Are Your Small Business Customers Clueless About Backups?

Are many of your small business prospects, customers, and clients in grave danger with their computer backup procedures?Do you often have trouble getting non-technical small business owners and managers to recognize the importance of sound data backup procedures?If so, then I have “gift” for you. Here’s an article for small businesses on data backups that you can reprint in your own newsletterIt’s called, “Computer Data Backups: Test Now or Cry Later”.The only requirements for reprinting:1) Your reprint must include the full bio-box at the end and a direct hyperlink back to http://www.PCSupportTips.com2) It must carry the copyright notice at the end, "Copyright MMI-MMV, PCSupportTips.com, All Worldwide Rights Reserved."3) The article cannot be altered in any way, shape or form.4) You cannot...

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Blasts from the Past

I'll be traveling the remainder of this week, so I'll present this week's Friday diversion a few days early...Anyone over the age of, perhaps, 30 remembers some aspect of the Cold War, whether it be the Cuban Missile Crisis, "airraid drills" in school (I never understood the logic of how hiding under a desk could protect you from a nuclear bomb) or Ronald Reagan ordering Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. Now, a website called CONELRAD has compiled a history of some of the more over-the-top Cold War moments and mementos. Most anecdotes are from the 1950s and '60s, when nuclear paranoia was at a fever pitch.Much of the site's "atomic...

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TAICON 2005 Conference Postponed; Comdex Cancelled

The Arlington Institute's TAICON 2005 conference, "Tools for the Development of Humanity," to have been held April 25-27 in Washington DC, has been postponed indefinitely. The Institute cites "serious logistical problems" as the reason for the postponement, but says it will reschedule later this year. This comes on the heels of yesterday's report that Comdex -- once the gold standard for technology shows -- has been cancelled for a second year in a r...

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Hilton Jumps On the iPod Bandwagon

No, this time we're not talking about Paris. The Hilton hotel chain -- which manages Hilton, Doubletree, Homewood Suites and Embassy Suites hotels -- is installing clock radios in its rooms to which guests can attach their iPods, allowing them to wake up to their favorite MP3s. The chain is also offering iPods and iTunes downloads as prizes on its website.Clearly, Hilton realizes how many of its guests are iPod users. The move also shows how deeply iPods have embedded themselves into the technical and cultural mainstream over the past few years.Sources: CNET, Techd...

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Good News About US Teens

Teens take the blame for many of our social problems, it seems. But according to one tracking system, today's teens appear to be drinking less, committing fewer crimes, and having fewer babies.According to the Child Well-Being Index, a measure developed by the Foundation for Child Development: The teen birth rate dropped by half between 1992 and 2004 (from 20 births per 1,000 girls to 10.9 births) Binge drinking among high school seniors fell from 36.9% in 1975 to 29.2% in 2004. The number of teens who were victims of violent crime fell from 120 per 1,000 in 1994 to 45 per 1,000 in 2004. The numbers are so impressive that Jeffrey Butts, directory of the youth justice program at the Urban Institute, stated, "Maybe we have the next 'greatest generation' coming along here."There is disagreement,...

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AT&T to Test WiMax as Alternative to Data Lines

AT&T will begin tests later this year to see whether "WiMax" high-speed wireless technology is a viable replacement for wired broadband Internet connections. The first trial will occur this spring in the town of Middletown, NJ.The advantage of WiMax is that it allows data throughput at very high speeds and over longer distances than other wireless protocols. The promise is that WiMax service could be offered over large areas and at lower cost than traditional wired data services. Source: Computerwo...

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Pet-Friendly House Design

NOTE: The Blogger.com dashboard has been on the fritz for much of yesterday and today. Therefore, postings may not be as frequent as usual.As more Baby Boomers (and even Gen-X'ers) become "empty nesters," they are expected to turn their nurturing instincts toward their pets. This has already spawned an industry that includes "big box" pet supply stores like PetSmart, as well as more specialized and upscale pet boutiques. Now, home designers and remodelers are seeing the opportunities of home designs with pets in mind.Such modifications go beyond the traditional "doggie door" (though even this is being re-thought, as some doors are being made from clear Plexiglas so dogs can see what's on the other side before going through). Some home designers are including bay windows with large ledges...

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Internet Surpasses Yellow Pages for Consumer Info

When shopping for local products and services, consumers are letting their fingers do the walking... but it's to click a mouse, not to flip through the Yellow Pages.A new Kelsey Group survey shows that in 2005, more US adults are using the Internet to research shopping than they are the Yellow Pages, and just as many are using the Net as are local newspapers. This represents a 10% increase in Internet usage for local shopping from 2o03.Use of the Yellow Pages sharply declined in homes with Internet access, but alarmingly, remained flat in homes without Internet access... suggesting a broader cultural shift away from dependence on the Yellow Pages...

