Verizon Turning Off Free Wi-Fi in NYC

As the saying goes, there's no free lunch. And apparently, there's no free wi-fi either... at least not in New York City, and not coming from Verizon. Over a two-month period, Verizon will turn off free wi-fi access points that it installed in about 380 phone booths throughout the city in 2003. Most are in Manhattan, with a few in Brooklyn.At that time, wi-fi was a novelty, and Verizon was trying to establish itself in the market space. But now, as Verizon spends millions to upgrade its wireless network, it's ready to cash in on the growing wi-fi market. Specifically, it is promoting EV-DO technology, which offers a wider coverage and seamless connectivity for roaming devices. Verizon is apparently banking that customers will be willing to pay for a higher quality connection.Source:...

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Terrorists are Lax About PC Security, Too

Are you one of those computer users who posts your passwords on your monitor with stickies? Of course not. But you probably know people who do. What's more, you might find it interesting that the world's most wanted terrorists aren't any better at computer security that those folks.In February, US troops in Iraq captured a laptop belonging to terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Though al-Zarqawi himself got away, the laptop was found to contain a wealth of information about the terrorist and his contacts.You would think that one of the world's most heavily pursued criminals would keep his digital information strongly encrypted, hidden, and accessible only with biometric tokens or something equally tough to break. Uh, no. Actually, examination of the laptop found digital pictures...

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Computer Reseller? Weigh the Pros and Cons

Is your computer consulting business a “pure” consulting business? (meaning that you only sell consulting services?)Or is your computer consulting business a “hybrid”, where you blend your firm’s consulting services with the more traditional computer reseller role?If your firm still is a computer reseller, here’s an interesting article that you really ought to read on Computer Reseller Business Tips.Best,Joshua Feinb...

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Computer Consulting 101: When can you benefit?

A lot of people write into Computer Consulting 101 from time-to-time wondering if the training tools can help them, at the level that they're at.Many times some of the biggest skeptics are those folks who "know it all". I'm sure you don't have to look too far in your circle of friends or family members, or business associates, to find a few "know it alls".But in case you happen to be one of these computer consulting business owners who thinks you know it "all", this article helps to answer the question When can you benefit from Computer Consulting 1...

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Podcasting

I am trying to see if I can podcast.Br...

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To Drop Some Pounds, Catch Some Z's

Evidence is mounting that a good night's sleep is crucial to maintaining a healthy weight. When researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute genetically disrupted the sleeping patterns of mice, they found that those mice gained weight, and developed high cholesterol and fatty livers.The researchers believe that healthy sleep cycles help regulate metabolism and appetite. When the mice in the Hughes study were given a mutant "clock" gene to disrupt their sleep cycles, they essentially became insomniacs. In addition to sleeping less, they ate irregularly, and were more sluggish than their more well-rested counterparts.We live in a culture that tends to disparage sleep, equating it with laziness and weakness. Our 24/7 culture doesn't help; we all get hooked on TV and Web surfing until the...

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iPods are Hot -- Literally

IPods are the hottest electronic gadget around. So hot, in fact, that New York City transportation authorities blame iPod theft for a spike in subway crimes since the beginning of the year. Other cities report similar high rates of iPod theft.Felony crimes on NYC subways have risen 18% since January, an increase almost entirely attributed to thefts of electronic devices like the iPod. Transportation officials are planning to launch a PR campaign urging subway passengers to guard their devices, and to be aware that white earbuds are a dead giveaway that they have something worth stealing.The supposed reason behind the thefts is interesting. There's no real black market for the devices; thieves on the wrong side of the digital divide simply want iPods for themselves. Says Henry Jenkins, director...

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Open Source Radio

KYOU Radio (broadcast as 1550 AM [KYCY] out of San Francisco and streamed online at kyouradio.com) bills itself as the world's first "open source radio station," obtaining all its content from podcasts. It will be interesting to see who else picks up on the concept, and whether it could prove to be an antidote to the current slump in the radio industry.The station is an underperforming asset owned by Infinity Broadcasting. In this news story, the new format is described as "experimental."UPDATE: A slightly different take from an article in Business 2.0, which, while speaking highly of podcasting, says that MP3s, and not radio (online radio especially) are the wave of the future:[D]igital music is the first big market that allows mass customization. With an iPod/iTunes or Creative Zen/Napster...

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Ode to a TV Antenna

In a post several weeks ago on vanishing Americana, I suggested one of those vanishing items was the television antenna -- not satellite dishes, but the wiry, spindly contraptions that once graced the rooftops of modern homes throughout the land. Today, I saw something that made me ponder how a once-cutting-edge technology is literally destined for the junkheap.A number of homeowners in my neighborhood are having their roofs replaced this season. One of those lives a few doors down from me. This morning, I noticed in his pile of things to be hauled off to the trash his old TV antenna, rusted yet neatly collapsed. The new roof is antenna-free.The...

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When is a Smart Building "Too Smart"?

