Some Fascinating Facts about Microsoft as Software Giant Rebuffs Rumors about MS Paint Demise and Announces its Financial Results for FY2017

By: Azhar Azam

MS Paint lovers, soured over its demise, gets mesmerized as Microsoft rebuffs the rumors and assures to continue their rapport with 32-years old app. "Today we've seen an incredible outpouring of support, and nostalgia around MS Paint..." Dispersing the muddle in a blog on its website, Microsoft announced that "MS Paint is here to stay, it will just have a new home soon, in the Windows Store it will be available for free".

Microsoft, portmanteau of micro-computer and software, is the leading platform and productivity company for mobile-first and cloud-first world. Microsoft refers to Microsoft Corporation and its affiliates, including Microsoft Mobile Oy, a subsidiary of Microsoft. Microsoft Oy develops, manufactures, and distributes Lumia and Asha and Nokia X mobile phones and other devices.

Microsoft acquired Skype Technologies for $8.5 billion in May 2011 also completed acquisition of LinkedIn for $26.2 billion in December 2016.

Headquartered in Redmond, Washington; Microsoft was by two juvenile friends, Paul Allen and Bill Gates in 1975. Paul Allen and Bill Gates had SATs scores of 1600 and 1590 respectively out of 1600; American College Testing (ACT) conversion of 36 and 35 correspondingly.

Only 0.069% of 1.67 million test-takers have scored 1590 or higher. Gates quitted Harvard to start his own business and informed the administration that he could always get back, if the things (Microsoft) didn’t work out.

Microsoft does not sell its software, it licenses its software and retains all ownership rights. Its initial public offering (IPO) for 1-share was $21 in 1986 that has ballooned to 288-shares @ $25 today; $7,200 (34,186%). Although you can create many folders easily in Windows but cannot create a folder named "CON" in Windows.

Microsoft by the Numbers reveals some stunning data about the company. More than 1.2 billion people use Microsoft Office in 140 countries and 107 languages around the world. Microsoft Office has been downloaded 340 million times on iPhones, iPads, and Android devices. It donates an average of $2.6 million in software each day to more than 86,000 non-profits around the world.

It's Fiber Optics Network could stretch to the moon and back  - three times over. 80% of the Fortune 500 is on the Microsoft Cloud. More than 400 million devices are running Windows 10 in 192 countries across the world; that's nearly every country on the planet. Microsoft' employees in Redmond, Washington, eat about 984,000 orders of French fries each year in campus cafeterias. Skype users make up to 3 billion minutes of calls each day.

Analysts estimate that Microsoft’s “explosive growth” has produced at least 2-billionaires other than Bill Gates and 12,000-millionaires. “O” was the “blibbet” in the 2nd Microsoft’s logo. When Microsoft announced to retire the “blibbet”, a number of employees ran a campaign “Save the Blibbet”. Microsoft Excel was Microsoft’s killing app that dethroned Apple VisiCalc (visible calculator) spreadsheet and Lotus 1-2-3. Gates, most richest in world believes "leaving kids massive amounts of money is not a favor to them" so would inherit just $10-million apiece from his total wealth of $86 million.

As of 31-March-2017; its employees’ headcount totaled 124,293 worldwide, 73,172 of which are employed in the United States. 73.7% of the total employees are male while 25.8% females are working in the Microsoft. Microsoft’s software employees are called “softies” and an average "softie" earns over $110,000 a year.

Microsoft gives plenty of perks and incentives to its US employees such as medical and hospitalization, vision care, dental care, physician house calls 24-hour health line, on-campus health screening and flu shots, 8-weeks of fully paid maternity leave and 12-weeks of fully paid parental leave to bond their family, savings and investments plan, training and development, and 15 paid vacation, 10 paid sick-leave days, and 10 paid US holidays.

Then there are extras including up to $15,000 volunteer and gift matching, gyms and fitness, on-campus retail shops and sports fields, sports equipment check out, on-campus cafes and kitchens, shuttle and bus fleet, social clubs, discounts, flexible working hours, and electric car charging stations.

Microsoft Announces Financial Results for Q4-2017 and FY2017
Microsoft revenue grew by 5.4% y-o-y, to $90.0 billion as the software giant announced financial results for the Q4-2017 and fiscal year 2017 on Friday. Net income also rose by 26.2%; to $21.2 billion for the year.

Although Product revenue for the year fell by 7.0% to 57.2 billion, however Service and other shouldered the Product’s downfall by relaying growth of 37.5% to $32.8 billion. Product returned net income of 26.5% ($15.2 billion) while Service and other ($19.1 billion) fruited 41.7% to the company. Microsoft spent a total of $13.0 billion on Research and Development in FY2017.

