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Microsoft’s Annual Revenue Reaches $60 Billion

Fastest annual revenue growth since 1999 fuels 32% increase in earnings per share.

Microsoft Corp. today announced revenue of $15.84 billion for the fiscal fourth quarter ended June 30, 2008, an 18% increase over the same period of the prior year. Operating income and diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $5.68 billion and $0.46, representing growth of 42% and 48%, respectively, over the same period of the prior year.

For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2008, Microsoft announced revenue of $60.42 billion, an 18% increase over the prior year. Operating income and diluted earnings per share for the year were $22.49 billion and $1.87, representing yearly growth of 21% and 32%, respectively.

The growth rates for operating income and diluted earnings per share were impacted by a $1.1 billion charge in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2007 related to the expansion of the company's Xbox 360 warranty coverage.

"Delivering $60 billion in annual revenue is an outstanding accomplishment and a testament to the powerful combination of great technology solutions and strong execution by our partners and global sales and marketing teams," said Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft. "The outlook for fiscal year 2009 is positive given the breadth of our impressive technology portfolio and the expanding collection of online services we are bringing to market."

This fiscal year marked the launch of Microsoft's flagship server products: Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008. Revenue growth was primarily driven by continued customer demand for all products, including Windows Vista, which has sold over 180 million licenses since launch, the 2007 Microsoft Office system, server software, and Xbox 360 consoles and games.

"We had a strong finish in the fourth quarter, which capped off an impressive year for the company. We grew revenue 18% for the year with earnings per share significantly outpacing that," said Chris Liddell, chief financial officer at Microsoft. "Looking forward, despite difficult economic conditions, we will build upon the momentum exiting fiscal year 2008 and expect to deliver another year of double-digit revenue and earnings growth in fiscal year 2009."

Business Outlook

Microsoft management offers the following guidance for the quarter ending September 30, 2008:

•	Revenue is expected to be in the range of $14.7 billion to $14.9 billion.
•	Operating income is expected to be in the range of $5.9 billion to $6.0 billion.
•	Diluted earnings per share are expected to be $0.47 or $0.48.

Management offers the following guidance for the full fiscal year ending June 30, 2009:

•	Revenue is expected to be in the range of $67.3 billion to $68.1 billion.
•	Operating income is expected to be in the range of $26.3 billion to $26.9 billion.
•	Diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $2.12 to $2.18.

Does Astrology Have A Rational, Scientific Basis?

Is there any conceivable way that the celestial location of stars, planets, and nebulae at the time of one’s birth could influence an individual’s personality, career, health, marriage and a host of other personal events?

The origin of astrology lies in pagan superstition. But does it work? Until the sixteenth century, the earth was believed to be the center of the universe, with the sun, moon, planets and stars revolving around this all-important center of activity.

But the heliocentric universe of Copernicus (1543) dethroned the earth. And since then, the advance of astronomical knowledge has relentlessly pushed the earth farther and farther from any privileged position in the cosmos. The sun too, has been demoted to an inconspicuous suburb in a rather unexceptional galaxy, in a relatively small group of galaxies, in a universe of uncounted billions of stars.

In such a universe, it becomes increasingly difficult to believe the heavens were created to have some sort of special influence on the earth and on individual humans in particular. How could such an influence occur? Through gravity? Radiation?

The immense distances encountered in the universe - usually measured in light years - rule out any such influences. The gravitational attraction of the doctor standing at the delivery table would be far greater than the gravitational influence of any star or galaxy, on a new-born baby.

And the radiation form even the brightest star would be thousands of times weaker than a single light bulb in the delivery room.

The conclusion seems inescapable: No known force emanating from the constellations of the heavens could be expected to exert a unique, life-long influence on anyone.

Even if the stars did exert an ever so subtle influence at the time of an individual’s birth, can anyone seriously believe their influence is important when compared to the multitude of much stronger environmental forces on earth that directly affect our lives?

All life on earth is affected by periodic changes in the environment. Such cyclic variations are often the basis for natural rhythms called biological clocks. The most obvious example is the rising and setting of the sun; a daily cycle of light and dark which directly affects the activities of virtually all pants and animals.

The seasons, caused by the earth’s revolution around the sun, also have a marked annual influence on living things. Similarly, the tides, driven primarily by the gravitational attraction of the moon, affect countless creatures in the sea on roughly a 12-hour basis.

Research has demonstrated that man too may be perceptibly influenced by lunar and solar radiation and/or gravitational attraction. However, such celestial cycles operate on all men, regardless of when or where they were born. Indeed, the readjustment of one’s biological clock after a change in environment - as occurs in “jet-lag” - proves that such biological cycles are not immutably fixed. Rather, each persons bio-clock can be revised and reset numerous times throughout one’s life as the environment changes.

There’s no question that biological rhythms and clocks are often linked tot he motions of the sun and moon. But this in no way justifies the belief that astrological signs and the position of the stars, planets, sun or moon at the time of birth can be used to predict one’s future.

The Bible labels the worship of the heavens as idolatry (Deut. 4:15, 19, RSV). Of course, astrology buffs can always claim that they are not really worshipping the heavens; just relying on them for certain “important’ information. Yet the fact remains that astrology has no scientific basis.

The prophet Daniel encountered astrologers in Nebuchadnezzar’s court: “Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers: and I told the dream before them: but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof” (Dan.4:7). Daniel found the astrologers totally ineffective. And so have modern-day scientific studies.