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Obesity Could Reduce Average Lifespans; Fast Food No Help

Obesity has become such a problem in the US that researchers believe that it could actually reduce the average American lifespan. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago estimate that within 50 years, the average lifespan of 77.6 years will shorten by two to five years due to obesity-realted illnesses -- erasing approximately 25 years in steady lifespan gains.Not helping the cause is Burger King, which is introducing its Enormous Omelet Sandwich. The sausage, egg, cheese and bacon sandwich weighs in with 730 calories and 47 grams of fat. Though fast food leader McDonald's has been offering more health fare as of late, and Subway made its name as a healthy alternative to fast food, other fast food restaurants appear to be going against the health tide. Last fall, Hardee's introduced...

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Internet Television Distribution

We've discussed this many times before, but Chris Anderson at Long Tail has a post that summarizes everything that's wrong with today's television, in terms of demographics, falling ratings and ineffective advertising models. Anderson points to a rather jargony article in MediaPost, a publication for advertising media buyers, suggesting that TV advertising is reaching a critical tipping point that could transform the advertiser-broadcaster relationship.However, the post also points to solutions -- not for the powers that be, but for the viewer. One of the most intriguing is a company called Brightcove, which was founded by Jeremy Allaire, the co-creator of the Cold Fusion programming language. Brightcove allows a way for independent video producers to distribute their works through the Internet....

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[BREAKING NEWS] Blogging the Latest Indonesian Earthquake

Paul Tan, the Tsunami Disaster blog and Irish Trojan are blogging the latest Indonesian earthquake, which occurred just hours ago and measured a magnitude between 8.2 and 8.5. Fears are that it could possibly trigger another tsunami like the one experienced by the region in December. More on local blogging here.UPDATE 1: The US Geological Survey now says that the quake had a magnitude of at least 8.7. If the quake spawned a tsunami as feared, it would strike populated areas in the region by 3 AM Tuesday (4 PM Eastern time Monday). Updates at CNN.com and MSNBC.UPDATE 2 (2:50 PM EST): A second, 6.0-magnitude earthquake has been reported in the...

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The Fab Lab

A story that generated lots of buzz on tech and futurist blogs last week was the "Fab Lab," a set of tools developed by MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms that can literally build devices from the ground up. The Fab Lab can mill machine and electronic parts to a millionth of a meter; the stated purpose is to help innovators in developing countries develop and maintain technology. As an article in The Economist explains:In Pabal, an Indian village with a population of 5,000, a dairy farmer's income is tied to the fat content of his cow's milk. Students at the nearby Vigyan Ashram science school are using a fab lab to build a sensor that will give Pabal's farmers a precise measure of that fat content. In Takoradi, Ghana, people have used the labs to produce a cassava grinder, jewellery, car parts,...

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Technology Makes the Difference for Prospective Employees

What makes a person want to work for an organization? A great salary? Generous benefits? Training opportunities? A casual workplace? Interestingly, a Canadian survey has found that an organization's technology can make or break a candidate's decision to accept a position.An Ipsos-Reid survey of over 1,100 Canadian workers found that 75% agreed with the statement: "technology tools and software are an important consideration" in choosing a place to work. Additionally, 20% of the respondents said that their current employers weren't giving them the technology tools to do their jobs properly.According to the survey, the technologies considered most important by workers were those that aggregate information and help them make critical decisions. To that end, customer reationship management and...

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Kyrgyzstan: The World's Newest Hotspot

Yet another news story overshadowed by the Terri Schiavo drama was this week's apparent democratic revolution in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan. If you've never heard of this country, you can be forgiven. It's a former Soviet republic in Central Asia that borders on China. You can learn more about Kyrgyzstan via its entry in the CIA Factbook.The blogs Registan.net and Thinking-east.net are blogging the Kyrgyzstan uprising. Meanwhile, the Russian news service Interfax reports on another disturbance in another former Soviet republic, in Belarus in the city of Minsk.Sources: Instapundit, Dan Gill...

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Invasive Species

We so often worry about endangered or threatened species that we don't often think about "invasive species" -- those that move outside of their native habitat to cause problems for other ecosystems. In other words, species that are too successful.The Invasive Species Weblog documents such species that have been introduced to alien habitats by accident, natural expansion, or through ill-conceived releases. The species often go on to spread disease, threaten the indigenous wildlife, and even cause economic damage. Invasive species are yet another unintended consequence of globalization and lack of attention paid to the environment.Source: WorldChang...

