Dr. Bill.TV #410 – Video – “The Leprechaun Riding on the Back of a Unicorn While Taking a Picture of a UFO Edition!”

The last VCR is made this month, Mandriva (formerly Mandrake) Linux is no more, As PCs decline, Microsoft betting its future on the cloud, CrossOver for Android has been installed and runs on a Google ChromeBook.

Links that pertain to this Netcast:

TechPodcasts Network

International Association of Internet Broadcasters

Blubrry Network

Dr. Bill Bailey.NET


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Dr. Bill.TV #410 – Audio – “The Leprechaun Riding on the Back of a Unicorn While Taking a Picture of a UFO Edition!”

The last VCR is made this month, Mandriva (formerly Mandrake) Linux is no more, As PCs decline, Microsoft betting its future on the cloud, CrossOver for Android has been installed and runs on a Google ChromeBook.

Links that pertain to this Netcast:

TechPodcasts Network

International Association of Internet Broadcasters

Blubrry Network

Dr. Bill Bailey.NET


Start the Video Netcast in the Blubrry Video Player above by
clicking on the “Play” Button in the center of the screen.

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Streaming M4V Audio





Streaming MP3 Audio

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You may also watch the Dr. Bill.TV Show on these services!

 

Dr. Bill.TV on YouTube Dr. Bill.TV on Vimeo

 


Codeweavers Crossover Running on a Chromebook!

Codeweavers Crossover allows you to run some (quite a few) Windows apps on Linux. It is the paid version of WINE. Well, Chromebooks are based on a special distro of Linux, and some Chromebooks (like the ASUS Chromebook Flip) now work with Android. So, look what Codeweavers has done!

Here’s what Codeweavers says: “Google released Android for Intel based ChromeBooks. AND CrossOver for Android installed and ran on a Google ChromeBook. More importantly, we were able to install the Steam Client into CrossOver for Android and run LIMBO and other games. MORE IMPORTANTLY, we have DirectX 9 support, keyboard support, mouse support, and sound support TODAY!!! PEOPLE, we are staring at a Leprechaun riding on the back of a Unicorn while taking a picture of a UFO. We are running CrossOver through Android on a ChromeBook running a Windows based game launched from the Steam client. THIS HAS NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE…EVER!!!”

Microsoft’s Future is In the Cloud

Microsoft sets itself on the Cloud for the future.

As PCs decline, Microsoft betting its future on the cloud

Tulsa World via the AP – “In a world where there’s a smartphone app for everything, one company — Amazon.com Inc. — has long been the host for an outsized share of online software and computing services.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wants to change that.

Nadella has poured billions of dollars into building new data centers around the world, hoping to position Microsoft as the leading alternative to Amazon in selling online computing power — housed in remote centers or ‘clouds’ — to internet startups and big corporations, as well as consumers.

As evidence the investment is paying off, Microsoft Corp. reported Tuesday that its Azure cloud-computing business more than doubled in sales last quarter, compared with a year earlier. That growth, combined with increases in revenue from Windows software licenses and other key segments, helped offset a big decline in revenue from the Nokia smartphone business that Microsoft largely shut down last year.

If Amazon has been the undisputed king of the cloud, analysts say Microsoft, Google and a few other tech giants are emerging as rivals. The competition could mean lower prices and more innovation, both for businesses that buy cloud-computing services and for consumers who use popular apps — from Netflix to Pinterest and Airbnb — that run in the cloud.

Amazon pioneered the cloud business almost 10 years ago, when the online retailer began renting out unused capacity on its own servers. Estimates vary, depending on how you define ‘cloud computing,’ but analysts at Synergy Research Group say Amazon still has more than 30 percent of the market, while Microsoft has grown to 10 percent — partly on the strength of Microsoft’s promise that its cloud services are compatible with Microsoft software that customers already have on their own computers.

IBM and Google have 7 and 5 percent, respectively. Like Microsoft, IBM reported this week that its cloud revenues increased in the last quarter, despite a broader decline in its traditional software business.

For consumers, competition in the cloud-computing industry could mean their favorite social media site or streaming entertainment app doesn’t depend on a single company to keep its service running. Increasingly, that’s also true for big companies like General Electric and Boeing, which provide online data and other services for their commercial customers, and which recently signed deals to move some of those services to Microsoft’s cloud.

‘Some companies will want to work with multiple cloud providers, so if anything goes wrong, they have redundancy,’ said Frank Gillett, a tech analyst with Forrester Research.

For Microsoft, meanwhile, cloud computing has been the company’s biggest source of growth in recent quarters. It’s helped drive up Microsoft’s stock price by 15 percent over the last year, despite sluggish sales of PC software and the near-collapse of its floundering smartphone business. The company’s stock was up about 4 percent in after-hours trading Tuesday following the earnings report.

Some investors worry the cloud business isn’t as profitable as selling traditional software, since the latter didn’t require massive spending on data centers. But cloud computing is ‘the area that offers the highest potential for the entire company to grow its way out of a very mature PC business,’ said Dan Morgan, senior portfolio manager at Synovus Trust, which holds Microsoft shares.

