The Rigged-Up Net

The new wave of online piracy is all about TV — and Hollywood is sending lawyers

Hot television

I get two variations on the topic: “what’s the best media to use?” and “where do I find the cheapest media?” Of course, everyone really wants to know where the best and cheapest media can be found. That, I’m afraid is a micro-scale holy grail, but these days it’s not as absurd a question as it used to be.

Buying the Best DVD-R Media

Intreresting…

Multistriped Woven Shirt and Contrast-Placket Polo

I don’t know what it means to have someone make clothing under my name… hmmm…

Blog Torrent is software that makes it much easier to share and download files using the bittorrent protocol. Blog Torrent is easy to install on your website: we don’t use MySQL so installation is as easy as uploading a folder to your web host, and all administration happens in the web interface. Blog Torrent is easy for users: even if they don’t know what bittorrent is, they get an installer that downloads the file they want. But most of all, Blog Torrent makes publishing with bittorrent painless. Just click “upload”, pick a file, and you’re done. This is our preview release and it has a lot of bugs and rough edges… but we’re smoothing them out for the next version, so stay tuned.

Blog Torrent

Here’s a prediction you don’t see everyday. Microsoft will be responsible for ending the monogamous relationship between Dell and Intel. Microsoft will deliver Dell to AMD.

How MS will end the Dell – Intel love-in

It almost impossible to record anything HiDef other than straight off the air (OTA) ATSC… these guys will install a Firewire port on most HiDef satdish receivers so you can record the digital stream… Very cool.

169time.com

In today’s world of high speed Internet connections, coffee shops with free wireless access, and way too many root kits floating around on the Web, thinking about computer security has become commonplace. To combat this issue, National Security Agency (NSA), with the help of Linux community, has developed an access control architecture to confine processes to only the files they need to complete their actions. This architecture is called Security-Enhanced Linux, or SELinux for short.

What is Security-Enhanced Linux?

HomeSeer Technologies, a home automation software and system developer, has announced the release of their Windows Media Center Edition plug-in that allows HomeSeer product users to control lighting, security, and thermostats throughout the home using Windows Media Center’s 10-foot TV UI and remote control. Also included in the plug-in is a scripting interface (programming languages: VBScript, JavaScript, and Perl) so one can add custom functionality or compatibility support for 3rd party products.

HomeSeer Windows MCE Home Control Plug-In Released

Sarbanes-Oxley cheat sheet

Lowdown on SOX

TiVo had a mixed message Monday about its progress in the critical race to sign up digital video recorder (DVR) customers this holiday season before cable operators and others put marketing muscle behind rival services.

More viewers buy TiVo

Robosapien is cool… here are some hidden programs you can activate on yours if you own one too:

http://www.robosapienonline.com/

And here are some teasers regarding Robosapien TWO!

We were lucky enough to catch the attention of the Robosapien’s creator and Robotics Physicist, Mark W. Tilden. Mr. Tilden also created the B.I.O. Bugs toy robots, worked at Los Alamos National Labs, and has consulted for NASA. He happens to be a really nice guy with a sci-fi flair, and he recently sat down with us to answer some of our questions about the Robosapien, the Robosapien2, and if androids really do dream of electric sheep.

Interview with Robosapien creator Mark W. Tiden

For most businesses, warehouses full of stuff are a kind of security blanket. But Dell has replaced inventory with information, and that has helped turn it into one of the fastest, most hyperefficient organizations on the planet. Here’s how Dell uses speed as the ultimate competitive weapon, and why rivals may never be able to catch up.

Living in Dell Time

Plenty of retailers collect data about their stores and their shoppers, and many use the information to try to improve sales. Target Stores, for example, introduced a branded Visa card in 2001 and has used it, along with an arsenal of gadgetry, to gather data ever since. But Wal-Mart amasses more data about the products it sells and its shoppers’ buying habits than anyone else, so much so that some privacy advocates worry about potential for abuse.

What Wal-Mart Knows About Customers’ Habits

Yes, inflation is coming back, with what UBS economist Susan Hering calls “the pitter-patter of little price increases.” This is not great news for investors: Inflation can crush your bond portfolio and wreck your retirement plans. In large enough doses, it can trample stock returns, too.

Giant sucking sound is inflation

Now you can sync your music to your PocketPC device with iTunes…

At last, Windows Mobile users can have the best of both worlds. iTunes to manage their music album and a Pocket PC, Pocket PC Phone or Smartphone to carry the music in their iTunes playlists.

ppcTunes

Millionaires Row is getting a lot more crowded. The number of households who claimed a net worth of more than $1 million has surged over the last year, according to a new study.