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Honeybee Network

If you're a really bright and clever person with great ideas, yet live in a remote part of the developing world, how can you make your contribution to the greater society? Perhaps by letting people find you.An initiative in India called the Honeybee Network seeks to locate smart people with innovations and put them in touch with other villages who could use their ideas. Example of such clever folk inventions discovered through the network are a device for scaling coconut trees and a fully functioning robot.Source: WorldChang...

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Dixon and Nixon

As much as I dislike lumping psychics in with futurists, emerging technologists and trendwatchers, an item from the current issue of Newsweek piqued my interest nonetheless. Thus, as our weekly Friday diversion, we'll examine how psychic Jeanne Dixon reportedly advised President Richard Nixon in the early 1970's.Dixon rose to fame by supposedly predicting the election and assassination of JFK, and throughout the 1960s, '70s and '80s, her predictions regularly appeared in supermarket tabloids. Now, tapes recently unearthed by the commission investigating 9/11 reveal that Dixon consulted with the President on what she believed to be terrorist threats and other matters.She predicted terrorist attacks against Nixon, as well as against Washington Post publisher Katherine Graham and comedian Alan...

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Microsoft Small Business Server History

When that news came out about Novell trying to more agressively challenge Microsoft in the Small Business Server space (see Novell Takes Aim at Microsoft Small Business Server), it got me thinking about the whole history of Microsoft Small Business Server.If you sell and support Microsoft Small Business Server, here's a quick crash course on Microsoft Small Business Server History.Best regards,Joshua Feinb...

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Novell Takes Aim at Microsoft Small Business Server

Yahoo! News - Novell Takes Aim at Microsoft Small Business ServerI've been hearing about this one for years.Of course Novell wants to take aim at Microsoft's SBS.But will they pull it off?It's always good to keep the SBS program managers and product managers on their toes with some healthy competition. But Novell has had SO many false starts in this area, will the critical small business VARs really take them seriously?!?Perhaps the long-time NetWare supporters will...But can Novell really win, or win back, the VARs that pledge allegiance to Microsoft SBS after brushing their teeth each morning. (Yes, they are THAT loyal.)Respectfully submitted,Joshua Feinberghttp://www.computerconsultingkit.c...

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Alternative Sources for Stem Cells

Several research projects offer promise for harvesting viable human stem cells from sources other than human embryos -- potentially removing a major ethical quandary in the progress toward stem cell treatments.Experiments with human muscle, skin and fat cells have yielded encouraging results. An Australian research team has cultivated stem cells taken from inside an adult nose; these could potentially be used for growing nerve, heart, kidney and muscle cells. And in Norway, a research team has used adult human bone marrow cells to grow spinal cord nerves in chicken embryos.The Catholic Church funded part of the Australian study to demonstrate that progress in stem cell research could be made without using human embryonic stem cells.Sources: MSNBC, FuturePun...

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US Carrier Groups Converge on the Middle East

Virtually lost in the chatter between the Terry Schiavo controversy, the Michael Jackson trial and assorted other news stories are reports that three US aircraft carrier groups are either headed to or are in place around the Middle East. The carriers USS Carl Vinson and the USS Theodore Roosevelt are en route to the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea respectively. This will mark the first time since February 2004 that the US will have had so much naval firepower in the region. As India Daily reports:Each of these carrier groups carry nearly 85 aircraft and is capable of delivering precision-guided munitions. In addition, there are anti-submarine aircraft, airborne-early-warning and rotary-wing aircraft. Because [of] in-the-air refueling capabilities, these aircrafts can operate from a long...

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Which Grocery Stores are Going High-Tech?

Is your local grocer jumping on the latest technology, or is it a laggard? Business 2.0 has a quick overview of several cutting-edge grocery stores and the technology they're rolling out.Metro Future Stores in Germany are rolling out self-service kiosks (already used in deli sections of many ShopRites); "smart shelves" that read RFID-tagged products, locate misplaced items and send real-time alerts when items need restocking; and real-time advertising via plasma screens. Certain Albertsons stores (a.k.a. Acme Markets in the Midatlantic region) are experimenting with handheld scanners that customers can use to total up orders and transmit to a self-checkout register, as well as with fingerprint payment systems.Grocery stores are also rethinking the shopping process as well. Many stores now...

