Geeky gift ideas from Scientific American: pet tornadoes, cat-apults for flinging a foam cat, moon phase ties, bat detectors, a portable solar array, and for the special gal in your life, a Watson-Crick double-helix DNA bracelet.
1:17:16 PM  #   your two cents []

Cisco downgraded ahead of analyst meeting. Competition from smaller networking players and delays in a global economic recovery will take their toll on the networking giant, an analyst says. [CNET News.com]
12:50:08 PM  #   your two cents []

I've started a permanent section of privacy and activist resources, linked to from over in the left column. The central issue around which this is evolving is the Irish government's attempt to introduce a mandatory 3+ year data retention law requiring that info on all emails, calls, faxes and web surfing habits be retained and stored -- making our data protection laws pointless, not to mention introducing the appalling 'war on terrorism' assumption that every citizen is now a potential suspect. I'll add to this section as time permits, but it has background on this issue, some commentary, and links --including one to all TD and minister addresses/phone/emails.
9:03:23 AM  #   your two cents []

Asia driving growth for telecom industry. Asia is now world's largest telecom market [InfoWorld: Top News]
8:57:06 AM  #   your two cents []

GayBombay. Online gathering places provide safe harbor for India's gays. But they may prevent some people from coming out. [Salon.com]
8:56:36 AM  #   your two cents []

The decline and fall of the American empire. An expert on geopolitics says forget Islamic terrorism -- the real future threat to America's supremacy will come from Europe. [Salon.com]
8:55:45 AM  #   your two cents []

From Boing Boing Blog: World's first tattooing robot. An Austrian electrician has created a robot that tattoos humans. But would you trust your butt to a tattooing 'bot? The inventor says:

"It was a hard job because the only person I could test it on was myself which was painful but a good incentive to get it right as soon as possible.... He's an artist of course so he always decides what design the person is going to get, they can't choose. But I haven't had any complaints yet." Link  

Sheesh -- I think that picture about says it all...

8:54:07 AM  #   your two cents []

BlogGazer is Phillip Pearson's blog browser for Windows. [Scripting News]
8:51:58 AM  #   your two cents []

Thomas A. Edison. "To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk." [Quotes of the Day]
8:51:26 AM  #   your two cents []

PayPal Founder Wants To Launch Satellites [Slashdot]
8:50:50 AM  #   your two cents []

Avenue A buys interactive agency. The Internet-marketing services company says it will buy rival i-Frontier for an undisclosed sum, a sign of further consolidation in the flagging online-advertising industry. [CNET News.com]
8:50:30 AM  #   your two cents []

Doing Business by Cellphone Creates New Liability Issues. The technological boon of mobile phones may make companies liable if employees using them are involved in accidents. [New York Times: Technology]
8:49:14 AM  #   your two cents []

Xerox Says New Material Will Allow Plastic Transistors. A Xerox researcher is expected to discuss a new material that can be used to make transistors for cellphones, laptops and TV's. [New York Times: Technology]
8:48:39 AM  #   your two cents []