement between the Commission and Microsoft since 1993 has been concluded without a public call for tender," he said.
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TLWIR 13: C++11, Google Buys Motorola, and Linux No Longer a Threat
http://beginlinux.com –
This week was punctuated by three phenomenal stories that show how free software is prospering. C++ has been one of the staples of free software for several decades. It is the programming language of choice for a lot of programmers, and it just got a brand new revision. Google has provided some much-needed backing of free software by buying Motorola Mobility and its associated patent pool.
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Google also passes on European data to US authorities
http://www.h-online.com –
More solid reasons for leaving the cloud to the birds. With varying international laws, almost anyone can end up examining your private data. Security and privacy are never guaranteed.
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It's official: IE users are dumb as a bag of hammers
http://www.theregister.co.uk –
After measuring the IQs of exactly 101,326 users and correlating their scores with the browser they had used to access the test, "There was a clear indication ... that the subjects using any version of Internet Explorer ranked significantly lower on an average than others,"
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The Same Old Microsoft at OSCON
http://ur1.ca –
Microsoft bought a seat at OSCON. There are problems with both what they are telling us and what others might not be able to tell us because of this. A small retrospective is in order.
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FSFE Newsletter - July 2011
http://fsfe.org –
- attack on Free Software and the GNU GPL – the AVM case
- FSFE Internal: An era ends, others start – the team evolution
- how the European Commission got contract signed with Microsoft without caring about alternatives
- help us in Strasbourg!
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