According to figures from tracking firm comScore, the Mail Online surpassed the Times in unique visitors in December — 45.35 million for the Mail to 44.8 million for the Times.

Not so fast, said the Times.

It noted that the Mail figure includes visitors not only to the newspaper site — dailymail.co.uk — but also to those of an affiliated personal finance site — thisismoney.co.uk.

ComScore said dailymail.co.uk attracted 44.5 million unique visitors in December — slightly less than the Times’s 44.8 million.

Thisismoney.co.uk drew 1.03 million.

“The New York Times remains the number one individual newspaper site worldwide,” Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy said.

“In any case, a quick review of our site versus the Daily Mail should indicate quite clearly that they are not in our competitive set,” she said.

Rounding out comScore’s top five list of most-visited newspaper websites were USA Today with 37.17 million unique visitors in December, Tribune Newspapers with 32.83 million and Britain’s Guardian with 29.15 million.

In an interview with Buzzfeed, Martin Clarke, the editor of the Mail’s online properties, said growth of the site has been driven by US traffic.

“We just do news that people want to read,” in an “entertaining, engaging way,” Clarke said.

source form: yahoo

The world’s largest cellphone maker by volume unveiled a year ago a major strategy shift to Microsoft Corp software for its smartphones in an attempt to challenge Apple and Google Inc’s Android. But Apple’s phones in particular have proved far more popular.

Apple reported earlier this week sales of 37 million iPhones for the December quarter. Nokia has sold over 1 million Windows ‘Lumia’ Phones, since its launch in mid-November.

“It is more than some were expecting, but it’s not going to worry Apple or Google,” said analyst Nick Dillon from research firm Ovum.

Nokia said it expected its phone business’ underlying earnings to be around breakeven in the first quarter, well below analysts’ forecasts, with sales falling more than usual in the seasonally weaker quarter.

“The report highlights that the start of the Windows strategy is slow, and we have very little concrete data to predict its success at this point,” said analyst Michael Schroder from FIM Securities.

“There are a lot of uncertainties. These are critical times for the future of the whole company. The next months will be extremely important.”

SCALING UP

Ben Wood, head of research at mobile consultancy CCS Insight, compared Nokia to a late starter in a marathon, saying it needed to move fast: “The reality is that it’s going to have to be an exceptionally fast marathon if it wants narrow the gap with its rivals.”

To close the gap, Nokia will need to move quickly to push out the phone into more markets and with secure more partners.

Windows Phones have only been released in 15 markets so far, meaning Nokia has yet to take full advantage of its worldwide sales force — a presence that could help boost sales fast.

In the United States, it has partnered with No. 4 U.S. carrier T-Mobile to enter the U.S. smartphone market, and has yet to break into two of the other largest smartphone markets in the world — China and Japan. A ramp up in those countries could help Nokia close the gap with rivals.

Analysts said Nokia also needed to focus on marketing and sales channel to drive Lumia sales volumes.

“They need to market the hell out of it,” said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi. “Android is still an easy sale. Nokia needs to convince the sales people in stores to sell Nokia.”

BETTER THAN FEARED

Nokia’s fourth-quarter core earnings per share of 0.06 euro were better than the market’s expectation for 0.04 euro. The results were boosted by a $250 million payment from Microsoft as part of the Windows Phone sales deal.

Shares in the Nokia were up 1 percent to 4.10 euros at 1526 GMT, regaining some ground lost over the past week following poor results from its suppliers.

Nokia proposed a 0.20 euro-per-share dividend for 2011, slightly more than expected.

The board put forward Risto Siilasmaa as its next chairman replacing long-time leader, Jorma Ollila, who steps down in May.

Nokia’s quarterly net loss totaled 1.1 billion euros ($1.43 bln), or 0.29 euros per share, due to a 1.1 billion writedown for its digital mapping assets.

Microsoft has tried to enter the mobile industry for more than ten years, but with little success. Its market share is 1-2 percent. Canalys analyst Pete Cunningham said Microsoft’s deal with Nokia was make or break for its ambitions in this sector.

“Nokia gives Microsoft a chance to enter the big stage. If they cannot make it work, arguably this is the end of the road,” he said.

