Yahoo’s buyout of search technology company Inktomi is meant to fend off the growing competitive threat from Google. But analysts say it may be too little, too late. [CNET News.com]
Salon: “Hiding Your Money” author indicted
Certainly seems like it was only a matter of time based on the whole premise of the guy’s thinking…
“Mr. Schneider has set up offshore banks for years, but offshore banks have both legal purposes and illegal purposes,” he said. “Mr. Schneider’s position is that he has told people you cannot use them for tax evasion.”
A call Saturday night to Witmeyer was not immediately returned.
MSNBC – The Year in Pictures
Big Brother’s Big Win
Salon’s covererage of the USA Patriot Act and Total Information Awareness Program AKA The Department of Pre-Crime…
Big Brother’s big win: “This week’s closed-door ruling by a secretive court will give the feds unprecedented domestic spying powers, a constitutional expert says.” Source: Salon
Implosion World!
This site is an excellent resource for all your explosive needs… You might want to be careful with what you purchase though based on what the government has in mind with their new database project, the Total
Information Awareness Program (knowledge is power! 😉 ).
Implosion World has everything you need to…: “Implosion World has everything you need to know about controlled building demolition. Hotels, …” Source: Memepool
The next big thing…
I actually caught this last week on 60 Minutes II and was seriously impressed. Dean Kamen showed that he is well on the way to be able to build a Stirling engine. What is so amazing about his thinking is that the device would be able to provide enough power to: enable computing devices; recharge a Segway HT and clean water that may have been collected. This could all happen simply by burning wood chips or any other readily available resource. Dean sees and it is hard to debate on this one, that the world could forever change with this device. Third world countries depending on water for survival would be able to have a quicker way to get the water (segway) to and from the source, plus a way to clean it for safety. Clean energy and clean water, not bad for a guy who dropped out of school…
This is a must read.
This is a must read. If this plan goes into effect, we are all one step closer to the department of pre-crime as told in
Minority ReportYou Are a Suspect: “(16 links) William Safire: The Homeland Security Act — Is It A Gross Invasion Of Privacy .. OUTRAGE GROWS OVER PENTAGON PLAN: SUPER DATABASE WILL TRACK CITIZENS .. You Are a Suspect .. NYTimes” Source: blogdex – the weblog diffusion index
Guess Who Yahoos? Saddam’s Son:
Guess Who Yahoos? Saddam’s Son: “Yahoo evidently provides a free e-mail account to Saddam Hussein’s eldest son, who also has a .NET Passport from Microsoft — which would be a violation of U.S. law. By Brian McWilliams.” Source: Wired News
Pixar’s Animated Growth
The Overachievers: Pixar’s Animated Growth
Steve Jobs is not a genius, but he has a virtually untarnished track record for seeing around corners, for conceptualizing and capitalizing on market opportunities that just aren’t apparent to others. This has been the case with Pixar Animation Studios.
Source: Forbes.com
Spectrum battles are chronic at the FCC
Source: The McKinsey Quarterly
Official Argument Transcripts
Official Argument Transcripts: “
Only a month after the Eldred argument, the Supreme Court has posted transcripts.
Google also has a list of copies of the HTML version.
” Source: Aaron Swartz
China’s Big Brother
According to this AP report, a province in China is requiring Internet Cafe users to purchase a card which registers them with the authorities and monitors their online usage…
They get an access card, which is swiped on an identifying machine when they go online. That sends a signal to police who continuously monitor the Web for people attempting to reach barred sites. Police can also block access to selected cardholders.
Mitch Kapor : “Announcing a
Mitch Kapor : “Announcing a project without…: “Mitch Kapor: “Announcing a project without having code to show, that is, committing an act of vaporware, is generally not regarded as a best practice in the software world. It lessens credibility and heightens cynicism. So why did we do just that?”” Source: Scripting News
If their Broadband partner is scaling back…
If their Broadband partner is scaling back and Yahoo just launched… can’t be good. I guess the premium services they are looking to launch will be based around some other core offering…only time will tell.
Something doesn’t add up: “San Jose Mercury News: “‘We have dramatically scaled down any further deployment of DSL,’ said SBC Senior Vice President Jim Smith. ‘We couldn’t make a good business case to go forward.'” Two years ago, SBC loudly promoted the billions of dollars it would invest in rolling out DSL. What changed? All of the regulatory restrictions on the local phone companies were in place by 1996 or shortly thereafter in the rules implementing the Telecommunications Act. What’s new is that competitors can use use deeply discounted “UNE-P” wholesale rates in many states. If SBC’s argument is that they can’t compete against the cut-rate DSL resellers, where are all those competitors? All I see is Earthlink and a few others offering broadband at rates similar to the incumbents, and a bunch of smaller players targeting business customers. There’s something that just doesn’t add up in the Bells’ arguments about broadband.” Source: WerblogWhat Looms for Satellite
What Looms for Satellite Big-Wig?
Source: Wired NewsCharlie Ergen’s not the only one with money, ambition and an eye on the sky. Rupert Murdoch, who previously had designs on buying DirecTV, and whose NDS company has been accused of helping hackers pirate digital TV access smartcards, may well return to the fray.
No love has been lost between Ergen and Murdoch in the past. If a new battle erupts between these billionaires, the scorched TV landscape that could result might make the sorts of merger battles we’ve seen up to now look like weekend picnics.
NYC was named
NYC was named to the final round today for the 2112 Summer Olympics beating out San Francisco…
Source: New York Times
Blog To Court: Check your Facts
Blog To Court: Check your Facts
When attorney Howard Bashman noticed a small error in the footnote of a 5th Circuit appellate court opinion, he quickly noted it on his weblog. The next day, Judge Jerry Smith, who wrote the opinion and also happens to be a reader of Bashman’s blog (PDF), fixed the error in an amended version. The judge e-mailed Bashman, personally thanking him for bringing the mistake to his attention. “It’s the first time that I’ve noticed a weblog credited for pointing out an error and causing a correction (in a court decision),” Bashman said. “This example is noteworthy because it’s the first time that something like this has come to light.” Source: Wired NewsEnron’s Former Financial Chief Indicted
Enron’s Former Financial Chief Is Indicted: “Andrew Fastow was indicted Thursday on 78 federal counts alleging he masterminded a scheme to artificially inflate the energy company’s profits.” Source: New York Times: Business
Opening the airwaves
The nation’s top communications regulator is expected to fire the first
salvo in a controversial plan to liberalize the use of the nation’s increasingly scarce airwaves. That could free spectrum space for high- speed wireless Internet services and revive the telecommunications industry by jump-starting innovation. Critics say it also could create interference and disrupt existing services…
Report: EchoStar fails
Report: EchoStar fails to revive Hughes deal: “WASHINGTON – Antitrust enforcers are unmoved by last-ditch concessions from EchoStar Communications and Hughes Electronics designed to win approval of their proposed $19.1 billion merger, a source familiar with the case told Reuters on Wednesday.” Source: USA Today: Money