February 18th, 2004
MS Virtual Server
Testing begins on Microsoft’s Virtual Server
Microsoft this week started beta testing of Virtual Server, a program that allows a single server to run multiple operating systems.
February 17th, 2004
Legos
If You Come, They Will Build It
Making things out of Lego bricks can be a lonely task, with many small hours of the morning spent relentlessly slapping pieces of plastic together. It doesn’t have to be like that, at least not when BrickFest hits town.
February 17th, 2004
Hi-Def Tivo
TiVo Gets Huge Horsepower Boost
TiVo and other digital video recorders will get a serious boost in horsepower later this year as manufacturers start selling DVRs that can record high-definition television programming.
February 17th, 2004
Languages
Half of all languages face extinction this century
Half of all human languages will have disappeared by the end of the century, as smaller societies are assimilated into national and global cultures, scientists have warned.
February 17th, 2004
Plans brew to replace drip
Plans brew to replace drip coffee makers
Procter & Gamble is about to give Starbucks a serious run for its cup-at-a-time, gourmet coffee gold mine. Along the way, P&G hopes to change the way millions of consumers make and drink coffee.
February 17th, 2004
Condos
Condo sales outrun a fast market
Condominiums, the long-suffering stepchild of the U.S. housing market, have come of age. In big cities and across the Sun Belt, condo sales are booming, and prices are up smartly.
February 17th, 2004
Press
Rackspace’s year-end revenues up 48 percent for 2003
Rackspace Managed Hosting on Tuesday announced that the privately held company achieved strong financial performance in 2003, with revenues increasing 48 percent over 2002.
February 17th, 2004
Jobs vs. Disney
Steve bids adieu to Walt Disney …
Jobs boasts his Pixar Corp. will outclick ex-partner.. Video, music give him makings of own magic kingdom
February 17th, 2004
Shake It Like a Polaroid Picture
Polaroid Warns Film Users Not to ‘Shake It’
Outkast fans like to “shake it like a Polaroid picture,” but the instant camera maker is warning consumers that taking the advice of the hip-hop stars could ruin your snapshots.
(Thanks Carlie!)
February 17th, 2004
SXSW
I’ll be speaking at Web Entrepreneur panel on Mon, March 15 @ 3:30 – 4:30 in room 18AB at SXSW Interactive this year.
See you there!
February 16th, 2004
Shopping on Venus
Women are spending more than men on the Internet for the first time.
February 15th, 2004
New Tomato
Hybrid tomato makes debut at Stock Show and Rodeo
Amelia, a new tomato hybrid, will make an exclusive and short-term appearance at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.
February 14th, 2004
Snow in San Antonio
Yes, it snowed here… first time since 1987.
Here’s a slideshow of pictures from around the city.
February 14th, 2004
Coffee Breaks
Coffee-breaks sabotage employees’ abilities
Taking a coffee break at work may actually sabotage employees’ ability to do their jobs and undermine teamwork instead of boosting it, suggests new research.
February 14th, 2004
Car Chips
Altering Your Engine With New Chips
When Scott Farrell, a Coast Guard instructor in Newport News, Va., wanted a big power boost for his 1998 Volkswagen Jetta TDI, he didn’t lower the suspension, install a hot camshaft or add a free-flow exhaust. Instead, he had a business-card size electronic part installed — a so-called “performance chip” designed to reprogram the car’s engine control module to provide more horsepower. “It was a night-and-day difference,” he said.
February 13th, 2004
Own a historic Mac
Garage sale-ing for a Mac supercomputer
Just a few months ago, Virginia Tech was using 1,100 high-end Macintoshes to enter the top of the supercomputer ranks. Now those same machines are being sold off as surplus goods.
February 13th, 2004
Regarding Lies
People lie more on the phone than by email
Communications technologies are far from equal when it comes to conveying the truth. The first study to compare honesty across a range of communications media has found that people are twice as likely to tell lies in phone conversations as they are in emails.
February 12th, 2004
AIM Spam
Adware Spreads Quickly on AOL IM
Got an instant message from your boss telling you to check out a link? Think twice before clicking. It’s a link to a program that will display ads on your computer and spread to everyone else on your Buddy List. By Michelle Delio.
February 12th, 2004
When Spam Kills
Spam rage drives some e-mailers to extremes
Charles Booher was so mad, he did what others have longed to do: He told a spammer to stop — or else.
February 12th, 2004
IM to SMS
AIM now supports SMS gatewaying… its cool. I’ve tested it, and it works great. Woohoo!
February 11th, 2004
On Smoking
Smoking has ‘shocking’ impact on reproductive health
Smoking damages almost all aspects of sexual, reproductive and child health, reveals a “shocking” new report.