Microsoft owned total cash, cash equivalents, and short-terms investments $125.3 billion at the close of the fiscal year; 17.4% higher than the previous year. It also almost doubled its Goodwill value from $17.9 billion to $35.1 billion (+96.5%).

Revenue in Productivity and Business Processes increased 21%; to $8.4 billion for the Q4-20167. Intelligent Cloud increased 11%; to $7.4 billion for the same period led by 97% growth in Azure revenue that drove 15% increase in server products and cloud services revenue. Revenue in More Personal Computing declined 2%; to $8.8 billion for the quarter driven by mainly lower phone revenue. LinkedIn’s contributed $1.1 billion revenue in the final quarter.

“We delivered a strong finish to the year with 30% growth in commercial bookings”, said Amy Hood, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Microsoft. “We will come to invest in key areas that drive growth for Microsoft and our customers.”

In fiscal year 2015, company’s net income growth had slapped by massive 45% despite posting record net revenue of $93.6 billion (8%). FY2016 went the other way; net income growth spread by 38% but net revenue plummeted by 9%.

Face Manly: Don’t Impugn Pakistan for US Failure in Afghanistan!

By: Azhar Azam

Posted an Indian dock in the US, Christine Fair invariably maintains archaic and vindictive stance toward Pakistan; snubbing Pakistan’s unstinting support to the United States across snags despite copious criticism for fighting a US war on its territory

Fair, a staunch adherent of drone strikes in Pakistan, has a history of delivering malicious remarks to Pakistan such as a duplicitous, terrorist predator state, a hyena which is the ugliest scavenger, mocking military, dubious and liar, US hand bitter, and almost pleads to declare Pakistan a terrorist state for exporting terrorism.

Her pro-drone strikes in Pakistan bearing has been widely criticized in the US as well. Infamous for her impassioned rhetoric, she kept on constantly interrupting award winner journalist Glenn Greenwald in a debate on aljazeera and baptized him “pathological liar, a narcissist, a fool” for his criticism on US drone program.

Latter on Twitter, Fair retorted to her critics “Yep. Shut that lying clown down. I don’t care if you think I’m a rambo bitch. Do you know why? I AM a rambo bitch”. And in a Facebook post, she implored “India needs to woman up and SQUASH Pakistan military diplomatically, politically, and economically…deliver a muscular foreign policy with zero tolerance for Pakistan’s bullshit”.

Now in a mendacious response to op-ed by Stephen Hadley and Moeed Yusuf emphasizing “the United States must understand and address Pakistan’s strategic anxieties” for peace in Afghanistan; Fair unmasked her outpouring rage, abhor, and plague for Pakistan. She further furtively intertwines two entirely different areas Pak-US and Indo-Pak relations in one drive just to mar Pakistan image.

The associate professor at Georgetown University lamentably denoted Moeed Yusuf a “proxy” of Pakistan that editor-in-chief finally had to regret, declaring Fair’s allegation “baseless characterization of him”. Why shouldn’t she or the likes of her be assumed Indian “proxies” on the same Gage?

Exceedingly unfair to her profession, Fair imputes Pakistan for not resolving the core Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India; by not withdrawing all forces in compliance with the first of the chronological steps recommended by UN Security Council in its Resolution 47 (1948). That was to be followed by Indian withdrawal from the territory except for the defensive forces before holding a plebiscite.

It was Pakistan that undertook “to use its best endeavors to secure the withdrawal from the State of Jammu and Kashmir of tribesmen and Pakistani nationals not normally resident”; otherwise those tribesmen would have grilled India in Kashmir. How many tribesmen and Pakistani nationals were fighting from thereon till 1990s; before an uprise movement in Kashmir?

Despite Pakistan’s withdrawal of tribesmen and others, India was never keen to a single step to withdraw its forces. Instead Indian troops by now have engorged to about half of total Indian troops, 650,000 to 750,000 in the valley. Moreover, it is India that is always averred Kashmir to be its integral part, denying any third party involvement for the dispute resolution. Is this stance in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution?

Fair then distorts the resolution stating “and third, when both sides satisfied with the sequential withdrawals, India was to facilitate a plebiscite”. In fact, it was to the satisfaction of the UN Commission that when the tribesmen are withdrawing, withdrawal is taking place, and Indian forces have been reduced to minimum forces; India was to constitute and delegate powers to Plebiscite Administration. But tribesmen continued to withdraw; nonetheless India neither made a cut to its forces nor exerted any effort to found the Plebiscite Administration.

How can be someone such a stupid in today’s world striving for human rights to advocate a “sale deed” between Maharaja Hari Singh and India to sell out millions of people against their wishes?

