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Superthin is in for computer screens. A start-up is demonstrating a prototype of a flexible computer screen that's half as thick as a credit card. Also: Sony secures a steady supply of flat-plasma displays. [CNET News.com]
I want it all, I want it all, and I want it now. (Queen)
I've been following the E Ink displays since they were first announced. I like the low power consumption, durablility, and projected scalability that it holds as a promise.
I have seen the flat plasma displays, and other than some issues with long term picture quality that I have heard rumors about, I can't wait to get my hands on one.
10:51:47 PM 
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Follow up
MPA shuts down video site Film88.com. The international arm of the Motion Picture Association of America shuts down an Iran-based Web site that was selling access to copyrighted films over the Internet. [CNET News.com]
Well, that lasted a long time. While the business was in Iran, the servers were in the Netherlands. MPA has authority there, so the ISP pulled the plug.
10:30:51 PM
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Pointing Towards a Tip.
"I noticed today that my browsing habits have changed - usually I check email first and then check msnbc, salon, slashdot, and aintitcoolnews (all .com). Today I checked email, then checked my blog sidebar links. Other bloggers are my first desired news source now. That's significant." [Hunting the Muse]
Email used to be my first stop, too. Now it's my news aggregator. Every stop along the line is now my aggregator.... All aboard!
[The Shifted Librarian]
Precisely. I have been debating as to if I should add the Radio app to my start up menu as more often than not, it's the frst app I run. Additionally, the time the aggregator saves me I end up using to to read more than I would have been able to otherwise.
10:27:06 PM
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U.S. challenges India [USA Today : Front Page]
Thought - Tell both sides, hell, tell everyone, that in the event of a nuclear exchange, the US will NOT be there to help out in any way shape or form. No economic aid, no humanitarian aid, no military to police the area. Nothing, zilch, zero, nada, bupkis.
In fact, tell them that we will stop trading with said nations, and/or allowing new H1B visas for workers from said nations.
5:19:40 PM
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I don't know how I missed it but there is a review of the PEG-NR70V over on Palm Infocenter from 5/6/02.
3:46:17 PM
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Nanotech Products Hitting the Market [Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters][Article on SF Gate]
Good gravy. The thing that got me was the new form of battery that they are developing:
One of the most compelling examples of such materials... is a new breed of thin-film lithium-ion batteries... Because these novel batteries are nanotech based, they can absorb and discharge more electricity more frequently and with greater efficiency.
To get a handle on this idea, think, for example, about the relative efficiency of using one large sponge to sop up water versus that of employing thousands of mini-sponges. The water may never get to the center of the large sponge, the outer layer of which quickly becomes saturated. The smaller sponges, on the other hand, can soak up and discharge water more efficiently.
In the case of batteries, this approach translates into a thin, flexible film that can be recharged up to an astonishing 60,000 times. ...use the batteries to power new implantable medical devices... that they can be recharged by radio waves that pass harmlessly through body tissues.
This means that when a patient's pacemaker (or any other implantable device) is running low on juice, all the person will need to do is stand near a recharging device for a little while, instead of undergoing a surgical procedure to replace the battery... The first nano-batteries, which are also under development at several other firms, are expected to be commercially available before the end of this year.
Other applications of nanotech are light bulbs that near %100 efficiency through the use of nanophosphors, compared with the 5% efficiency of the average incandescent bulb.
2:31:46 PM
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CNet. Internet music distribution entrepreneurs should give it up. They should focus on becomming an independent label with a lean cost structure. I agree. This should have been the model for MP3.com (or at least it was when they started out).
>>>As anyone who has spent any time with a major will tell you, these are immensely profitable businesses that have absolutely no inclination to change anything they are doing--ever. Record companies make obscene amounts of money manufacturing little silver disks, sending them out through distributors that they own, and getting retailers to push them over the counter at $16 a pop (and paying those retailers a pittance in the process). A truly great business.<<<
Frankly, this is exactly the kind of business that will continue to face consumer backlash in the new economy. They are inefficient and have erected artificial barriers to competition in order to charge excessive prices. Until albums arrive on my hard-drive at $2-3 a pop, they won't get any of my business. Nothing in between works. This may take ten years, but in the meantime I will continue to use Kazaa. [John Robb's Radio Weblog]
Hmmm, given how much they have been crying loss, maybe it's time that record companies get a serious audit of their books to see just how bad they are really doing.
Distribution technology and services are just ways of helping someone else sell their valuable assets, and are certainly not a basis for entrepreneurship. It's the control over the assets themselves, and not the pipes to deliver them, that will drive shareholder value in new music companies. The online distribution of music is not about technology. More than enough technology exists to produce any consumer music service you could possibly imagine. The game will really get interesting when the very heart of the music industry--the creation and sourcing of music--is challenged [Robert von Goeben on Cnet]
Given the ever lower cost of entry to building a home studio/editing suite, the money may well be in delivering the integrated systems for editing, and providing hosting to get the bands off the ground. Scratch that (hosting). Internet radio that plays indie bands, with feeds flagged by genre, date, popularity, and region, users can then hear the new thing wordwide if they wish, as well as download it if they so desire. It's been done, I know, and internet radio is under assault all over the place, but a heavenly jukebox is still a laudable goal.
9:36:37 AM
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Subtle as a train wreck, and just as serious
Warbloggers are just weenies. These guys didn't spend time in the military or in situations that put them up against terrrorists. Do you think this war occured overnight? No. This has been a running battle for twenty years. Only now did it reach popular focus,. Unforutnately, especially for those of us that fought this war, these weenies are popping up out of woodwork claiming some testosterone laced powers. Go away you softies and work out your issues at a Star Wars convention. [John Robb's Radio Weblog]
The best way to piss off a soldier is to play armchair general.
6:20:41 AM
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Instructions for Simple Gauss Rifle. Super simple instructions on making a gauss rifle out of a wooden ruler, some tiny magnets, and some steel ball bearings. Also comes with an excellent explanation of how it works, along with why it can't be modified into a perpetual motion machine. You can order the magnets from the site. Link Discuss (Thanks, Eli the Bearded!) [Boing Boing Blog]
Cool science.
6:08:53 AM
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© Copyright 2003 Ryan Greene.
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