($1 = 0.7708 euros)

source form: yahoo

The Los Gatos, California-based company’s shares soared 23.5 percent to $117.40 in afternoon trading. Shares had dropped to a year’s low of $62.37 on November 30.

Analysts at Citigroup, Barclays and J.P. Morgan Securities raised their price targets for Netflix. The fourth-quarter gain of more than 600,000 U.S. customers may help alleviate concerns about the company’s ability to gain new business after a series of high-profile missteps, they said.

Citigroup also upgraded the stock to “buy” from “neutral.”

Other analysts maintained their price targets, urging caution in the face of growing competition including a potential stand-alone offering of Amazon.com Inc’s video streaming product at a lower price.

“We believe Netflix was a bit dismissive of the potential competitive threat here, but the degree of risk almost entirely depends on whether Amazon would approach such a service with its existing content library, or whether it would be willing to step up spending dramatically to acquire more content,” JP Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth said in a client note.

He said that in the end, competition with Amazon would not be good for the shares of either company.

On Wednesday, Netflix management acknowledged the competitive landscape. In a letter to shareholders, Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings shrugged off the threat from Amazon.com and Hulu Plus and said both services offered far less content. The greatest competition will come from cable networks going mobile, he said.

Thursday’s share gains represented the biggest one-day jump for Netflix since January 2010, when the stock rose 23 percent after better-than-expected earnings and a bullish subscriber forecast.

Still, it would take a major positive run for Netflix to return to its former heights as a Wall Street darling, as recently as seven months ago when its shares peaked at $304 on July 13.

Netflix, which outraged customers with a surprising price increase and a botched attempt to split off its DVD-by-mail service in 2011, added 610,000 net new subscribers in its home U.S. market in the fourth quarter, helping revenue leap 47 percent to $876 million.

Total U.S. subscribers stood at 24.4 million at the end of December, still below the 24.6 million the company boasted at the end of June.

As the company shifts customers from its DVD-by-mail service onto instant streaming, Netflix has been writing ever-heftier checks to acquire more TV programs and movies for its streaming service. The company said it will operate with a loss for a few quarters this year while it expands in Latin America, Britain and Ireland.

source form: yahoo

Until now, Twitter had to remove a Tweet from its global network if it received a takedown request from a government. But the company said in a blog post published Thursday that it now has the ability to selectively block a Tweet from appearing to users in one country.

“Starting today, we give ourselves the ability to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country while keeping it available in the rest of the world,” the Twitter blog said.

Twitter gave as examples of restrictions it might cooperate with, such as “pro-Nazi content” in France and Germany, where it is banned.

It said even with the possibility of such restrictions, Twitter would not be able to coexist with some countries. “Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there,” it said.

“As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression,” Twitter wrote.

In the interest of transparency, Twitter said, it has built a mechanism to inform users in the event that a Tweet is being blocked.

A Twitter spokeswoman declined to elaborate on the blog.

Twitter’s acknowledgement that it will censor content represents a significant departure from its tone just one year ago, when anti-government protesters in Tunisia, Egypt and other Arab countries coordinated mass demonstrations on the social network and, in the process, thrust Twitter’s disruptive potential into the global spotlight.

As the revolutions brewed last January, Twitter signaled that it would take a hands-off approach to censoring content in a blog post entitled “The Tweets Must Flow.”

“We do not remove Tweets on the basis of their content,” the blog post read. “Our position on freedom of expression carries with it a mandate to protect our users’ right to speak freely and preserve their ability to contest having their private information revealed.”

And last year, Twitter General Counsel Alex Macgillivray declared that the company was “from thefree speech wing of the free speech party.”

Still, some open Internet advocates said it appeared Twitter did the best it could to navigate the dueling responsibilities of complying with local law and upholding free speech.

Twitter would be banned outright in many countries if it did not agree to restrict Tweets, said Cynthia Wong of the Center for Technology & Democracy.

“The question is: What’s best for freedom of speech?” Wong said. “If Twitter was completely blocked from certain countries, is that really better? It looks like Twitter has done a good job in thinking through how to mitigate the human rights harm in complying with local law.”

Twitter’s move highlighted the frequent tensions over freedom of speech and privacy issues between foreign governments and Internet companies such as Google and Facebook as they expand rapidly overseas.

