Dowbrigade

I remember the first time I used a videophone.  It was
1963, I was 10, and we were at the Bell Telephone pavillion at the New
York World’s Fair. I remember wondering how long it would take my
old man to get one. He was not an early adopter. 40 years later, waiting
for my videophone is starting to feel remarkably like waiting for the
Red Sox to win the world series.

Who knew it was a bandwidth problem? Now, it seems, videophones are
finally ready for prime time.  On our computers, at least.  Whether
they eventually take over the hand-held market as well remains to be
seen and will probably depend on what form the eventual standard all-in-one
electronic swiss army knife takes.

I know I want mine, at a minimum, to be a phone that works everywhere,
an easy to use PDA with some kind of functional keyboard, or virtual
keyboard, or something that takes advantage of the damn keyboarding skills
I’ve taken half a lifetime to master, and my main music playback device.  Stuff
like GPS and cameras are nice extras but not necessary.

Anyway, here is an interesting article from the New York Times Technology section
on the emerging explosion in video chat.,,

"It turns out that a PC user with a high-speed Internet connection,
a cheap Webcam and some software that may already be on hand can enjoy
a reasonable approximation of the videophone experience. "

from the New York Times

Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, the 2003 US Open is inturrupted
by rain. What high-tech wizardry do they use to dry out the courts?
Embedded microwaves? Massive blow dryers? How about scores of teenagers
with towels!

Reuters
Foto/Boston Globe story

A British company, Gibbs Technologies, has made a breakthrough
in amphibeous vehicles.  According to the company, the previsous
speed record for a street-legal amphibeous car was 6 knots in the water;
the The Gibbs Aquada Bond Series will do 100 mph on land and 30 knots
in the water, for about $250,000.

from
Ananova

In an important confirmation of a principle that web designers have
been pitching for years, a study at the University of Washington shows
that advertisers that offer visitors interactive demonstrations on their
web sites record 2 to 5 times higher sales than at sites which offer
only static presentation of information.

"Virtual product demonstrations that allow individuals to interact
with merchandise create more vivid mental images of the consumer using
the products, thereby increasing the likelihood they’ll purchase the
item," said Ann Schlosser, UW Business School assistant professor
of marketing.

"We’ve found that the more easily individuals can envision themselves
using a product, the more likely they are to buy it."

Schlosser studied how consumers’ buying intentions are influenced and
affected by their participation in virtual-reality product demonstrations.
She found that when users could manipulate products in the virtual world,
their likelihood of making a purchase was much higher than when they
received this information in a read-only, video or storyboard format.

from the Eureka Alert – University of Washington

Rockie Graham, left, and Dave Hart share a laugh moments
before taking their wedding vows Monday, Sept. 1, 2003, at the Tri-Town
Transfer station, a local dump, in Bethel, Maine. Last month the two
decided to get married at the transfer station where Hart is the station
manager and Graham is a part-time employee. (Ap Photo)

from
AP news

For example: Al Franken, Tom Daschle, Jimmy Carter, Rosie
O’Donnell, gay people who talk about their sexual orientation, atheist
Scouts, peaceniks, both parties….

Some samples from an amusing
piece in Slate:

Two-for-One Bank Shot
"Already the two parties are blaming each other [about the power
blackout]. And I have two words for them "shut up."

On Location at the Los Angeles Book Fair
[To Al Franken]: "Hey, shut up! You had your 35 minutes! Shut up!"

Where O’Reilly Learned To Say "Shut Up"
"My father didn’t tell me anything. My father just said: ‘Shut up. Eat
your food. There are people starving in Korea,’

No-First-Amendment Zone
"All of these spin-meisters on both sides should just shut up until
all the [Florida] votes are counted."

O’Reilly Delegates Authority to Sen. Evan Bayh
"If you see [Sen. Tom Daschle] for me, senator, tell him to shut
up. For me. You can be nice."

To Our Brothers and Sisters in the Great White North
"
Canada shouldn’t have any say [about the Guantanamo prisoners] at all.
I mean, just shut up about it."

Military Immunity
"
I would never tell a general to shut up under any circumstances."