“The astrologer is often better able to read his clients wishes than to predict the alleged destiny implicit in the celestial bodies,” said professor of philosophy, Paul Kurtz. “Yet the true believer still insists that astrology is basically true in some mysterious way.”

“There are obviously millions of people who believe this astrology stuff,” said Dr. Linus Pauling, twice a Nobel Prize winner, “and I think it is worthwhile to explain that it has nothing whatever to do with scientific fact.”

In the final analysis, the overwhelming evidence is that astrology is little more than an entertaining form of pseudo-sophisticated superstition.

One day night

You changed my world with a blink of an eye
That is something that I can not deny
You put my soul from worst to best
That is why I treasure you my dearest Marites

You just don't know what you have done for me
You even pushed me to the best that I can be
You really are an angel sent from above
To take care of me and shower with love

When I'm with you I will not cry even a single a tear
And your touch have chased away all of my fear
You have given me a life that I could live worthwhile
It is even better everytime you smile

It so magical those things you've made
To bring back my faith that almost fade
Now my life is a dream come true
It all began when I was loved by you

Now I have found what I am looking for
It's you and your love and nothing more
Co'z you have given me this feeling of contentment
In my life something I've never felt

I wish I could talk 'til the end of day
But now I'm running out of things to say
So I'll end by the line you already know
"I LOVE YOU" more than what I could show

$500 Oil, are the Liberals happy?

Williem Buiter paints a gloomy picture about a world with $500 oil. He thinks when it comes to Oil prices, "sky is the limit". With ever increasing demand from places like India and China, he thinks Oil prices will continue to rise in spite of a global economic slowdown, all of which he thinks will adversely affect the poor.

I find that plausible. High oil prices may not be the driving factor behind Sri Lanka's inflation, but it does have a say in everyone's cost of living.

This reminds me of an exchange between me and friend , where he (and a surprising number of my liberal tree-hugging friends, I might add) think that this high oil prices is actually a "good thing". Their argument is that high oil prices will lead to behavioral changes towards less energy use and incentivise alternative energy use I certainly agree but I don't think that's is enough to call high oil prices a "good thing". You will have to consider adverse consequences on the poor and commerce in general before coming into such conclusions. Forgetting all of that is succumbing into the church-of-gore global warming hysteria, which by the way, Idon't think of as being "hippie" but simply, elitist. American-liberals shouldn't impose their values to people who cannot afford them. The same goes for democrat obsession about imposing environmental and labor standards in trade agreements for countries which can barely afford them.

For my part, I don't think of high oil as being either good or bad, high prices just are. In some ways, we should be happy about it. This means that millions of Indians, Chinese (and even some Sri Lankans) are climbing out of poverty and able to afford automobiles and in general, more quality of life. For some reason, this part of the story is often neglected.

However, I'm not as optimistic about the benefits of high oil rise, particularly for developing countries. There are several reasons for this,

First, thanks to high taxes and inefficient refinery, we already have higher gasoline prices at the pump, compared to the U.S. even without considering the heavy subsidies given to cover the daily losses of the state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation.

Secondly, any breakthrough from alternative-energy research is unlikely to be spawned by places like Sri Lanka, although my Indian friends might beg to differ. So while global price rise may indeed help incentivise alternative energy research and adaptation, it doesn't justify high taxes in places like Sri Lanka.

Thirdly, behavioral changes in the magnitude that we are seeing in the U.S. and other developed countries are unlikely to be seen in places like Sri Lanka. This is because, high consumption of gasoline in the U.S. is partly due to exuberance -- air travel, SUVs, long trips, so on. and when gas prices rise, Americans change their behavior. So SUV sales are down and Americans are driving less. But consumption of gasoline in places like Sri Lanka has more to do with necessity. Most Sri Lankans use public transport, which doesn't have good alternatives. As for people who are used to driving cars, public transport won't be appealing, given it's poor quality. So even if behavioral changes come (and it will) they will be smaller compared to the U.S. and at a greater cost in terms of living standards of average Sri Lankans.

So no, I don't think high oil prices are a good thing.

But I do have faith in human ingenuity, that when price of oil becomes unsustainable we will find alternatives. I don't know what that alternative is, I don't know whether it's solar, wind or nuclear. I don't know whether we will drive electric cars, or cars which runs on water or hydrogen. But what I do know is we will keep on driving.

For much of human existence, petroleum was a useless, gooey, waste product, until we figured out we can use it for energy. Similarly, we will find something else which can serve the same purpose. Humankind got out of the stone age, not because we ran out of stone, but because we found out new and better things. Similarly, we will come out of the oil-age, with something new and better. But in the meantime, let's be rational about the benefits of high priced oil.

Obama new poster

Despite vowing to oppose unauthorized wiretapping legislation, senator Obama decided to flip-flop on the issue and support wiretapping bill anyway. This is now one of many 'policy shifts' by Obama scrambling to center of the spectrum after taking a ride on to the left to get not-so-well-off democrat votes to win the primaries. So much for "Hope" and "change" the way washington does business. See This NY Times editorial and the economist article for more of Obama's centrism. This doesn't come as a suprise for me, but Obama it should be clear to everyone there is a huge difference between the real and the imaginary Obama.

Hey wt do you think that person??

Using water (3L) run 80 km.Wt a amazing revolution?? Our president also help for him..Please join with him and help him...