The Rigged-Up Net

Sun’s Software Revolution

I finally realized the revolution is on after reading about the Java Enterprise System in Fortune. I’d thought Sun’s new software strategy was just the latest of the company’s attempts at figuring out how to make money from Java. But there are three threads that together change the whole game. First is a practical, functional Linux desktop aimed at the business customer from a big and respected company. Second is a simple, attractive pricing model. Third is Sun’s intention to commoditize enterprise end-user software. No matter how successful the Java Desktop System turns out, this last point ensures permanent change in the computer industry.

Dark Tip: Secure Instant Messaging

As you may know, every time you send an instant message you are sending plain text across the Internet. Like any plain text (email, document, I.M.) it can be sniffed and read. Time to crack down on prying eyes and talk about instant message encryption on tonight’s “Screen Savers.”

Sprint, Nextel make numbers portable

Sprint PCS and Nextel Communications said Monday they’ve agreed on a process to let each others’ customers switch carriers later this year but keep their old cell phone numbers.

Cultural movement kindles interest of secular Jews

Nearly 200 secular humanistic Jews here will gather this week to honor the culture and values of their people.

This article talks about Jews honoring their culture…. but minus the God. Wow.

Rackspace Looks To Forge New Types Of Partnerships

Rackspace, which has for some time worked with hundreds of resellers, Monday introduced a new program aimed at application developers, systems integrators and other MSPs.

Heat Warning: OVERHYDRATION is as dangerous as DEHYDRATION

During the intense summer heat it’s important to drink fluids to prevent a heat injury caused by dehydration. You could go too far by drinking too much water.

Play the Longevity Game

It says I’ll live to 85… good news. 😉

4 Simultaneous Channels Okay For 802.11b

Exclusive: New study shows that four channels can be used simultaneously without significant interference, easing installation and support problems for wireless networks.

From the article, it says that you can use channels 1, 4, 8. and 11 at the same time… w00t!

RSS Readers: Bringing the World to Your Desktop

Review: News readers used to be geeky and difficult to use, but this latest crop of RSS programs brings usability and modern interface techniques to the RSS world.

A Weird and Twisted Tale

What’s the real story behind the Microsoft antitrust case?

Crab buffet leaves Red Lobster all wet

Americans love their crab. The shellfish delicacy is one of the top three choices at No. 1 seafood dining chain Red Lobster, along with shrimp and lobster.

Confessions of a Spam King

How Richard Colbert mastered the art of bombarding people with unwanted e-mail, and why Congress almost certainly won’t do anything to stop him

British Singer Robert Palmer Dies in Paris

British rock singer Robert Palmer (news), best known for his hit 1980 videos featuring leggy models in short black dresses and electric guitars, died of a heart attack Friday. He was 54.

Shown: Photos of cane-shaped gun from Pa. deliveryman’s car

Investigators released photographs Thursday of a cane-shaped, likely homemade firearm found in the car of a pizza deliveryman who died when a bomb locked around his neck exploded after he robbed a bank.

Texas ranked 6th best climate for small business

Texas has been ranked the sixth best state for small business and entrepreneurship by the Small Business Survival Committee’s (SBSC).

From the SBSC article:

In terms of their policy environments, the most entrepreneur-friendly states under the “Small Business Survival Index 2003” are: 1) South Dakota, 2) Nevada, 3) Wyoming, 4) New Hampshire, 5) Florida, 6) Texas, 7) Tennessee, 8) Washington, 9) Michigan, 10) Mississippi, 11) Alabama, 12) Colorado, 13) Illinois, 14) Virginia, and 15) Indiana.

In contrast, the most anti-entrepreneur policy environments are offered by the following: 37) North Carolina, 38) Montana, 39) Ohio, 40) West Virginia, 41) Iowa, 42) Oregon, 43) New Mexico, 44) Vermont, 45) New York, 46) California, 47) Rhode Island, 48) Maine, 49) Minnesota, 50) Hawaii, and 51) District of Columbia.

U.S. tequila industry troubled by Mexican regulation plans

U.S. distributors of tequila are upset over a proposed Mexican government regulation that would require all tequila sold in the United States to be bottled in Mexico.

Peet’s opens first coffee shop in Austin

Specialty coffee retailer Peet’s Coffee & Tea Inc. has opened its first Austin coffee shop, near the University of Texas at Guadalupe and 23rd streets, Peet’s announced Thursday.

Holy crap! Frienster is shutting down for a couple of months… so get people’s email addresses because all those contacts you made won’t be accessible for a couple of months! Yikes!

More here

A Church in A Bar

The Rev. Bob Gomez has, like many people, asked himself: What would Jesus do? His answer: He’d open a church in a bar.

Home-brewing a 1.2TB IDE to Firewire Monster

Delta-9 writes “Here is a writeup on how to combine 6 200GB IDE drives into a small tower and hack together some firewire controllers to give you one giant 1.2TB firewire drive.” Very cool project, both technically and aesthetically.