In 2010 Google relocated its Web search engine to Hong Kong, following a very public spat with the Chinese government over its refusal to bow to Beijing’s Web censorship requirements and a hacking episode that Google said it had traced to China.

source form: yahoo

The iPhone 5 is headed toward production for a summer debut, according to a report in 9 to 5 Mac.

The information comes from an anonymous source: the same Foxconn employee who last fall accurately disclosed that Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) was planning a revamped iPhone 4, the 4S, rather than the iPhone 5, according to the publication.

This time around, the employee said that a few versions of the new handset have been considered, so it’s difficult to know exactly what the design will look like.

Many of the design updates the smartphones had in common were similar to the rumors that preceded the iPhone 4S. For instance, the new phone will have a four-inch display, an increase from the three-and-a-half-inch screen that iPhones currently have, according to the report.

The phone is also not expected to be a teardrop shape and will be longer and wider than the present model.

If Apple continues to follow its production and shipping patterns, the company needs about a five-month lead time to complete manufacturing and get the phones to stores. Assuming the sourc is accurate and the finished product is gearing toward production, that would give the iPhone 5 a summer launch. Until the iPhone 4S made its debut last October, summer had been the preferred iPhone release season for Apple since 2007.

Apple didn’t respond to our requests for comment.

Not in a Hurry

Apple released record quarterly earnings this week, driven largely by sky-high sales of the iPhone 4S, so the company perhaps doesn’t feel a need to rush out the iPhone 5 before it’s ready. However, it likely doesn’t want to keep customers waiting too long either.

“Summer makes sense. The 4S was late in most people’s minds, compared to their previous releases. But at this point, they can’t not do a larger screen or some kind of 4G LTE technology, so it’s probably going to be summer unless some kind of hiccup comes up,” John Feland, CEO and founder of Argus Insights, told MacNewsWorld.

A larger screen would be the line’s first screen size change since the iPhone first came out in 2007. Many competing phones, particularlyAndroid phones by Samsung and Motorola, feature larger screens.

“Nearly five years later, consumer taste has evolved closer to four inches, and in some cases five inches or more. I think it’s great that the iPhone as it is can fit in your pocket, but so can most four-inch smartphones too, and it’s still comfortable in the hand to type in,” Ramon T. Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC Mobile Devices Technology and Trends, told MacNewsWorld.

As customers start using their smartphones for more communication and multitasking purposes, the demand for a larger screens increases, especially when larger — and often more affordable — phones from competitors are on the market.

“We are seeing screen size be a detractor for iPhone 4S users. Of the top 10 most discussed features, it’s number 10 with a net negative sentiment. On the Galaxy Nexus by Samsung and the Droid Razr by Motorola, [the discussions] are overwhelmingly positive. In fact, a majority of the user commentary for these two new phones is about the screen size,” said Feland.

Keeping Customers Happy

“At the end of the day, Apple needs something with a screen size between the iPad and the current generation of iPhones, given their continued push as a content provider,” Feland continued. “We’re far enough on the cost curve that these issues are no longer barriers for Apple to go big this next round of the iPhone. As evidenced by the Android users that love their bigger screens, this shift will delight an already deliriously happy customer set.”

Before the iPhone 4S came out, customers expected a larger screen. The immediate response to that product appeared lukewarm. Though Apple’s earnings report is clear evidence that the device bounced back from that early reaction, customers have come to expect Apple to be on top of its game when it releases a new product.

“Recall the mild disappointment when the iPhone 4S was announced and there was no larger — or smaller — screen. With this upcoming iPhone, be it summertime or sometime else, users will most likely come back anticipating a bigger screen and 4G LTE, as these features have become expectations, and not nice-to-haves, on smartphones,” said Llamas.

source form: technewsworld

Slingbox lets you watch your television remotely. The Slingbox hardware device captures the source image and audio at your home and squirts it into the Internet.

Proprietary software is used to replicate a television-like experience on laptops or other devices like smartphones. Hardware-based infrared transmitters create remote control commands and viewing can take place within the home’s network, or globally across the Internet, including mobile data networks.

