Safari Enhancer is an "application for enabling several hidden features of the Safari webbrowser beta." [Scripting News]
6:21:33 PM  #   your two cents []

Robots for the masses. "Evolution Robotics says it has created a navigation system that is cheap enough to bring robots to the mass-consumer market." [CNET News.com]
6:20:07 PM  #   your two cents []

Post-Enron et al, John Robb thinks the US is heading towards  kleptocracy as its form of government.
1:41:36 PM  #   your two cents []

Hotmail: A Spammer's Paradise?. "Anti-spam advocates say spammers have found an effective way to mine new addresses from Hotmail, Microsoft's popular free e-mail service. These 'dictionary attacks' are preventable, but only if company officials want to stop them." [Wired News] ... yep, absolutely the worst free email service for spam volume. But I've had my Hotmail acct for so long (way pre-Microsoft) that I'm reluctant to surrender it to the spam rodents.
12:18:52 PM  #   your two cents []

Aer Lingus has clicked its way out of financial trouble, according to Emmet Oliver's piece in today's Irish Times [sub only]:

The firm has not spent a single cent advertising or marketing any other element of its operation since December 2001. It has ploughed all its marketing and advertising resources instead into aerlingus.com.

The Irish Times has learned that during one week recently the airline sold 45 per cent of all its tickets via the site... Three years ago about 9 per cent of the airline's revenue per ticket was going on commission, this is now down to 1 per cent. The cost of selling its product (airline tickets) has fallen from €163 million in 2001 to an anticipated €79 million this year.

The other interesting detail buried in the piece is this: "The hackneyed shamrock symbol, long associated with the 'old' Aer Lingus, has not been used in marketing the airline in at least a year."  To me, that signifies almost a bigger change in mindset than pushing tickets aggressively over the net. The website has definitely been a big plus, though, and has constantly improved since its launch. I use it all the time. If only they'd let you choose your seating online, too, as American Airlines does.

10:49:26 AM  #   your two cents []

Automated Avatars Take the Strain Out of Animation. "Several software developers have been working on tools to make animation cheaper, more automated and less of a drain on processing power."  [New York Times: Technology] ... Hmmm. I didn't think this was a particularly new development...
10:32:28 AM  #   your two cents []

Well -- this will be interesting! Either he'll be a hit or he will be gunned down by rap mafiosi as a foul insult: Booyakasha! Ali G goes to the States. "America is set to feel the Ali G force, as British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen prepares to head across the Atlantic." [Guardian Unlimited]
10:30:45 AM  #   your two cents []

Into a Time Tunnel With a Dinosaur Computer. "While visiting my mother, I went foraging for games on her antique PC, a Pentium I without a 3-D graphics card." [New York Times: Technology]
10:28:27 AM  #   your two cents []

Sir William Osler. "The desire to take medicine is perhaps the greatest feature which distinguishes man from animals." [Quotes of the Day]
10:27:15 AM  #   your two cents []

IBM rents out supercomputer brawn. "Big Blue begins a new program to rent out processing power on its own supercomputers, signing up a petrochemical company as a first customer." [CNET News.com]
10:25:28 AM  #   your two cents []

Apple's move to dismiss 802.11a is not unique: "Microsoft and others are also dubious about 802.11a's future versus 802.11g's rapid availability and compatibility." [80211b News]

10:24:30 AM  #   your two cents []

And apropos the post below: Spamwars (requires Flash): "Let out your anger on SPAMWARS, a Flash game that pits you against the evil Sid the Spammer in the ultimate spam battle!" [via The Shifted Librarian and The FuzzyBlog]
10:23:24 AM  #   your two cents []