Saturday, December 09, 2006
Microsoft's Steve Berkowitz tries to Compete Against Google's Search; but the branding is all wrong; the main page to Live.com (MSFT's search engine) should just say "MICROSOFT" in big letters. Emphasise the brand that people know.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/09/technology/09msn.html?pagewanted=all
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/09/technology/09msn.html?pagewanted=all
Monday, March 06, 2006
Ron Patrick's Street-Legal Jet Powered VW Beetle | ron.patrick@ecm-co.com
A jet engine strapped to a VW Bettle. It's that cool.
A jet engine strapped to a VW Bettle. It's that cool.
Friday, March 03, 2006
For Thirsty Farmers, Old Friends at Interior Dept. - New York Times (March 3, 2006)
"For more than 10 years, Jason Peltier was a paid advocate for the irrigation-dependent farmers here in the Central Valley of California, several hundred landowners who each year consume more water than the city of Los Angeles does.
"Now Mr. Peltier works for the Bush administration, and he helps oversee the awarding of new water contracts for the people he used to represent as head of the Central Valley Project Water Users Association. The federal contracts, tying up water for a quarter-century or more from the world's largest irrigation project, have the potential to bring the farmers a huge windfall if they turn around and sell the water on the open market.
"At the same time Mr. Peltier — as the deputy assistant secretary for water and science at the Interior Department — is involved with reviewing a request by the water association to stop paying up to $11.5 million a year into an environmental restoration fund, as required by a 1992 law.
"Mr. Peltier's role influencing decisions that could have a direct financial impact on his former employer is part of a pattern at the Interior Department over the last five years, critics say, with a revolving door between managers on the government side, and the people who buy or lease federal water, land or forests on the other side.
"At the Interior Department, at least six high political positions have been occupied by people associated with businesses or trade associations tied to public lands or resources. One of those appointees, J. Steven Griles, a deputy secretary, continued to receive $284,000 a year from his old lobbying firm while working for the government. Mr. Griles stepped down last year, saying he had not done anything to violate ethics rules at the department."
"For more than 10 years, Jason Peltier was a paid advocate for the irrigation-dependent farmers here in the Central Valley of California, several hundred landowners who each year consume more water than the city of Los Angeles does.
"Now Mr. Peltier works for the Bush administration, and he helps oversee the awarding of new water contracts for the people he used to represent as head of the Central Valley Project Water Users Association. The federal contracts, tying up water for a quarter-century or more from the world's largest irrigation project, have the potential to bring the farmers a huge windfall if they turn around and sell the water on the open market.
"At the same time Mr. Peltier — as the deputy assistant secretary for water and science at the Interior Department — is involved with reviewing a request by the water association to stop paying up to $11.5 million a year into an environmental restoration fund, as required by a 1992 law.
"Mr. Peltier's role influencing decisions that could have a direct financial impact on his former employer is part of a pattern at the Interior Department over the last five years, critics say, with a revolving door between managers on the government side, and the people who buy or lease federal water, land or forests on the other side.
"At the Interior Department, at least six high political positions have been occupied by people associated with businesses or trade associations tied to public lands or resources. One of those appointees, J. Steven Griles, a deputy secretary, continued to receive $284,000 a year from his old lobbying firm while working for the government. Mr. Griles stepped down last year, saying he had not done anything to violate ethics rules at the department."
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Getting a Grip on Abortion Hysteria
"Perhaps the most common complaint about the abortion bill is the lack of a rape/incest exception. Probably all of us can at least in some way appreciate the horror a rape victim must go through--and likely most incest victims. If I was a woman and was raped, I certainly wouldn't relish the prospect of carrying the child of the rapist for nine months. I would also be torn apart at the thought of my wife or daughter being raped and then carrying a child from that rape for nine months.
"But God gave us a mind to think with, in addition to our powerful emotions. No one could ever say it was 'fair' to carry the child of a rape to term, but unfortunately (and I don't say this flippantly, just truthfully) life just isn't fair sometimes. If we accept that the fetus is human life--and DNA and other medical science tells us without a doubt that it is--then we would be ending a human life to abort even the child of a rape. The rape is a terrible crime, but we cannot undo that terrible crime by committing another one."
"Perhaps the most common complaint about the abortion bill is the lack of a rape/incest exception. Probably all of us can at least in some way appreciate the horror a rape victim must go through--and likely most incest victims. If I was a woman and was raped, I certainly wouldn't relish the prospect of carrying the child of the rapist for nine months. I would also be torn apart at the thought of my wife or daughter being raped and then carrying a child from that rape for nine months.
"But God gave us a mind to think with, in addition to our powerful emotions. No one could ever say it was 'fair' to carry the child of a rape to term, but unfortunately (and I don't say this flippantly, just truthfully) life just isn't fair sometimes. If we accept that the fetus is human life--and DNA and other medical science tells us without a doubt that it is--then we would be ending a human life to abort even the child of a rape. The rape is a terrible crime, but we cannot undo that terrible crime by committing another one."
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
WSJ.com - New Rules at the Border:
"For Ms. Guzman, who has three years of schooling, getting into the U.S. is like playing the lottery: It's the luck of the draw. As she sees it, her neighbor, Urbano Cabrera, was one of the lucky ones. Until he got to the U.S. and started sending money back home, his family lived in a wooden-slab shack like hers. In December, Mr. Cabrera paid a visit to his family for the first time in six years.
'Look at the difference,' she says, entering her neighbor's airy, bright-green four-room house, with tiled floors, solid-wood doors and modern appliances. 'They can afford to buy meat,' she says. 'What a shame that I didn't make it.'"
"For Ms. Guzman, who has three years of schooling, getting into the U.S. is like playing the lottery: It's the luck of the draw. As she sees it, her neighbor, Urbano Cabrera, was one of the lucky ones. Until he got to the U.S. and started sending money back home, his family lived in a wooden-slab shack like hers. In December, Mr. Cabrera paid a visit to his family for the first time in six years.
'Look at the difference,' she says, entering her neighbor's airy, bright-green four-room house, with tiled floors, solid-wood doors and modern appliances. 'They can afford to buy meat,' she says. 'What a shame that I didn't make it.'"
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Giving gamers two windows to the Web: The Opera Browser for Nintendo DS™
DS is only $150.. if only I could get my hands on cheap SD cards and DS could play xvid movies...
DS is only $150.. if only I could get my hands on cheap SD cards and DS could play xvid movies...
Monday, February 13, 2006
White House under fire in Cheney shooting accident - Yahoo! News
(this link probably wont last, fyi)
Anyway, Cheney accidentally shot another hunter. This is pretty much a non-story. Cmon, the guy possibly directed his Chief of Staff to break the cover of a CIA agent! Much more serious.
(this link probably wont last, fyi)
Anyway, Cheney accidentally shot another hunter. This is pretty much a non-story. Cmon, the guy possibly directed his Chief of Staff to break the cover of a CIA agent! Much more serious.