"Smart buildings" -- buildings whose climate, lighting and security systems are managed by computer -- are nothing new. But they've received attention lately as building managers consider integrating their systems into service oriented architectures (SOAs), allowing data to be shared and ported to smaller devices within a building. But at what point does intelligence stop becoming the smart solution? Research into intelligent buildings has found that often, building management metrics conflict. User comfort, for instance, is not compatible with energy savings if occupants continually turn up the heat and override efficiency settings. Or, if sensors fail, how will the building's systems respond? Will they attempt to compensate, or will the failure act as a "circuit breaker"? Costs are also...

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Free Computer Consulting Training Seminar: Tonight!

re: Free Computer Consulting Training on how to Overcome Small Business IT Sales ObjectionsDo You Want to Learn How You Can Overcome the Most Common Small Business IT Sales Objections?Join us on Wednesday evening, April 27th (tonight) at 9PM EasternIn less than one hour, Joshua Feinberg will spoon-feed you tips on how you can overcome the most common small business IT sales objections and close more big sales.The only catch? This free teleseminar is limited to the first 50 registrants only. First come, first served. No exceptions! So don't delay. Sign up now before you miss out athttp://www.computerconsultingkit.com/ask042705/Since this teleseminar is not being recorded, be sure to rearrange your schedule… so you can attend the live teleseminar and learn how you can overcome the most common...

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Wendy's vs. the "Monster Meme"

I'm no fast food maven, but on occasion, I've found Wendy's chili to be pretty good. But when Anna Ayala claimed to have found a severed finger in her bowl of Wendy's chili back in March, I must admit I lost my hankering for the stuff.Now that the allegations have proven to be a hoax, where does Wendy's go from here? Already, the chain claims to have lost $2.5 million in business in northern California alone, where the alleged incident was reported, and has had to cut employees' hours and even resort to layoffs. And thanks to incessant reporting on 24-hour cable news -- not to mention all those jokes by the late-night talk-show hosts -- the damage could go even deeper.The incident underscores just how damaging an allegation against a business can be in today's media environment. One can...

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Blogging for Business

BusinessWeek made blogs the topic of its cover story this week. Its message: beyond the hype and silliness often associated with blogging, businesses had better start taking the blogosphere seriously if they want to stay competitive.How does business change when everyone is a potential publisher? A vast new stretch of the information world opens up. For now, it's a digital hinterland. The laws and norms covering fairness, advertising, and libel? They don't exist, not yet anyway. But one thing is clear: Companies over the past few centuries have gotten used to shaping their message. Now they're losing control of it.The article profiles a lot of names and blog-related ventures that are familiar to blogging veterans. Aside from being a good "blogging for dummies" piece, the article offers some...

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The Mind Readers

How close are we to what might be the ultimate disruptive technology: mind reading? Or at the very least, a souped-up lie detector? If you said "closer than we think," you read my mind...Experiments with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have demonstrated how a subject's thoughts could be "read" -- even subconscious thoughts the subject wasn't aware of having.Researchers at University College London found that, when measuring brain activity in the visual cortex, the fMRI registered sights shown to a subject that he later could not consciously recall. Scientists conducting similar research in Japan could determine exactly what part of a complex image a subject was focusing on (in their case, a plaid pattern)."This is the first basic step to reading somebody's mind," says Geraint...

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A Self-Service Backlash?

With ATMs, online shopping, voice mail, self-service gas pumps, self-service supermarket checkout lanes and check-in kiosks at airports and hotels, we interact more with machines and less with people than ever before. As a result, we do a lot more work than before... and some of us are getting fed up."We're exhausted doing all this work," says author and self-service critic Nicols Fox. "There's just so much that we have been asked to take over. I think we are reaching a breaking point here." Fox, who owns a bookstore in Maine, refuses to do business with distributors who charge more for phone orders than online orders. Fox may be in the minority, but her frustration indicates a deeper problem with our self-service society.Many aspects of today's self-service are poorly designed, causing more...

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A Robot With Social Graces

It might have a face only an engineer could love, but Nico the robot is a true social butterfly. Developed at Yale, Nico has a head, a neck, and a movable arm that gives it hand-eye coordination. More importantly, Nico can interact with those around it, recognize itself in the mirror, and even exhibit a degree of empathy. By being able to locate individuals and interpret their emotions based on their vocal intonations, Nico can help in work with children, particularly those with autism.Nico represents a step forward in creating not only artificial intelligence, but artificial emotional intelligence -- a crucial development if we expect to someday...

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Caller ID Spoofing: The Newest Consumer Threat?

Caller ID "modification" is new attempt to thwart Caller ID services. Online firms such as Telespoof claim to allow their customers to choose any number as their Caller ID. Their website claims that "Private Investigators, Skip Tracers, Law Enforcement, Collection Agencies and Lawyers" would be among those interested in their services. The services supposedly work with landlines, mobile phones and VoIP.Though Caller ID spoofing is legal in the US and UK, concern is growing that spoofing services will be abused by everyone from pranskters to con artists to predators. To that end, Caller ID spoofing has attracted the attention of consumer groups, and some spoofing services have restricted their clientele to law enforcement and private investigation services.Those who follow privacy issues...

