Pocket PC Thoughts; Financially Supported by Microsoft?

[JustinGTP]

Is this true?

Or are the sarcastic buggers at MSMobiles.com at it again? They claim that Pocket PC Thoughts is a "Microsoft financed "enthusiast" Thoughts website"

What is their problem against Thoughts? If your read what they have on Jason, you would know why. I think he is trying to be an MVP and he is totally going the wrong way about it. Do you see how he talks to people on the site and how many registered members he has? :D

-Justin.

[JustinGTP]

We dont need no stinking link!

Edited by me

[Mitch D]

Is this true?

Or are the sarcastic buggers at MSMobiles.com at it again? They claim that Pocket PC Thoughts is a "Microsoft financed "enthusiast" Thoughts website"

What is their problem against Thoughts? If your read what they have on Jason, you would know why. I think he is trying to be an MVP and he is totally going the wrong way about it. Do you see how he talks to people on the site and how many registered members he has? :D

-Justin.

Justin, having read his site on numerious ocation I would have to say this is just another one of his somewhat daily attackes on Jason. I would have to say that the members support this site not Microsoft.

Personally I would just ignore the fxxxk... posting (edited by myself to save Jason more hassles.)

[David Prahl]

I don't know what would make him think that. All of the staff here at PPCT are very kind and professional, and I would never even entertain the idea that Microsoft is bribing them. It's really too bad that MSMobiles is starting gossip like this.

There really isn't an emoticon for the startled/sad/angry/curious feeling I'm having.

[JustinGTP]

If you go into comments, I started messing with his mind. He told me that in an email he had with Jason, Jason apparently told MSMobiles that he was recieving cash from MS. What BS. (Hee, that rhymes!)

-Justin.

[David Prahl]

Justin - couldn't find the comments you're talking about. I did sign up for a username. Link, please?

[Mitch D]

Not a very good picture of Jason... :wink:

[JustinGTP]

Justin - couldn't find the comments you're talking about. I did sign up for a username. Link, please?


Haha! No wonder you could not find those comments, whenever something goes bad, he just deletes them all!

-Justin.

[Jason Dunn]

OK, first up, the ONE thing that the owner of that site wants is attention, so by linking to his "news", you're giving him what he wants. I'd appreciate it if you could edit your post and delete that link Justin. I'm happy to answer questions that people have, but I'd really prefer to not have anything from PPCT link to his site.

[Kevin C. Tofel]

I would have to agree with Jason, although I did take a brief look at the site. Personally, I was disgusted with the negative commentary. I think it's inappropriate and I will never again hit or refer to the site. They are doing themselves and the community a disservice.

The PPCT site has generally been nothing but postive and supportive to this community.....it's really a shame to think otherwise.

KCT

[Jason Dunn]

Secondly, yes, Microsoft has financially supported my work in the past. I don't think that should surprise anyone considering that both Pocket PC Thoughts and Smartphone Thoughts are focused on supporting and evangelizing Microsoft products. ;-) I'm happy to share with people the fact that Microsoft has sponsored our sites in the past, because I don't view their sponsorship as any different than a company buying banner ads (and in a way, that's what they were doing, at least with SPT). I will not reveal exact dollar amounts however (I don't think that needs to be public knowledge).

With Pocket PC Thoughts, we received a one-time grant in 2002 from Microsoft's marketing group. This was around the time we had moved to a dedicated server and things were getting expensive, but I had very little income coming in from advertising. The site came pretty close to shutting down actually. 8O My contacts at Microsoft liked what I was doing with Pocket PC Thoughts, and they offered me a grant to help continue my work. This was a "no strings attached" grant that didn't involve editorial control, banner ads, or anything else. It was simply a "We like what you're doing for the Pocket PC community and we want you to continue doing it". And that was that - no further money has been directly gone from Microsoft to Pocket PC Thoughts other than through Tribal Fusion banner ad campaigns in which Microsoft has run ads on a variety of sites.

With Smartphone Thoughts, it was a little different. I had registered the domains, and was planning on launching the site sometime in 2004, because I didn't think that I could make enough on advertising to support the site in early 2003 (I've been excited about Smartphones since they were called "Stinger" phones). There weren't that many developers making big $$$ off Smartphone software yet, which translates into no marketing dollars, which means no support for Smartphone Thoughts. I wasn't exactly getting rich off of PPCT, so launching a site without a valid source of income was a bad business move.

