Lynda Barry. Boomeranged [Salon.com]
11:58:04 PM  #   your two cents []

From GMSV: <<Harvard University this week awarded its annual Ig Nobel prizes for scientific achievements that "cannot or should not be reproduced." Among the dubious contributions to science recognized in this year's ceremony: a comprehensive survey of human belly button lint, a washing machine for cats and dogs, and an "excruciatingly balanced report" entitled "Scrotal Asymmetry in Man and in Ancient Sculpture." Finally, tongue lodged firmly in cheek, the Ig Nobel committee also commended the executives and auditors at Enron, WorldCom, Arthur Andersen and a host of other companies "for adapting the mathematical concept of imaginary numbers for use in the business world.">>

11:55:06 PM  #   your two cents []

Veritas Software said its chief financial officer, Ken Lonchar, resigned Thursday after the company learned he had lied about receiving an MBA degree from Stanford University...

11:52:49 PM  #   your two cents []

Exc3ll3nt! Check out the URL for British company Walkers (they make potato crisps/chips) in this item from today's edition of NeedToKnow (subscribe, you fool, if you don't already): <<..snaxx0rs 4 haxx0rs: http://walkers.corpex.com/cr15p5/ ..>>

11:47:21 PM  #   your two cents []

From today's FT: "An unusual communication between two mountain tops in Germany has set a record for the transmission of encryption keys, which may form the next generation of security technology...

Quantum cryptography allows keys to be encoded as photons of light and sent along optical fibres or through air. The laws of quantum physics state that a particle is changed when it is observed, so intercepting and reading the message changes the quantum state of the photons. Thus the intended recipient knows if the message has been intercepted."

More in the current issue of Nature. QinetiQ is the company that conducted the experiment.

1:07:39 PM  #   your two cents []

When is a bribe morally but not legally a bribe? The New Yorker on Wall Street and IPO spinning:

In the late nineties, most companies that went public sold their shares for much less than fair market value. In other words, when they could have sold ten million shares for thirty dollars apiece they sold them for twenty dollars apiece. As a result, they left a hundred million dollars on the table. And who advised them to do this? The very investment banks that were using those cheap shares as goodies for lucky gents like Bernie Ebbers. In effect, the hundred million dollars that should have gone to the company that was going public went instead into the pockets of privileged customers. Banks were making bribes with other people's money.

12:53:03 PM  #   your two cents []

Blogger: You're in the Army Now: "The military minds behind "America's Army," the PC game designed to entice geeks into enlisting, have unveiled their newest recruiting tool: a weblog from a soldier stationed in Afghanistan."
11:46:46 AM  #   your two cents []

Executive pay leaps ahead 17%. <<Special report: Executive pay has once again outpaced average earnings, climbing an average of 17% last year.>> [Guardian Unlimited]
11:44:14 AM  #   your two cents []

Venerable Guardian tech columnist Jack Schofield explains how to use Google to best effect.
9:46:53 AM  #   your two cents []

It's official: eBay weds PayPal. <<update eBay announces that it has completed its acquisition of the online payments company--and that PayPal's CEO, who led the merger, has resigned.>> [CNET News.com]
9:23:51 AM  #   your two cents []

Yikes, another big Irish employer: EMC warns; layoffs on the way. The high-end storage seller says it doesn't expect to meet its goal of profitability in the second half of the year and will lay off about 1,380 workers. [CNET News.com]. BTW for non-Irish readers: the current US ambassador to Ireland is the 'E' in EMC, Egan.
9:22:17 AM  #   your two cents []

Netscape founder sells start-up MyCFO. <<The company Jim Clark started to help wealthy families manage their fortunes is snatched up for $30 million, or one-third of its total funding.>> [CNET News.com] Ouch! Why do all these kinds of dotcom ventures, which sounded reasonably feasible to lots of people (not least those willing to pony up $90m), now seem so patently ridiculous? Personally, I think any venture with the word 'My' in it (or item on a computer desktop as well...) deserves to fail. Can't get the association with the treacly toy My Little Pony out of my mind.
9:17:57 AM  #   your two cents []

Gosling: Microsoft's Java threat is financial, not technical. C Sharp is 'obvious clone' [The Register]
9:15:40 AM  #   your two cents []

Robotics Slumps, but Recovery Is Predicted [New York Times: Technology]
9:14:24 AM  #   your two cents []

Another one bites the dust, joining Industry Standard and a few others: Forbes ASAP, Magazine of New Market, Shuts Down [New York Times: Technology]
9:14:02 AM  #   your two cents []