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AMD CEO Predicts a $100 PC

In a C|Net interview, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) CEO Hector Ruiz forecasts the advent of a $100 PC by 2008:I don't think a $100 computer is out of the question in a three-year time frame. A lot of people forget that the first cell phones came out at $3,000 to $4,000 and today are free. I think there's going to be some of that same kind of movement with computing and communications devices.It's important for us to not lose sight of the segment that today doesn't have any products built for it. The trickle-down effect of desktops and laptops into that segment just doesn't work. I believe that we have an opportunity to use our x86 know-how and capability to really build products for that segment. That will be the [Personal Internet Communicator] at the beginning, and there will be more. I think,...

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Web Sites Stealing Ad Dollars from Newspapers

More bad news for newspapers. Google and Yahoo are reporting impressive gains in their advertising revenues... gains that appear to be coming at the expense of national newspaper advertising. While Yahoo reported a 50% increase in ad revenue over last year, Dow Jones' ad revenues fell nearly 11%, and The New York Times' revenues rose an anemic 0.8%.The overall percentage of advertising dollars going into newspaper advertising is slipping, while Internet and cable TV advertising is growing. One reason behind this growth in online advertising is the ability to measure click-through results and target ads to specific demographics. This way, advertisers get metrics and can direct their messages to the desired markets to save money. Newspapers, for their part, are fighting back with inserts...

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Smart Mobs Rock the Developing World

Anyone curious about the global impact of smart mobbing need go no further than the Smart Mobs blog -- a must-read for the serious futurist anyway. Lately, the phenomenon in which crowds coalesce and interact via cell phones and text messaging has taken on a decidedly international -- and revolutionary -- flavor.Anti-Japanese protests in China were fueled by e-mail, texting and cellphone conversations, long after the government banned coverage of events in the state media.The mere fact that smart mobbing exists in China is remarkable, considering how tightly the government controls the Internet and other media. Needless to say, the Chinese smart...

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Microsoft Rolls Out 64-Bit Windows

After much discussion and speculation, Microsoft this week is launching 64-bit versions of its Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP Professional operating systems. These are designed to work with hardware featuring 64-bit CPUs such as the AMD Athlon 64.While 64-bit systems might be the wave of the future for Microsoft, they won't make an impact on most desktop and laptop PC applications just yet. The first 64-bit systems will likely be used for running servers, followed by professional-grade music and graphics applications.Source: ZD...

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Doez Multitasking Mak Yoo Stoopid?

A study performed by the UK Institute of Psychiatry in conjunction with Hewlett-Packard has found that people are addicted to information -- a condition they dub "infomania" -- and that those distracted by multitasking suffer an IQ drop worse than those who smoke marijuana.Not surprisingly, the study found that 62% of those studied checked e-mail and text messages after work hours (in the US, those numbers would most likely be higher). As for the IQ drop, the study concluded that the constant distractions from answering messages had mentally corrosive effects similar to losing sleep or smoking dope.Sources: BBC, Smart M...

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The Science Place Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Cafe Scientifique is an informal, Meetup-style gathering of science- and technology-minded folks that's beginning to catch on in the UK. Groups meet in cafes, pubs and restaurants to hear scientists, technologists, writers and others talk about their work, and to ask questions. Meetings are free and open to the public.In a sense, Cafe Scientifique sounds like a throwback to the European salons of the Eighteenth Century, which served as incubators for some of the modern world's greatest scientific and political thinking. Can Cafe Scientifique live up to that standard? More fundamentally, will the concept spread beyond the UK?Source: Genius...

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Computer Consulting and Health Care with HIPAA

Does your computer consulting company have clients in health care?Are you located in the U.S.?If so, you’re probably aware that the deadline for HIPAA compliance has now passed for your health care computer consulting clients.What does that mean for your computer consulting company?According to one article on Small Business Computing, there are a lot of small health care companies that still have NOT fully complied with HIPAA.Sincere a failure to comply can have HUGE fines, this is HUGE opportunity for you to reach out to any health care providers in your area… to see if your computer consulting company can provide any last-minute, post-deadline emergency IT-related assistance.And don’t delay… because your phone call could be “just what the doctor ordered”!Joshua FeinbergComputer Consulting...

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Cellphone TV Moving Toward Standards... Can Regulation Be Far Behind?

As handheld-based television inches ever closer to the mainstream, two inevitable questions come to mind: When will the medium have its "Janet Jackson moment" with objectionable content, and when will the medium be regulated? Not if, but when?TV that's broadcast to cell phones and other mobile devices may soon get standards that will allow content creators to make all kinds of content available. Crown Castle's digital video broadcast handheld (DVB-H) and Qualcomm's forward link only (FLO) are two leading protocol candidates at this point (though one analyst believes that widespread adoption of any standard is at least four years away). The platforms may not be as permissive as the Web or RSS, but any kind of open standard is going to set some content creators up for controversy.Surely,...

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Cell Phones Hurting Watch Sales?

Yet another unintended consequence of technology: Makers of low-end wristwatches are accusing cell phone manufacturers of hurting their business. Cell phone users, they claim, are using their phones as their primary timepieces; as a result, watch sales are down. Sales of luxury watches, however, appear to be unaffected.Source: Engad...

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Killer Mailboxes!

