Vista's not doing THAT bad
Blog: Microsoft can only try and put a good face on some of the news on the Vista front, such as Dell's decision to ...
Weekend Update
Don?t Believe Anything You Read On Friday Despite the buzz that resulted from Fair Isaac?s press release on click fraud last week, it turns out it was all for naught. We can?t trust those numbers either. Freakin? figures. Fair Isaac caused a lot of hype announcing they had conducted an... (Read on Source)
Tomorrow is the First Day of School
Wading River Books announces a new book by Maureen MacDowell, "Tomorrow is the First Day of School" (PRWeb May 22, 2007) Post Comment:Trackback URL: http://www.prweb.com/pingpr.php/Q291cC1FbXB0LVByb2YtRW1wdC1UaGlyLVplcm8=
Sportsman Only Racing Site Sponsors Help Member Racers Save Money on Fuel & Race Services
Sportsman racing teams now have a web destination to call their own, with member profile section and a way to share their racing experiences with racers across the country at http://www.sportsmanonly.com The site helps member racers save on racing fuel, products and racing services through site sponsors. (PRWeb Jun 2, 2007) Post Comment:Trackback URL: http://www.prweb.com/pingpr.php/Q3Jhcy1aZXRhLU1hZ24tU2luZy1UaGlyLVplcm8=
Ubuntu Bobo
"> "> posted on Sunday, June 17, 2007 7:37 PM by My goal is to carry free software forward as far as I can, and then
Krauthammer: Stephen Glass Goes to War
For a month, the veracity of The New Republic’s Scott Thomas Beauchamp, the Army private who has been sending dispatches from the front in Iraq, has been in dispute. His latest “Baghdad Diarist” (July 13) recounted three incidents of American soldiers engaged in acts of unusual callousness. The stories were meant to shock. And ... (Read on Source)
Technorati CEO Steps Down, Announces Staff Cuts
This is a dark day for Technorati as the company?s founder and CEO Dave Sifry has decided to step down immediately rather than wait for a replacement. Adding to the surprise news is the announcement that eight staffers will be laid off today. Explaining the staff cuts Sifry said, ?Because we'll be focusing our efforts more precisely moving ... (Read on Source)
HOARD THE BACON
STEPHEN Schwarzman, the Blackstone Group chairman whom some have called a poster boy for greed, isn't very generous with his billions. Schwarzman paid himself a cool $677 million when he took his private equity firm public (retaining shares worth $7...
Replug breakaway Plug smarter than Mac Power Cord
if you own a new MacBook you know the cool magnetic power cord that unplugs if somebody trips over the cable. The Replug audio connector does this without magnets. The Replug is designed for 3.5mm audio jacks. It converts them into a breakaway connect...
Black Cats sign Meyler
Sunderland have confirmed the signing of teenage midfielder David Meyler from Cork City.
Panthers-Chargers: 38 Minutes Into the Game, Carolina Plays San Diego - Bleacher Report
 Seattle Post Intelligencer | Panthers-Chargers: 38 Minutes Into the Game, Carolina Plays San Diego Bleacher Report - Carolina scored a last-second win over San Diego. Was it a fluke, or is it a glimpse of things to come. David Yeazell breaks it down. Panthers Beat the Clock and the Chargers Panthers stun Chargers at end |
EADS denies backing out of U.S. tanker contest
BERLIN (Reuters) - Airbus parent EADS denied on Saturday it was thinking of abandoning efforts to supply air tankers to the United States after a German weekly reported it was threatening to walk away from the fraught tender process.
