Misbehavior at Microsoft

Now I am no fan of Microsoft. They in my opinion exude an arrogance based upon an internally generated self image. Then there is Windows 10, which kind of works, and can almost be put back into an XP type OS where things are somewhat understood. I still cannot figure out how to effect the old cmd files but that is another story.

Yes, they have tried dozens of time to download w10 onto my office systems. Multiple times a day, I think I have blocked them. I have a W10 pad and it works kind of OK. It does not deal with Bluetooth well, wrong drivers, and try and get the right ones, and the WiFi is iffy at best. Again I suspect a driver problem.

Now Inquirer reports that they are actually loading W10 even if you did not ask for it. Imagine what that would do to a production machine! Bring it to a total halt. All drivers would be dead on arrival. They do NOT work on W10. It would almost in my opinion be a terrorist act. But they keep hitting my updates. The article states:

WHEN WE REVEALED last Thursday that Microsoft has started downloading Windows 10 indiscriminately to anyone who qualifies for an upgrade, whether they want one or not, we knew it was kind of a big deal. We're proud to be recognised as a credible news source and our articles are often cited and quoted. What we didn't expect was that this would be picked up first by the tech press, then the national press, then the world press in droves. To say that it struck a nerve is an understatement. It's like the keylogger story last year, but much, much, much bigger. There are several factors here. At a basic level, there's the privacy and intrusion aspect. After all, it's one thing to agree to receive updates to your operating system automatically, especially given that many of them relate to keeping the system locked down, but this isn't an update, it's a whole new operating system. Then there's the sneakiness. Microsoft offers an opt-in scheme to Windows 10. Remember all that stuff about reserving your copy? If you didn't reserve a copy and it just goes ahead and downloads it anyway, it's going directly against your wishes. And let's remember, it's going into a hidden folder that you actually have to change settings to be able to see. That says a lot.

I can see a great Class Action suit here! Where are the lawyers when you need them?

The damages could be astronomical!  For example, let us say I have a time constraint on getting out a report of legal filing. Down comes W10, now I have to reassemble all my files, none of my software will work, bad drivers or incompatible, no peripherals and the list goes on. Not to mention getting rid of all the "nice" graphics to get the presentation back some where near what you were used to. Do any of the folks at Microsoft even think? Perhaps not.

Let's wait and see what happens next.

Turn Arounds and Politics

Back in the 80s I did a few turn arounds. There was a simple formula:

1. Fire half the people. I used SSNs to make the decision, even numbers out. That reduced costs.

2. Raise the prices, that gave you some revenue for a short time.

3. Rush to find a buyer.

It works and private equity folks do it all the time. I left that when I did one in Memphis. I got to see what firing some of these folks meant. People with a spouse in the midst of cancer treatment, a child needing extensive care, etc. The stories were too many to take. They were real.

Now we have the tale of a couple of Private Equity folks taking companies like Kraft off the market. Guess what; they fired a ton of people and now are cutting off the health care plans for all the retirees. As reported in insurancenewsnet they state:

Global food giant Kraft Heinz Co. is going after retiree benefits as the recently merged company accelerates cost cutting to try to boost profitability. The company, which was created through the July combination of Kraft Foods Group and H.J. Heinz Co., is eliminating a group health insurance plan for about 15,000 Kraft retirees and will give them money to buy coverage on a private exchange. The company is also allowing some retirees to cash out their pension plans. Heinz retirees experienced similar cuts in 2013 and 2014. The moves are the latest efforts by Kraft Heinz and Highlight the belt-tightening that is typical of corporate shake-ups implemented by Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital, which partnered in 2013 with Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway to buy Heinz. Berkshire and 3G engineered the merger of Kraft and Heinz to create the world's fifth largest food and beverage company, which is expected to have annual sales of about $28 billion.

Yes indeed, one of the folks on the Private Equity side is that bastion of Liberal Democrat doctrine, the man from Nebraska. So what do we see? Tens of thousands of folks now scrambling to get coverage  and many in the midst of life threatening situations. A quick calculation shows that these poor folks will go from a costs 0f approzimately $2,000 per year plus out of pocket per person to well over $10,000 per year per person, assuming they can even get a plan. And what of that poor person in the midst of cancer therapy? I remebered that, I got the guy another job, and carried his plan. I guess I am just not cold enough for that business.

One is reminded of Tennessee Williams and "relying on the kindness of strangers". Blanche DuBois did not make it through so well. Thus one should think twice when some well heeled Private Equity person tells us how we should manage our lives; what of the impact they had on the lives of the many?

What could or should have been done? Tell the folks a year ahead of time, give them so room to maneuver, but don't drop it on them at the end of the year. Will one year cost that much? Especially if the tax rate for these guys is so low.