If you've ever had your mailbox vandalized by the neighborhood punk, you know the infuriating feeling. Someone's destroyed your property, yet in most cases there's little if anything you can do about it.A Boulder, Colorado company called MailBoxer feels your pain. They offer three vandalism deterrent devices that, while they might not totally protect your mailbox, can help you achieve a sense of fighting back.The "Stinker" consists of tubes around the box that, when ruptured by a bat or other object, release "skunk oil" that will hopefully get on the perpetrator. The "Bat Grabber" uses sharp nails (hidden under plastic) to grab and hold onto a bat or stick. Perhaps the most interesting device is the "Tattler," a radio transmitter that can sense vibrations and alert the owner to activity...

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Robotic Dental Drill Eases Implant Procedures

Preparing patients for dental implants is a delicate process that currently can only be done by highly skilled, specially trained oral surgeons. Now, an Israeli firm called Tactile Technologies has developed a robotic, self-guiding drill that automates the process, ensuring pinpoint accuracy and greater comfort for the patient.The device uses a frame that's clamped to the patient's jaw. The frame helps the surgeon locate the precise spot to drill, and allows the surgeon to control the entire procedure via PC.With this device, more dentists and oral surgeons would be able to offer implant services, and subsequently lower costs.Sources: New...

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Better Late Than Never...

John Battelle of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism posted some predictions for 2005 back in December. Most involve media, blogging, search and other Internet-related topics. Nearly five months into the year, several appear to be approaching reality, and the rest aren't too far-fetch...

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RFID: Tagging Boxes Only the Beginning

Asset tracking is perhaps the most common application cited for radio frequency identification (RFID) tags... but futurist Paul Saffo says that that's just the beginning of RFID's potential."Your business is just at the point where you could bury yourself in RFID issues and that would be a horrible mistake, because you'll miss the big opportunities," Saffo said to attendees of an RFID conference. "Your business is too small to generate its own lift. The biggest impact on your business is going to come from things utterly outside of it. So pay attention to the things on the outside." Tagging packages has emerged as an early RFID application because it's relatively easy to do and has immediate return on investment. Saffo argues, though, that RFID will have a much bigger payoff down the road,...

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A Cordless Phone That's Ideal for the Elderly

As our population ages, businesses are going to have to think of innovative ways to serve them. One of these is phone maker Uniden; their model EZI996 is a 900 MHz phone that has several useful ergonomic features that would seem to be especially appealing to seniors and others who find ordinary phones difficult to use.Among other things, the EZI996 has:A red light that flashes when the phone is ringing (making it easy to find if it's off the cradle)Extra-loud volumeLarge buttons on the keypadLarge, easy-to-read type on the Caller ID displayA reasonable price ($40)One drawback to the EZI996 is its 900 MHz frequency. Generally, 900 MHz isn't as...

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Light Appliances

Italian designer Giovanni Cannata proposes a network of "light appliances" that would interact and allow owners to communicate with others. Although the thesis is theoretical and lacking in technical details, it does address an issue that we in the US often don't think about: many in Italy -- and most around the world -- don't use PCs or the Internet, and therefore need a simpler way to access the Net's communication capabilities.Source: Smart M...

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US Population Continues Moving South, West

Go west, young person! Or, go south. Either way, you'll be in good company. The US population continues its move southward and westward, according to the Census Bureau. By 2030, three states -- California, Florida and Texas -- will encompass nearly half of the nation's population growth.By 2011, Florida will surpass New York as the third most populous state; California and Texas have the first and second largest populations, respectively. Arizona and North Carolina are expected to displace Michigan and New Jersey on the top 10 list of most populous states.Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Texas and Utah (in that order) are expected to be the five fastest-growing states between now and 2030.Source: CNN....

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US Catholics to Follow Conscience, Not Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI appears to have his work cut out for him when it comes to his American flock. A new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll shows that three-quarters of US Catholics surveyed planned to follow their own conscience on tough moral issues, while only 20% planned to follow church and papal teachings unconditionally.Benedict will also need to reach out to Catholics, who have just begun to learn who he is. The poll found that 60% don't know enough about Benedict to form an opinion about him, and that despite Benedict's well-publicized conservative views, nearly half of those polled weren't sure in which direction he'd take the church. The good news for Benedict, however, is that 31% have a favorable view of him, and only 9% have an unfavorable view.Because of his age (78) and the fact that he...

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Americans Worry About What Their Kids Watch... And Not Just Sex and Violence

A new survey from the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press finds that, although Americans are worried about indecency in the media, they also have other concerns. For the most part, the survey broke down along predictable age, religious and political demographics (for instance, Democrats object to violence; Republicans object to sex). Although the survey respondents expressed concern over harmful content, large numbers also worried about excessive government restrictions on the media. The respondents overwhelmingly believed that parents should be the primary gatekeepers of what kids see and hear, and that audiences should "vote with their channel changers" to reject offensive entertainment. Respondents also expressed a high level of confidence in the content rating systems...

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Raise Your Computer Consulting Rates

You know what today is?It’s Time to Raise Your Computer Consulting RatesYour hourly computer consulting rates can make an enormous difference on your bottom line.Most computer consulting firms tend to charge WAY too little for their expertise and services.Because of the crazy gas prices and overall inflation (see Inflation Surge Is Biggest in Five Months) , now’s a great time for you to go back and reviewYour hourly billing rates for your computer consulting servicesYour minimum charges for on-site computer consulting servicesYour minimum charges for off-site phone support and remote support computer consulting servicesStop giving away your computer consulting services.And start charging the computer consulting hourly billing rates that your firm deserves AND needs to survive and thrive.Best...

