tech - hawg
Friday, September 30, 2005
IBM suckers company out of millions
IBM suckers a cash-rich company into paying millions for them to basically dink around for months while trying to implement a knowledge management product for them. Looks like I'm in the wrong business.
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Yahoo SiteExplorer now live
For all you SEO nuts out there, yahoo's own SiteExplorer is now live. Now you can find out just how many people are (not) linking to your content.
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Thursday, September 29, 2005
NASA teams up with Google
WTF? Google cannot be stopped. I wonder what kind of tech they're cooking over there.
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Microsoft MVPs hate each other
"Old School" VB6ers want to ensure that they're apps are going work and think that Microsoft should still be full-on supporting VB6 as a way of doing things. "The kewl kid" MVPs are part of the new wave of techies who are all into the Web 2.0 way of doing things. Making things look slick and work over the web without need for a desktop install. Apparently people from these two different trains of thought don't see eye to eye on how things should be in the land of Microsoft. My take (not like anyone asked for it)? Change is always boun to happen. Instead of hoping your old apps will work in future Windows versions and thinking that your current VB6 skills should be good enough to keeping you building applications until your blue-in-the-face, why not go with the flow and learn the new technology.
"But I have existing VB6 apps built for clients that they are using and that I have to support and constantly add to..."
Will, leave them with that version of the product. If they never change their environment, it should run a for as long as it should. If they want you to port it to Vista or Windows server 2007 or whatever, figure out how to port your applicaiton (make sure you bill them for the work) and then use that knowledge to aid other companies and dev teams who need to port apps. you could probably create a whole new niche for yourself.
The point is, the world isn't going to stop coming up with new schemas, formats and standards. Those who are constantly learning and applying that new knowledge will be in fron of the pack. The old dinosaurs will get left behind. Don't fight the change, embrace it and move on. </rant>
¶ 12:55 PM 0 Comments
Apple upgrades Powerbooks
Apple upgraded their Powerbook specs. I want this one.
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The $100.00 laptop
From the tech wizards at MIT comes the low cost, crank-to-generate-your-own-power, $100.00 laptop.
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Watch entire tv episode on Google Video
Kudos to Chris Rock (I know he probably had little if anything to do with his show being watchable thru Google Video but I don't know anyone in the TV industry) for allowing us to watch the first episode of Everybody hates Chris on Google Video, even if it was only available for four days (one day left!).
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The web is changing
I think this quote sums up this article on how people are now using the web quite nicely, <blockquote>I stopped watching TV a month and a half ago. If I didn't have to eat, pee, and have sex, probably I'd have no need for the 3-D world.</blockquote>
Now that's a woman who knows her priorities.
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Wednesday, September 28, 2005
The King Kong cometh
Wired has a look at how Peter Jackson is finsihing up King Kong and how the production diaries came about.
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RSS aggregator for Outlook
blogbot for Outlook has been open-sourced and is available for Outlook and Internet Explorer.
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The decline of the desktop
We've all known that laptops are cooler than desktops.
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Thursday, September 22, 2005
1337 Jeopardy contestant
Jeopardy contestant pwns the other contestants and gets the final question correct with a wager of an "interesting" $1337. Awsome display of 1337/\G3.
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Get "Leet" like all the cool kids
Want to make sense of all the "leet"-ing and "pwn"-age coming out of your childs mouth? Get hip and improve your Leet-speaking 5kiLL5.
¶ 9:04 AM 0 Comments
IFPI releases malware that hunts down your P2P software
The IFPI, who represents the RIAA as well, has released a program called Digital File Check. It seems like it was built to forcibly remove any P2P software on your machine. A tool that parents could use to bug their kids. I have 10$ that say the kids would be able to find out how to either undo what that program does or how to hide their content from that program without their parents even knowing what's going on.
[sidenote: how you can teach your kids the perils of copyright infringement]
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Keep an eye on Rita
Looks like the virtual earth team has put up a page where you can track cat 5 hurricane rita make it's trek toward land.
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Microsoft buys into AOL to "kill Google"
How Microsoft can turn their recent AOL purchase into a strategy to help them axe the googster.
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RFID is easy to crack
There's a paper over at rfidanalysis.org detailing how easy RFID is to crack. The authors also have video on how they were able to hotwire someone's car and get some free gas (yes please).