Slingbox PRO-HD

Any video signal that outputs through composite cables — the common red, white and yellow ones — can be captured. Sources therefore range from cable and satellite boxes to digital video recorders and security cameras. HDMI and component cables can also be used.

All sounds great, right? Watch a home-team game nowhere near home, catch the local news across the country. Well, it is great when it works.

Many variables come into play during slinging, including bandwidth quality and router issues, including those related to ports. I’m currently on my third Slingbox and modestly consider myself a veteran. Here are some of the evergreen basics I’ve learned, over some years, to keep a Slingbox running right.

IP Address

Disable UpNP (Universal Plug and Play) on the network’s router and set the IP address for the Slingbox manually if you experience any flakiness connecting remotely or the stream inexplicably drops out.

Often you can access the router’s Web browser management panel here. The User ID may be “Admin” and password blank on Linksys routers, or the password can be “password” on Verizon Actiontec routers. But yours may be different. Check with the router manufacturer’s website.

About Ports

Open Port 5001 on your router if you’ve been unable to get the Slingbox to stream outside of your home network. The Slingbox defaults to Port 5001, although you can change that in the Slingbox configuration settings if you need to — like if you have more than one Slingbox.

The port has to be open for the streaming to work remotely, even if streaming works within the home. Open it by looking for the gaming, or a “Port Forwarding” section of the router’s firewall within the router’s Web browser management panel.

Adequate Bandwidth

Obtain as much upstream bandwidth at the Slingbox as you can get your hands on. This is probably the single most important thing you can do to improve video picture quality.

Do not use WiFi adapters to bridge the Slingbox onto the Internet. Use hard and fast Cat 5E Ethernet cables to connect the Slingbox to the router and thus out onto the street. Forget Powerline adapters. I even had trouble with Belkin’s HD Powerline kit, which is supposed to transfer at 1000 Mbps.

Upstream Speed

Look for a minimum of 256 Kbps upstream for a barely acceptable picture. Good pictures will be obtained with fiber Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that can deliver 2 Mbps upstream and more.

Even if your DSL copper-based ISP is promising you, what sounds on paper, good upload speeds, variables like distance from its switch, the quality of the phone line in the home, and more come into play.

Check providers in your area and ditch anyone who isn’t delivering you high speeds.

Internet Access

Cause a stink at your ISP if any of the previous steps don’t provide a good picture. It’s likely its fault. Have the cable guy’s installation work checked by a supervisor, and make the ISP give you a new modem and cabling.

I had an occasion recently when the TV and Internet splitter used for my cable connection at the Sling viewing location was discovered as being TV-grade, not Internet grade. Replacing it and changing out the three-year old RCA modem for a brand-new Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) — plus days of complaints and threats to cancel — got me a significantly better Slingbox stream there.

Fixed IP Address

Try to get a fixed IP address from the ISP for the Slingbox’s location. This will let you access the router there remotely, including periodic rebooting, at the same time you are experiencing the trouble. You’ll be able to identify if trouble is at the Slingbox itself (because the device won’t show on the network) or issues with the packet route.

Run a Trace Route at your viewing location by typing “cmd” on a Windows machine at “Run” on the start menu, and then type “tracert,” a space, and the IP address the ISP at the Slingbox end has given you. You’ll see the hops the traffic is taking to that IP address from where you are.

Long waits measured in “ms” (milliseconds) can indicate trouble that you should report to your ISP along with slow speed test results from a testing website. Ignore “Request Timed Out” on the last few hops of a trace because some ISPs won’t report those hops back.

Use a speed testing website that allows you to select server locations, and choose locations as close as possible to your sending and receiving locations. Make notes and use the notes as evidence when arguing with your ISP.

source form: technewsworld

source form: technewsworld

There’s no denying that the FOSS community has many virtues, but gender equality doesn’t seem to be one of them.

Gender-related issues and tensions have plagued the FOSS world for as long as many of us can remember, and the problem has already been picked apart on these pages time, time andtime again.

Well guess what? It’s still a problem — at least, if recent discussion in the blogosphere is anything to go by.

Groping, Insults and Harassment

“Breaking down the gender divide in open source and open culture” is the title of a recent story on TechWorld, and it’s a provocative one.

Focusing primarily on the Ada Initiative, the piece details some of the groping, insults and harassment frequently experienced by female members of the FOSS community. It also notes that women’s participation in open source is an order of magnitude worse than it is in the proprietary world.

That it’s a problem at least on some level can hardly be denied. Linux bloggers varied widely, however, in their opinions as to what should be done.

‘Blah Blah Blah’

“If women with families have any free time from working in the craziness of the tech industry, bet it wont be doing some more code in the evening — however interesting that may be,” wrote shephallmassive in the TechWorld comments, for example.

“20yrs + as a female engineer and I still see no advertising for permanent part-time/job share software engineers/programmers (UK),” shephallmassive added. “Till that changes, talk about gender diversity in this industry is just that blah blah blah.”

On the other hand: “WTF?” wrote Chris. “EVERYONE can contribute to Open Source. And if women want to invent something spectacular, that changes the world… Please. Feel free to do so. I’m waiting for Mamapedia, Femux or grrloogle…”

‘I Am Very Ashamed’

Alternatively: “I think most of the comments miss the point,” wrote Jacobus Erasmus.

“The problem is that the environment in the open source community is such that women feel uncomfortable.

“I am very ashamed of the situation and so should the whole community,” Jacobus Erasmus added. “This is one situation we cannot pull out the Righteous card; we are simply wrong.”

And the flip side: “The fallacy of the reasoning that the cause of the lack of participation of women is that they are ‘uncomfortable,’” shot back TheBeez. “The only ones that can change the current situation are women themselves. Go ahead, what’s keeping you? Or too busy whining like a spoiled kid?”

With sentiments like that ringing through the blogosphere, it’s no wonder the topic flew like a flash to Slashdot and beyond. Down at the blogosphere’s Punchy Penguin Saloon, Linux Girl knew it was going to be a long night.

‘The Hallmark of Geeks Everywhere’

“FLOSS is a meritocracy,” blogger Robert Pogson began. “Much development is generated on the web with no face to face interaction so sexism cannot be much of a problem.”

Many women do contribute to FLOSS, and “no one questions their contribution because of their sex,” Pogson added. “Others contribute in many ways other than code: documentation, promotion, education and bug reporting.”

So, is there sexism in FLOSS? “Certainly,” Pogson concluded. “Stupid social skills are the hallmark of computer geeks everywhere. You will find such stupidity in every walk of life from the churches to offices and boardrooms.”

Nevertheless, “FLOSS is a culture of software creation, not abuse,” he added.

‘Technical Points Rather Than Cup Size’

“We need to get better at policing our events,” consultant and Slashdot blogger Gerhard Mack offered. “I can empathize with not wanting to be groped or harassed, and I wonder if we need to be better at ejecting people from the building.”

In any case, “I think the Ada initiative is the best idea since this whole debate got started,” Mack opined.

“Speaking as a guy, I have found the whole thing up until now rather frustrating since there has only been a lot of noise and accusations that we are doing something wrong without anyone actually telling us what exactly we are doing wrong and what we should be doing differently,” he said.

“I’m of course not excusing bad behaviors and, as much as I wish I could, I can’t force the FSF to see the light and stop putting RMS on stage,” Mack added. “But I have tried to have respect for other people and discuss technical points rather than cup size.”

‘There Is NO Gap’

The problem is part of what Slashdot blogger hairyfeet calls the “liberal PC fallacy,” he told Linux Girl.

Specifically, it’s a result of “treating everyone as identical, no matter what the evidence shows,” he explained. “To the liberal PC advocate, a woman is merely a man with an inverted penis and larger breasts. This of course is about as in tune with reality as dressing like Bozo to go to an Amish wake.”

In fact, “there is NO gap because the ‘gap’ only exists in the liberal PC mindset, not in reality,” hairyfeet added. “Women are simply better at certain tasks — and nooo, I don’t mean being barefoot and pregnant while making me a sammich, I mean areas like languages and communications, negotiations and other areas where the ability to read non verbal cues is an asset.”

‘You Will NEVER Get a 50/50 Ratio’

So “why would women WANT to take a job they don’t like, don’t have an advantage in, and where there are plenty of other opportunities for advancement?” hairyfeet asked. “For every ‘geeker girl’ there are probably 100,000 that only want to use a PC long enough to get the job done and get away from the stupid thing.”