Caveat Emptor

The current President had some two years ago proposed that the Federal Government in its wisdom provide a list of some to be determined quality metrics and evaluations of the Nation's Universities. According to the NY Times the same folks have decided not to go with that idea.

The Times states:

(the President) on Saturday abandoned his two-year effort to have the government create a system that explicitly rates the quality of the nation’s colleges and universities, a plan that was bitterly opposed by presidents at many of those institutions. Under the original idea, announced by (the President)  with fanfare in 2013, all of the nation’s 7,000 institutions of higher education would have been assigned a ranking by the government, with the aim of publicly shaming low-rated schools that saddle students with high debt and poor earning potential. Instead, the White House on Saturday unveiled a website that does not attempt to rate schools with any kind of grade, but provides information to prospective students and their parents about annual costs, graduation rates and salaries after graduation. (The President) praised the new website in his weekly address, saying that by using the new College Scorecard, “Americans will now have access to reliable data on every institution of higher education.”

Now we thought it was a rather dumb idea at the outset. Imagine a group of GS-9s beholding to their politically appointed leaders deciding on how to rank say MIT, Stanford, and Cal Tech. You think they would understand the courses? How about what people do?

Now take MIT as an example. Frankly if some Junior drops out of school to do a start up which in turn changes the world for the better, is that drop out bad or good? By the way this happens all the time. So to the good old GS-9, who may have made it through a Community College somewhere, it would be bad.

Just think, the same folks who brought you the ACA wanted to drop a bomb on Higher Education!

But wait, look at the Web Site. I looked for Engineering and ranked them by highest salary upon Graduation. What one was highest? SUNY Down State Medical School! Are you nuts! They are graduating MDs, in Medicine. Best I know MDs and Engineers are a bit different, been there done that. The The Merchant Marine Academy! That is not engineering, it is ship steering and maintenance. It is not Annapolis. Then fourth comes Harvard. What happened to Stanford, Cal Tech. Keep going and going!

When one puts a list like this together one should try it out on real people to see if it makes sense. Not the Government! Who cares about reality!

Unemployment: September 2015

Some thoughts on employment. That chart above depicts the unemployment numbers with and without the change in participation rates. Clearly there is a sustained gap.

The above details this a bit more.

The above is the gap in some specific detail.

The above shows the gap per month from what it should be. There is a growing and systematic gap in employment. This means that we have more people on the dole and less taxes. Making things worse is that more employment is related to Government funded work; Government, Education, Health Care.

This is the actual gaps per month.

Overall people are being added to the payrolls but not at a large enough rate and not in value creating jobs.

After the seven years we have been tracking these numbers we still see systemic weakness in the economy.

FED Balance Sheet

The above is the current Fed Balance Sheet. Note that it has remained constant somewhat since Q1. Specifically as shown below:

The two main components have remained with minimal change. This appears to be a significant factor and may be a key reason for increasing the rates.

MIT Weight Loss?

It appears that MIT had added a "weight loss" program to its ever growing list of advantages. The article states:

the program helps participants learn to love foods that support weight loss and maintain a healthy lifestyle. It includes meal plans, a high-fiber regime, and portion control. There is also a weekly online support group that provides nutrition education and helps dieters form new, healthy habits that promote weight loss sustainability. There is also weekly check-ins and weight tracking with various Web tools. Unlike many other weight-loss programs, iDiet requires daily weigh-ins — “an important and effective way to see and appreciate your success” according to the program’s website — but there are no set exercise requirements. Meal planning on the program is simple. You can buy the cookbook or find simple recipes online. Recipes include vegetarian options; others are designed to address special dietary concerns such as high blood pressure or cholesterol, diabetes, or gluten and lactose intolerance.

 Well here is my take:

1. Get rid of the high carb fast food "food courts". They are everywhere. One could in the past walk over to Walker Memorial, sit at a large table and have a conversation while eating a reasonably priced balanced meal. You got exercise, reasonable food, low prices, and you actually met people. Now we have the solitary fast food outlets selling high carb and high priced food just a few steps away from one's computer, or they now actually have it on the table.

2. Get rid of the refrigerators and food storage units in all of the "labs" It appears that there is always someone bringing cookies from "mom" in Bangalore and a constant flow of consumption. n my old days in Building 20, the wooden remnants of the Rad Lab any loose food was consumed by the resident rodents. Perhaps we should bring back the rodents!

3. Watch out for those Chinese Restaurants. Now I like Chinese food but it is so high in calories that the almost daily routine of going out to eat with the team gets a bit much, as well as adding to the waist line.

Adding another costly program will not change the above. It will just shall we say "put lipstick on the pig".