The deal with Microsoft was one where they wanted to see the site launch, and they were willing to essentially be a paid sponsor for the site for a one year term. If you look there now, you'll see that many (most) of the ads are Microsoft based. So Microsoft gets something out of it (advertising) and I didn't have to stress about finding advertisers for the site (there are only a couple right now). As in the Pocket PC Thoughts scenario, Microsoft did not buy ownership of the site, nor did they buy editorial control. It was a business transaction that doesn't impede my ability to say what I want on the site, so it's a winning move for me and the Smartphone Thoughts community.

I hope that explains things to everyone! I'm already "biased" toward liking the products with both sites, so I don't think anyone can argue there's some sort of editorial compromise here. I also don't think there's anything wrong with businesses finding people who are passionate about their products and supporting the work that they're doing.

If some of you feel different, I'm happy to discuss the issue further, but I'll be blunt and say that I simply don't have the time to defend myself against every negative that is said about me on that site, so please consider the source of the news before posting about it in this forum and asking me if it's true or not... :wink:

[JustinGTP]

Wow - sorry Jason if I caused you to spend way to much time on this. I guess I have learned that that site is a [insert derrogatory word here] kind of site.

Geez - shouldnt it be shut down by now, and yes, I removed that link.


Regards,

Justin.

[bigkingfun]

I've never seen that site until this thread, but I'll bet he's getting a whole pile of traffic all of a sudden just from this posting. It's too bad (well, not really I suppose) that most of it probably won't ever go back.

I've been frequenting this site for years, and I've never been anything but impressed with the way it's run. I don't think you need to defend yourself to the people reading this site Jason.

[JackTheTripper]

I've never seen that site until this thread, but I'll bet he's getting a whole pile of traffic all of a sudden just from this posting. It's too bad (well, not really I suppose) that most of it probably won't ever go back.

I've been frequenting this site for years, and I've never been anything but impressed with the way it's run. I don't think you need to defend yourself to the people reading this site Jason.

Agreed!

[Jason Dunn]

Not a very good picture of Jason... :wink:

He took those pictures from across the room at the one and only Mobius event he was invited to with digital zoom. I'll leave it up to you to figure out why he had to do that. :roll:

[dh]

I don't think it's ever been a secret that MS have supported this site and Jason posted here that they helped fund Smartphone Thoughts at the time it started.

I don't think this has really effected the content of the site too much. All the editors (even Ed from time to time) seem to be able to criticise MS when they deserve it.

Hey, I like my PPC, but I'm no Bill Gates Butt Boy, if Linux or POS come up with something better, I'm there tomorrow. Can't see that happening in the near future though.

The only weakness in the MS Mobile lineup seems to be Smartphone. Too big to be a phone, too limited to be a PDA, it already looks as though small PPCPE devices will replace it.

MSMobiles is a very boring website because, like Smartphone Thoughts, it's based only on a small part of the smartphone world.

[Janak Parekh]

The only weakness in the MS Mobile lineup seems to be Smartphone. Too big to be a phone, too limited to be a PDA, it already looks as though small PPCPE devices will replace it.
I think it's too early to say that. ;) Realize that Jason toiled in near-obscurity with PPCT for at least a couple of months, if not more.

Also, I have to say that, having worked with Jason, he seems like an extremely honest guy to me. I don't think I'd have associated with the site if I had felt anything was up. ;)

--janak

[JvanEkris]

I guess that is the story of any board that reaches a certain size. Generally speaking, banners can only pay for your bandwith.But when things need to grow, like a dedicated server, or a bigger server, you need that one sponsor to help you out and take that hurdle.

At our site, we have the exact same thing. Orange paid a very large deal of our new server. They are deep into the SPV's (Microsoft smartphones) and wanted to support the work we have done. Microsoft became main sponsor of our anual meeting. We are pro-microsoft (sort of), so their is no collision of interest there.

Especially Microsoft is not strange to have as a sponsor. They benefit most from the site and the message it spreads. The site is Pro-microsoft-OS to begin with (no symbian-devices in sight at Smartphone thoughts), so why not let Microsoft sponsor it.