Experience versus talent shapes the structure of the Web
Experience versus talent shapes the structure of the Web We use sequential large-scale crawl data to empirically investigate and validate the dynamics that underlie the evolution of the structure of the web. We find that the overall structure of the web is defined by an intricate interplay between experience or entitlement of the pages (as ... (Read on Source)
Robert Dalrymple: Get Ready for Extreme Weather
Katrina was just the beginning. The long, hot summer that is global warming will be characterized by rising water levels, unprecedented coastal erosion, and more Category 5 hurricanes. Robert Dalrymple, a coastal engineer at Johns Hopkins University, warns that the nation is woefully unprepared. They said Katrina was a 100-year storm but then, so was Rita a month later, he says. What does that tell you? Dalrymple offers the next president a three-point plan to prepare for the coming era of marine mayhem. How to Avert Disaster 1. Plan the Evacuation If another huge storm strikes tomorrow, we need to know how to beat a timely retreat. Emergency officials say we must be able to empty vulnerable cities like Miami, New Orleans, and Charleston in 24 hours. Most probably couldn't come anywhere close to that goal as recent history demonstrates. The main bottleneck, Dalrymple says, is transportation. Remember the evacuation of Houston during Hurricane Rita? Cars were stuck for miles along the freeway. What's needed, he says, is a reverse-laning system that could be implemented at the push of a button, converting all lanes of traffic into a one-way super-highway out of town. 2. Restore the Wetlands Coastal marshes and swamps provide a natural buffer against ocean storms, absorbing floodwaters like giant sponges. Given that Louisiana has lost more than 1,900 square miles of coastal wetland in the past century, the devastation of New Orleans by Katrina in 2005 was all but inevitable. Because the Mississippi has been so extensively dredged and channelized, it shoots all the sediment needed to sustain these areas right out into the Gulf, Dalrymple says. Current efforts to fortify the city's levees won't be enough. His solution: Reroute the river to aim the waterborne soil where it's needed. That wouldn't be cheap, but the alternative is even less palatable. How to Avert Disaster Click for full-size image. 3. Save the Beaches Beaches are another crucial storm buffer. But those sandy strands are disappearing, putting heavily populated regions like the mid-Atlantic at risk. The erosion is particularly severe around jetties and inlets, which alter shore currents. Seawalls built to fend off the encroaching waters only make things worse. The quickest and often the only practical solution, Dalrymple says, is to just pick up the sand from where it collects and haul it back to where it came from. An operation at the Indian River Inlet...
Wired.com
Community Nod for LiquidWeb Founder
September 26, 2008 -- ( <http://www.thewhir.com> WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Hosting provider LiquidWeb reported on Friday that its founder and CEO had been recognized by the Lansing Regional Chamber, Greater Lansing Business Monthly and Grand River Connection in their "10 over the next 10" award.
Gardner pleased with underdog tag
St Helens winger Ade Gardner believes England will relish the tag of underdogs in Sunday's World Cup showdown with Australia. Gardner has played in six of Tony Smith's seven games as national coach, all of which England have won. (Read on Source)
Olbermann crashes 'SNL' set
Ben Affleck, who’s hosting “Saturday Night Live” this week, was rehearsing a skit this afternoon mocking Keith Olbermann when Olbermann himself got past security to watch, according to a source with knowledge of the incident. (Read on Source)
Internet Gambling Bill Sparks Debate
November 13, 2008 -- ( <http://www.thewhir.com> WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Issuing a final regulation this week aimed at banning Internet gambling by stopping money transactions, the US Republican government has been met with criticism for placing the burden on financial institutions.
