Microsoft is one of the few companies large enough and prosperous enough to sell hardware at such a loss, i.e. the X-Box and quite possibly the Homestation. The STB and PC hardware manufacturing market is already in a slump due to market slowdown and in reality market saturation. This could mean Microsoft and its friends end up dominating in an already slim market, so this may add to the problems described within the chain reaction scenario. By making all of their money via software rental and in so many different ways, Microsoft may as well have a global vacuum cleaner connected to the bank accounts of every connected user who can afford such services, Gates and Microsoft will clean up and they know it. With X-Box live, Windows, Dot.Net, passport systems and Microsoft's ASI (Adaptive Systems and Interaction group) etc, then the big M and others could end up knowing what every user watches, when they watch it and gather targeted marketing information on a massive scale, this is the equivalent of allowing a Microsoft spy into almost every home. The question is, is it right, I mean, do we allow a global corporation like Microsoft to do this?

What Microsoft and others want is a totally intuitive and interactive user interface that ties the user directly to the web (see Indigo). This is about the future, a future in which non localised computing and web based services, will be rented to the user, within a cashless society. Privacy will cost money, people may find it impossible to hide, from the prying eyes, of well, just about everybody actually.

Money is what gives Gates, sorry this fellow equal human being, the power to do these things. Most people could also do what Gates has done, there is nothing special about him. He is not special and in my opinion he is just a profiteer with good spin doctors, he doesn't deserve to make a living to the extent he has and at the expense of almost every computer user on the planet. He does not have the right to shape the destiny of the world to the extent he is doing and is about to, Microsoft is not a democracy. Microsoft software has almost become an embedded technology, which the human race has not even had the chance to vote on, we need to understand that monopolies of this scale, need to be challenged.

Bill's infamous letter to the Homebrew computer club basically saying, "I wrote this software for money so don't copy it", this letter only goes to show that Gates doesn't care, whilst the rest of the human race works to make him and Microsoft richer, we will all in effect become a little poorer because of him. It sucks, and yet the masses with money will love it, but as he say's, you can always buy Microsoft stock, that's if he and the rest of the virtual middlemen, haven't made you unemployed, decimated your local economy and sucked your bank account dry. Don't believe me, then think about this, the next version of Windows, may no longer be a one off payment, it may actually be rented to you, via a monthly payment being taken out of your bank account, this is what the big M really wants, billions of users, paying on a monthly basis, to Mr Gates and friends. This is Microsoft's true corporate vision of the future for themselves, they wish to turn themselves into a public utility company, just like gas or electricity, but on a global scale.

I will spell this out for those of you not paying attention, that's a couple of dollars a month, being paid every month, by the majority of computer users world wide, equalling billions of dollars per month, being collected every month by the big M, now that's what I call,

M.A.T.

Microsoft Added Tax.

SOD THAT - GO LINUX

Will it happen, that's a question only the future can answer?

Oh it makes me mad, but if you want to see how Gates made it then go watch the Pirates of Silicon valley, it includes a reference to JD?

Some would say the richer he gets, the richer we all get, through taxes etc, yep, the harder he works the richer we all get?

Don't worry though the net based operating system maybe coming soon, which also may spell the end of the big M's stranglehold on us all?

Another good topic, if we use technology in the right way, then there is no reason to think that emission levels could not be lowered drastically. Imagine covering every home with solar panels or solar paint, currently expensive, but this is another one of those situations where common sense is overruled by cost factors. Wind turbines, wave power plus all sorts of other ecologically safe power production methods are not introduced because of cost factors. What you have to consider, is that the average oil well can pump out a million dollars worth of crude a week, (on that note, Iraq pumps out 1.7 million barrels of oil a day), so economically speaking, who cares about the environment when your making that type of money?

Money is obviously just more important than global warming, but don’t worry about it, because we could always use some future version, of a universal nano-assemblers to fix the problem, that’s if we make it that far. Also totally safe nuclear reactors have been around since the 50's, called Triga reactors, these reactors are generally not used, because they inherently cost more, than other less safe designs. Chernobyl - 3 Mile island - Sellafield, all preventable problems, I bet the clean up and related costs to the environment, have costed us all far more, than the cost of building safe reactors. Mind you large parts of the Earth may become flooded before any of the predictions in this ebook come about, yet again causing massive economic problems, mind you it may stop many nations going to war over water?

Western society is incredibly wasteful and totally out of whack with it's environment, but before we can fix the environment we have to fix the system that is causing the problem. This means society has to change it's entire outlook, the truth is...the problem is money, it promotes greed inequality and in effect curtails society from wising up to itself and what it is doing. The question in my mind is this, is there enough to go around and do we have the ability to equally share the wealth, whilst also maintaining a balance with nature, on that note, did you watch Horizon on El Dorado, because if you didn't then you really should have, it was truly amazing, if you didn't see it, then click here to check it out. A brief rundown:- increased and sustainable ecologically safe food production almost anywhere on the planet. Plus if we get biofuels and hydrogen systems right, then it should be possible to find a balance with nature that we all can ALL live with. Although the oil industry may lose its grip on a rather large market, the question is, will the capitalists win or will the environment?

Will the human race change fast enough from a fossil fuel based economy, to something saver and will the people profiting from these carbon based systems let us. My hope is, that new breakthroughs in hydrogen production and storage will lead us towards a saver ecological solution to the needs of the emerging and existing energy markets. Beats using dead cats? Anyway, I always remember an interview with the boss of Shell who basically said, if we don't do something soon, then we're screwed, that's a hell of a statement from somebody that high up in the oil industry, it stopped me in my tracks and it should make you do the same?

I think we all know the consequences, if we don't get it right?

Global warming / Global freezing / Pollution / Ecological and biodiversity elimination due to human activity etc.

""Anyway, I'm so thankful, and so gracious -- I'm gracious that my brother Jeb is concerned about the hemisphere as well.""

Of course before you believe anybody when it comes to facts and figures, always make sure you know who's done the survey, plus why they have done it and of course most importantly, who's paying the bills?

But for now, I'm with the environmentalists when it comes to nuclear energy, as long as it is managed safely?

Sometimes, seeing all sides, is a pain in the arse.