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From the Information Age to the Conceptual Age

Creative, collaborative thinking in the workplace will move from the exception to the rule in the workplace of the future. And today's generation of young workers might not be prepared for it. HR expert Daniel Pink calls the new reality of business the "Conceptual Age." In it, tomorrow's organizations will have to constantly explore new ideas, and become bolder, more flexible and more visionary if they are to remain competitive. These organizations will expect their employees to be creative, ask questions and take risks. Meanwhile, Pink says, the young generation is being prepared for precisely the opposite type of environment. Their days are highly regimented, and there's less time in their busy schedules for play and exploration. And because they spend so much time on the computer,...

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Sprint Partners with Fox News Channel for Mobile Video

Sprint customers who use PCS Vision Multimedia phones will be able to receive on-demand video news clips from Fox News Channel, under an agreement announced today.Depending on the exact plan purchased, Sprint PCS customers can get the video service for between $9.99 and $25 per month. In offering video clips to mobile customers, Sprint joins Verizon, which launched its V-CAST mobile video service in January and offers, among other things, CNN video news clips.Source: C|...

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Why Young People Aren't Newspaper Readers

Media bloggers such as BuzzMachine's Jeff Jarvis are constantly reminding us that as a news medium, the newspaper is dying. Though it's been in declining health since the early 1980s, the newspaper industry is constantly having nails hammered into its coffin by more immediate information technologies.If newspapers are hoping to attract young readers to their traditional products, it may be a lost cause. Witness this excerpt from a young blogger, MasterMaq, whom BuzzMachine quotes:I hate almost everything about newspapers. I don't like the size of the paper. I don't like the way it makes everything black. I don't like that every page has to be jammed full of stuff. I don't like that the pages are not full color. I don't like that once I find something interesting, I can't do anything with it...

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Papal Smoke Cam

Want to be among the first to see the Vatican's smoke signals indicating the election (or not) of a new pope, yet aren't in Rome or don't have access to cable TV? Then watch MSNBC's smoke cam, which is trained on the all-important chimney.Most of the time it's like watching the proverbial paint dry, but if you catch it at the right moment, you'll see history in the making. Microsoft Internet Explorer and Media Player requir...

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"Disappearing" Technology

An interesting piece from The Economist, originally printed in October: The hallmark of a truly successful technology is that it simplifies and "disappears" into the environment, so that we are barely aware of it most times. The article notes that clocks, sewing machines and phonographs were originally complex high-tech devices requiring volumonous user manuals and lots of patience. It also reminds us that, in the early days of electrification, large businesses had "VPs of Electricity." Initially, the article states, technologies are hard to use because they are "created by nerds" who worry about getting the features right rather than making an elegant solution. Only later do those with an aesthetic eye approach the problems of usability. That, combined with the growth of supporting infrastructures,...

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Asteroid Thought Harmless Might Strike Earth After All

Not to scare anybody, but Asteroid 2004 MN4 may hit us after all. Scheduled to make a close flyby of Earth on April 13, 2029, some astronomers initially feared that it could come close enough to impact. Now, astronomers will need to examine its flight path when it makes that approach to determine whether it could strike Earth later on, notably during another flyby between 2035 and 2037.If the asteroid were to strike Earth, the impact would be the equivalent of detonating 1 gigaton of TNT. Or, as Slashdot puts it, "while that won't cause a massive extinction event, it causes widespread devastation." In other words, we'd survive.. but barely.Source: Slash...

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Rethinking Environmentalism

A while back, we discussed how Christian evangelicals and others who traditionally opposed environmentalism were now supporting ecological policies. Now, in another "heretical" move, some environmentalists are changing their long-held stances on a number of issues.Stewart Brand, founder of the Whole Earth Catalog, has written an article for the MIT Technology Review describing how environmentalists are revisiting -- and revising -- their positions with the changing times.Take population, for instance. In the 1960s and 1970s, people spoke of the "population explosion," an exponential increase that would suck up resources, cause pollution and do other kinds of bad things. But now, the world's population is dropping, largely because of increased urbanization, which leads to greater independence...

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McDonald's Turns 50

Quick -- name five McDonald's jingles or slogans from years past! If you can do this in under thirty seconds, you quickly gain an appreciation for the impact that the fast food chain has had on our economy and culture.This week's Friday diversion celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Golden Arches. This week in 1955, enterpreneur Ray Kroc became a franchisee of a new hamburger chain in California run by two brothers named McDonald... and the rest is history.The following are highlights of some of the key moments in McDonald's history: 1948 -- The McDonald brothers open their first restaurant in San Bernardino, California 1955 -- Ray Kroc...

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Prince Harry is No Computer Geek

Britain's Prince Harry, scheduled to begin military officer training at the elite Royal Military Academy Sandhurst next month, reportedly did poorly on a computer proficiency test administered to assess his skills. Though he is said to have passed the physical proficiency test with flying colors, he has been told to brush up on his IT before classes begin.It's not clear exactly what was included on the test, but military spokespeople are quoted as saying that it was "a lot more complex than just sending e-mails," and that "instructors were amazed that Harry failed it."Prince Harry appears to be the first royal facing this particular problem....

