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Want to test your digital television in Hawaii?

If you have a television in the state of Hawaii, and you want to see if your set is ready for digital television, tune into KGMB during its Monday 19 May 2008 newscasts at 5, 6 and 10 pm. The station will do a 10-second switchover to its DTV signal, simulating ...

Outsource your projects online

Need some more time at the office? Perhaps you've got a project that needs several hours of tedious work. You could hire an assistant or a temp to come in and handle these tasks, but if that's not an option in these economically challenging times, try virtual outsourcing some of ...

Crazy ants run amuck in Texas, ruining computers

First, the good news: crazy rasberry ants are smaller than fleas, but they will eat fire ants. I hate fire ants, and I don't miss them at all. Now here's the bad news: these ants also eat plants, and they like to get into electronic equipment, including network cable and hard ...

Don’t check cameras in your baggage

As I mentioned in my billso.com article from 2 May 2008, if you are carrying high value items on your airline journey, do not check them with your baggage. Carry the items with you on the airplane. Matt Mullenweg, the man behind WordPress, learned this lesson the hard way last week ...

Download that movie, lose your home

County politicians in Los Angeles have passed legislation championed by the RIAA and MPAA that lets authorities confiscate property from anyone convicted of IP theft or piracy. See Wired for more information. The RIAA uses automated methods for collecting information fom LimeWire and other peer-to-peer programs. Data including the IP address ...

Spring 2008 IS 7010 final grades are available

I've finished grading my IS 7010 course for Spring 2008. Grades are available in the TurnItIn.com gradebook.

Google makes more investments in alternative energy

Google has invested US$10 million in BrightSource as part of the Internet firms's RE>C initiative. According to news.com and ValleyWag, BrightSource builds solar thermal facilities and sells the generated electricity to commercial customers and electricity. The generation system is cost-effective during peak periods of the day. Google's data center use large ...

Spring 2008 IS 6100 final grades are available

I've posted the final grades for my Spring 2008 IS 6100 online students. The marks can be viewed in the TurnItIn.com gradebook.

Sprint announces another quarterly loss

From the New York Times: Spring announced another quarterly loss today of 18 cents a share or US$505 million. The news is bad, as it looks like the mobile telecom is losing some of its biggest customers: In the first quarter, the company lost 1.1 million subscribers; the total number dropped ...

Carl Icahn may start a proxy fight for Yahoo

From Reuters and today's New York Times: financier Carl Icahn may start a proxy fight to force Yahoo into Microsoft's arms. Related posts on billso.com 5 May 2008: Microsoft gives up on Yahoo - for now 30 April 2008: Microsoft-Yahoo deal possible in the next few days 18 April 2008: Antitrust regulators would fight ...

Hotel deals in Honolulu and Hawaii

There are some great hotel deals available if you're interested in visiting the state of Hawaii this summer. Check this article in Go Visit Hawaii for some details. Airfares are still high, and visitors should avoid the unlicensed condos and apartments that are advertised on the Internet. They don't pay ...

JanRain launches CallVerifID multifactor phone service for OpenID

The mobile phone is an excellent device for two-factor authentication. Most Internet users already have a mobile phone. A user might not notice that they've lost a dongle. security token or smartcard. That's one reason adoption has been difficult for multifactor authentication schemes. JanRain announced on 9 May 2008 that it ...

Software and services - free or paid?

There are plenty of great free software applications and services available on the Web. In some cases, payment removes advertising and enables more features. Some require a subscription or a one-time payment.Sometimes the payment is merely a donation to a one-man operation that wrote the code. Here's a few quick lists of ...

Qtrax makes a free music download deal with Universal

Universal Music Group has announced its deal with Qtrax for free music downloads. See these reports from the Associated Press and Engadget. UMG is the first of the major recording labels to reach such an accord. Back on 27 January 2008, I published a billso.com story about the Qtrax free music ...

Why use OpenID?

I recently implemented OpenID on billso.com. OpenID is a single sign-on (SSO) system that lets web users log on to multiple sites with the same username and password. SSO support is becoming a key success factor for social networking and social media web sites, as new users struggle to manage ...

Microsoft’s $60 Office 2007 deal for college students

It's pretty easy to get a legal copy of Microsoft Office 2007 Ultimate Edition for Windows, but you have to act before 16 May 2008. Go to this web site, enter your .edu email address, and be prepared to send a copy or scan of your university student ID card. This ...

Spygate, the NFL and regulation

From the Associated Press via Sports Illustrated and Forbes: National Football League commissioner Roger Goddell has announced that the league will enact and enforce tougher regulations regarding technology and spying for the 2008 season. The NFL has allowed radios for offensive play-calling since 1994, but mobile computer and video ...

Grading my final exams

I've been grading the last batch of papers and final exams for my online students this week. Some of my blog posts are shorter than usual, but I have been posting some long articles that I had finished a few weeks ago. I'll return to my usual long posts next week. Grading ...

Google bets big on Sprint and Clearwire’s WiMAX joint venture

Google is teaming up with Clearwire, Sprint, Time Warner Cable, Comcast and Intel to build a national WiMAX network. See the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Branding Post for more details. The new joint venture will retain the Clearwire brand name and Clearwire's existing consumer WiMAX business. Sprint contributes ...

IDG shifts from print to digital

IDG, the publisher of InfoWorld, ComputerWorld, MacWorld and other technology magazines has been shifting away from paper to online editions. This New York Times article mentions that the transition has generated more revenue than the company expected: Today, I.D.G. says, the InfoWorld Web site is generating ad revenue of $1.6 million ...