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Florida as the New Bellwether State

Carlos Watson of CNN believes that Florida is becoming America's new politically trendsetting state, from the Terri Schiavo controversy, to its pivotal role in the 2000 Presidental election, to a test-based education standard that served as the model for President Bush's federal "No Child Left Behind" initiative.The reason, Watson suggests, goes beyond Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's relationship with his brother, the President. Florida's growing, diverse population makes it an accurate cross-section of America, containing conservative, moderate and liberal elements. "Florida is incredibly diverse along almost every major dimension (race, age, income, economy, nationality, geography, politics, etc.)," writes Watson, "and consequently now sees many of the most forward-looking problems before anyone...

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Texting Finally Catching On in the US?

Americans haven't embraced SMS mobile text messaging the way that their European and Asian counterparts have. However, a new study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that one quarter of all US cell phone users have sent or received text messages within the past month.Not surprisingly, the younger the user, the more likely he or she is to use texting features. Sixty-three percent of users aged 18-27 have used text messaging, compared with 31% of users aged 28-39, and 7% of users over 60.The survey also found that 28% of those surveyed have received "spim" (instant-message spam) and other unsolicited messages.Source: CNN....

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"Snakebot" Can Conquer Most Any Terrain

The mobile robotics lab at the University of Michigan has developed a snake-like robot that can maneuver around almost any type of terrain, including stairs, pipes and wide gaps. Such a robot would offer very clear benefits in emergency search and rescue, industrial inspection, military applications and space exploration.The OmniTread Serpentine Robot has treads that cover virtually all of its long, flexible body. The robot has multiple sections that are connected with bellowed joints that can adjust and act as a steering mechanism. The current version of the robot requires an external power source, though a self-powered version is under development.View...

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When You Start a Computer Consulting Business

Are you looking to start a computer consulting business?If so, then you should go check out this article onGet Advice When You Start a Computer Consulting BusinessBest regards,Joshua Feinb...

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Food Additive May Slow Fat Absorption

Fast food lovers may be able to have their fries and eat them too, if experiments with a modified food additive continue to be encouraging.Hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (don't try to pronounce it, just call it HPMC) is commonly used as a food additive to modify texture. However, increasing the levels of HPMC in highly fatty foods appears to help prevent insulin resistance -- a condition that's often a precursor to diabetes. By extension, the additive chould also help reduce levels of obesity that come from eating foods laden with fat. So far, studies indicate that five grams of HPMC per serving are required to produce the beneficial effect.Researchers...

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When You Need a Pizza NOW!!

Remember the pizza delivery chains' 30-minute delivery guarantees? They largely disappeared because the pizza joints got sick of arguing with customers who timed them with stopwatches, then demanded free pizzas. Plus, the harried delivery guys drove like banshees and caused accidents.If you miss those days, they may be on their way back, thanks to Wisconsin-based Super Fast Pizza. Using high-tech mobile kitchens, they bake their pizzas en route and shoot for (but don't guarantee) 15-minute delivery times. And your pizza is literally hot out of the oven! The kitchens-on-wheels are wired with WiFi and can accept online orders on the fly; in fact,...

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Technology + Big Business = The Killing of FM Radio

People, it seems, have been complaining about commercial radio programming for as long as it's been around. Yet complaining about it is like complaining about the weather: everyone does it, but no one does anything about it.That may be changing. In commenting on a recent Wall Street Journal piece on the upheavals in radio programming, Blogger Barry Ritholtz notes that MP3 players, satellite radio and the trend toward M&As in the radio business have degraded traditional FM radio and possibly driven away an entire generation of listeners. Ritholtz is particularly critical of the erosion of the listener-DJ relationship; in the past, he notes, listeners relied on DJs to expose them to new types of music, and play what they thought was the very best stuff. Now, with station consolidation,...

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Will Mobile On-Demand Do What Napster Couldn't?

The MocoNews blog has several posts that point to alternate revenue streams for content creators, including musicians. As mobile handsets become more sophisticated, they may become the major conduits for entertainment content. Listeners, for instance, could download music and video clips, and pay via SMS. Or, they could point their devices to sites such as Roomobile.com and download content, some of it for free. Readers can even download books to their mobile devices (assuming they can read very small type).Trends like this are important for two reasons. First, the high-functioning mobile devices simplifies the content acquisition process for the consumer. Instead of having to hook up an MP3 player to a PC, a consumer can connect his or her mobile device directly to the source. Second, sites...

