Archive for December, 2003

Fedex buys Kinkos

Tuesday, December 30th, 2003

First UPS buys Mailboxes, Etc… now this… FedEx looks to e-deliveries with Kinko’s buyout FedEx announced Tuesday that it would acquire Net-savvy business-services company Kinko’s in a $2.4 billion cash deal.

Mini-iPod

Tuesday, December 30th, 2003

iPod Jr. Rumors Become More Substantial “Rumors of a new, smaller, “iPodJr” have been floating around the Rumor Sites for a few weeks (as well a here at Slashdot). But now, the rumors have gained credibility and become more substantial. London’s Evening Standard reports today (30 Dec 03) that “Apple has announced a cut-price mini […]

Woody

Tuesday, December 30th, 2003

What is the difference between a hardwood and a softwood? As it turns out, a hardwood is not necessarily a harder material (more dense) and a softwood is not necessarily a softer material (less dense). For example, balsa wood is one of the lightest, least dense woods there is, and it’s considered a hardwood.

Coyote Ugly

Tuesday, December 30th, 2003

Coyote Ugly coming to Austin The famed Coyote Ugly Saloon has picked Austin’s Sixth Street for its newest location, the saloon announced today.

Non-US Ads

Monday, December 29th, 2003

10 Ads The US Won’t See “Some ads made by world’s leading advertising agencies for well-known brands will never be seen in the United States. The Gucci G-Spot turned out to be too risque, video for Drug-Free America was deemed too disgusting, Internet’s favorite Honda “Cog” commercial won’t air due to the high prices for […]

RAID Failure

Monday, December 29th, 2003

I had my first drive failure today since 1988 or something. I knew it would happen sometime, but I typically turn over hardware so rapidly that I never have anything die on me. First there were random “clunking” noises… SMART was reporting that the drive was probably going to die soon as well… then the […]

Atkins Bread

Monday, December 29th, 2003

Breadmakers craft low-carb versions of staff of life Carb-crazed Atkins dieters’ cutback on starches has taken a bite out of the $6 billion bread business this year, and breadmakers are responding with attempts at low-carb breads.

Stock Options

Friday, December 26th, 2003

Thinking about those stock options you have from your employer? Read this if you need to undestand them better: How Employees Value (Often Incorrectly) Their Stock Options

John Cusack

Thursday, December 25th, 2003

Ever wonder which John Cusack character you’re most like? Well, wonder no more! Take this quick test to see who you’re most like. The results may be surprising! The John Cusack Test Evidentally, I’m: Which John Cusack Are You?

80’s Child

Thursday, December 25th, 2003

If you grew up in the 80’s and played lots of video games, you need to check out this music video: http://www.powerstrike.net/Tehkan/mamejump.html

The Color Blue

Thursday, December 25th, 2003

This is amazing. This paper shows that the color blue is not important when viewing images…. it needs to be there, but it doesn’t need the detail from it. Check it out, its really mind-boggling. http://nfg.2y.net/games/ntsc/visual.shtm

Europe plays catch-up on smoking

Wednesday, December 24th, 2003

Europe plays catch-up on smoking restrictions It’s hard to believe, even for many non-smokers, that the Emerald Isle will outlaw smoking in pubs and restaurants with a New York-style ban.

Don’t lose the landline

Wednesday, December 24th, 2003

A Tale of Cell Phones and Landlines A while back, I was looking at my monthly bills and decided to start cutting out the fat. I went through each bill and analyzed what services I was really using versus what I was simply paying for. I managed to slice out about $75 per month worth […]

VoIP

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2003

NYT Reviews VoIP: Vonage, Packet8, VoicePulse “The New York Times Technology section reviews VoIP services Vonage, VoicePulse and Packet8. A second article rounds up the competition including VoIP start-ups, cable companies and traditional telcos. The review primarily focuses on Vonage and it’s an enlightening review particularly because the reporter isn’t a techie. Most interesting is […]

Gift-Wrapping

Monday, December 22nd, 2003

Splurge in gift-wrap knows no bounds Holiday shoppers are spending more and more on elaborate gift wrapping. A few years ago, Matt Denton found an old hat box, covered it in purple velvet and tucked inside his mother’s Christmas gift, a “comfortable” lavender sweater. The gift cost a modest $20. The packaging? A whopping $60, […]

Marriage

Monday, December 22nd, 2003

Cohabiting boosts men’s mental health Cohabiting is better for men’s mental health, but marriage is better for women’s happiness, suggests a new study. The study of nearly 4,500 men and women in the UK also reveals that men and women who stick with their first enduring relationship enjoy good mental health. However, where men recover […]

Safe Silver Cars

Saturday, December 20th, 2003

Silver cars are the safest on the road Silver cars are much less likely to be involved in a serious crash than cars of other colours, suggests a new study of over 1000 cars.