¶ 6:33 AM 0 Comments
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Google begins free WiFi rollout
Google releases Secure Access software (faq here) for users of their free WiFi service in the San Fran Bay Area. It encrypts your internet traffic as it gets sent from your machine, making it harder to intercept your data. Could this be the beginnings of a nationwide effort? I would say it's likely and that this is a testing ground of sorts, to make sure the infrastructure is sound and working properly. With Google's track record, I fully expect (ie: hope) to wake up to free nationwide wireless access someday.
¶ 7:40 AM 0 Comments
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Fashionista Sony PSP cases
For the tragically-hip in your circle come this too-cool-for-school-and-my-pocketbook Sony PSP cases available in Europe next month. If you have a PSP, you might as well get some sort of case for it, since you probably won't be playing that many games on it. ¶ 7:51 PM 0 Comments
For the tragically-hip in your circle come this too-cool-for-school-and-my-pocketbook Sony PSP cases available in Europe next month. If you have a PSP, you might as well get some sort of case for it, since you probably won't be playing that many games on it. ¶ 7:51 PM 0 Comments
"F*ck'em, we're going to five blades."
Men against stubble powerhouse Gillette has recently developed the world's first five bladed razor. When will the one-up-manship end? Apparently there's been a bit of a razor war going on with wanna powerhouse Schick having a temporary injunction placed on Gillette for false advertising claims. It apparently couldn't stop the five blades from happening.
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Yahoo! to rebuild their e-mail service
Looks like Yahoo! mail is getting revamped to incorporate some nice web 2.0 technology. Hopefully Yahoo! will be putting some tech from their Oddpost purchase last year. They're taking requests to become a test user and you can catch some pics here.
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New web browser Flock builds buzz
The visually challenged (how else would you explain the huge font on their site?) makers of the yet to be released browser Flock, have to be excited. People are digging their new "social browser" which is supposed to integrate more seemlesly with popular web services Flickr and Del.icio.us.
¶ 5:56 AM 0 Comments
GMC to remotely detect your car's troubles
GMC will begin offering an OnStar Vehicle Diagnostics service which can scan your car remotely for problems or "about-to-be" problems. Would it be something to trust?
¶ 5:38 AM 0 Comments
iPod Nano get dissected
Get a look at the iPod Nano innards at ars technica iPod Nano review.
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Google opens blog search engine
Technorati has to be worrying. Instead of buying a company that already had a blog search engine, Google has decided to launch their own.
¶ 5:30 AM 0 Comments
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Office 12 gets extreme makeover
Way to go Microsoft Office team. I applaud the innovation, the willingness to step out of the shadow of the old interface and the icon-craziness that has worked it's way into Office 12. Freshens things up a bit. Will it make Office a better product? Who knows. It sure looks nice though.
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Search videos with Visual search engine
The computer-scientist-led company Truveo has developed a way to search video content visually.
¶ 10:35 PM 0 Comments
iPod Nano catches everyone off guard
There wasn't really any buzz re: the iPod Nano before Apple's unvieling earlier this month because nobody knew about it outside of Apple. I like that. It's a lot different from the "Leak from the top" Apple style of old.
¶ 10:31 PM 0 Comments
Why FedEx is better than UPS
Just in case you need to do any shipping, use FedEx. Whoever is recieving your package will thank you.
¶ 10:24 PM 0 Comments
Free Ruby on Rails hosting
IF you're just ramping up on the Ruby on Rails the kids are talking about these days, get some free hosting for your apps at RailsPlayground. Free = Kewl.
¶ 10:19 PM 0 Comments
ASP.net catches up to AJAX hype
Never one to innovate, Microsoft ASP.net opened up their ajax friendly ASP.net 2.0 site. "Atlas" is what they're codenaming their AJAX-in' Javascript libraries. Cool but wasn't ASP.net supposed to be out earlier this year?
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Microsoft opens up gadget site
Want to see how close Microsoft doesn't get to beating the iPod and how they come up with their "so good no one will use it" ideas? Head on over to their freshly minted gadget site.
¶ 10:14 PM 0 Comments
Why you need Netflix right now
1. It's only $9.99 ($7.99 for returning members)
2. They're planning some kind of internet "movie-on-demand" download service.
3. With movie studios inching closer to simultaneously releasing movies in theatres and on DVD, you'll be able to watch brand spankin new releases in the comfort of your own home.