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The Global Darkness Shortage

A byproduct of the modern world that we don't often think about is the shortage of darkness, or the presence of nighttime artificial light and our 24/7 society that's so constant that it disrupts the natural day-night cycle. Now, a growing number of scientists believe that depriving ourselves of darkness can actually make us sick.Darkness advocates say that constant exposure to light sources -- whether they be from the inside or outside -- disrupts sleep cycles and causes physical stress. They even discourage the use of night lights, arguing that the human body evolved in environments where nighttime meant absolute darkness. Scientists are conducting studies to see whether exposure to nighttime light can suppress the body's production of melatonin, an enzyme believed to aid in fighting diseases...

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Who is Allowing Stem Cell Research?

William Hoffman of the University of Minnesota has compiled a map of the countries with the most flexible and permissive policies on embryonic stem cell research. Nations in dark brown (most notably China, India, Japan, the UK and South Korea) have "permissive" policies (almost anything goes except human reproductive cloning); those in light brown have "flexible" policies (permitted, but with restrictions). Nations in yellow (including the US) have the most restrictive policies or are not involved in research.In the US, California is singled out because of its Proposition 71 that provides a state constitutional right to pursue stem cell research....

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iPods for Religious Study

MP3s such as the iPod aren't just for playing music anymore. Thanks to podcasting and similar technologies, college professors are distributing lectures in MP3 format, and radiologists are using Photo iPods to store and review patient images.Now, iPods are being used for religious instruction. A 23-year-old entrepreneur named Yehuda Shmidman has created what he calls the ShasPod, an iPod pre-loaded with an audio version of the 2,711-page Talmud used in a cycle of study known to Orthodox Jews as the Daf Yomi. The program, in which students read a page a day, takes 7-1/2 years to complete.Daf Yomi lectures have long been available on the Web in...

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Firefly Develops Cell Phone for Kids

Last week we discussed how more kids were wanting and getting cell phones. Now, a startup called Firefly Mobile has developed a cell phone specifically designed for young children.The phone, which uses a prepaid calling plan, has simplified design; no games or text messaging capability; has speed dial buttons for Mom, Dad and 911; and can only dial those numbers that parents program into it. The phone is also smaller than a regular cell phone, fitting more comfortably into a child's hands.The Firefly phones are scheduled to go on sale through the Firefly website in May, and at Target stores this summer.Sources: Designtechnica, MobileTrac...

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What Terri Schiavo is Teaching Us

Yesterday, as you no doubt heard, the feeding tube of Terri Schiavo, a severely brain-damaged woman, was removed at the request of her husband, and against the wishes of her parents. The removal was a culmination of years of legal battling and protests that literally involved an act of Congress, and is not over yet.The Schiavo case is important to futurists because it gives us a glimpse into issues that will rock society in the years to come. The most obvious issues are the advances in medicine that allow profoundly disabled individuals such as Schiavo to remain alive... as well as provide hope of recovery through stem cell research and other means.The other issue is demographic. As our population ages, we will have many more people who will have long life without health. They will become...

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The Latest Medical Technology is... Maggots???

That's correct... Clinical trials are underway in the US and UK to evaluate the medical value of maggots. Turns out the little dudes are remarkably effective at safely cleaning and disinfecting leg ulcers and other persistent wounds.In Britain, patients whose wounds have been treated with sterilized greenfly larvae report less pain and faster healing. Both the US Food and Drug Administration and the British National Health Service recognize maggot therapy as a valid medical treatment.Maggots were used in medicine for hundreds of years before the era of antibiotics. Recently, maggot therapy has caught on around the world, most notably the US, UK, Israel and Germany. Practitioners claim that the demand for their services has grown markedly over the last five years.Source: Reuters (Exc...

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Hydrogen Cars for Sale in 2012

The good news is that hydrogen-powered cars ar on their way. The bad news is that we may have to wait seven more years for them.DaimlerChrysler, one of the automakers on the forefront of hydrogen fuel cell technology, plans to make hydrogen cars available to the general market by 2012. It has already shipped experimental hydrogen cars to several countries, including the US.Though progress in hydrogen fuel cell technology is promising, DaimlerChrysler still has technical and logistical hurdles to overcome. Hydrogen cars, for instance, perform poorly in very cold weather. Fuel cells are also too large, expensive, and short-lived to be commerically...

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Spending More to Stay Connected

The cost of cell phone plans is going up, according to the wireless-industry group CTIA. After reaching a low of $39.43 in 1998, the average monthly cell phone bill has risen steadily, and reached $50.64 in 2004... only a few dollars shy of the average bill a decade earlier!Why the increase? CTIA points to a number of factors, including increased phone taxes, greater usage overall, more available services (and fees), and the wave of industry mergers that have reduced competition. One phenomenon possibly contributing to the rise in average fees is that of "cord-cutters" -- customers, usually young people, who abandon their land lines and use their cell phones as their primary phones. Such customers tend to purchase the most expensive plans with lots of minutes. The CTIA survey, however,...