IMHO, i see a lot of critisism on some behaviour of Microsoft and their products. That takes a lot of courage. Not because they have editorial control, but bucause Microsoft can say: "Mr. Dunn, it was a good year, but we are going to spend our money on a less demanding site". I think that the editorial team has been critical enough the last year to show that they do not care who the sponsors are, and just write their hones opinions. And i would like to complement them with that.

Jaap

[jake080]

Yes, truly a perverted site. im glad Jason requested no links.
I had been there a few times due to direct links regarding ppc stuff, but looks to me like a perfect reenactment of that news dude in spiderman that wants to make spidey out to be bad, all for the money :P
~Jake

[Stik]

I've had a few run-ins w/ the rude, crude, racist, raving lunatic that runs and operates that site in the past. 8O

Not only does he get vanquished from most user sites that he uses as a soapbox to get attention and too unleash his viciousness, he's also managed to slam and berate an entire country, Finland, in one of his more pitiful diatribes..

I suggest no one support his site in any way whatsoever.

The guy is a bonified JERK.

All this is my own opinion of course. :wink:

[chunkymonkey75]

Yes, truly a perverted site. im glad Jason requested no links.
I had been there a few times due to direct links regarding ppc stuff, but looks to me like a perfect reenactment of that news dude in spiderman that wants to make spidey out to be bad, all for the money :P
~Jake

I don't believe I have ever been to the site mentioned in these posts. Out of respect for Jason, I won't even go there to find the article about him.

Keep up the good work Jason!!!

[Dave Potter]

I am ashamed to admit that I couldn't resist - I quickly checked out the other site. :oops: His personal attack on Jason was shameful. I think he's jealous.

As far as the financial assistance from MS goes... if he was offered the same assistance, he'd jump on it with both feet. Again - pure, unadultured jealousy.

I have absolutely no intention to return to that site again.

[sublime]

Deez B nuttin but Playa Hataz!

(I'm sorry, I couldn't resist)

[Jason Dunn]

I am ashamed to admit that I couldn't resist - I quickly checked out the other site. :oops: His personal attack on Jason was shameful. I think he's jealous.

It's ok. People stare at car wrecks too - there's something morbidly fascinating about destruction. :worried:

[JustinGTP]

there's something morbidly fascinating about destruction. :worried:

:rotfl:

[JustinGTP]

To all that are interested:

MSMobiles removed the profile on Jason Dunn and put him in the "MVPs under scrutiny" with this:

Jason Dunn : the worst MVP of them all and owner of www.pocketpcthoughts.com. He forbids his editors to post links to some websites, whose webmasters he personally doesn´t like - no matter how valuable content these websites have. He is one of the biggest liars around. Has a team of Canadian friends that scan the newsgroups and other web pages and steals the content, changes a few words and claims he found it. Will not listen to anyone, always claims he is correct, has way too large an ego for his brains and knows very little about Pocket PC´s other then 99% of his web pages is written by others, but he claims credit. Comes across as "your good Christen Friend in God" and then goes right behind your back and makes up lies about something you said. In the Microsoft´s newsgroups he posts sometimes under fake names and attacks, under these fake names, people who express negatively about him or his websites (we have proofs of it). He posts e-mails to software vendors with threats that if they will not stop sponsoring websites that he doesn't like, then his websites will never ever cover software of such software vendors. On his web, he has many references to company´s that he has consulted for or do a major system redesign, when the company is called, they have never heard of him ! This one should be kicked out of the MVP programme, he never posts on the boards anyway and has a poor attitude against the rest of the world, seems to have a large amount of Hate inside him. Location: Canada.

HAHA!! That is the biggest BS in the world, I met Jason the last PPC meeting, and nothing of the sort. :D

-Justin

[Jason Dunn]

To all that are interested...

Justin, I know you mean well, but by spreading the words that he writes and putting them on this site, you're helping him. :?

[JustinGTP]

What I find most amusing is that they say Why it seems, that we provide plenty of thumbs-downs for people? What are criteria on which we base our assessment? Is it NOT because we personally don´t like them (in fact some people whom we personally don´t like got thumbs-up)! It is just because their contribution either is very local or their influences are very limited. Thumbs-up got only those people who have big overall positive contribution to Windows Mobile or those whose influence is international and big.

and then they provide the reference for hatred and such in describing Jason, but is that nothing but subjective and based on ones opinion? That shows dislike, full of contradiction.

