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2007 October

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The Great Firewall

Like its namesake, the Great Firewall consists of hundreds of individual fortifications spread out along a vulnerable frontier. At its core is a giant bank of computers and servers. Traffic generated by China’s 162 million Internet users is routed through the shield, which checks all requested URLs against a blacklist of tens of thousands of […]

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FCC OKs Cable Competition For Apartments

Dibya Sarkar of the Associated Press reports:
The rule would prohibit cable companies, such as Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc., from enforcing existing exclusive cable TV contracts with apartment managers and allow telecommunications companies, such as Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc., to offer video services along with high-speed Internet access and phone […]

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Google Pitches Gphones to Verizon

Marguerite Reardon of CNET’s Tech News Blog reports:
The Wall Street Journal and Reuters reported Tuesday evening that Google is in “serious discussions” with Verizon Wireless to put its mobile “GPhone” software on Verizon phones.

Tags: gphone, google, verizon

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Halloween Tricks and Treats

My friend Steve Bass over at PCWorld offers us these Halloween Tricks ‘n’ Treats.
“Goodies for you, including a free inventory program–and maybe a (practically) free flash drive.”
PC World - Halloween Tricks and Treats

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Writing Tools

It’s interesting (to me) how tools seem to make a difference when I write. I’m not a person who desires a lot of stuff, generally speaking. I’m usually satisfied with minimal appurtenances, but the tools I do use, I like to be good ones. I was that way with guns, police equipment […]

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Send a Message to Congress: Don’t Bankrupt the Independent Press!

Tuesday’s the big day. That’s when Congress will hold a hearing on the outrageous Time Warner-inspired postage rate hike that’s saddled many small publications with up to with a half million dollar annual increase in postal costs, and brought many smaller publications to the brink of financial disaster. What the rule essentially does is […]

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Climbing Kilimanjaro

The New York Times is a leader among “former” print media in embracing the Web, especially in its use of Flash technology.  Go along with Tom Bissell on his brave crazy heroic masochistic pursuit of the summit, complete with doctor’s reports and en route video and commentary.  If you’ve ever thought you’d like to climb […]

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Happy Birthday Hillary!

On this day in 1958, Pan American Airways made the first commercial
flight of the Boeing 707 from New York to Paris. In 1940, the P-51
Mustang made its maiden flight. In 1936, the first electric generator
at Hoover Dam went into full operation. In 1861, The Pony Express
officially ceased operations. In 1947, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was […]

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A Complete Guide to Halloween

A great resource for Halloween freaks, even if they don’t know the difference between “excepted” and “accepted.”
Halloween - A Complete Guide to Halloween
From Halloween Costumes to Spooky Decorations, the Halloween Online Magazine has been bringing you the best how-to articles, news, product reviews and more for over a decade now. Our goal is to help […]

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Buy Software? How Passe

(Sorry, all you Web thieves; this isn’t an article about file-sharing.)
Oakland, Calif. — The personal-computer revolution for many Americans began in 1984, when their TV screens glowed with the surreal image of a woman in red track shoes, hurling a sledgehammer to shatter a huge video screen of a man preaching conformity.
That Super Bowl ad, […]

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Gmail — Now With Free IMAP

Google finally does it:
I’ve seen countless blog posts, requests, chats, and just about everything else asking, “Are you guys ever going to do IMAP?” Well now I can say: Yes. Yes, we are doing IMAP. In fact, we are doing it for you for free on all devices and platforms.
Official Gmail Blog: Sync your inbox […]

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Unlocked iPhones Could Cost Apple $1G A Quarter Over Two Years

From Silicon Alley Insider, we get some insight into why Apple’s playing hardball with folks who unlock their phones. I don’t blame ‘em. A deal’s a deal, and folks who make ‘em and then break ‘em are bent. Sorry, but there it is.
Apple’s iPhones could be far more profitable than we thought. […]

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Microsoft Surrenders; Antitrust Allies Celebrate VE Day

John Murrell of Good Morning Silicon Valley reports on Microsoft’s capitulation to the EU monopoly ruling in his inimitable style.
The rulings required Microsoft to unbundle its Media Player from Windows (which it did) and to make it easier for rivals to build software that works smoothly with Windows (which it’s been arguing about). In capitulating, […]

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Solar Power Edges Toward Boom

Gerard Wynn of Reuters reports:
Solar power could be the world’s number one electricity source by the end of the century, but until now its role has been negligible as producers wait for price parity with fossil fuels, industry leaders say.
Once the choice only of idealists who put the environment before economics, production of solar panels […]

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21 Facts You Should Know About The Internet

The Cool Tricks and Trinkets Newsletter is in its 477th week of publication. It’s a great resource for desperate bloggers, and lots of fun, to boot. I hate giving away my secrets, but I’ve been sponging off them long enough. Here’s the address, and an example…
cooltricks-join-request@list.audettemedia.com
You probably use it every day but how well do […]

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Some Cities Try Going ‘Green’ With Blackouts

Ben Arnoldy of the Christian Science Monitor reports:
On Saturday evening, it’s “Lights out San Francisco,” where people will voluntary turn off lights for an hour. The aim is to raise awareness of light pollution and the energy wasted by lights left on….
Citizens plan to shut off nonessential lighting for an hour in the name of […]

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Chic Causes Will Help Destroy Us

I find myself becoming more and more annoyed with the shortsightedness of the so-called “green” special interest groups. So many of their causes are beside the point, compared with the issue of climate change, and yet they continue to beat their individual tin drums over issues like whether people should wear furs, whether the Pecos […]

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Sprint to introduce own iPhone-like touch-screen cell phone for holidays

 Sprint Nextel Corp. announced Wednesday it is jumping on the bandwagon with the Touch by HTC. Like Apple Inc.’s iPhone, this smart phone has only a few buttons and is designed to be controlled by touching the screen.
The Touch will go on sale Nov. 4 for $250 with a two-year contract.
SiliconValley.com - Sprint to introduce […]

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Leopard Leaps October 26th at 6:00 pm

Apple today announced that Mac OS X Leopard will go on sale Friday, October 26 at 6:00 p.m. at Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers, and that Apple’s online store is now accepting pre-orders.
“Leopard, the sixth major release of Mac OS X, is the best upgrade we’ve ever released, and everyone gets the ‘Ultimate’ […]

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Snowball the Dancing Cockatoo

This is a video of a medium sulphur crested Eleanora cockatoo named Snowball living at the Bird Lovers Only Rescue in Schererville, Indiana.
Snowball loves the Back Street boys and has taught himself to dance to their song “Everybody.” He even tries to sing along.

Tags: bird, cockatoo, schererville