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DARPA Develops Life-Like Bionic Arm

DARPA, the military R&D center that brought us the Internet, is developing a life-like bionic arm that will be as close to the real thing as has ever been developed.The agency describes it as a "neurally controlled artificial limb that will restore full motor and sensory capability to upper extremity amputee patients. This revolutionary prosthesis will be controlled, feel, look and perform like the native limb."Under its "Revolutionizing Prosthetics" program, DARPA is shooting for a four-year development-to-production timeframe, in which it will have to meet Pentagon specs for a device that can allow the wearer to pick up fine objects, lift...

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Seeing the Light with LED

In our high-tech world, the backbone of our electrical lighting system -- the incandescant light bulb -- is a 19th century technology, little changed from the days of Edison. But it will soon have a contender: light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that burn cooler, last longer, are more rugged, and use less energy.LEDs have, of course, been around for years. The reason why they have never been used for lighting is because no one had figured out a way to make an LED that gave off white light. They exist now, but they remain cost-prohibitive for most applications.Prices for LED light bulbs are expected to fall, and when that happens, they'll have a ready...

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More Young People Carrying Plastic, Debt

Not long ago, credit card companies wouldn't have thought of offering cards to anyone under 21... and anyone without a full-time job at that. My first credit card, which I got my senior year in college back in the mid-'80s, had a whopping $200 credit limit! Now, however, a survey by Junior Achievement finds that 11% of teenagers -- some as young as 13 years old -- are carrying plastic.On the whole, teens manage their credit carefully, with 82% paying their bills in full every month. But that leaves 18% who carry a balance... which, if they're not careful, can snowball into major debt down the road.Financial experts worry about this trend, with many saying that young teens are too young to be given credit. Others, though, argue that if they are taught to manage credit responsibly by schools...

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Schools Save Money Through Energy Conservation

When the Olymipa School District in Washington State hired a resource conservation manager, they expected her to save the district money by looking into more efficient ways to use resources. However, they may not have counted on Britten Witzenburg to save nearly $75,000.Witzenburg has implemented a number of cost- and resource-saving initiatives, all of which are simple and relatively low-tech. One of the biggest payoff items is expected to be the installation of 365-day thermostats that the district could use to automatically lower heating or cooling of buildings on holidays or over the summer break. The thermostats were provided to the district free of charge through a local energy rebate program.At a time when school districts are facing budget cuts and are trying to pinch every penny,...

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BitTorrent-based TV

The other day we heard a suggestion that the major news media adopt BitTorrent technology to distribute their online video clips. Now, a group called Participatory Culture is launching an open source, Internet-based TV service that does just that.The group calls its initiative Desktop TV (DTV), allowing content creators to publish their video Blog Torrent, a technology that combines RSS and BitTorrent. Through Blog Torrent, viewers can download clips that interest them, and program their viewing experience TiVo-style. Participatory Culture is distributing source code now, and plans to begin broadcast service in June.Source: Smart M...

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"Asian Flu" Strain Mistakenly Released

The virus that caused the 1957 "Asian flu" pandemic was accidentally released to 3,700 labs worldwide from a lab in the US. The virus samples were included in testing kits between October 2004 and this past February.Scientists are now scrambling to find and destroy these virus samples before they possibly escape and spread. Already, some of the virus samples in Canada have already escaped, though no infections have been reported so far.There is precedent for a flu strain escaping the lab and infecting the general population (it occurred in Russia in 1977, though that strain was comparatively benign).As a result of this release, scientists are calling for a "major reassessment" of the safe handling of deadly pathogens.Source: New Scient...

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The Decline of Pure Science

At a time when our destiny is increasingly determined by science and technology, our commitment to research and development of pure science endeavors is dwindling. Today, those who control R&D funding increasingly insist that scientific research have an immediate payoff. Nothing wrong with that, but much has been learned from exploration for exploration's sake.Science writer Rick Weiss laments this sad state of affairs in the Washington Post:Crouched today in a defensive posture, we are suffering from a lack of confidence and a shriveled sense of the optimism that once urged us to reach boldly into the unknown. Equally important, we seem to have forgotten that many good things come just from being open to them, without a formed idea of what they are or how they should come out. We are...

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Do We Really Want to be "Always Connected"?

Now that being tethered to the workplace via cell phone, Blackberry and Internet has evolved from an option to an expectation, a majority of those who responded to a Silicon.com reader poll said that they prefer not to be working while "always on the move."Though the survey was unscientific, it may indicate the beginning of a backlash against the "always connected" workplace, and a desire for workers to reclaim a degree of work-life balance. While some would welcome the return to the days when the workday ended promptly at 5:00 PM, a more likely outcome is the blurring of the boundaries between work and personal life. Just as today's knowledge workers don't toil in factories, they no longer need to be bound by factory-like rules. If employers expect workers to take calls and answer e-mail...