She subsequently frustratingly hauls in Zulifqar Ali Bhutto for setting up Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) cell in Afghanistan to form first jihad policy in 1974, much before Soviet invasion in Afghanistan and also same out-dated accusation on Pakistan to fool Americans by using “proxies” of Afghan Taliban and Haqqani Network. Before blaming ISI, she discounted the “myths” attributed to Pakistan’s ISI, unraveled by some of senior CIA officers.

Firstly even if the former claim is true, all intelligence agencies including CIA operate worldwide to serve national interests. Didn’t the United States bled millions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Pakistan, and elsewhere for its “national security objectives”? If Pakistan wanted a friendly government in Afghanistan, how could it be a “foul”?

Secondly, she must question the capabilities and competence of US forces that are exposed by just a few thousand Haqqani Network operatives; supposed from Pakistan. Afghan Taliban are however fighting their war as the Afghans have historically been. Faulting Pakistan for backing them cannot give accuse to the US defeat in Afghanistan; may although profess Pakistan’s superiority in covert warfare.

War decrees its own rules! You cannot win wars without confronting enemy and giving sacrifices on the ground. Air strikes are lethal but serve merely for clearing area for ground forces to capture and control the territory. US military forces never really commenced face-off “manly” with militants.

Michael Scheuer, ex-CIA official, says, “We are not manly. There the enemy losses hundreds a week and we, a country, a super power of 300-million people cannot tolerate a loss of 160 people a year. It’s a bad example for an enemy who is willing to expand enormous number of lives”.

And one should ask a silly question that why the United States withdrew most of the troops from Afghanistan, if the war was far from over?

Ted Poe, tented by Indian media for anti-Pakistan indoctrination, is a US lawmaker known as “The King of Shame” for his humiliating rulings as judge including ordering offenders to shovel manure. Hinging identical proposition, he charges Pakistan for “long history of duplicity” and playing US for fools. In March 2017, he introduced a Bill H.R. 1499 in House of Representatives to designate Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism.

Pakistan have lost nearly 80,000 lives and suffered about $120 billion of economic loss in the war on terror to secure itself, the United States and the whole world. And in return, what Pakistan is conferred with is the testimonials of “dubious”, “betrayer”, “duplicitous” and “fooling Americans”.

If it is that easy to dupe Americans, does the United States has the right to proclaim world’s sole super power? For some reasons, the planet’s most advanced country has repeatedly been played “childishly” by a tiny Pakistan? And everything ascribed to Pakistan years before, US has realized years later? So, US is supposed to track Pakistan’s strategy-now, may be another after 10-years?

Actually, it is the Pakistan that has been betrayed by the United States times and again. Pressler Amendment in 1990, soon after Soviet Union retreat, was the crucial one that passed a high voltage shock to Pakistan’s trust on the United States. The amendment imposed economic and military sanctions on Pakistan over its nuclear program; a matter of its national interest and security.

Although the United States knew this since 1980s, wasn’t familiar about the whereabouts of the strategic assets, but zipped itself until the cold war concluded. Such sanctions still could not prevent Pakistan to develop an able nuclear arsenal. In the aftermath of 9/11, again the US “adored” Pakistan to topple Taliban government in Afghanistan and thereafter, once again grassing its “friend” by engaging rival India in Afghanistan that posed serious threats to Pakistan’s national security.

While the United States was test-firing weapons and developing “graveyards” in the Muslim dominated countries; China grew ballistic economically. Chinese Silk Road, powered by China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), provided idyllic opportunity to Pakistan to strengthen economically; fading reliance on the United States.

Balochistan, the epicenter of CPEC, is henceforth the staple territory for global clandestine operations. The US also apprehends that vacating Afghanistan could provide China an opportunity to exploit an estimated of $3-trillion mineral reserves in the Afghanistan. Correspondingly, this is the US bend to India which has forced Pakistan to forge ties with Russia; developing a formidable triangle of China-Russia-Pakistan.

Dire to the Indian and US interests too, Afghanistan soil and its puppet government are being used against Pakistan to manufacture another Afghanistan; miscalculating if Pakistan fails, who will be their next targets. India, with several freedom movements in the country, would fell a soft victim of terrorists and would open the doors of hell to the entire world. So, peaceful and stable Pakistan is in a guarantee to peace in the India, the United States, and the world.

US administration must not be influenced with this breed of such conjectural geo-political think tanks, analysts and politicians, which has only ignited Pak-US relations yesterday and today; subduing mutual efforts and cooperation in the fight on terror.

