• NASA sees significant quantities of water on the moon. Let’s go swimming!
  • Dell’s smart phone in the news.
  • Google to release Chrome OS soon.
  • Final Fantasy not final.
  • Brazil to get rich doing nothing.
  • Google cranks up Gizmo5.
  • YouTube goes 1080p HD? Why?
  • Palm to be bought by Nokia?
  • Banned Xbox may get fixed by modders.
  • Why is Qualcomm getting into the computer business?
  • MSFT will put ads on the Win7 desktop! What!?!?

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  1. Chris Columbus says:

    I really hope you’re wrong about ads on the Win 7 desktop. If this is true I will not upgrade.

  2. chuck says:

    Actually, they’re “themes” and some look pretty nice. If you’re running Windows 7 and would like having a picture of a Porsche on your desktop, you can download the theme.

    I prefer the “Canada” theme – lots of nice scenery, plus free health care.

  3. jeezopete says:

    Another case where he makes up his mind before he finished reading the headline…..these are just themes that you can go and download if you like. It’s not like brands haven’t done this before, it’s just that MS will offer them via their own website.

    As a Ducati owner, I tried the Ducati theme and rather like it.

    If you don’t like it, you have to take this action: none. Just avoid accidentally going to the personalization site and clicking “Download”.

  4. dusanmal says:

    @#4 You are missing the point. It is fine for you to go and get Ducati theme from Ducati site or Ducati Fan site. MS is neither. MS should provide well designed OS and capabilities of customization. Maybe MS promotional themes as well. But as soon as they even conduct other companies promotions through their system – they are abusing us, users. This can be acceptable only if they don’t charge anything for the OS. As long as I pay for the OS, I don’t want to see any commerce done on my back, be it voluntary or not – same thing. Because that commerce relies upon the fact that I have purchased something… MS can’t sell ad-space (voluntary or not) on non-existent platform. Presently I am paying for OS and what I am getting is voluntary ad platform for MS to earn money based on the fact that there are so many users who have it and certain percentage of them are suckers who’ll get the ads). Despicable.

  5. jeezopete says:

    Drama Queen whined:
    –they are abusing us–
    How does it abuse you? Exactly how does it diminish the utility of your W7 installation? You are getting what you paid for.

    Drama Queen further whined:
    –Presently I am paying for OS and what I am getting is voluntary ad platform–

    Um, no,. You still have an OS. Nothing changed, except that if you want to see pics of these products, you can. But it changes nothing about the software. If your Ford dealer had a rack of advertising bumper stickers in the corner, would you then cry that it’s despicable, and you no longer have a car, but a moving ad platform? I suppose you would. I also assume you do not go to movies because of the ads before the feature. And do not have cable because it has ads even though you paid.

    Stop being a butthurt little puritan.

  6. McCullough says:

    #6. Agreed. If they are using my hard drive space for anything other than the OS. Then they owe me.

    This is bullshit.

  7. jeezopete says:

    –If they are using my hard drive space for anything other than the OS. Then they owe me.–

    Well, then, they owe you nothing.

    They aren’t putting anything on your hard drive space. If you had bothered to actually take a look at any of the numerous articles about this, you would see that.

    If they were preloading this stuff into W7, I would agree. But they aren’t. They are putting the “ad themes” on their own website (which, despite buying W7, you don’t actually get to control) and allowing you to download them if you want go to their site and search for them.

    Your whines are bullshit.

  8. Postman says:

    Qualcomm is getting into computers because every truck in america
    has a primitive text termnal in it and the transport companies want the drivers
    to be able to do more things in trucks… Like logs, and use a digital camera to log load and equiptment status… Maybe scan bills as well.

    Also, the current qualcomm navigation system is horrible and I am sure they want to upgrade that as well.

  9. Dave Ni Bill says:

    kind of wrong their its important to under stand the facts.

    First off this is not a new its been known a long time since tmbc discovery of shader exploit.

    First off its proberly out the reach of most you as you have proberly been upgraded to the nxe if you haven’t then you might still have a chance.

    What you have to understand is that all your xbox privlages like singeing a game content as well as your consoles id are stored in special area on your xbox nand called KV or Key Vault.

    What happens when your banned your key vault becomes invalided and their for unable to preform function to use xbox live.

    In order to unban your self you will need some things.

    1.CPU KEY (unlike per box)
    2.A Valid Keyvault to replace with.

    You cpu key is need to singe your new keyvault. In order to get your key vault you will need to preform a timing attack.

    The timing attack is used as a brute force technique to guess the key vault which usually takes a few hours. it works simply by change the singe of a few files on your nand required for bootup. The attack works beacuse the system takes longer to respond due a wrong character being given.

    Once you have got your your cpu key you will then be able to singe a new key vault.

    As for getting the keyvault on your box you will need to xell (Linux for the xbox 360) which involve use the kk exploit and a jtag to inject your code.

  10. jeezopete says:

    Oy vey…downloading a theme is getting screwed? You people need lives.

    While you’re complaining about how the Robber Baron Microsoft is destroying your lives and computers by hosting themes on their site, our Prez is fucking up foreign policy nearly as bad as the last one, your govt is about to sign a copyright deal that’s going to make your head spin, and a new stimulus is likely to double your kids’ debt. Yet you find themes that no one is making you go and download a threat worth whining about.

    I think I know who the sheeple are.

  11. Jeff Little says:

    I would so let them run ads if the OS is free.

  12. jeezopetewhonolongerreallycares says:

    Last attempt to hammer knowledge into willfully ignorant whiners and I’m done.

    You guys are just like Adam, repeatedly reacting to a misunderstanding of the story.

    You obviously do not understand what MS is actually doing here. They are not “running” ads on your desktop. JCD got it wrong, because he didn’t read past the headline before spewing an opinion.

    I want to know EXACTLY how MS is “pwning us” by placing themes on their own website that will not be on your hd unless you go off and download them. Tell me. Tell me now.

    If you put a sticker for a product you really like on your car, have you been “pwned”? (You would likely be crass and tasteless, but that’s not the question.) And in this case, no one will likely even see it except for you. “Oh, man, you have been so screwed by the man! You have pictures from Bing on your desktop.” Um, whatever.

    (BTW, “pwned”? Really? Are you 16, and typing this between raids in your basement? I’m old enough to not want to hire people who use “pwned” and “kewl”.)

  13. jeezopete says:

    Explain exactly in clear English how it hurts one to have downloaded a theme. Clearly, not in insults, but in clear words. What is the damage? How is is abuse to offer a theme?

    But you can’t answer because what you’re complainign about isn’t actually happening.

    MS is not putting this in W7.
    They are not running ads on the desktop.
    They are not using up your hd space.
    You are railing against a nonevent.

    Enjoy your moment of “standin’ up to the Man” by freaking out over something that isn’t happening. Be happy and ignorant too….and panic again next time JCD jumps to a conclusion.


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