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Playing the Market Pays for At-Risk Students

At-risk middle school students in Maryland who took a course on investing and the stock market showed stronger math and language skills, had better overall grades than their peers, and had better attendance. The "Stocks in the Future" program was developed in part by The Johns Hopkins University.Students have reacted positively to the course because it is relevant and delivers a lot of useful knowledge. "Every student understands the importance of money," says Johns Hopkins researcher Douglas MacIver. "They may never figure out why they need to know about the Magna Carta or the second law of thermodynamics or how to diagram sentences, but they immediately grasp that stock market literacy might help them make wise investments, and thus, make life-long dreams more attainable."In the class,...

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Car Buyers Prefer Buying Online

In yet another sign of the times, a survey conducted by Borrell Associates has found that car shoppers are more likely to use the Internet than newspaper classified ads to find new or used cars. Of those surveyed, 11% said they used the Web to find the car that they bought, as opposed to 9% who found their car via newspaper advertising. In response, auto-related online advertising jumped 51.5% in 2004, and is projected to grow to $2 billion by 2006.There are surely a number of factors contributing to this rise. We know how people are going online more and reading newspapers less. We also know how little people enjoy negotiating with car dealers. Even those who relish the negotiation process leverage websites such as Edmunds and Kelly Blue Book to research the lowest prices for vehicles...

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President Bush's iPod

A technology can officially be considered mainstream when the President of the United States adopts it... or at least gives it a serious try. Benjamin Harrison turned America on to electric lighting when he had it installed in the White House in 1889. The adventurous Theodore Roosevelt was the first President to fly in an airplane. JFK may have been our first "television President," but FDR was the first POTUS to appear on the tube, in 1939 for the opening ceremonies of the now-legendary New York World's Fair.Our current Chief Executive has a high-tech "first" under his belt as well. George W. Bush is reported to be an iPod fan.For someone not...

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Internet Zero

Neil Gershenfeld, director of MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms and one of the creators of MIT's Fab Lab concept, co-authored an article in 2004 for Scientific American proposing an "Internet Zero" (or Internet 0 or I0), an IP-based protocol that could network everything, from keys to light bulbs, by giving each object a unique digital identity. I0 would be an open source protocol that would use "big bits" for optimum efficiency, and asynchronous transmissions that maximize the number of devices on a single channel. I0 would also be peer-to-peer, allowing two devices to communicate without the need of a third. Recently, Gershenfeld appeared on C-SPAN's Digital Futures Series discussing I0. Will I0 be the next Internet buzz-phrase? How quickly will it catch on? Who will back it? And how...

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Mainstream Media: What's Hot? What's Not?

Chris Anderson's Long Tail blog summarizes the elements of the media that are doing well versus those that aren't. For those who follow media or Long Tail issues, there are few surprises here.Music, television, radio, newspapers, magazines and books are all on the downside... and some of the numbers are stunning. Radio listenership, for instance, is at a 27-year low, and music sales are down 21% since 1999. On the other hand, movies, video games and the Web are all on the upswing, with all continuing to set records, while Web advertising is set to break the $10 billion mark this year, reaching 5.4% of all advertising.RELATED: The number of viewers watching streaming video of events at the Vatican last week on MSNBC's website exceeded ratings for its cable network. Jeff Jarvis at BuzzMachine...

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Is DNA Profiling a Threat to Civil Liberties?

A little over a decade ago, the use of DNA in the field of criminal justice was the stuff of science fiction. Today, it's so familiar that whole TV series are built around it. Now, though, some are beginning to ask whether DNA profiling will have the unintended consequences of restricting civil liberties and fueling prejudices.Under California's Proposition 69, approved last fall, police can retain DNA profiles for anyone arrested for a crime -- regardless of whether they are charged. Similar laws exist in the UK. Says Tania Simoncelli at the American Civil Liberties Union, "If your DNA is on the database it means that you are forever an automatic suspect for any crime in the future. It undermines the principle of presumptive innocence." But it's not just principle that critics of DNA...

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Cookie Monster to Get Healthy

It may be a sign of the times, but you may view it as either a revelation or a sacrilege. Entering its 36th season, Sesame Street is about to get a health makeover... and Cookie Monster is going to learn to cool it with the chocolate chips.The new season will have a "Healthy Habits for Life" theme, with segments focusing on nutrition, exercise, and hygiene. Cookie isn't giving up his favorite snack entirely... Sesame Street producers stress that he's not going on a diet or giving up sugar entirely. But he and the rest of the gang will be eating more fruits and veggies, and reserving cookies as a "sometimes food."Source: Yahoo! (...

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Overcoming Objections for Computer Consulting

Do you ever run into sales resistance when selling your computer consulting services?Could you use some help with overcoming objections for computer consulting?If so, then don’t miss this article on Overcoming Objections.You’ll learn all about:Why Overcoming Objections is SO CrucialOvercoming Objections : ApathyUsing Network Reliability to Overcoming ObjectionsFear of Catastrophic Data Loss and Overcoming Objections Best regards,Joshua Feinb...