In the end, “as long as there is a decent workplace so if little Sally wants to be a programmer she can, that should be all that matters,” hairyfeet asserted. “You will NEVER get a 50/50 ratio of women to men in that profession, same as I don’t think you’ll ever see a 50/50 balance of women to men in nursing.

“We are just two completely different creatures that happen to have the ability to speak the same language,” he concluded.

‘Your Abilities Will Be Discounted’

Barbara Hudson, a blogger on Slashdot who goes by ”Tom” on the site, saw it differently.

“After years of sexist presentations at open-source IT events, organizations such as the Apache Foundation have adopted the geekfeminism anti-harassment policy,” she began. “I don’t know which is worse — that it’s taken so long to acknowledge the problem exists, that many men are still in denial, or that an official policy is even needed.”

Women who have been in the business for a while all have their stories, Hudson said: “Guys sharing — loudly — their latest porn sites…. Overhearing the boss agreeing with marketing to call back a potential hire ‘because she has a great ____’ — and they weren’t talking about her resume.

“Guys speculating about their chances of ‘scoring’ with sales reps, customers, and the women in the next office,” Hudson went on. “Having other women come to you when the boss isn’t looking because they were given objectives without either guidance or resources, and they’re too afraid to ask the boss because he’ll just criticize them in front of everyone for ‘not knowing their job.’ Knowing that your abilities will be discounted in job interviews because of your gender, same as your wages.”

‘A Warning Sign of Deeper Problems’

All this “erodes trust,” she explained. “And then men complain about the dearth of women in IT and try to blame it on women leaving for family reasons?”

Sexism in I.T. is “a warning sign of deeper problems,” Hudson concluded. “ Studies show that gender inequality is ‘a salient feature of most delinquent and criminal subcultures.’ Think about the implications for a minute: street gangs and IT … who would have thought they had so much in common?”

Last but not least, Chris Travers, a Slashdot blogger who works on the LedgerSMB project, had some specific ideas for solutions to the problem.

Hobby vs. Employment

“This is something that gets talked about a fair bit, but having talked a fair bit with women in open source, there are a lot of things which are often missing from this discussion,” Travers told Linux Girl.

“One friend characterized it as on one hand being hit on by armies of desperate geeks, and on the other being very annoyed at being constantly asked what we have to do to get more women in open source,” Travers explained. “Like many things, many attempts to address the issue actually reinforces the barriers or erects new ones rather than solving it.”

That said, Travers had a few observations:

1. “A significant number of men I know in open source entered open source as a hobby; of the women I know in open source, virtually all entered open source via employment. Historically and today, women have tended to adopt lower-risk economic strategies than men, meaning that they also tend to be more economically conservative (the wild west had a gender ratio similar to that of open source today for a long time, as did the early days of the internet), which suggests to me that the gender ratio in open source is likely to be perpetual in some areas — especially those which are not independently economically viable — but temporary in many others.

2. “Projects where contribution is more closely tied to economic opportunity tend to have much higher numbers of women contributing than those which do not provide that link.”

An Economic Problem

Based on those observations, “I come back to the idea that the single biggest barrier to entry is that open source is still seen very much as a higher risk strategy, a niche market, etc., and that we aren’t bringing in the sorts of opportunities in the community that women find appealing and attractive,” Travers suggested.

“This means that in my estimation, the biggest piece of work to do is to show how economically viable open source business applications can be and create economic opportunities around that area,” he concluded.

source form: technewsworld

This story was originally published on Sept. 22, 2011, and is brought to you today as part of our Best of ECT News series.

Now that Linux has reached the ripe old age of 20, it seems fair to say the software is officially “mature.” Were it a human, after all, it would likely be allowed to drive by now, and maybe even to drink, too.

Just as we humans tend to engage in a little self-analysis and image-updating when we reach major milestones like these — updating ourselves to reflect who we have become, as it were — so too, it may be time for Linux to do the same.

Such, indeed, was essentially the point behind a recent open poll at Tux Radar. Specifically,”Does Tux help or hinder Linux?” was the question at hand.

Something Fiercer, Perhaps?

