Give the Gift of Windows 8 to Someone You Hate; Why Are IT Wages Flat?

Don't miss a single issue of Slashback. Add slashdot@newsletters.slashdot.org to your address book. Give the Gift of Windows 8 to Someone You Hate Microsoft and Google Accused of Tax Dodging Why Are IT Wages Flat? RMS Slams Ubuntu as 'Spyware' U.S. Apple Factory May Be Robot City Hot Comment: Come to work or else From the Vault: Toshiba Builds Ultra-Small Nuclear Reactor Watch It: Cliff Lampe on Gamification in Academia Poll Booth: I'd like us to explore with greatest emphasis ... Give the Gift of Windows 8 to Someone You Hate In one of the most damning reviews of the Windows 8 platform yet, Internet entrepreneur and MIT professor Philip Greenspun called the new OS a "Christmas gift for someone you hate." He panned almost every aspect of Microsoft's new software. Sound Off>> Microsoft and Google Accused of Tax Dodging While tax arrangements of many multinational companies are legal, there has been outrage in the UK over how companies are avoiding paying their fair share of taxes and the focus has now turned to Microsoft. Meanwhile, Google was caught doing something similar in the U.S. Sound Off>> Why Are IT Wages Flat? Technology plays in an increasingly important role in the economy, but IT wages remain persistently flat. This may be tech's inconvenient truth. IT wages have gone up by just $1.97 an hour in just over 10 years according to a new report by the Economic Policy Institute. Sound Off>> RMS Slams Ubuntu as 'Spyware' In a post at the Free Software Foundation website, Richard Stallman has spoken out against Ubuntu because of Canonical's decision to integrate Amazon search results in the distribution's Dash search. He even asked members to remove Ubuntu from the distros they recommend or redistribute. Sound Off>> U.S. Apple Factory May Be Robot City Apple CEO Tim Cook recently said that Apple will bring more production back to the United States in 2013. A hint at what the company's planned $100 million investment may produce could be in a 2009 Apple video of its unibody manufacturing process that shows highly automated robotic systems shaping the metal. Sound Off>> Come to work or else "It's not the sign of weakness that keeps people coming in, it's the threat of being fired. Some employers are really good about giving sick days (and bless them), but some bosses I have worked for took the line that 'you come in, or else.' Given the choice between spreading a cold around the office or losing my job, guess which option I took?" --by Anonymous Coward Read More>> Toshiba Builds Ultra-Small Nuclear Reactor Five years ago, Toshiba unveiled a new class of micro size Nuclear Reactors that is designed to power individual apartment buildings or city blocks. The company claims that the 20 feet by 6 feet reactor is engineered to be fail-safe and totally automatic and will not overheat. Read More>> Cliff Lampe on Gamification in Academia Big-class lectures can often be as boring for the professor as they are for the students, so Professor Cliff Lampe decided to use a bit of game-type action to spice things up in his 200-student lecture classes. Watch the Video>> I'd like us to explore with greatest emphasis ... Deep under the Earth's surface The oceans The surface and top layers of the Earth Earth's atmosphere The solar system Outer space The human mind How to get through L.A. in rush hour. Cast Your Vote>> Follow Slashdot on Twitter and Facebook. To unsubscribe, click here or send an email to: unsubscribe-213087@elabs10.com To ensure delivery of this newsletter to your inbox and to enable images, please add slashdot@newsletters.slashdot.org to your e-mail address book or safe senders list. Slashdot | 594 Howard Street, Suite 300 | San Francisco, CA 94105 To view our Privacy Policy click here.