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Another Case of MS Picking on the Little Guy |
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 I have never really liked Microsoft. Whether it is the fact they are a monopoly, or the fact that Windows is such a crappy product, I have always had a severe dislike for them. But they have never done anything to make me hate them. Until now. A friend of mine sent me a link to this guy's blog, and at first I just thought it was a cool picture of Macs supposedly at Microsoft's loading dock. It was the next post that made me mad.
You see, it turns out that the evil monopoly Microsoft had this poor guy fired for posting that picture and description - claiming that it is a security violation. Let's take a look at the picture.
Click on image for a larger version
All I see is a truck with G5's in it. There's no indication the picture was even taken at Microsoft, except for his claim. His description of the picture:
"I took this shot on the way into work on the loading dock (MSCopy, the print shop I work in, is in the same building as MS's shipping and receiving). Three palettes of Dual 2.0Ghz G5's on their way in to somewhere deep in the bowels of Redmond. Hopefully they're all in good condition when they arrive — the boxes are slick enough that a few of them took a bit of a tumble (you can see them back in the truck)!"
He says he works in the same building as Microsoft's shipping and receiving, but he doesn't say where that is or how to get in. I don't really see anything that should get you fired there. Is it Microsoft wanting to keep their use of Macs a secret? It is well known that Microsoft has Macs, if nothing else, at least for it's Macintosh software division. As Michael says, Microsoft uses Macs "for everything from graphic design work to the Mac Business Unit"
Yet, a few days later his boss called him into the office and told him that Microsoft has decided that "because of what [he] said, [he is] no longer welcome on the Microsoft campus." I guess Microsoft can legally do this, but how could Microsoft fire someone for something so innocent? Microsoft is truly an evil company and instances like this prove it.
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October 29 2003, 11:28 AM EDT, by
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Comments:
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| Jonahan |
10/29/03, 11:48 AM EDT |
Further proof that Microsoft is, indeed, evil incarnate.
All joking aside, they really do embody all that is wrong with corporate America. They steal from people, ship buggy and insecure products, and basically do whatever they can to ensure that they control their marketplace.
They recently just settled yet another law suit for $200 million (can't find that link at the moment) -- which is chump change for them.
Ballmer and Gates have recently been spreading their F.U.D. (fear, uncertainty and doubt) to make open-source software seem less attractive than Windows.
But oh well, that's why sites like this one exist, right? We call 'em like we see 'em and try to dispell ignorance wherever we can!
Plus we talk about pants and fishsticks a lot.
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| Gildogg |
10/29/03, 12:29 PM EDT |
I'm not a Mac guy, but I am a Linux Geek who hates Microsoft as much as the next guy with half a brain.
When I saw this article I knew iKen would be interested and e-mailed it right over.
It's upsetting to see that a company can fire you for something you do on your own personal site during your own personal time. I hope he files a wrongful dismissal suite and gets a chunk of change out of them.
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| rlhamon |
10/29/03, 1:44 PM EDT |
Well if he's going to sue then he's in for a long hull and will not win against Microsoft. But it goes to show you that your company is watching every move you make. In fact how did Microsoft know this blog exist or that who was the person behind it. Also if this guy used his real name on his website ... dumb move do you think we use real names? hummm NO!
So sorry about your luck man but you was dumb for talking bad about big brother Bill!
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| Jonahan (as Devil's Advocate!) |
10/29/03, 4:26 PM EDT |
I can understand that Microsoft does have to protect their security interests. From what I've read, it's not the first time this guy has said things against MS.
Plus think about what Apple would do if someone did something similar in their Cupertino campus. Steve would be all over that [doodoo]. Remember worker bee? That dude was fired - albeit, for 'higher crimes' than taking a picture of a product that was shipping.
Now --- on the flip side, remember when Dan Geer was fired? The dude worked for a security firm, and he and some colleagues pointed out a security hole of Windows. Even though he didn't work for MS, they still had enough clout to lean on his company (allegedly) and tell his employer (allegedly) to fire his (allegedly) happy ass.
So even if MS is right to fire the guy who took pics of the G5's, they DO pick on the little guy and they DON'T play fair. Good article iKen. :)
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| speedyrev |
10/29/03, 5:22 PM EDT |
It's more about insecurity than security. M$ is so afraid that someone's gonna laugh at them, that they lash out at some Joe Schmoe. If they are so superior why care about some pic of a mysterious dock?
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| ZackMac |
10/29/03, 7:59 PM EDT |
Evil Bass Terds!
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| J as Y |
10/29/03, 11:14 PM EDT |
Should any of us be surprised at what the
corporate world does? Especially the baddest of them all?
I think what would have been an even worse PR leak for MS would have been a photo of the glee with which those lucky employees of MS opened up them beautiful G5 boxes and got to work! :-)
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| NoPCZone |
10/30/03, 1:57 AM EDT |
What is even worse is that he wasn't even a M$ employee. He worked for Xerox, or a subsidiary of Xerox. The company didn't even transfer him or anything. A company so powerful, even a Fortune 500 company will not stand up to them.
BTW- the same M$ client company that fired it's CTO after he co-authored a paper on Microsoft insecurity is now issuing security FUD about Mac OS X- VERY LOUDLY. I wonder if the Mac OS X warnings are related to the bad publicity from the paper.
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| Uuugggg |
10/30/03, 2:18 AM EDT |
Hey! Bass Terds is MY term! Give it back!
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| Kenor |
11/1/03, 9:02 PM EDT |
This doesn't make Microsoft evil (though one would imagine they are anyways.) If I owned a huge Fortune 100 company and one of my TEMPS (the guy was a temp!) make me the laughing stock of the computing world (and the temp did just this) for any reason, I'd fire that -temporary employee- right away. And I'd be justified. He leaked embarrassing info, what is to say he wouldn't leak other private and less "humorous" data in the future? He's also a temp and has no standing contract, I can fire him when I want. All of Microsoft's doings aside, if he did this to my company he would be out of there: he proved untrustworthy and only a risk to my establishment.
Just because it's funny or very true, doesn't mean Microsoft wrong in firing a liability.
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| Jobzzz |
11/4/03, 3:22 PM EDT |
[edit]I really feel sorry for this guy. I am am sorry I am such an idiot. [/edit]
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| iKen |
11/4/03, 3:23 PM EDT |
Microsoft didn't fire him... he worked for xerox. They said he isn't allowed in the building anymore.
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| Jonahan |
11/4/03, 4:44 PM EDT |
Ooooo yeah ... I guess some of us overlooked (or forgot) that.
That reinforces your point about how evil MS is --- they used their clout to lean on another company to fire this guy. Same way they did to Mr. Greer.
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