Why Netflix sucks...
1. If you order too often, they will slow down shipping your movies out on purpose. ¶ 10:00 PM 0 Comments
2. They're planning some kind of internet "movie-on-demand" download service.
3. With movie studios inching closer to simultaneously releasing movies in theatres and on DVD, you'll be able to watch brand spankin new releases in the comfort of your own home.
Why Netflix sucks...
1. If you order too often, they will slow down shipping your movies out on purpose. ¶ 10:00 PM 0 Comments
Blogging to be slow today
My dentist made an attempt on my life. Need time to recover. Just a day or so.
¶ 4:46 AM 2 Comments
Google's GMail legal threat
A British research company, who had their own G-Mail web based e-mail serivce debut back in May of 2002, has not been able to work something out with Google in regards to them changing their GMail service to something different. Now the research firm's head honcho is reluctantly considering legal action.
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Monday, September 12, 2005
eBay to buy Skype
Lookis like eBay will be buying Sype. With this acquisition, you may eventually be able in Sotheby "phone-in-your-bid" type auctions.
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Saturday, September 10, 2005
MSN secrelty yearns for Google
"Yearns" may be a little overkill but MSN has been caught promoting Google Search in MSN Messenger.
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Find the API/Web Service you're looking for..
The WsFinder wiki is an attempt to catalog all of the available APIs and Web Serivces out there for developers to use. Kind of scarce right now but it'll build up as more people contribute (note to self: duh).
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Monday, September 05, 2005
Pick up some Gold plated Legos
Celebrate Lego's 50th anniversary by pimping out your Lego set with these speical limited edition (ie e-bay gold in a few years) gold plated Lego bricks that you get free with an order over $50.
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RFID video player
From Massimo Banzi comes an RFID video player that will play a full screen video when an object with an RFID tag is placed on the device.
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Latest Toyota models get enhanced secuirty features
The latest Toyota vehicles have Toyota's answer to onStar called G-Book which, amongst other things, will capture a picture of the theif who just stole your 4Runner and beam it over to Toyota's big security brain.
¶ 8:35 PM 0 Comments
Cingular to get push-to-talk
Looks like Cingular subscribers could be getting the push-to-talk technology first made famous by Nextel. The Samsung D357 and/or the LG 7200 are possibly going to be the first models to have this technology.
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Free online image editing
Edit your images online for free thru Creating Online. Nothing too fancy or "photoshop"-hard but some editing (size and whatnot) none the less.
¶ 8:28 PM 0 Comments
Want some secret Tiger tweaks?
For all you Mac OSX 10.4 (dubbed Tiger) havers out there, Macworld has 20 "top secret" (I guess not so much now) tweaks ranging from crating better passwords to using the somewhat hidden Dictionary/Thesaurus that appears in certain applications.
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Easily mopve your blog from one system to another
Want to move your blog from one service to another and aren't quite sure how to do it? Well if you can wait a bit for this format to catch on (you didn't think I meant you could do it now did you? bwa ha ha), you could be in luck. The format is BlogML which is basically, a new markup language to descirbe web logs to make them easily transferrable.
¶ 8:18 PM 0 Comments
Developer gets fired for eating cold pizza
A department in this mortgage company has a pot luck, developer comes over for the a slice of left over pizza and gets fired since it wasn't his department that held the pot luck. Ouch.
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Nice, shiny googles help you see better underwater
While probably overkill for the local public pool, these "HydroOptix" goggles help you see up to 5 times better underwater. Seems like something that would make diving more enjoyable (I wopuld imagine, I've never been...yet).
Besides having a remarkable wide view, HydroOptix™ gives you a quality of view unlike anything you've ever experienced -- razor-sharp, distortion-free from edge-to-edge. The MEGA™ series diving masks' edge resolution is 100 times greater than the edge resolution of flat diving masks.¶ 8:09 PM 0 Comments
Plush toy looking web cam
Keep a covert eye on the goings on in your home with this "nanny-cam"-ish web enabled camera that is disguised as a stuffed puppy. ¶ 8:03 PM 0 Comments
Keep a covert eye on the goings on in your home with this "nanny-cam"-ish web enabled camera that is disguised as a stuffed puppy. ¶ 8:03 PM 0 Comments
Are American workers Lazy or Creative?
More creative than lazy it seems since work time and personal time begin to merge and intertwine.