Thats it, their website is useless and full of biased opinions and jealousy. Im done in this thread as I feel I have proved my point that that site is crap.

-Justin-

[JustinGTP]

To all that are interested...

Justin, I know you mean well, but by spreading the words that he writes and putting them on this site, you're helping him. :?

Oops. didnt see you posted this after my last post. I dont think I am helping him, people will see this and then not go to his site. People are removing his links and favourites. Hopefully the site will go down soon too!

-Justin.

[JvanEkris]

I couldn't help it, i looked as well.

As i see it, this is a frustrated person, having a fight with everybody in the world, and thinks that there is only one sane person on this planet. This is a mix of jealousy, envy and incompetence to deal with these emotions, expressing the anger as "unsalted critisism to the system" that is totally unfair and there to server the high and mighty. From a sociological/psychological point of view it is quite intresting: he creates his own self-fulfilling profecy of people that are against him, conspiring to keep him outside the in-crowd. He blames everybody, not seeing that he himself and the outings of his frustrations are the problem. Quite fascinating really: this is quite a classbook example of the negative spiral that leads to paranoia behaviour.

Shame that it has to happen to you though Jason......

Jaap

[JackTheTripper]

Jason Dunn : the worst MVP of them all and owner of www.pocketpcthoughts.com. He forbids his editors to post links to some websites, whose webmasters he personally doesn´t like - no matter how valuable content these websites have. He is one of the biggest liars around. Has a team of Canadian friends that scan the newsgroups and other web pages and steals the content, changes a few words and claims he found it. Will not listen to anyone, always claims he is correct, has way too large an ego for his brains and knows very little about Pocket PC´s other then 99% of his web pages is written by others, but he claims credit. Comes across as "your good Christen Friend in God" and then goes right behind your back and makes up lies about something you said. In the Microsoft´s newsgroups he posts sometimes under fake names and attacks, under these fake names, people who express negatively about him or his websites (we have proofs of it). He posts e-mails to software vendors with threats that if they will not stop sponsoring websites that he doesn't like, then his websites will never ever cover software of such software vendors. On his web, he has many references to company´s that he has consulted for or do a major system redesign, when the company is called, they have never heard of him ! This one should be kicked out of the MVP programme, he never posts on the boards anyway and has a poor attitude against the rest of the world, seems to have a large amount of Hate inside him. Location: Canada.

Wow. 8O What horrid grammar, bad spelling and obvious hatred for a guy who is just trying to help others on the net.

And the comment about taking credit? Every review shows the name of the person who authored it. Or it has a link to the full article. This guy needs to learn how things work. If my local paper didn’t get stories from other papers or news agencies I’d never know what was going on outside San Jose!

http://bayarearidersforum.com/forums/images/smilies/loser.gif

[Dave Potter]

I couldn't help it, i looked as well.

As i see it, this is a frustrated person, having a fight with everybody in the world, and thinks that there is only one sane person on this planet. This is a mix of jealousy, envy and incompetence to deal with these emotions, expressing the anger as "unsalted critisism to the system" that is totally unfair and there to server the high and mighty. From a sociological/psychological point of view it is quite intresting: he creates his own self-fulfilling profecy of people that are against him, conspiring to keep him outside the in-crowd. He blames everybody, not seeing that he himself and the outings of his frustrations are the problem. Quite fascinating really: this is quite a classbook example of the negative spiral that leads to paranoia behaviour.

Shame that it has to happen to you though Jason......

Jaap

Yikes!!! 8O That analysis was so insightful that it's scarey!
If you were a sharpshooter - that would have been a bullseye.

[JustinGTP]

Ahh - the negative publicity. How wonderful :D

[iant54]

I will admit to looking the MS Mobiles from time to time, just to see who the latest person/company he's got a downer on - but I don't have his site bookmarked!

His (false) accusations against Jason regarding plagiarism are most hypocritical, considering every picture he posts on his site (presumably filched from somewhere else) is stamped msmobiles.com!

[Ed Hansberry]

Location: Canada.

HAHA!! That is the biggest BS in the world, I met Jason the last PPC meeting, and nothing of the sort. :D
Well, he really is from Canada. ;-)