Archive for September, 2007

Come to the Dark Side…

Tuesday, September 18th, 2007

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I get this same comment almost every day now. I’m not sure if it is legitimately evil or if the spammer is just hoping to take advantage of the greed and dishonesty of others in order to get traffic to their own site.

There is a recent comment spam trend where a coherent sentence with one of my blog post titles inserted into it is submitted for approval. They get easy to spot because the spammers use the same sentence over and over for months.

$100 Laptop Project is Faltering

Monday, September 17th, 2007

Brazil, Libya, Thailand and Uruguay are countries that are interested in obtaining units from One Laptop Per Child.

Cost overruns have been a recurring theme with this project, the ideal of $100 is now a longterm goal. The initial production units will cost buyers $176. I think Shakira should buy units for every child attending the schools that she helped to build in Colombia. I think there should be an option with the iPhone rebates to help fund this project as well.

I Want a Flip Video Ultra

Monday, September 17th, 2007

It looks like we are finally seeing products that offer consumers the ability to make good quality, YouTube friendly video cheaply.

I am actually a bit surprised that someone hasn’t come up with a device like Flip Video sooner. I think it was the logical next step in consumer electronics last year. Maybe companies had to see component prices come down before they put money into developing products.

Not only is this thing easy to afford and easy to use…it is also easy to describe. It is a compact video camera with internal software and 1GB of memory. The $149 version can store 1/2 of good quality video. Transfer to your hard drive and/or the internet is via a built in USB connector.

The iPhone is Coming to Europe

Sunday, September 16th, 2007

Will Europeans line up for iPhones?

No, they will queue.

The other major difference as far as Apple is concerned is that the service provider (T-mobile) in Europe is said to be generously forking over a share in it’s voice revenue. AT&T is only providing a cut of its data revenue to the manufacturer.

I have to wonder if many Europeans will take a wait and see attitude, given the huge price drop in the US after only two months of sales?

iPhone Credit Should Feed People

Saturday, September 15th, 2007

The one hundred dollar credit is available to people who bought an iPhone before August 22nd.

If you are a subversive type that activated your phone through some alternative method as opposed to the inconvenient, expensive AT&T way…you don’t get the credit.

You can’t use the credit to get iTunes gift cards. I think there should be a streamlined option involving a $100 donation to charity.

YouTube Video

Friday, September 14th, 2007

I obtained a YouTube subscription specifically for this blog. I wanted to have the ability to post serious, topical videos without exposing people to the weird movies that I make for my own amusement on my personal channel. This got me thinking about the concept of Right-Brain/Left-Brain. I guess This will be my left brain YouTube account.

Am I Qualified for This Job?

Friday, September 14th, 2007

I did not expect to be offered a lucrative position via my comment spam. Nonetheless, here is an opportunity that I would be a fool to pass up ;)

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I find it interesting that while they specifically need someone in my region to do this work, they never actually refer to my region by name. As you can see in this next image, they want quite a bit of information from me…

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I have a policy of always using images rather than quoting scams with actual text. Not only am I suspicious by nature, I am also paranoid :)

Truly Excellent Web Development

Thursday, September 13th, 2007

352 Media Group is a huge Los Angeles web design company with sales offices in several major US cities. They are big AND good. They won 14 Addy Awards last year.

The microsite that they built for American Express to promote travel to Canadian destinations with American Express Travel is a thing of beauty. The client expressed a great deal of satisfaction with the content management software that 352media.com implemented.

Here is an example of how small this World is… 325media also produced a DVD for Microsoft’s Imagine Cup. I have a Microsoft person who helps organize that event on my Facebook. Microsoft no doubt has an affinity for this web development company because they are both very team based enterprises.

GM Playing Chicken with State Governments Over Emissions Reductions

Thursday, September 13th, 2007

Two of the biggest auto makers in America, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler have claimed that they will simply stop selling cars in states that bring stringent regulations related to fuel economy.

That seems like a bully tactic. It doesn’t seem very smart.

The United States District Court for the District of Vermont was not swayed by the arguments of the auto industry. Judge William K. Sessions III made mention of the argument made by the same businesses in the 70’s that catalytic converters were an infeasible imposition on the industry.

If there had been any practical way to make a turn of the phrase “from my cold, dead hands” that would suit people’s resistance to catalytic converters, we might not have them today.

Source: Burlington Free Press

Fishers of Men

Thursday, September 13th, 2007

TheIntelligentCommunity.com, makes it obvious simply by their web address that they are ready for an argument. They have a very interesting product that is now available for download. It is a file for the iPod that is meant as a companion audio critique that you can listen to as you read Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion. The podcast points out 200 instances where the author’s facts and/or statistics may be called into question.

The Intelligent Community Website presents this as a tool to help teach critical thinking. I am already pretty good at that task, and I have reasoned that the website is supported by individuals or groups that are on the other side of the theism versus atheism debate.

They encourage everyone who has critically read the book with the aid of their podcast to add their voice to the reviews of the book on Amazon.