Results from Microsoft’s latest quarter underscored that trend. The company doesn’t disclose revenue for its Azure cloud computing service by itself. But Microsoft’s ‘Intelligent Cloud’ division — which includes Azure and some software that customers use in their own data centers — reported revenue of $6.7 billion, up 7 percent from a year earlier. That helped boost Microsoft’s overall sales to $22.6 billion, after adjusting for deferred revenue, for an overall increase of 2 percent.

Revenue from the division that includes Microsoft’s Office productivity software was up 5 percent. But sales from the ‘More Personal Computing’ segment fell 4 percent. The latter includes licensing fees that PC makers pay for Windows software, which saw an uncharacteristic increase, offset by declining revenue from smartphones and Xbox consoles.

Microsoft still relies heavily on the PC business, and it’s been aggressively promoting Windows 10, the latest version of its operating software for PCs and other devices. But Nadella has positioned Windows 10 as part of a broader software ecosystem that includes money-making online services like Skype and the ad-supported Bing search engine.

In a rare concession, Microsoft signaled last week that it was backing off its stated goal of getting Windows 10 on a billion devices by 2018. Analysts say the timetable was probably slowed by a continued slump in global PC demand, as well as Microsoft’s failure to persuade consumers to buy Windows-based phones.”

Mandriva Linux, Formerly Mandrake Linux, is No More!

I used to use Mandrake Linux back in the day (which later became Mandriva Linux to settle a copyright dispute with the Hearst Corporation over the “Mandrake” cartoon character in its newspapers.) It had some great features in it’s day. like the Mandriva Control Center for doing system administration.

You have to remember, this was prior to Unbuntu, Linux Mint, or Peppermint Linux. Now, they have quietly closed down the Mandriva Linux project.

Goodbye Mandriva, we will remember you fondly!

The Last VCR Will Roll Off the Assembly Line This Month!

Last VCR

Another old technology bites the dust!

RIP VHS: World’s Last VCR Will Be Made This Month

Forbes – By: Brittany Hodak – “Be warned, vintage videophiles: Japan’s Funai Electric, a company that claims to be the last manufacturer of videocassette recorders (VCRs), will manufacture its last VHS player this month.

Funai, which manufacturers the VCRs in China for Sanyo, says the decision comes after selling only 750,000 units last year, down from a peak of 15 million units per year. The decreased production numbers have made parts costly and difficult to source, the company says.

JVC’s VHS configuration debuted in 1977, sparking the VHS/Betamax configuration war. VHS trumped Betamax, which debuted in 1975, thanks in large part to its embracing of the X-Rated market; Sony banned the adult industry from releasing movies on its configuration, leading many consumers—who didn’t want to purchase two different devices—to choose VHS. A decade later, in 1987, VHS controlled 90% of the $5.25 billion VCR market. (Last year, Sony announced it would finally stop selling its blank Betamax cassette tapes.)

VHS ruled the home entertainment world for more than two decades. Sony created the DVD player in 1994, but the technology did not debut in the U.S. until 1997, due in larger part to copyright concerns from major movie studios. With early DVD players retailing for $1,000 or more, VHS remained the top configuration in the United States into the new millennium.

In 2001, retail DVDs topped VHS sales for the first time, capturing $4.6 billion of an annual $16.8 billion buying-and-rental market. However, only 25% of homes owning DVD players in 2001, and VHS remained the top rental configuration until mid-2003. The final nail in the VHS coffin came in 2oo6, when A History Of Violence became the final major Hollywood movie was released in the format.

Believe it or not, a search on Amazon for ‘VHS movies’ still returns 135,267 results. More than half of the titles are even available for free two-day Prime shipping! The most popular titles include a mix of classic Disney movies (Bambi, Lady and the Tramp and Beauty and the Beast lead the way) and original box sets of the Star Wars Trilogy. Pokemon: The First Movie also makes an appearance on the first page—presumably because Pokemon GO players are hoping to catch rare creatures inside.

It’s highly unlikely that VHS will ever receive the nostalgic revival that vinyl—and, in recent months, the cassette tape—has enjoyed, thanks in part to high-definition, ultra high-definition and 3D televisions. However, a small number of retro VHS titles still command big money on the secondary market, so look twice before you toss out those old videocassettes.

RIP, VCRs, and thanks for the memories.”

Dr. Bill.TV #409 – Video – “Special Never Windows 10 Edition!”

A special edition of the Dr. Bill.TV show discussing Steve Gibson’s Never 10 program to stop your system from upgrading to Windows 10!

Links that pertain to this Netcast:

TechPodcasts Network

International Association of Internet Broadcasters

Blubrry Network

Dr. Bill Bailey.NET

Steve Gibson’s Never 10


Start the Video Netcast in the Blubrry Video Player above by
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Dr. Bill.TV #409 – Audio – “Special Never Windows 10 Edition!”

A special edition of the Dr. Bill.TV show discussing Steve Gibson’s Never 10 program to stop your system from upgrading to Windows 10!

Links that pertain to this Netcast:

TechPodcasts Network

International Association of Internet Broadcasters

Blubrry Network

Dr. Bill Bailey.NET

Steve Gibson’s Never 10


Start the Video Netcast in the Blubrry Video Player above by
clicking on the “Play” Button in the center of the screen.

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Streaming M4V Audio





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Dr. Bill.TV on YouTube Dr. Bill.TV on Vimeo