I have a proposal to reduce the cost of groceries very significantly, something which I think will be welcomed in this goofy economy. We will form grocery buying cooperatives, essentially grocery insurance programs, which will amortize the costs of groceries across all buyers, lowering the costs for all and protecting people from the “oh shit!” […]
Step 3: Google Chrome to Replace Microsoft Windows, Apple OSX, and Linux
As I predicted in Google Chrome to Replace Microsoft Windows, Apple OSX, and Linux (September 2008) and again in Step 2: Google Chrome to Replace Microsoft Windows, Apple OSX, and Linux (December 2008), Google is moving to replace the operating system, not just the browser. What changed two days ago is that Google is finally […]
Checking In, Avoiding Hidden Dependencies
I woke up in a good mood this morning and then… Sometimes one piece of technology makes another, seemingly unrelated, piece of technology misbehave. It happened this morning at 12:15am CDT when an automated program that I run in Amazon EC2 failed to do its thing. The EC2 instances (that’s geek speak for “virtual machines” […]
IE6: Get Over It
I am fed up with wasting clients’ dollars “fixing” web sites so that they look good in Internet Explorer 6. IE7 has been out for 2 1/2 years. IE8 is available as a free beta. There are lots of other browsers available for free. All of these browsers work better than IE6. If you still […]
Credit Crisis Explained
Here is a short, informative video which explains the credit crisis in terms which ordinary mortals (i.e., I) can understand. The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.
Drug giant GlaxoSmithKline pledges cheap medicine for world’s poor | Business | The Guardian
The Guardian write, Drug giant GlaxoSmithKline pledges cheap medicine for world’s poor The world’s second biggest pharmaceutical company is to radically shift its attitude to providing cheap drugs to millions of people in the developing world. In a major change of strategy, the new head of GlaxoSmithKline, Andrew Witty, has told the Guardian he will […]
Netflix Really Did Mail Disks on a Federal Holiday
Surprise! Surprise! I received my movie today from Netflix, just as Netflix claimed I would. I do not know how they did it but they seem to have mailed via US Postal Service on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday. Cool.
Netflix Mailed Disks on a Federal Holiday?
I am intrigued. I just received a “movie shipped” notice from Netflix, telling me that I will receive my disk tomorrow, the day after a federal holiday during which the US Postal Service does not work (or so I thought). I will be pretty impressed if the disk really does arrive as promised. Stay tuned….
Step 2: Google Chrome to Replace Microsoft Windows, Apple OSX, and Linux
Do you remember when I predicted that Google Chrome would take over the world replace Microsoft Windows, Apple OSX, and Linux? Here is the next step, to be released for CES which begins January 8, 2009. If all you want from your computer is to read your email (Gmail) and surf the web and use […]
Boom or Bust for Open Source Software?
You might have noticed a bit of “uncertainty” in the economy these days. I was fascinated to see these two articles show up within 24 hours of each other: Economy to Give Open-Source a Good Thumping by Andrew Keen <snip> So how will today’s brutal economic climate change the Web 2.0 “free” economy? It will […]
Anthem Insurance Customer Disservice
I hate paying money to be abused. Here is this morning’s tale of woe regarding customer “service” at the Anthem insurance company. A few weeks ago, I received a letter telling me that the co-pay on my Zetia would increase dramatically and that I should switch to a statin instead. That is patently ridiculous advice, […]
Netflix Quietly Begins Live TV Broadcasting
Internet TV—broadcasting live television over the internet instead of using radio broadcasts or the cable television infrastruction. Almost everybody has heard of it. Some people talk about it as the Next Big Thing in television. Many people figure that it will not happen for a long time for a wide range of business and technical […]
Use Google Chrome but Read the EULA
As reported this morning in Slashdot, you should read and carefully consider Google Chrome’s end user license agreement (EULA) before using Chrome. It’s hard to read in the teeny tiny box that Google provides so I am reproducing the entire text below the break. I am certainly not a lawyer but I am a paranoid, […]
Google Chrome to Replace Microsoft Windows, Apple OSX, and Linux
Google released Chrome today and you will see “Google Chrome is a browser” if you visit the Chrome web page. Do not be deceived, though. Chrome is not designed to replace Internet Explorer or Firefox or Safari. Chrome is designed to replace your operating system and virtually all of the software that you use every […]
Privacy
Many, perhaps all, of us assume that our privacy is respected and protected in most aspects of our lives. This notion is so ingrained in our society that I never gave it a second thought until this week when a court ruled that Google must turn over data on YouTube users to Viacom. Within hours, […]
Your Flight has been Delayed Again
You have almost certainly enjoyed the “hospitality” of an airline as you waited… and waited… and waited for a delayed flight. Maybe you were on the plane, wishing that you could get off and sit somewhere more comfortable. Maybe you were in the airport, wishing that you a) had news of the plane’s whereabouts and […]
American Airlines Gets a Clue
For a change, American Airlines is making a good business decision. Instead of whining about how it cannot run profitably, it is doing something about its bottom line: raising its prices. There has been lots of news coverage about the $15 fee which American Airlines is charging for the first piece of checked luggage. Good […]
Plan would tax music downloads – San Jose Mercury News
Is a licensed, downloaded music recording your personal property? What happens when the state of California says that something is “tangible personal property” even though the EULA says that your rights are still restricted? How would California’s law impact interpretation of the first-sale doctrine as it applies to downloaded music and, by extension, software? All […]
Coming Soon: OpenOffice.org 3.0 Support for Microsoft Office 2007 Files
I run my company using OpenOffice.org instead of Microsoft Office. It does everything we need and costs a whopping $0.00; not a bad deal for a small business. To be more specific, OpenOffice.org Gives us word processor and spreadsheet programs that more than handle our documentation needs, Allows us to open Word and Excel documents […]
Do Not Call — Ever!
It’s time to renew your Do Not Call listing and it’s even more important than renewing that library book which you lost but don’t want to pay an overdue fine for. According to Yahoo! News, Do Not Call listings aren’t forever Numbers placed on the registry, begun in June 2003, are valid for five years. […]