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Avoiding the Computer Consulting Moochers

Have you ever wasted a whole bunch of time (and money) because of computer consulting moochers? You know those small business owners who are professional leaches, cheapskates, time vampires and moochers?Over the past few weeks, many computer consulting business owners have written in to ask for advice on how to handle prospects that have unrealistic expectations of what professional computer consulting services should cost.What it boils down to is...You need to be able to convince prospects that hiring your firm is an INVESTMENT (not an expense) in their business.In other words...The tangible benefits of what your firm delivers must FAR outweigh the costs.Think about it.Would you make an investment in YOUR company if you didn't see how the benefits were greater than the costs?!?Now because...

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Artificial Neuroscience

The more we learn about how the human mind works, the less we realize we understand. This is especially true when considering how to create sentient machines -- machines that think and feel as we do. A common rule of thumb is that a computer would have to be able to process at least a trillion calculations per second to be able to come close to replicating the human brain. But increasingly, scientists are realizing that this is not enough. Things that we do subconsciously are incredibly difficult for machines, which don't as yet function on the subconscoius level.Tyson Durst of the University of Alberta proposes a new field of study, "artificial neuroscience," that would explore not only the possibilities and limits to artificial intelligence, but the ways in which sentient machines would...

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Vatican Condemns "Religion of Health"

A February statement from the Vatican sharply criticized what it called the "religion of health," seeking to point out inequities in basic healthcare between poor and affluent countries, and holding up the ailing Pope John Paul II as an example of stoic acceptance of the human body's limits.Said Vatican theologian and morality expert Rev. Maurizio Faggioni:"While millions of people in the world struggle to survive hunger and disease, lacking even minimal health care, in rich countries the concept of health as well-being figures in creating unrealistic expectations about the possibility of medicine to respond to all needs and desires... The medicine of desires, egged on by the health care market, increases the request for pharmaceutical and medical-surgical services, soaks up public resources...

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Can a Cute Robot Make People More Generous?

What is it about the human persona that makes us want to help others? Altruism is one of the traits that separates us from animals, but we know surprisingly little about it, or what evokes feelings of caring and generosity.Scientists believe that caring is an evolutionary trait, leading early humans to cooperate and pool their resources to survive. But what exactly triggers caring emotions? To answer that, an experiment at Harvard used two groups: one that was asked to donate money online, and another that was also asked for donations, but through a website that featured a cute, doe-eyed robot named Kismet. The group donating through Kismet's website gave 30% more money than the group without Kismet.The researchers concluded that there is something deep within our primal memory that responds...

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Multimedia Guide to Using Trackbacks

Establishing trackback links is a powerful and easy way for bloggers to increase traffic and gain visibility on other blogs. Yet they're often tricky to use.Jim Edwards' marketing blog "I Gotta Tell You" features a tutorial on trackbacks, including video and audio clips illustrating exactly how they work and how you can leverage them for your blogging efforts.Source: Blogcetera, Blogging for Fun and Pro...

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More Video Games Featuring Drug Use

Back when Mario and Luigi began "powering up" by eating magic mushrooms, who knew that they were on the cutting edge of what has become a staple of video games: drug use. Many of today's hottest games feature illegal drugs as a common element... yet the way they handle them is sometimes surprising.In the game Narc, the latest version of which will be released next week, players can use drugs to "power up" or disable their enemies, not unlike in Super Mario. Drug use is also treated as morally neutral, as even cops can use drugs in the game. But drug use also carries consequences, from hallucinations to arrest. Upcoming games that will feature drug use prominently are Snow and a game based on the movie Scarface.Game developers insist that, as the story lines of games become deeper and...

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A Planet of 100 People

Statistics culled from the US Census Bureau, UNESCO and other sources reveal a telling portrat of the world if its population were shrunk to 100 people. Keeping all the current proportions of the actual world's population intact, the figures reveal: 57 people would be Asian21 would be European14 would be from the Western Hemisphere (both north and south)8 would be Africans 51 would be female49 would be male 70 would be non-white30 would be white 70 would be non-Christian30 would be Christian 89 would be heterosexual11 would be homosexual 50% of the world’s wealth would be in the hands of 6 peopleAll 6 people would be citizens of the United States 80 would live in sub-standard housing70 would be unable to read50 would be suffering from malnutrition 1 would be near death1...