“On the one hand, Tux’s cheerful face and relaxed posture could be the perfect way to express what we love about Linux,” the TuxRadar team explained. “It’s not too corporate, it’s fun, and it’s happy to welcome anyone into its fold.

“But on the other hand, it could be argued that such a toy-like mascot stops big business from taking the community seriously,” they explained. “Would a more conventional logo make us look more professional? How about a different, more powerful sort of animal?”

For anyone who cares about Linux, it’s hard not to have an opinion about this one, as the comments of some 70 readers made patently clear.

Or Something Less Cartoonish?

“Tux is perfect: neat, bold, compact,” opined Martin Greaney in the TuxRadar comments, for example. “It stands out well.”

On the other hand: “While I recognize the penguin as a good mascot, it can be taken as something that is not serious, especially when it comes to the professional image,” noted Patrick G Horneker.

Similarly: “The noble penguin can be made into a great logo, yes — but its standard Tux representation is just childish and cartoon-y,” wrote Mike K.

Then again: “Compared to the paperclip, that silly dog and the spandex MS butterfly (don’t even google that) I think tux is respectable enough,” chimed in PaulS.

Is the lovable Tux still right for Linux, or is it time for a change? Linux Girl took to the blogosphere’s infamous Punchy Penguin Saloon to find out.

Don’t Change a Thing

“Tux is the perfect logo — he’s cute, memorable and there is no way you can take it the wrong way,” consultant and Slashdot blogger Gerhard Mack told LinuxInsider.

Similarly, “I like Tux almost as much as Tux likes herring,” agreed Hyperlogos blogger Martin Espinoza. “He’s cute and nonthreatening and yet he looks little to nothing like any other logos. On the rare occasion that he appears on the box for a piece of hardware, he’s easy to pick out.”

And again: “Tux is a great mascot,” concurred blogger Robert Pogson. “Children and adults around the world love Tux.

“I am actually growing to resemble Tux, even though I eat bread instead of herring,” Pogson added. “I spend a lot of time sitting, too … It just would not be right to have some athletic gazelle as a mascot for the greatest kernel in the world.”

Stamp His Image Everywhere

Slashdot blogger hairyfeet agreed, but he also had a suggestion.

Tux is “cute, he’s sassy, he makes a great little mascot,” hairyfeet told LinuxInsider.

“But just think how much nicer Tux would be if you could find him on boxes?” hairyfeet added. “If you could tell your aunt, ‘just look for Tux the penguin’ and know she would have ZERO problems shopping? Wouldn’t that be nice?”

Tux Who?

Roberto Lim, a lawyer and blogger on Mobile Raptor, wasn’t so sure.

“I like penguins,” Lim began. “I use a Tux image as an avatar in one forum. Unfortunately, as a mascot or logo for Linux, Tux is a failure.”

It’s not clear many people associate Tux with Linux, Lim explained.

“The Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) logo is self explanatory in more ways than one; Microsoft’s(Nasdaq: MSFT) Window logo has departed a bit from its historical look, but it did used to look like a stained glass Window, and Windows is the name of the operating system.

“The relation of Tux to Linux,” on the other hand, “is questionable,” he asserted.

Where Is It?

Perhaps even worse is that few distros even use Tux in their own branding, Lim pointed out.

“Stars, hats, lizards, swirls, symbols of universal friendship and instant messenger icons … but no one seems to use the penguin,” Lim noted. “I do not know which Linux distro actually uses the penguin. What is the point of having a mascot that no one seems to use?”

At this point, however, “coming up with a new logo or mascot is pointless,” Lim opined. “Software for Linux operating systems are not even compatible with all Linux operating systems. What it the point of having a unified icon to represent diverse and incompatible distributions?

“The Green Droid does represent software compatibility, to a fair degree at least,” he added.

One Step Further …

It might even be better to drop the Linux name altogether, Lim ventured.

“A distro might have better luck if it stops using the Linux name, and leave people open-minded about this fancy new operating system with the really intuitive OS,” he suggested.

Not everyone saw it that way, however.

Penguins Are People-Friendly

“The penguin is fine — people actually associate the penguin with linux,” asserted Barbara Hudson, a blogger on Slashdot who goes by “Tom” on the site.