The average worker admits to frittering away 2.09 hours per day, not counting lunch and scheduled break time, according to the report. That's far more time than the roughly one hour per day employers expect the average employee to waste, the report said. The extra unproductive time adds up to $759 billion annually in salaries for which companies get no apparent benefit, the report said.¶ 7:59 PM 0 Comments
As Coleman sees it, workers are goofing off partly because they're putting in more hours on the job. What's more, he suggested, personal and professional time are blending.
"Work is invading our personal time and therefore it makes sense that personal activities are invading work time," he said.
Court against Kazaa
In a major blow to the file-sharing industry, a federal judge in Australia ruled in favor the the music and recording industries and against Kazaa telling Kazaa to alter their software so people can't use it to pirate music.
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Cell phone companies help make donating eaiser
Cell phone carriers are making it easier for subscripbers to donate to the red cross for hurricane relief efforts. If you're a Cingular subscripber, all you need to do is reply to the text message that Cingular sent out (to all subscribers) asking if you would like to donate. Respond with a simple yes or no. Subscribers of Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextl (I say call'em Sprixtl) and Alltel can donate $5.00 buy texting "give" to 24357 (it's 2Give...get it?).
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How to get aTivo for $50.00
At first, you could have almost got paid $50 to buy a Tivo due to the new rebate Tivo is running that gives you $150 for buying a Tivo. The trick was, Dell and Amazon were (for the moment) both selling Tivos for $99. But, I'm sure after someone noticed the slipup, Amazon and Dell both changed their prices. Good news is that the Tivos you buy from Amazon or Dell are most likely eligble for the rebate, bad news is, you now have to pay more than
$99.
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$99.
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Superman article
Newsweek has an article on the upcoming Superman flick being directing by Brian Singer at this very moment. They detail a scene or two and go more indepth in regards to the story so spoiler haters beware. There also a new video journal entry up at Singer's Bluetights.net site where you can catch a glimpse of the back of Lex Luthor's head. Nice.
¶ 7:34 PM 0 Comments
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Skype isn't going anywhere yet
Don't expect Skype to just bow out now that everyone seems to be jumping into the VoIP market these days (ie, Microsoft and Google). They have a secret weapon. Their developers will keep the product alive and useful and will continue to keep Sype relevant.
¶ 9:43 PM 0 Comments
Add more bounce to your ounce
As not-ridiculous these fine sneaks look, I think I'll pass. I fall down enough running in regular shoes, I don't need any assisstance in that department. For those who do, check out these spring giving shoes.
¶ 9:36 PM 0 Comments
As not-ridiculous these fine sneaks look, I think I'll pass. I fall down enough running in regular shoes, I don't need any assisstance in that department. For those who do, check out these spring giving shoes.
¶ 9:36 PM 0 Comments
Web host still alive and online in New Orleans
Web hosting company Zipa is still alive and online in the middle of the hurricane-ravaged city New Orleans. Michael Barnett of Zipa's sister company DirectNIC, has been keeping his Live Journal blog up-to-date updates his Live Journal continually with on-the-street reports.
¶ 9:29 PM 0 Comments
Windows media center design wins art award
Communication Arts gives the Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 user interface special mention for it's sleek design.
A new mode of the Windows XP operating system, Windows Media Center offers an integrated media consumption experience on a TV screen. With animated menus driven by PC technology, it brings a surprising amount of interactivity to your remote control.¶ 9:27 PM 0 Comments
Motorola gets famous musicians to promote their ROKR phones
Motorola recruits famous musicians across multiple generations to include in their adverts for their new line of iPod music phones dubbed ROKR (rocker, get it?). Among the history making musicians are The Great Madge (ma to the donna), Iggy Pop, Little Richard, Bootsy Collins, Lil' John, The White Stripes, Sleater-Kinney (wtf?), Sum 41, Mya, Pussycat Dolls and Billie Joe from Green Day. Motorola has even signed up Beethoven, Jimi Hendrix and Biggie Smalls look alikes.
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Websites help out Hurricane Katrina victims
Online communitites and various well known websites are doing what they can to contribute to relief efforts to survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Craigslist is more than doing their part to help, having added pages for Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Mobile amongst others.
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The Katrina Help Wiki needs your help
As you can probably imagine, the Katrina Help wiki is getting massive amounts of traffic and they need help with the bandwidth. Help out if you can.
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