According to an article from CNet, Toshiba has released the P25, a portable computer with 17" of screen and 9.1 pounds of weight. Although using basically the same screen as the Apple 17" PowerBook, the computer weighs in at 50% more weight. Basic stats are: 2.8GHz Pentium 4 …

In a move that will undoubtedly annoy users, Comcast has sent email to its customers (some weeks ago) informing them that they have until next week to begin the transition from their @attbi.com addresses to @comcast.net. Although it isn't costly for the company to maintain two domain names …

A very thorough head-to-head review of the ATI Radeon 9800 (128MB) and the NVidia FX/5900 (256MB) appears on OCAddiction.com (an overclocking site for the Windows community). Great review in terms of looking at a variety of both real-world and benchmarked performance issues. It appears that ATI is still …

In a new twist, speakeasy, a high-speed internet provider has branched out into helping its customers provide WiFi-shared internet connections. As far as I know, this is the first company to offer a service to provide the billing and back-end support (email, etc) for customers who are sharing internet via …

The National Science Foundation had a press release this week about some researchers at the University of Wisconsin (Madison) who have developed a new Hydrogen catalyst. The new catalyst (made from a combination of Tin, Nikel, and Aluminum) is considerably less expensive and as effective than the Platinum catalysts that …

The Swedish company, PrintDreams Europe AB is your hand and communicates via Bluetooth. The PrintDreams device uses RMPT (Random Movement Print Technology) to print without requiring a mechanical device to move the printer across the page. The basic idea is that you have an ink reservoir, jet, and the printer …

Alias|Wavefront, makers of the high-end 3D package, Maya, announced earlier this week that 25% of its commercial sales in North America (and 20% world-wide) are for the Mac OS X version of the software. The exact quote was: "Twenty-five percent of all commercial units of Maya are now sold …

The New York Times has reviewed preliminary versions of the Microsoft MSN Messenger product and Apple's iChat AV. The long and the short is that the two programs do similar things in very different ways with different requirements. Apple's product has focused on a high-quality solution and Microsoft's has focused …

A press release from Mirror Image announced that they have been awarded patent number 6,581,090 describing their Internet communication system. It is unclear what effect this will have on the web caching industry, but I'm sure a lot of people are reading the patent today.

In a phone conversation with my brother yesterday, he said "You guys are mean!" In particular he was describing the manner in which the technical community has a tendency to go out for blood on hypocrisy and bad policy. Although I was unwilling to completely endorse it at the time …

An article from CNet talks about a report from Forrester Research that states that the money spent on building out 802.11 for public spaces is a waste of money. While I agree that some of the organizations are exaggerating the likelihood of people paying a lot of money for …

Following up a story from earlier this week, another company is providing background music via Apple's iPod. Activaire is a New York company that runs an iPod- based music service offering content licensed directly from independent music labels. An article from Wired provides some additional perspective.

Not a whole lot of details yet, but Handspring has a new Treo in the works that is smaller, faster, and more feature-laden. Features include: PalmOS 5 Built-in Camera JavaScript-enabled web browser SD/MMC expansion slot No schedule yet on when any particular mobile carrier will be supported, but the …

In a good announcement for CDMA users, Qualcomm (inventors of CDMA cellular telephony and purveyors of many of the phones) have announced a deal with Broadcom (a chip manufacturer) which heralds the inclusion of Bluetooth features in future CDMA phones. I've been a very happy Bluetooth user for some time …

CNet is reporting that the latest Nielsen/NetRatings report on internet access claims over 40 million US internet users are now on broadband. This means about a third of the total users, with the remaining two thirds being dial-up. This is a substantial move from this time last year, when …

SCO tells IBM their license is revoked. (CNet) IBM tells SCO it isn't. (IBM Press Release) SCO amends their complaint from $1B to $3B. (CNet)

An article from CNet describes the reaction of some long-time Microsoft partners to the company's recent moves to sell direct to smaller enterprise customers. Most of the article discusses the current licensing plans and Microsoft's push to lower the entry for companies from 500 seats to 250, but it does …

My alma mater is at it again. Scientists from the UIUC's Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology have announced that they have created a "smart brick", capable of monitoring temperature, vibration and other factors while being a part of the walls. The NSF-funded project uses wireless technology to transmit …

An article from Car Audio Electronics magazine is reporting that there has been a recent agreement by auto makers in the US and Europe about the adoption of a 36-Volt system for cars. The drivers are environmental impact and the growing power needs of the automobile user (TV, VCR, cell …

An article from the New York Times (magazine) over the weekend details a plan to put windmills (130 of them 161 feet tall and spaced 1/3-1/2 mile apart) just off the coast in Nantucket Sound. Despite the potential for supplying nearly 2% of the power for New England's …