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Adding Y!Q Searches to Blogger.com Blog Posts

You may have noticed Yahoo! Search (Y!Q) links added to the bottom of each FutureWire post. These present a popup with links to additional Web resources as found on Yahoo. Blog developer Jeremy Zawodny posted on his blog instructions for adding Y!Q to MoveableType blog posts. However, with some minor tweaks, the same code works with Blogger.com blogs as well.Follow Jeremy's instructions, which work essentially the same with Blogger.com blogs as with MoveableType (because Blogger is fussy about how it accepts HTML, I can't post the code here). The key modification to make is to change the input value variable from $MTEntryTitle$ to $BlogItemTitle$. This allows Y!Q to search based on your post's title; of course, the wording of your title will affect the quality of the search results.The Y!Q...

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How Reality TV is Changing an Industry

Reality TV is making its mark on business -- and not just the television industry. Motorcycle expert John Wyckoff argues that reality TV is singlehandedly responsible for the growth in the custom chopper business, which in turn is shaking up the conventional motorcycle industry.Shows such as The Discovery Channel's American Chopper, which shows customized bikes being built from start to finish (and all the drama in between), are driving interest in custom motorcycles. Granted, the bikes built by these custom shops are extremely expensive -- costing well into the six figures -- and appeal to a niche market. However, this niche market is highly...

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Nearly Half of all US Kids Own Cell Phones

A recent survey by the global research firm NOP World has found that 44% of US children between the ages of 10 and 18 own cell phones. The percentage of 15-to-17-year-olds owning cell phones jumped from 42% in 2002 to 75% in 2004.The survey also found that kids are interested in multifunctional phones, such as camera phones and those that can play MP3 music files. This suggests that cell phone usage may increase even more among young people as phones become available with more functions.The young people surveyed also indicated a high level of brand loyalty, with 77% staying with their original carrier, and only 11% looking to switch within the next six months. However, this might have something to do with many kids being on family plans, where the parents make the purchasing decisions.Of...

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Caribbean at Risk for Major Tsunami, Say Scientists

The devastating tsunami that struck southern Asia last December moved that phenomenon to the top of scientists' research lists. Now, three researchers studying historical data say that the northern Caribbean might be the next tsunami "ground zero."Nancy Grindlay and Meghan Hearne of the University of North Carolina Wilmington and Paul Mann of the University of Texas at Austin believe that the boundary between the North American and Caribbean tectonic plates -- near the Greater and Lesser Antilles islands and the US Gulf Coast -- is volatile enough to produce a major tsunami. They base this belief on the geological history of the region, which includes 10 devastating tsunamis since 1492. Studies of underwater landslides show that even more powerful tsunamis occurred before 1492.The most recent...

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Smart Companies Putting Their Customers to Work

Increasingly, businesses committed to innovation are putting a new spin on the old adage "the customer is always right," and turning their customers' knowledge and needs into new product development. Taking a cue from bottom-up development processes such as open source software, companies are using online communities and the hacker mentality to not only learn from their customers, but to actively involve them in product development."Demand-side innovation" (one of its many names) can take many forms. BMW, for example, posted a "toolkit" online allowing customers to model new ideas in telematics and online services; BMW selected the best ideas for development, and invited the contributors to meet with its engineers in Munich. The game developer Electronic Arts monitors and networks with grassroots...

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More of Your Decency Tax Dollars at Work...

Aren't you glad your government expended so much effort (and money) to determine that the racy Desperate Housewives/Monday Night Football promo that aired last November was, in fact, not indecent? [Adobe PDF file]Source: BuzzMach...

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More Web Sites Embrace TV-Style Video

Video on the Web is nothing new... but now, some websites are launching TV-style programs that are available on demand, in a format familiar to TV viewers that goes far beyond the typical 30-second Quicktime clip.An Atlanta-based company called Multicast is a pioneer in this field, making a name for itself by producing religious webcasts on its StreamingFaith.com site, which features sermons and inspirational programs lasting in length from 15 minutes to one hour. Recently it developed webcast programming for TheKnot.com, a website for engaged couples and newlyweds. Mainstream networks aren't about to be left behind. To promote its new show Fat Actress, Showtime launched a simultaneous premiere of the show on Yahoo! The on-demand feature alone will make webcasting attractive to many viewers....

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Forget Drunk Driving... Don't Text and Drive!

You might have read about this in the latest issue of DUH! magazine...ATHENS, Ala. -- State troopers said a Tennessee man who was typing a text message on his cell phone as he traveled south on Interstate 65 was killed Saturday night when he lost control of his pickup, which overturned and went down an embankment. Troopers said 26-year-old Lucas Rolin of Ardmore was not wearing a seat belt and was thrown from the vehicle in the 9 p.m. accident near the Athens-U.S. 31 exit. Troopers recovered Rolin's cell phone and said he was trying to send a text message at the time of the fatal wreck.Sadly, we're likely to read more stories such as this in the near future as more people take up texting... accompanied by all the usual warnings, scoldings and attempts to legislate what ought to be common sense....