‘MILLIONS’ OF RICH FOLKS OUT THERE

It’s one of the most influential business books of our era, and it helped turn coauthor Jim Collins into a management rock star. But how well have the companies it lionized and the principles it espoused stood the test of time?

Was Built To Last Built To Last?

Not many open source aficionados will realize the impact, but by making Solaris 10 free and capable of operating on any kind of hardware, Sun is making a coup in the server market.

Sun will shine again and leave Linux in its shade

This article is interesting, but I have some thoughts on what he says:

– The Solaris software is of proven quality and at least equal or better then Linux and the open source model will assure that it stays up there.

Unfortunately for Solaris, Linux has been open source for years… this means that it will take awhile for Solaris to get “cleaned up”. However, eventually this will be true.

– By making it work with competing hardware platforms, there is no reason anymore to switch software to facilitate lower hardware costs.

Solaris doesn’t work on every platform that Linux does… most notably PowerPC… once again, this will take years to get done… porting and testing takes lots of time.

– Sun with Solaris has already a large installed base and by becoming free and open source there is no reason for existing Solaris users to switch to Linux.

This may be true, but I’m pretty sure that Linux’s installed base is much larger. I agree that if you’re already a Solaris user, its less likely you’ll switch but there are other reasons to migrate off of Solaris than cost. For one thing, its much easier to find someone who is familiar with Linux and can help you troubleshoot something.

– Sun has a proven reputation in terms of quality of support. This should be at least as good or better then that of the Linux supporters.

Sun may have a great support department – but not all people pay for tech support… in this case, Linux’s larger installed user base yields tons of “free support” options… Personally, I know only a couple of people who have enough experience with Solaris to help troubleshoot a simple problem. So if you had the money to pay for Sun support in the first place, you probably had few thoughts of switching in the first place.

– Because Sun by default is the only designated party managing the open source software, there will be no risk of a version bonanza with multiple incompatible versions.

This also limits its ability to grow and stretch… Forking has its pro’s and con’s, but eliminating its ability to fork eliminates all pro’s. So limiting forking may look like a feature, but really its a limitation.

An ingredient in chocolate may actually be a more effective cough medicine than traditional remedies, a new study suggests.

Persistent coughs melt away with chocolate

Discounter Kmart Holding (KMRT) is acquiring one of the most venerable names in U.S. retailing, department store operator Sears, Roebuck and Co. (S), in a surprise $11 billion deal that will create the nation’s third largest retailer.

Sears, Kmart to merge

According to a Japanese study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, relentlessly hammering the PC may contribute to the onset of glaucoma – a nasty disease which progressively damages the optic nerve and eventually leads to blindness. The researchers – led by Dr Masayuki Tatemichi of Toho University School of Medicine – tested the eyesight of a total of 10,000 staff at four Japanese companies. They found that 522 of their guinea pigs demonstrated “visual field abnormalities” – aka “sight defects” to the man in the street.

Computers make you blind: official

Around the same time, Ball Aerospace Technology launched its own MSS operation in San Antonio with about two dozen employees while locally grown companies like Rackspace Managed Hosting and SecureInfo Corp. considered getting into the market as well.

Managed security service growth bypasses local market

Three drives bit the dust in my home this past three weeks… it seems that they’re all related the heat problems. Note to the wise – use SMART to make sure your drives are staying below 130deg F.

Funny:

http://www.whatacrappypresent.com/

So I read this article:

Austin is the most likely market in Texas to see home values decline over the next two years, according to an index released Thursday measuring the top 50 U.S. home markets.

Index: In Texas, Austin at greatest risk of home-price dip

And then starting thinking about it…. My conclusion is that you have a pretty good chance of not losing any money on the raw property value if you buy a home in Texas… However, I have not seen any evidence that suggests how to guarantee any sort of profit after owning a home in Texas.

Except none of this is truly R&R. In fact, it’s just another day on the job. The woman, whom we’ll simply call “the inspector” so as to not blow her cover, works for Mobil Travel Guide. As one of five employees who crisscross North America checking out the crème de la crème of hotels, she concentrates strictly on lodgings the guidebook publisher deems worthy of four or five stars. Based on previous visits, this four-star resort, the St. Regis Monarch Beach, could make the leap into rarefied five-star orbit. This inspection will determine whether it makes the cut.

