This looks as if it has great potential. The NY Times has the background story on the project.
I swear, there isn’t much that you can’t find out something about on the Web these days. Check out this list — 25 Unexpectedly Useful Websites for the Uncommonly Curious.
This John P. Falcone/Webware article does a good job of providing a preliminary evaluation of the new Amazon Kindle reading device:
The Bottom Line: With its built-in wireless capabilities and PC-free operation, Amazon’s Kindle is a promising evolution of the electronic book (and newspaper, and magazine)–but overpriced content could be its Achilles’ heel.
The six-minute Amazon video on the Kindle is here.
Update: The WSJ’s technology reviewer, Walter Mossberg, is not particularly impressed after using the Kindle for a few days, while the Chronicle’s excellent technology columnist, Dwight Silverman, is a bit more optimistic, but not yet sold.
I’ve had my email address for a long time, so I get a receive a lot of spam, which I ignore.
However, I thought I’d already seen every possible variation of the Nigeriam email scam imaginable, but I have to admit the one below that I received a few days ago is more imaginative than most:
From: rebzxxxxxxxxxxxx@peoplepc.com
Luciano Pavarotti (Next Of Kin)
Dear Sir,
My writing to you should be surprising but itís not a mistake because I believe that I could confide in you on this business deal which would be highly beneficial to both of us only that you should promise me that you would not disappoint me at the conclusion of this deal. The main reason why I am contacting you today is to seek your assistance but firstly let me introduce myself before proceeding to the purpose of this letter.
I am Graham Robson Wallace from London in the United Kingdom and I worked as a personal assistant and attorney to one Luciano Pavarotti who died of pancreatic cancer on the September 06, 2007. I was so close to him that on the 27th of June 2005, before his untimely death, he deposited the sum of Thirty-Seven Million Dollars (US$37M) in the custody of a Security Company in London and Holland and this deposit was made known to me alone. The problem now is that these Security Company has written to me few days ago requesting that I provide the beneficiary and next of kin to the deposited fund hence the real depositor is dead.
I would have claimed the money but the company already knows me as the late Luciano Pavarotti’s attorney and personal assistant. So that is why I am contacting you just to present you as the bonafide beneficiary and next of kin to the said fund and I would provide all necessary documents to back up the claim but you must promise me that you wonít disappear into tin air by the time the fund is remitted into you account and also bare in mind that you would be entitled to 35% of the said fund, though the percentage sharing is negotiable.
Please signify your interest by providing me the following: This is to enable me commence immediate preparation of all legal document that will back up our claim.
1. Full Name :
2. Your Telephone Number and Fax Number
3. Your Contact Address.
Your urgent response will be highly appreciated.
Best regards,
Mr. Graham R. Wallace
Based on this earlier post about the late Pavarotti, it doesn’t sound as if he had $37 million laying around to give to Mr. Wallace. ;^)
I’m not an advocate of using cell phones indiscrimately while driving. In fact, I try to avoid it as much as possible. But every few months or so, some media outlet passes along another superficial story (see also here) on the latest study or tragic story that supposedly suggests that use of cell phones while driving leads to accidents and, thus, should be outlawed.
Ben Worthen’s WSJ Business Tech blog post channels Warren Meyer’s opinion of Windows Vista:
Microsoft started selling Vista, the latest version of its Windows operating system, to businesses last November. And despite the fact that over 90% of businesses run Windows, only 7% of large companies plan to switch to Vista this year, according to this Journal article. The article touches on all the reasons that companies are delaying the switch: Some of the security software isnít ready; problems with special software called ìdriversî that run printers and other devices; the fact that most companies run software that may not work with the new operating system.
This blog thinks it all suggests one thing: Companies donít need Vista yet. In the past, Microsoft was replacing a version of Windows with known flaws or introducing a new version with a lot more capabilities. But XP, the version of Windows that was released in 2002, works great ñ or at least good enough for businesses.
The Chronicle’s best columnist — technology expert Dwight Silverman — also contributes his thoughts on Vista.
Don’t look for Warren Meyer to be a spokesman for Microsoft Vista any time soon:
The laptop I bought my kids 6 months ago is rapidly becoming the worst purchase I have ever made. Not because the laptop is bad, but because of a momentary lack of diligence I bought one with Vista installed. It has been a never-ending disaster trying to get this computer to work. [. . .]
Vista is rapidly becoming the New Coke of operating systems. I have had every version of windows on my computer at one time or another, including Windows 1.0 and the egregious Windows ME, and I can say with confidence Vista is the worst of them all by far.
Read Meyer’s entire post, which he backs up quite well. Meanwhile, sales of Vista continue to lag badly behind those of XP.
Have you had a symptom of an illness or an injury that has bothering you for awhile? Medgle allows you to click on the body part that’s bothering you and select the specific symptom from a list of possible options. Then, Medgle asks how long the symptom has been apparent, as well as th inquirer’s sex and age. Medgle then returns a listing of possible matches for the symptoms.
Moreover, you can then take the result that Medgle generates and, on the following page, provides you with a brief summary of the condition and a Google search relating to treatment, prevention, drugs, tests, research, diet, alternative medicine, and fitness. You can even refine the search by changing the age or gender.
This is never going to replace a visit to your doctor, but it sure provides a handy way to increase the patient’s knowledge and understanding regarding diagnosis and treatment. Check it out.
Chronicle technology columnist Dwight Silverman is one of the best in the business, so when he pans the trendy iPhone, it’s time to sit and listen:
I lived with the iPhone for about a month, and as an experiment, I carried both it and my Samsung BlackJack, my own PDA. My goal was to see which device I preferred for which tasks. For example, when I wanted to access the Web online, or check e-mail, which would I reach for first?
I started out using the iPhone more, because using it was an adventure. But by the end of my experiment, I was back to using the BlackJack for most serious tasks.
While the iPhone is indeed a very cool device, and there’s a lot about it to like ó see the aforementioned earlier reviews for a litany of them ó I think its shortcomings are major.
Read Silverman’s entire review, whcih pretty much concludes that the iPhone elevates style over substance. Meanwhile, the WSJ’s Carl Bialik breaks down the initial sales numbers for the iPhone and concludes that the pre-release hype definitely exceeded the actual sale numbers.