US Lawmakers Applauds Pakistan, Seek Actions against Haqqani Network and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba

By: Azhar Azam

Senator John Mccain, Chairman of Committee on Armed Services, presented a Bill (S. 1519 – National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2018) in US Senate on July 10, 2017 to authorize appropriations for military activities of Department of Defense (DOD) for various activities.

The committee markup of the US National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year contributed to a total of $640 billion for national defense; which exceeds Trump’s budget request and the spending cap of the Budget Control Act (BCA).

However the committee believed that this authorization is necessary to help the US military restore readiness and instead recommended an overall discretionary authorization of tearing $692.1 billion for the fiscal year 2018; against administration’s request of $659.8 billion for national defense discretionary programs.

It includes Department of Defense (DOD) base budget ($610.9 billion), national security programs ($21.0 billion) in Department of Energy (DOE) and Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB), and Overseas Contingency Operations –OCO ($60.2 billion).

House of Representatives passed the Defense Policy Bill of nearly $700 billion by a wide margin: 344-81. House Armed Services Committee Chairman, Mac Thornberry who vetted the bill as did Mccain, touted the passage as a “really promising step in the right direction”.

Subtitle B – Matter Relating to Afghanistan and Pakistan of Title XII – Matters Relating to Foreign Nations of the Report accompanying the Bill, noted that stability in the region cannot be attained without stability in Pakistan itself and fostering a strong, stable, and secure Pakistan. The bill also admitted that Pakistan is consistent with national security goals of the United States.

Furthermore the Public Law 114-128 also acknowledges that Pakistan continues to conduct military operations that are contributing to significantly disrupting the safe haven and freedom of movement of Haqqani Network in Pakistan.

Pakistan has taken steps to demonstrate its commitment to prevent the Haqqani Network from using any Pakistani territory as a safe haven. The government of Pakistan also actively coordinates with the government of Afghanistan to restrict the movement of militants; such as Haqqani Network, along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Pakistan has also shown progress in arresting and prosecuting Haqqani Network senior leaders and mid-level operatives.

Now the committee reckons that these security challenges remain unchanged from one year ago and thus, recommends that provision would enhance the separate authority for Pakistan created last year.

The Bill recommends to limit a maximum amount of $1.1 billion from October 1, 2016 to December 31, 2017; that should not exceed $900 million for the fiscal year 2018; out of which $700 million could only be provided to Pakistan, in coalition support fund (CSF). The provision would also extend for 1-year certain notifications and certifications requirements relating to payments to Pakistan.

This provision would also make $350 million (earlier $400 million) of this amount contingent upon certification from Secretary of Defense that Pakistan is taking demonstrable steps against the Haqqani Network and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba in Pakistan:

$350,000 shall not be eligible for the waiver unless the Secretary of Defense certifies to the congressional defense committees that:

1. Pakistan continues to conduct military operations that are contributing to significantly disrupting the safe havens, fundraising and recruiting efforts, and freedom of movement of the Haqqani Network and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba in Pakistan;

2. Pakistan has taken steps to demonstrate its commitment to prevent the Haqqani Network and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba from using any Pakistan territory as a safe haven and for fundraising and recruiting efforts;

3. Government of Pakistan is making an attempt to actively coordinate with the Government of Afghanistan to restrict the movement of militants, such as the Haqqani Network and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border;

And

4. Pakistan has shown progress in arresting and prosecuting senior leaders and mid-level operatives of the Haqqani Network and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba.

These are the additional restrictions Pakistan is required to get reimbursement on account of Coalition Support Fund (CSF) in Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) and are proposed to update the most recently updated National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114-128), Section 1218, Extension and Modification of Authority For Reimbursement Certain Coalition Nations For Support Provided To United States Military Operations:

1. Counterterrorism activities including the following:

• Eliminating infrastructure, training areas, and sanctuaries by terrorist groups and prevention new such establishments; 
• Direct actions against individuals, that are involved in or supporting terrorist activities;
• Any other activity recognized with Secretary of Defense as counterterrorism activity for above purposes

2. Border security services along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border including the following:

• Building and maintaining border outposts; 
• Strengthening cooperative efforts and cooperation between Pakistan military and the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces; 
• Maintaining access to and securing key ground lines of communication;
• Providing training and equipment for the Pakistan Frontier Corps Khyber PakhtunKhaw
• Improving interpretably between the Pakistan military and the Pakistan Frontier Corps Khyber PakhtunKhaw

3. Any activities carried out by Pakistan military that the Secretary of Defense determined and reports to the appropriate congressional committees have enhanced the security of United States personnel stationed in Afghanistan or enhanced the enhanced the effectiveness of United States military personnel in conducting counterterrorism operations and training, advising, and assisting the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces.