An article from the International Herald Tribune advocates using those frequent flier miles before they become even more difficult to use. Although I don't entirely agree, I will concur with his assessment that the best way to spend them is on premium-class international flights. They're where you'll get your best …

While Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code has been busy selling 25 million copies in 44 countries, the Vatican has been pretty quiet about it... until now. According to an article from the International Herald Tribune, officials at the Vatican, including one possible successor to the Pope, are now speaking …

According to an article from ExtremeTech, SATA-IO, the organization that runs the Serial ATA specification, has announced extensions to allow for 2m and 8m cable lengths as well as locking connectors for use on external devices.

AOL, the world's largest ISP and foremost purveyor of instant messaging, has made a change to their Terms of Service to "clarify certain things and explain it a little better to our users" about their privacy rules for AOL, according to a report from eWeek. The whole issue comes about …

Well, somebody at Google like Apple's OS X. Check out Google X, a google home page with icons that magnify.

In 2003, I applied for a patent for a relatively interesting use of RFID in vehicle parts management. Said patent application has been making its way through the process and is now a published application. At this point, the patent is available for review and comment before it finally gets …

Money magazine has an article describing a new law passed in Ohio that may require residents of that state to become licensed auctioneers ($200 license fee, 1 year apprenticeship, $50,000 bond) to sell items through online auctions. The law was intended to regulate auctioneers in Ohio to prevent them …

In another interesting approach to fighting recent software (and hardware, for that matter) patents, one CNet reader has written in to extoll the virtues of the Star Trek Defense. Although less likely to win you the case than to gain some laughter (and perhaps sympathy) from the jury, the approach …

An article from WebMD announces the extension of 2003 average life expectancy in the US to 78.6 years, up from 78.3 in 2002. Women still live longer than men (over 80 years now.... see our recent article about Eartha Kitt) and there are continuing ethnic and racial components …

Wired had an interesting article about the difficulties in dealing with program licensing when the music industry is involved. Anyone who was alive and watching TV in the US in the late 1970's and early 1980's will remember WKRP in Cincinnati, a campy sitcom about a small-time radio station in …

This weekend, Carol & I had the pleasure of seeing Eartha Kitt perform at Blues Alley in Washington, DC. When she began the night, along with some racy cabaret-style songs, she also reminded us that she was now 78 years old. But, that was the last anyone thought about her age …

I'm not a big fan of show trials, like the Michael Jackson trial that just got underway in CA, but stories about the jury system are more interesting to me. Here's a narrative from groklaw by a member who was also a potential juror for the Jackson trial. Of particular …

Halle Berry this past weekend became only one of a handful of stars to show up in person to accept her Razzie award for last year's flop Cat Woman. According to an article from Yahoo! (originally from the AP), she showed up to claim her anti-prize because her mother taught …

The article in the Post Gazette (of Pennsylvania, John Gilmore's home state) provides a pretty good overview of Mr. Gilmore's basic background and privacy concerns. Ignoring for the moment the somewhat aberrant UNIX commentary, it does a nice job of explaining Gilmore's concerns and the EFF's position on privacy and …

Have you ever reinstalled your laptop or desktop machine because Windows just isn't happy with the world and you think it would be better to get a fresh start? Well, if you need to do that and don't want to wait in a hold-queue forever, you probably should take care …

This might have been better posted to the HAM forum, but it has some amusing cross-over appeal. A plea for help on MacFixIt about a Macintosh that turned off whenever an ICOM two-way radio was keyed elicited a knowledgeable response (same page) that indicated that the problem was actually the …

Here's a great use of low tech: according to an article from the Boston Globe, MassHighway (the state highway department in Mass.) is using large curtains to keep people from seeing the results of accidents, thus keeping traffic moving.

An article from CNet claims that Cablevision has exceeded 270,000 VOIP customers on its cable network. Meanwhile, Time Warner (another cable provider) has announced that they are going after the business VOIP market by providing lines to customers with their own PBXs.

Well, you know the "nannycam", which is aimed at stopping abuse of children by babysitters through having their actions watched via video (and sometimes even the net). What's good for the young is apparently good for the old, or so think some lawmakers in Arkansas. According to reports from the …

An interesting interview this morning with Bruce Chizen, CEO of Adobe on CNet goes into some of Adobe's strategy for staying profitable and relevant. Unlike some large computer software manufacturers, they are focused on growth through innovation and quality, and it's hard to argue with their success. In the interview …