February 11th, 2004
Snoop Dogg
The ultimate success story: From drug dealer to rapper to movie star
Snoop Dogg wants a lot more.
“I ain’t getting what I want,” he says from his home atop a hilly gated subdivision in the Los Angeles suburbs. “I’m smiling. But I’m not happy.”
February 11th, 2004
Disney
Comcast proposes buying Disney in $66 billion deal
Comcast (CMCSA), the largest U.S. cable television operator, Wednesday launched a stunning proposal to buy Walt Disney Co. (DIS) in a deal Comcast said would value Disney at $66 billion, including debt.
February 11th, 2004
H-1B Visas
H-1B Training Program to Be Axed
Facing a drop in funding and a tough job market for technology professionals, the Department of Labor is poised to kill a program that trains Americans to fill positions held by foreign guest workers.
February 10th, 2004
Blockbuster
I’ve been boycotting Blockbuster since 12/18/2001. They suck. The worst customer service I had ever experienced in my life.
This NYT article was music to my ears.
Viacom May Spin Off Blockbuster to Shareholders
Having failed to find private equity investors willing to buy the Blockbuster video rental chain, Viacom Inc. may offer to spin off the unit to its shareholders in a stock swap when it posts its 2003 earnings today, executives close to the company said.
I hope that Blockbuster will die of the same fate that Warehouse music did. 🙂
February 9th, 2004
Reloaded Parody
I had never seen this, but evidentally it was aired during the ’03 MTV Movie awards… its extremely funny, and very well done…
February 9th, 2004
Pepsi/iTunes promotion
Here’s a parody of the Pepsi/iTunes promotion advertisement that premiered during the Super Bowl.
February 9th, 2004
Self-Serve Kodak
Kodak self-serve kiosk to develop film in under 5 minutes
Eastman Kodak thinks it has found a short-term answer to its economic woes: a self-service machine that can develop film in less than five minutes.
February 9th, 2004
Tower Records
Tower Records files for Chapter 11
Tower Records, which operates stores in Austin and Dallas, on Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
February 8th, 2004
Bling-Bling
Am I the only one who’s been noticing the increased usage of the world “bling”?
I think that Hotjobs.com is using it in their ads… and I just saw an Ebay ad as well. Not to mention all the random people at work and such.
Whats really irritating is that its my understanding that “bling” is the noun form, and “bling-bling” is the adjective form… yet all of the popular usage I’ve seen only uses “bling-bling” and never “bling”… noun, adjective, adverb, whatever… always and only “bling-bling”.
What’s with that?
[sigh]
February 8th, 2004
Debtakeover
Last evening I experimented with converting a RH62 box to Debian with debtakeover. After getting it to figure out that it was running on an i386 box and not one that was NULL, it ran overnight and successfully converted the base RedHat install to Debian Woody.
The only problem is that sshd wouldn’t come up upon reboot.
But not bad for the first try, but not good if I don’t have console access.
I also used Microsoft’s Virtual PC to test all of this. I highly recommend it, it saved me from having to build a whole new PC to test this.
February 7th, 2004
Fake Birth Control
FDA and Johnson and Johnson Warn Public About Counterfeit Contraceptive Patches Sold Through Foreign Internet Site
FDA and Johnson and Johnson Co. of Raritan, NJ are warning the public about an overseas internet site selling counterfeit contraceptive patches that contain no active ingredients. These counterfeit patches provide no protection against pregnancy.
February 7th, 2004
Bluetooth Flaw
If you have a fancy cell phone with bluetooth, you’d probably should read this and see if you’re at risk:
Serious flaws in bluetooth security lead to disclosure of personal data
There are serious flaws in the authentication and/or data transfer mechanisms on some bluetooth enabled devices. Specifically, two vulnerabilities have been found:
Firstly, confidential data can be obtained, anonymously, and without the owner’s knowledge or consent, from some bluetooth enabled mobile phones. This data includes, at least, the entire phonebook and calendar.
Secondly, it has been found that the complete memory contents of some mobile phones can be accessed by a previously trusted (“paired”) device that has since been removed from the trusted list. This data includes not only the phonebook and calendar, but media files such as pictures and text messages. In essence, the entire device can be “backed up” to an attacker’s own system.
Finally, the current trend for “Bluejacking” is promoting an environment which puts consumer devices at greater risk from the above attacks.
February 7th, 2004
Surveillance Cameras
Big Brother in Britain: Does more surveillance work?
It was all over in 54 seconds. One moment the four friends were strolling home after a night out, the next they were nursing injuries inflicted by a knife-wielding assailant.