The link in the article is slammed, so here’s a mirror I found.

Cleverness may carry survival costs

Being smart is not always a good thing in the evolutionary race, suggests a new study by Swiss researchers

Dispute over test for toxic shock syndrome

A tampon maker says it may try to develop a test for genetic susceptibility to toxic shock syndrome, based on the results of a study announced last week.

Study: Britons quickly dropped seafood for meat in Stone Age

Surf or turf? If you’ve faced that decision in a restaurant, consider what Stone Age people in coastal Britain went through, with a traditional seafood diet on one hand and newly domesticated plants and animals on the other.

Court blocks ‘do not call’ list

The marketers that Americans love to hate may get another chance to interrupt consumers’ dinners with unwanted telephone pitches.

The Enterprise Guide to Web Traffic Spikes

Although extra servers can be a comfort during a busy season, they will be nothing more than excess, costly hardware when traffic slows. Other options, such as load balancers and cache servers, may prove to be better alternatives.

Paul is quoted in it! Woohoo!

Neanderthal hunters rivalled human skills

Neanderthals were not driven from northern Europe by vastly superior human hunters, suggests an analysis of hunting remains.

Dixie Chicks may fly the country coop

Are the Dixie Chicks turning their backs on the music goose that laid the golden egg?

Geek Eye for the Luddite Guys

The experiment: Let loose three tech experts in an average family’s home. The result: gizmo nirvana (well, almost).

http://slashdot.org/articles/03/09/23/1710231.shtml?tid=126

Study: Use of profanity increasing on TV

Television is cussing up an increasingly blue streak, according to a study of the major broadcast networks. “During the 2002-2003 season, the broadcast networks attempted to rewrite the book on language standards for television,” the Parents Television Council, a watchdog group, said in a report released Monday.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2003-09-23-cursing_x.htm

Epilepsy drug helps beat cocaine addiction

An anti-epilepsy drug has shown promising results for treating cocaine addiction in a preliminary US trial.

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994190

Study: Chemicals in Texas Breast Milk

The breast milk of Texas women might contain a higher level of flame-retardant chemicals, which research has shown causes brain damage in newborn rodents, according to a new study.

http://www.msnbc.com/local/KMOL/D-FC44E327-19C3-4946-9C9F-D163A7D61316.asp?0na=x2201230r

I’m really starting to like the crew at Network Computing, they’re funny guys…

I’m sure we’ve all seen the Starwars Kid stuff – and on the NWC blog they’ve got a mirror of the Matrix Reloaded version.

Anyhow, they made their own – not as good as the original kid running around with a golf ball retriever, but entertaining none-the-less.

Good stuff, enjoy. 😉

How a regular guy gets homeless

I pull into a campground, pay my fee and pitch my green, two-person tent beneath the trees in the hills above California’s southern coast. Someone has left some firewood, and I split it with my ax and chop some kindling. Within minutes a nice fire is going. I heat up some chunky canned soup on my propane stove and eat it out of a coffee mug along with crackers while sitting in my canvas chair.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2003-09-21-homelessman_x.htm

First power station to harness moon opens

The first commercial subsea power station to harness the tidal currents of the sea was hooked up to an electricity grid on Saturday.

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994188

This company, FireTide, is going to hot-hot-hot…. they will be the first to ship mesh-routers for Wifi and other network applications.

Here’s a video about them from CNet:
http://news.com.com/1601-2-5079547.html

Is there a way to compare a human being to an engine in terms of efficiency?

It turns out that “biological engines” — which is what the muscles in your body are — are pretty amazing in terms of efficiency. To find out how efficient, let’s look at how many calories a person burns while riding a bicycle.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/question527.htm

Survey: Americans consume more seafood

Half of all American adults say they are eating more seafood, primarily shellfish and salmon, than they did five years ago.

http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2003/09/15/daily51.html?jst=b_ln_hl

Crab and Salmon… yummm… 🙂

Fossil reveals world’s oldest genitals

The discovery of the world’s oldest genitals proves that little has changed over the last 400 million years – at least for daddy-long-legs.

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994175

36 Texans Among America’s Richest

San Antonians Charles Butt, Lowry Mays, Christopher Goldsbury and Red McCombs make list.

http://www.msnbc.com/local/KMOL/D-8CD69B41-C131-474A-AB70-44DF34E8A816.asp?0na=x2201110o

Here’s the complete Forbes list:
http://www.forbes.com/richlist2003/rank.html

Are team nesting dolls the next big (to little) thing?

The next big fan draw in American sports might be tiny Russians known for coming apart under pressure. At least Jay Deutsch thinks so. “I don’t know why bell-bottoms came back,” he says. “I don’t know if the pet rock will come back. But I know 2004 will be the year of the Babooshkah.”

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/hiestand/2003-09-18-hiestand_x.htm