Sun/Cobalt

Thursday, December 18th, 2003

Sun drives the final nail in Cobalt’s coffin Sun’s massive 2001 purchase price for server appliance maker Cobalt Networks seems a tad silly with the entire product line being sent out to pasture. Thanks to a tip, The Reg has uncovered Sun’s decision to end-of-life every Cobalt product, including the elegant Qube and RaQ systems, […]

Sheep Liver

Thursday, December 18th, 2003

‘Humanised’ organs can be grown in animals It’s bad news, says your doctor. Your liver is failing. So he extracts stem cells from your bone marrow and injects them into a sheep fetus while it is still in the womb. When the sheep is born, much of the animal’s liver will consist of your own […]

Cancer Virus

Thursday, December 18th, 2003

Fighting Cancer With The Common Cold? “After 30 years of work, Saint Louis University researchers have genetically engineered a common cold virus to fight cancerous cells while leaving unaffected healthy ones. They received a patent for this research and clinical tests on humans will start soon, according to this news release. Dr. William Wold, chair […]

Sock Puppet

Wednesday, December 17th, 2003

I aquired a brand new Pets.com Sock Puppet today. Whoopee! Did you know that the voice of the sock puppet was Michael Ian Black? He used to be on the MTV show The State… in fact, you can see a clip of him from The State here. Now he’s the weirdo that works in the […]

New Marketing

Wednesday, December 17th, 2003

Old labels just don’t stick in 21st century As the U.S. population grows more diverse and as immigrants move up the economic ladder, race and ethnicity are becoming less important than education, income, home ownership, age and lifestyles. In fact, as Hispanics, blacks and Asian-Americans increasingly move to middle-class suburbs and prosperous neighborhoods, they’re identified […]

Atkins Booz

Wednesday, December 17th, 2003

What’s better than low carbs, Smirnoff asks? No carbs Spirits marketers have already put the squeeze on beermakers this year by stealing market share — volume is up 2.4% vs. 1% for beers. Now, Diageo’s Smirnoff, the world’s top-selling premium vodka, is looking to extend that momentum by riding the Atkins low-carb diet craze.

What A Girl Wants

Tuesday, December 16th, 2003

Volvo teams up to build what women want About 100 women at Volvo are doing something no one in the auto industry has ever done. They are designing a car for affluent, independent women. And it’s definitely not pink.

Press

Tuesday, December 16th, 2003

Interview: Rackspace Co-chairman Morris Miller Hosting Morris Miller joined Rackspace Managed Hosting in 1998 as chief operating officer, and now serves as Managing Director as well as co-chairman along with Graham Weston. Miller’s primary focus is on corporate strategy, business development and M&A activity. He recently shared his thinking on key issue affecting Rackspace and […]

Spammers

Monday, December 15th, 2003

The Life of a Spammer “The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ran an interesting article today about the life of a “small time” spammer. It is interesting to note that even a religiously zealous grandmother can mire our inboxes with junk.” That’s Flo Fox, of Slidell, LA.

New Xbox and Piracy

Friday, December 12th, 2003

Microsoft wants non-standard media for Xbox 2? A job advertisement posted on Microsoft’s careers website suggests that the company may be considering moving to a proprietary disc format for its next console, in an effort to make piracy on the device more difficult.

Nerds

Friday, December 12th, 2003

We Are All Nerds Now “The Guardian has a good review of something close to all of our hearts. We are all nerds now discusses how the popularity of the internet, video gaming, comic-book movies (Spider-Man, Hulk), the sci-fi epics (The Matrix, Star Wars) and the wizard fantasy (Harry Potter), not to mention The Lord […]

Ebola

Friday, December 12th, 2003

Drug treatment for Ebola shows promise A potential treatment to combat infection with the deadly Ebola virus has shown promising results in a study of monkeys.

Killer SUV

Friday, December 12th, 2003

SUVs double pedestrians’ risk of death Someone struck by a large sports utility vehicle is more than twice as likely to die as someone hit by a saloon car travelling at the same speed. The finding by American researchers will add further weight to calls for SUVs ? sporty vehicles with a high, blunt-fronted body […]

PacMan

Thursday, December 11th, 2003

Now you can play Pac-Man and Space Invaders within Excel with these files. Man, some people are so bored with their daily lives. 🙂

How Stuff Works

Thursday, December 11th, 2003

Why do the entry doors to most homes open inward, while in most public buildings, the entry doors open outward? The basic doorway in your home has a very simple structure: A large board is attached to a frame using a few “pin” hinges. This design has a number of advantages — it is easy […]

Frozen Light

Thursday, December 11th, 2003

Light ‘frozen’ in its tracks A pulse of light has been stopped in its tracks with all its photons intact, reveal US physicists.

Apple Stores

Thursday, December 11th, 2003

This guy takes his son to virtually every Apple Store grand opening… what a weird hobby… http://www.ifoapplestore.com/

Phoney Bone

Thursday, December 11th, 2003

The bone phone # Sanyo says they’re going to launch the first cellphone with a bone-conduction speaker that can vibrate the sound directly into your skull rather. The idea is that you’ll use the TS41 and its Sonic Speaker in places where it’s too loud to hold a normal conversation, though, as Dottocomu notes, it […]

Camera Phones

Thursday, December 11th, 2003

‘Poke your camera phone’s eye out’ – analyst The Meta Group has warned companies to have a corporate policy that limits cameraphones being used on premises.

Solaris x86 free

Thursday, December 11th, 2003

Sun sets Solaris x86 free Almost two years after it went on hiatus, Sun Microsystems’ Solaris x86 has come back in full form with free downloads of the operating system becoming available once again, The Register has discovered.

40 Under 40

Tuesday, December 9th, 2003

I was walking through the grocery store today and a friend of mine stopped me and congratulated me for being in the San Antonio Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” list… go figure! Here are scans of it… page 1 and page 2

Looking Glass

Tuesday, December 9th, 2003

This is really cool, I suggest you watch the video demo of it… Simon Phipps Looks At ‘Looking Glass’ “Simon Phipps, chief technology evangelist for Sun Microsystems, describes his experiences using Project Looking Glass, Sun’s prototype three-dimensional computer desktop, in this post on his weblog. He mentions a couple of demo videos too.”

Vonage

Monday, December 8th, 2003

Vonage drops Cisco VoIP adapter Broadband telephone service provider Vonage said Monday that it has replaced Cisco Systems with Motorola as its exclusive telephone adapter supplier.