Smartgrid2, the deployment of smart grids bpl broadband internet technology in Europe
Smartgrid2: We were right about cable modems and BPL is next Former European cable execs see BPL parallels Firm poised to ease BPL’s entry into Europe Reproduced from the Jan 30 issue of BPL Today with the permission of the publisher, GHI LLC (+1-202-298-8201, www.bpltoday.com). Two former vice presidents of reportedly Europe ’s largest triple play firm started a BPL integrator/operator called Smartgrid2. Tom Walsh and Patricia McGrath were executives at UPC Broadband -- now owned by Liberty Global. The Netherlands-based firm grew from a 200-user cable modem trial network in Amsterdam in the mid 90s to a customer base of over 1.5 million cable broadband subscribers in 14 countries in 2002. Walsh was vice president of engineering and then operations and McGrath was vice president of network planning and implementation. The two left UPC and in 2005 they started Smartgrid2 in Ireland . They looked at various alternative technologies and soon found BPL.Smartgrid2 is convinced BPL is the technology it had been looking for and set its sights on deploying BPL for utility services and retail triple play throughout Europe . Walsh and McGrath spoke to us Thursday from their headquarters in County Kerry in Southwest Ireland .Walsh is CTO and McGrath is director.“ Europe will offer incredible opportunity for ‘smart grid’ technology players for the next 10 years,” said Walsh. He believes the key for BPL technology firms to succeed in Europe will be to maintain a presence without draining resources and funds. Smartgrid2 ( www.smartgrid2.com ) is set up to help. The firm’s been trying to land BPL projects with utilities but like everywhere, European utilities have resisted. EU’s pushing BPL “Utilities have been slow to come to the table so far -- but here in Europe the EU is actively pushing the technology,” said Walsh. Why is the government of Europe pushing BPL? A BPL initiative is underway to “overcome the energy challenges presented by a rapidly expanding [EU] membership where demand is outstripping supply,” Walsh reported. He and McGrath are involved in that government effort and they’re confident “it will happen,” she added. The firm wants to introduce to Europe some of the main players in the BPL world “that have existing and proven technologies and proven business cases so that we can jump start some technology trials. “We believe that some of the strongest players have a great opportunity to be in at the beginning” -- with a real possibility to turn those trials into commercial deployments. Smartgrid2 hopes to avoid “open-ended science experiments -- that I think have been some people’s experience in the past,” said McGrath. Some of the utilities in the EU are trying to “reinvent the wheel,” she added -- and Smartgrid2 wants to show them wheels are “already out there,” she added. The challenge for Smartgrid2 is to make deals with international BPL technology firms including US firms and represent them in Europe . The name says it all Smartgrid2 learned early that utilities aren’t usually interested in hype about the broadband business. True to its name, the firm is focused on utility applications and sees that market offering huge potential. Commercial broadband is a side benefit that can be delivered by firms that lease bandwidth from the utility, he noted. But the need for the 21st century smart grid is urgent. The EU grew from 15 to 27 countries in the last 3 years, Walsh reminded. Many have rapidly growing economies that are putting incredible demand on power grids. These states have limited raw resources for energy production and a lack of organization in the power interconnection between countries. The EU doesn’t have a system to manage the grid or know “who’s producing power” and who’s using it. “Smart grid efficiency and control are finally being seen as the way to integrate and manage the various networks” -- and cut reliance on generators outside the Union , said Walsh. Meanwhile less developed nations in the EU are trying to build their economies and getting access to broadband is a key ingredient. “Pilot projects are being planned to take the best existing solutions and test them for commercial roll-outs throughout Europe .” Walsh expects BPL’s role to expand as green power generation projects such as home-based generation, solar panels, wind farms, tidal power and more start populating the grid. Interconnection with those projects will make managing the reliability of the grid ever more complicated -- and some look to BPL as an obvious answer to managing that complexity. They saw cable get smart BPL reminds Walsh of the early days of cable. People in 1997 told him cable modem networks “couldn’t happen, it wouldn’t work -- we were dreaming.” BPL is in roughly the same position as cable was then -- with a lack of standards, some engineering challenges in creating networks plus it’s got its nay sayers. The broadband boom in Europe was similar to “the wave that’s building for smart grids. ”Cable traditionally was a one-way, wire-based distribution network. Sounds familiar. Cable modem technology introduced tremendous advantages by adding IP to those networks. Suddenly the operator could see the condition of every piece of gear on the network all the way to the customer’s modem. That gave Walsh a brand new kind of power in making financial decisions. He could make choices on where