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Paul Allen, Microsoft Co-founder, Diagnosed with Cancer

Bart Salisbury — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:30:42 -0600

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen was diagnosed earlier this month with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The news was disclosed by his sister, Jody Allen, in an e-mail to employees of Vulcan, Allen’s holding company. The cancer is similar to one Allen suffered from that lead to his retirement from Microsoft in 1983.

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is a cancer that occurs in the cells of the immune system. Lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, becomes abnormal, and multiply rapidly. Because these abnormal cells don’t die when they should the body is less protected from infection and disease. Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma can occur at any age. Nearly 66,000 Americans each year are diagnosed with this form of cancer.

Allen, who is 56, is on a bit of an unlucky streak. News of his cancer follows close on the heels of a bout with heart disease, which required a heart-value replacement. Allen is currently undergoing chemotherapy. According to his sister: "Paul is feeling OK and remains upbeat. He continues to work and he has no plans to change his role at Vulcan. His health comes first, though, and we'll be sure that nothing intrudes on that."

Image Credit: Blogs and Bucks

British Teachers Afraid WiFi Is Sterilizing Children

Pulkit Chandna — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 20:36:38 -0500

Teachers in UK are demanding the removal of WiFi from schools lest it may jeopardize the health and fertility of kids. The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) has become alarmed after a few studies claimed WiFi may cause loss of short-term memory, lack of concentration, cancer and sterility.

The issue was brought up by Colin Kinney at ATL’s annual meeting. He referenced a Swedish research and the findings of some other European experts to justify his sense of alarm. “Have we the right to avoid the moral warnings simply for access to a few more computers?” he asked the attendees at ATL’s annual meeting.

He wants a long-time study to probe WiFi’s impact on heath. The teacher’s body has espoused Kinney’s concerns and resolved to prod the government into action.

Image Credit: TechShout

Microsoft's Open-Source Push?

David Murphy — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 11:00:00 -0600

Remember this quote? "Linux is a cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches." It was uttered by none other than Microsoft frontman Steve Ballmer himself, in an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times in 2001. It's no secret that Microsoft has put itself right in the center of the proprietary versus open-source war. But the software giant is now starting to dabble in the dark side of open-source projects itself. We're getting nothing but mixed-signals from Redmond. So what is it, Microsoft? Cancer, or cash-cow?

(photo credit: DBegley)

Cancer

Up on PressPass, Microsoft is touting how it thinks companies should deal with the increasing financial burdens put into place by the weakening economy: buy Microsoft software. That's the gist, here's the nuts. Microsoft suggests that open-source software comes with too many hidden costs and fees, and the support simply isn't where enterprise businesses need to be in order to ensure consistent uptime. Microsoft makes a compelling case by using Speedy Hire, a British company, as its prime example. According to the company, it was able to save nearly $1.5 million by turning away from Linux-based PCs and OpenOffice to Microsoft servers and software. Eat it, OSS.

Cash-Cow

Enter Oxite. Microsoft just released this huge, open-source CMS platform the other day. It can power anything from blogs to Web sites, and can even support multiple users accessing the interface (for running a Gawker of your very own). Wordpress is undoubtedly eyeing this new product quite closely--especially given the new platform's interoperability. The highly-customizable Oxite makes it easy for you to swap out proprietary Microsoft technologies, like Live Search and SQL server, for others you see fit to use.

Cancer

The next battle lines for Microsoft? Robots. That's right. Robots. The company has been working on developing the backbone tools for the next generation of robotics, but it isn't alone! The open-source movement is beginning to make progress in this field as well. Expect to see an eventual showdown in the field (if only it could be decided in a BattleBots-type arena), although there's a silver lining to Microsoft's involvement: "the software giant is also generating a 'huge amount of excitement' for robotics, which is a good thing for the industry, which needs more software development to catch up with the hardware," notes the article.

Cash-Cow

In the past many months, Microsoft has acquired companies that provide open-source code for larger technological platforms. It's even contributed its own code to ongoing open-source projects, presuming that the open-source movement now has the ability to Microsoft's underlying business objectives. Sound crazy? It's completely understandable to think that, and even internal Microsoft folk agree. It's going to take a bit more cajoling before Microsoft's business units, as a whole, are ready to embrace what OSS has to offer.

Winner?

Neither. That's right. Just as Microsoft begins to slowly adopt the tenets of open-source architecture, it's going to fight tooth and nail against any open-source project that threatens its financial livelihood. It's a prudent business move, one that's analogous to dipping a toe into a hot bathtub to check the temperature. If the open-source community can help Microsoft's business goals in some fashion--as the company is starting to recognize--then you'll see a bit of a cultural shift. And that's what's happening in Redmond right now. Microsoft isn't shifting to open-source; it's finding ways it can use open-source to further propagate its business models. And in the places it can't, the company is doing whatever it can to preserve its own ambitions, open-source or otherwise!