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Free Computer Consulting Training Seminar

Re: 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting BusinessIt’s really busy here today, so not much time to write.But I wanted to call your attention to a great free resource that we have available to anyone in the computer consulting business... or anyone that wants to get into the computer consulting business.It’s called 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business... a free one-hour pre-recorded audio training seminar.And you can get immediate online access to it when you sign up at http://www.computerconsultingkit.comYou’re going to learn how toFind steady, high-paying clients** Generate great leads** Get paid for virtually all of your consulting time** Easily command higher hourly billing rates** Build lifetime client loyalty** And much more!So go sign-up now, while it’s still...

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Dept. of Energy Report Warns of "Peak Oil" Risk

A report on the Aljazeera website states that a study commissioned by the US Department of Energy warns of the risk of a peak in world oil production... and that its impact on the US economy could be catastrophic.Peak oil is the theory that the world is running out of major oil reserves, and existing reserves will ultimately be exhausted, with demand for oil outstripping supply. "World oil peaking is going to happen," the report says. Only the "timing is uncertain"."Intervention by governments will be required, because the economic and social implications of oil peaking would otherwise be chaotic. But the process will not be easy. Expediency may require major changes to ... lengthy environmental reviews and lengthy public involvement."The report suggest three scenarios: The first is that governments...

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Personals, Entertainment Drive Online Spending

Netizens just want to have fun! A survey by the Online Publishers Association (OPA) has found that, out of the $1.8 billion spent online in 2004, more than half was spent in the personals/dating and entertainment/lifestyles categories. The latter category saw a 90% increase over 2003. The next largest category, business/investment, saw a 6.3% decrease from 2003 to 2004.The entertainment/lifestyles category includes online music sales, which suggests that purchasing and legally downloading music is becoming a mainstay of e-business. This is particularly interesting as more consumers enter in the market for downloading movies and other media,...

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Goodbye Nordstrom... Hello Wal-Mart!

Upscale retailers such as Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus, where sales have remained strong and steady for the past two years, may be in for some rougher times as economists predict a cooling-off of luxury spending this year. A combination of higher tax burdens and less growth in real estate prices may put the pinch on the most affluent consumers. Economists also believe that a decline in luxury spending may be cyclical and influenced by fashion and trends.Meanwhile, discount retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target may benefit from a growing job market, which would put more money in the pockets of the middle class. Perhaps some of these folks might do well enough to visit Saks... just as Saks customers are headed in the opposite direction to check out Wal-Mart bargains.Source: CNN/Mo...

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A High-Tech Home With a Good Pedigree

The German engineering firm Werner Sobek Ingenieure has designed a radical high-tech house that not only pushes the limits of technology, but also minimizes material and energy needs.As the firm itself explains:It is our firm conviction that modern buildings should not only represent the latest technologies, but also minimise the use of resources, be light, transparent and designed and built with a view to easy dismantling and recycling. Minimising the use of resources means using as little material as possible in the construction of a building, minimising the energy demand of the building over its lifetime and, if possible, making all construction...

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Childhood Obesity Spreading in Rural US

Research throughout the US is uncovering an alarming surge in obese children in rural communities, with one study finding a 5% increase in obese children in rural areas between 1999 and 2001 -- twice the increase of urban children.Studies in western Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina and West Virginia have all come to the same conclusions. In West Virginia and Arkansas, surveys have found that as many as a quarter of public school students may be obese.But why? No one reason stands out, but researchers note that, contrary to stereotype, rural children don't do lots of hard work on family farms -- in part because family farms are disappearing, and those that are left are highly mechanized. Yet these families still eat a heavy "farm diet" of fats and simple carbohydrates. Meanwhile, rural...

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What "Baghdad Spring" Can Teach Futurists

Time and again, the so-called "Arab street" has surprised the pundits. In the wake of 9/11, the conventional wisdom was that the Arab street would explode if the US invaded Afghanistan or any other Muslim nation. When that didn't happen (due to a combination of police action and no great love for the Taliban), it took the world by surprise. Next, we were told that average Iraqis would greet US troops with open arms once they toppled Saddam. That didn't happen either. Then, almost overnight, countries throughout the Middle East seemed to embrace the wave of democracy that was started by the January elections in Iraq... once again startling many.The...

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