to spend money on the network -- based not on which technology officer in field wrote the most compelling request, “but on actual live statistics,” he stressed. His operational crews -- that had only ever been reactive -- could now act proactively based on real-time data and “before stuff breaks.” Walsh would set targets and key performance indicators for his managers and then “see how they were doing -- not based on a score card but actual real statistics, real facts.” QUOTE OF THE WEEK: All of a sudden you had huge efficiencies coming into the operation which means you gave better end-service to the customer. At the same time you were able to reduce costs of providing the service. This was all happening in the cable sector probably in the years of 2002, 2003. Take that benefit and combine it with BPL and you are making that business case look much rosier. Tom Walsh, CTO, Smartgrid2 These folks have scaled Another similarity with cable is the problem utilities face in scaling data networks to cover entire utility footprints. Those are the same problems Walsh tackled with cable-based broadband, he reminded. It takes “business nerve” to wait for the opportunities to ripen -- and then capital to take advantage of the moment when it’s right. Superior technology will win out, he added. “For us, ‘smart grids’ is nothing new. “We deployed similar technology on communications networks and quickly realized the operational benefits when scaling is handled correctly.” While Smartgrid2 works on landing utility contracts, the firm has started deploying MDU networks in the hospitality industry in Ireland .That work helps the firm add hands on experience with BPL plus generate revenue. ( www.mains4.com ) An invitation to Europe Grids around Europe offer various challenges and “customizing hardware and software for individual markets is crucial,” said Walsh. “A partnership with the right European player can ease that pain. “We are actively seeking to represent manufacturers over here.” Smartgrid2 partnered with a firm that’s got 180 trained, certified line crew workers “who excel on the physical installation of utility gear. “Any executive struggling with how to hit Europe should get in touch. “If they are serious and can deliver, we’ll be happy to help them exploit the European opportunities we uncover through our role in the advisory and working groups.” Smartgrid2 isn’t married to any manufacturer or chipset, Walsh reported, and that lets it “work in an unbiased way to select best-of-breed technologies. “The smart grids principle is not new. “It’s been [used] in the telecom sector for over four years and has revolutionized both technical and operational management. “These benefits can now be realized by power utilities, too”
Tom Walsh is the former VP of Global IP Operations and Engineering for Europe's biggest <a href=http://www.smartgrid2.com/>MSO</a> (Multiple Service Operator) where he deployed cable <a href=http://www.smartgrid2.com/aboutus.html>SmartGrid</a> solutions, <a href=http://www.glasnua.com/>Broadband IP</a> systems and networks throughout the EU, Latin America and Asia Pacific.
Supreme Court To Hear Drug Preemption Arguments At Feb. 25 Session
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in its first ever drug preemption case on Feb. 25, the court announced last month (Warner-Lambert Co., et al. v. Kimberly Kent, et al., No. 06-1498, U.S. Sup.) Full story on lexis.com
Video: Daily Debrief: Devising your Black Friday strategy
There's just a week to go before retail outlets reveal their seasonal tech price cuts. But this year's Black Friday is going to be a lot different from previous years, for buyers and sellers alike. On the CNET News Daily Debrief, Charles Cooper and Erica Ogg examine why.
Saudi targets return to $75 oil price
CAIRO (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia on Saturday identified $75 a barrel as a fair price for oil, the first time in years the world's leading crude exporter has cited a price target. (Read on Source)
Twits and Such for 2008-11-30
Slowly understanding that git really blows svn out the water # If you really want to get contributors for that open source project of your github trumps google code bar none # (Read on Source)
ANOTHER EXCITING INSTA-POLL! Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays?Merry Christmas!Happy Holidays!I &#
ANOTHER EXCITING INSTA-POLL! Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays? Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! I got a lotta problems with you people — and now you’re gonna hear about it! pollcode.com free polls (Read on Source)
Register for the Windows FireStarter Event at the Microsoft Conference Center on December 12th
Topics to be discussed at this event include Windows Vista, building differentiated UI applications using composite WPF, Windows Security and Bitlocker, and much more. Register now!
You've Pedaled a Long Way, Baby
The new electric bike from Sanyo shows just how far e-bikes have come since the days of the Sinclair C5.
Why I'm shedding few tears for Detroit
A few people over on Twitter have wondered why I do not seem overly sympathetic to the plight of two-thirds of Detroit's car makers. Let me say at the outset, that I am extremely concerned for the millions of workers who theoretically could be laid off before this whole thing shakes out. I am also aware of the serious impact to the world's ... (Read on Source)
name: MAGPIE