Linked List: December 2, 2015

Wednesday, 2 December 2015

Ballmer Chides Microsoft Over Cloud Revenue Disclosures ★

Bloomberg reporter Dina Bass apparently got to attend Microsoft’s shareholder meeting with Steve Ballmer:

Microsoft reports an annualized revenue run rate — or sales at a certain point in time carried out to a yearly rate — for its commercial cloud business and has said it is aiming to reach $20 billion on that basis by 2018. Ballmer, who handed the reins to Satya Nadella in 2014, derided the use of run rate as “bullshit.” […]

“We enjoy a regular dialogue with Steve, and welcome his input and feedback, as we do from our other investors.” said Chris Suh, Microsoft’s general manager for investor relations.

Translation: “We wish Steve would stick to basketball.”

Me, I’m enjoying this post-Microsoft Steve Ballmer. Satya Nadella probably isn’t enjoying him as much.

BBC World News: ‘Just Another Day in the United States of America’ ★

Mass shootings in the U.S. are being treated like car bombings in Baghdad. An aspect of daily life.

United Airlines to Equip Airport Customer Service Reps With iPhone 6 Plus ★

United Airlines:

United will begin distributing the devices to its more than 6,000 hub-based customer service representatives next year. The iPhones will enable agents to assist customers who have checked into their flights with several pre-departure actions, including printing boarding passes and baggage tags anywhere in the airport. Customer service representatives will also be able to assist customers with alternate flight options, helping employees at customer service locations provide additional attention to those with more complex needs.

Instead of printing the boarding passes, wouldn’t it be nice if they could AirDrop the pass to passengers’ iPhones?