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Better Ways to Advertise on Mobile Devices

Ever since mobile devices first gained popularity, marketers have salivated over their potential as an advertising platform. However, the first wave of advertising models proved to be overly invasive. "Push" advertising that has been accepted for years on radio and TV becomes spam on a device as personal as a mobile phone. Now, though, marketers are rethinking how to leverage mobile devices as an advertising platform.The keys to success seem to be a) to respect the audience and recognize that they are on a personal device, and b) engage them in a way that interests and motivates them. Posting billboards with instructions to SMS a destination are an interesting experiment, as is encouraging the audience to snap pictures with their camera phones and submit them. Advertising agencies and...

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New Theory on Why the Neanderthal Went Extinct

Sometime around 40,000 years ago, the Neanderthal humanoids suddenly went extinct. Most anthropologists suspect that the new, improved humanoids, Homo sapiens, had something to do with it. But no one has ever been sure exactly how.Now, new research suggests that the Neanderthal might have fallen victim to Homo sapiens' superior ability to specialize in labor, trade and network... offering us modern folk lessons in the process. Because they interacted over wide areas in diverse ways, Homo sapiens could spread learning and develop economic efficiency. By pioneering "reciprocal obligations," those who were good at hunting could trade food for other goods and services that they might not be able to procure otherwise. Hence, the free market was born.The Neanderthal, by contrast, were apparently...

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Japanese Space Agency Shoots for the Moon

The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is proposing an ambitious plan to develop unmanned and manned vehicles to visit the moon, and a lunar base by 2025. The plan would develop a manned lunar vehicle within 10 years, double JAXA's budget to $2.6 billion, and scrap some existing initiatives.The purpose of a moon base would be to mine for minerals that are rare on earth but possibly plentiful on the moon. The base would undoubtedly make heavy use of nanotechnology and robotics.Sources: AP (Yahoo!), Spacetoday.net, Futurismic...

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Sony Files Patent for "Brain Interface"

Sony has filed a patent for a "prophetic invention" that would provide users with "sensory experiences" such as images, tastes and sounds. The devices is non-invasive, using magnets to activate specific areas of the brain. In short, the device would allow a user to "plug in" to a virtual environment; it's been compared to the cyberworld of The Matrix minus the jack in the back of the skull (not necessarily a flattering comparison, but you get the idea).If the technology proves feasible, it would offer a wealth of possibilities for everything from recreation to healthcare to education. It would also open a Pandora's box of dangers and possible...

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"Cybercabs" on the Streets of San Francisco

Most frequent taxi passengers will tell you that the era of the chatty, witty cab driver seems to be over. But long cab rides will no longer have to be boring, if a pilot project in San Francisco proves successful.This week, 200 taxis in San Francisco will be fitted with touch-screen kiosks, which will allow passengers to access the latest news, sports scores, weather, local events and restaurant listings. The back-seat devices are manufactured by The Interactive Taxi Co., with software developed by PeerDirect, a unit of Progress Software Corp. The devices connect to a wireless network through Verizon's cellular service, and can maintain the...

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Online Grocery Shopping Makes a Comeback in Cities

Online supermarkets became one of the symbols of the dotcom boom, hailed as the shopping method of the future, then fading into oblivion when the bubble burst. Now, second-generation online grocers are thriving in urban areas where good supermarkets are hard to find, and grocery shopping is awkward under the best conditions.Online grocers SimonDelivers.com, Peapod and FreshDirect are among the winners in this space. FreshDirect in particular is making its mark in New York City. The service, which delivers fresh groceries to one's door, appeals to upscale, Net-savvy consumers pressed for time, as well as anyone else who finds it difficult to get out to a supermarket. Landlords have begun using the service as an incentive for prospective tenants.According to a Zagat survey, 52% of New Yorkers...

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Congress May Extend Daylight-Saving Time

By now you have turned all your clocks forward for daylight-saving time... right? Now, as part of energy conservation legislation it is considering, Congress is looking into the possibility of extending daylight-saving time. Under the new proposal, DST would begin on the last Sunday of March and end on the last Sunday of November.By one estimate, extending DST could save as much as 10,000 barrels of oil per day by extending daylight into the evening. For more information about DST, go here.Source: CNN....

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The Media Chaos Scenario

The Carnegie Corporation has commissioned "Abandoning the News," a major report on how new technology is disrupting traditional news media (download a PowerPoint summary of the report here). To anyone who has been following the subject for any length of time, nothing in this report should be surprising. However, it does provide a solid summary of what's going on and at least one scenario of what will happen.Among the more interesting snippets from the report: The study found that Yahoo! and MSN were the most frequently cited news sources, beating out local TV news, network and cable TV websites, newspapers and cable networks. National broadcast network news was dead last. This is true among young people especially (surprise!) Among 18-to-34 year-olds, the Internet had the highest positive...

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China Faces Labor Shortage

Who'd have thought it? A country with a billion-odd people -- the world's most populous -- is experiencing labor shortages in its industrialized Guangdong and Fujian provinces. Whereas busloads of prospective workers used to trek to these regions in search of jobs, factories must now actively recruit. Workers are also leaving the cramped, squalid conditions of Guangdong. Those who are staying put are striking to assert their rights.Those studying the phenomenon believe that this is only the start of a long-term trend. "The number of people in the labor force is going to be going down for the next 15 years," says Dali Yang of the University of Chicago. "This is a shift in demographics that is really good, not just for salaries but for work conditions."A flattening population and China's...

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