“The competition? How about an apple with a bite out of it. I wonder, did someone have a run-in of Biblical proportions with the BSD demon at some point in the past?” she mused. “‘Hey, what’s wrong wit youse, lady? Eat the apple, already!’ It would explain Darwin’s roots.”

Then “there’s a flag of a window that has morphed into 4 rectangles,” she added.

“Somehow, a stuffed penguin sitting on a desk looks friendlier than either of the other two,” Hudson said.

“Just as long as we don’t graft an ugly Gnu goat head on Tux,” she concluded. “After all, we don’t call it ‘Symantec/Windows,’ or for those into bad car analogies, ‘Firestone/Ford’ or ‘Goodyear/GM.’ And while we’re at it, the Gnu logo could stand to lose the ‘soul patch.’”

source form: technewsworld

Announcing its decision on Wednesday, Microsoft’s Frank Shaw said the company’s product news milestones generally don’t align with the timing of the show, which is regularly held in January.

“Microsoft was faced with announcing Windows 8 a month before they want to announce it, when they’re unprepared, and it becomes an untimely showcase,” Rob Enderle, principal analyst of the Enderle Group, pointed out.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is widely expected to unveil new information about Windows 8 during his keynote speech at the show, and several vendors, including HP (NYSE: HPQ), are rumored to be planning to demo products running on that OS at CES.

“Both CEA and Microsoft have agreed that the time has come to end this great run, and so Microsoft will not have a keynote at the 2013 CES,” the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) said in a statement emailed to TechNewsWorld by CES spokesperson Tara Dunion.

CES is hosted by the CEA, which has “received expressions of interest for” the Central Hall exhibit space that Microsoft has used, the CEA stated.

Microsoft spokesperson Annie Truong pointed to the company’s blogpost announcing its decision in response to requests for further comment for this story.

Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot?

Perhaps it is indeed time for Microsoft to bow out of CES.

The consumerization of technology is “pushing out traditional IT vendors like Microsoft,” opined Carl Howe, research director at theYankee Group.

“I think the real upshot was that Microsoft realized that the ROI (return on investment) of spending millions to market to consumer electronics dealers wasn’t really that high,” Howe told TechNewsWorld.

“Much of Microsoft’s revenue comes from either enterprises or OEMs, so the consumer aspect of CES wasn’t the best fit for their business.”

Further, “A lot of vendors have been talking for some time about CES being impractical,” Enderle told TechNewsWorld. “It comes too soon after Christmas, when they’re still struggling with Christmas numbers, and it provides a significant risk of leaks that will see consumers stop buying and wait and see what’s coming.”

Following in Steve’s Footsteps?

From now on, Microsoft “will announce their products when they’re ready,” Enderle stated. “It’s the same decision as Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) made.”

Apple stunned the Mac faithful when it announced in 2008 that it would pull out of Macworld after the January 2009 show. It reasoned that trade shows had become a very minor part of the way in which it reaches customers.

Echoes of that might be seen in Microsoft’s statement, which highlighted different ways in which it tells customer stories. These include product momentum disclosures, social media such as Facebook and Twitter, its Microsoft.com website, and its retail stores, the first of which was opened in Scottsdale, Ariz., in 2009.

However, Redmond didn’t explicitly state that these alternative routes were a factor its decision.

Is CES Hurting?

There’s a long waiting list for exhibit space in the CES central hall — where Microsoft has traditionally had its booth — according to the CEA. In past years, available exhibit space in the central hall has sold out within hours, it pointed out.

Perhaps it’s correct to be optimistic. “I don’t expect a wholesale abandonment of CES because Microsoft pulls out,” the Yankee Group’s Howe stated. “I think we’ll see some new keynote speakers for the show and a lot of new little companies trying out CES as a way to reach consumers.”

Microsoft “may be back some day, especially if Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) decides to take over Microsoft’s prime speaking and exhibition spots,” Howe suggested.

However, Redmond’s pullout may have hurt the CEA more than it’s willing to let on.

“Microsoft is the biggest bellwether for good or ill that CES has had,” Enderle said. “CES is an anachronism, a statement of the ’80s. It’s going to have to change dramatically or die.”

source form: technewsworld