Doling out diamonds and stars is a tough job … really

Archiving shows off a tivo has always been a bit of a chore, but If you haven’t seen EtiVo, you should check it out…

Five years after TiVo introduced the rewind and fast-forward buttons to broadcast television, hackers are pushing its digital video recorder to new heights–and possibly giving the company some ideas about where to go next.

TiVo hacks flourish

It has been well known that PocketPC has been making huge gains on PalmOS’s market share… but evidentally Palm based units have declined 23% in sales and PPC has increased by 15%, making PPC the new PDA OS leader.

Pocket PC Edges Palm For Top Handheld OS

Additionally, it is also rumored that PalmOne is considering moving to the PPC platform for their new PDA’s in the coming future:

PalmOne Will Make A Windows Mobile Based Treo!

Its a shame really, since PalmOS is such an elegant platform – I consider it the “Apple Mac” of PDA’s…

This is really cool… you can just place a barcode in front of a Mac iSight camera and it will read the barcode and place things in your virtual library… thats sweet – you don’t even need a barcode scanner! Oh, and it’ll keep track of your junk, and keep track of who’s borrowing what, etc… check it out:

Run your very own library from your home or office using our impossibly simple interface. Delicious Library’s digital shelves act as a visual card-catalog of your books, movies, music and video games. A scan of a barcode is all Delicious Library needs to add an item to your digital shelves, downloading tons of info from the internet like the author, release date, current value, description, and even a high-resolution picture of the cover. Import your entire library using our exclusive full-speed iSight video barcode scanner, our Flic® Wireless Laser Bar Code Scanner, or (the slow way) entering the titles by hand. Once you have all of your items in your Mac, you can browse though your digital shelves, check stuff out to friends using Apple’s built-in Address Book and calendar, and find new items to read, watch, and play using Library’s recommendations.

http://www.delicious-monster.com/

The two companies announced yesterday that on Monday they will begin offering Microsoft’s cable-television software to Comcast customers…

Comcast deal gives Microsoft entry into cable TV

And you think that YOU work hard?

Tired Japanese Business Man

I know that lots of you felt that these deals were fraud or just a hoax, but I did get my new 4th Generation 20gig Mac+PC Ipod via FedEx last week and it didn’t cost me a cent. I was expecting an ipod, but I wasn’t expecting the latest and greatest.

I’ve attached a photo below so you can see it.

So for those of you who still want to get a Flatscreen TV or new PC for nothing here are the links:

• Free Ipod
  

• Free Flat Screen TV
  

• Free Palm Pilot
  

• Free Desktop PC

Here’s my original post on the subject: Get a free iPod

Good luck folks!

Site Selection magazine, a publication about business expansion and relocation, has named Texas the top state in the country to do business

Texas named top state for business

Its been awhile since I mentioned anything funny here, but this cannot go without mentioning:

http://smashsworld.com/

Notable mentions are Hot in herre, Yeah, and Hit me baby.. Actually, Hit me baby is probably a good one to watch first.

I don’t know who Mike is, or anything else about him for that matter. But I can say that Mike is cool. 🙂

Earlier this year, Rackspace Managed Hosting also announced plans to lease a portion of the 200,000-square-foot building at 9725 Datapoint. The firm will occupy roughly 66,000 square feet initially, but has committed to absorbing more of the building in the coming years.

Office market continues to show steady improvement

Got this via email today:

Your order from freeiPods.com has been shipped!

Thanks again,
-freeiPods.com

San Antonio’s fastest growing high-tech company, Rackspace Managed Hosting, has gotten even bigger with the acquisition of a data center near Dallas.

High-tech Rackspace expands

San Antonio-based Rackspace Managed Hosting on Monday said that the company has invested in a new 55,000-square-foot data center in Grapevine, Texas.

Rackspace acquires new data center, doubles network hosting capacity

A toy robot designed by a former NASA engineer has been named Britain’s toy of the year by Hamley’s, the nation’s finest/most expensive toy shop.

Farting robot wins toy of the year

Peer 1 Network Enterprises, Inc. (TSX-V:PIX – News), a leading provider of high-performance Internet bandwidth and server co-location facilities, is pleased to announce that it has successfully completed the previously announced acquisition of ServerBeach, Ltd., a leader in the unmanaged dedicated server business. ServerBeach will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Peer 1 Network.

Peer 1 Network Completes Acquisition of ServerBeach