Here's The Video
Then, here's an interesting corollary to the story.
Here's the Update to the story... On toward the Supreme Court.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
October Surprise: Well, Obama?
Here's The Video
Then, here's an interesting corollary to the story.
Here's the Update to the story... On toward the Supreme Court.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
No more Drunken Emails!
Google tool to keep emails sober |
Google has adapted its free email service to help those letting loose after a few evening cocktails or succumbing to lovelorn moments from firing off messages they might regret in the morning. Mail Goggles software comes to life after dark and on weekends, when altered states of mind are more probable, and requires that five simple math problems be answered correctly in less than a minute in order to send a Gmail missive. "Sometimes I send messages I shouldn't send," Gmail engineer Jon Perlow wrote Monday in a website posting announcing the optional new feature. "Like the time I told that girl I had a crush on her over text message. Or the time I sent that late night email to my ex-girlfriend that we should get back together." Gmail users can adjust their email settings to activate the Goggles feature and dictate the times it is active. "It will check that you're really sure you want to send that late night Friday email," Perlow wrote. "And what better way to check than by making you solve a few simple math problems after you click send to verify you're in the right state of mind?" Copyright AFP 2008, AFP stories and photos shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium |
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Tools You Can Use
Search Features
Google Home
About Google
Web Search
Help Center
Basics of Search
Advanced Search
Search Results Page
Setting Preferences
Search Features
Spell checker, stock quotes & more
About Google
Web Search
Help Center
Basics of Search
Advanced Search
Search Results Page
Setting Preferences
Search Features
Spell checker, stock quotes & more
Services & Tools
Local Search, Product Search, News & more
Improve Your Search Experience
In addition to providing easy access to billions of web pages, Google has many special features to help you to find exactly what you're looking for. Some of our most popular features are listed below.
Everyday Essentials
Weather
To see the weather for many U.S. and worldwide cities, type "weather" followed by the city and state, U.S. zip code, or city and country.
Stock Quotes
To see current market data for a given company or fund, type the ticker symbol into the search box. On the results page, you can click the link to see more data from Google Finance.
Time
To see the time in many cities around the world, type in "time" and the name of the city.
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Reference Tools
Calculator
To use Google's built-in calculator function, simply enter the calculation you'd like done into the search box.
Book Search
If you're looking for results from Google Book Search, you can enter the name of the author or book title into the search box and we'll return any book content we have as part of your normal web results. You can click through on the record to view more detailed info about that author or title.
Unit Conversion
You can use Google to convert between many different units of measurement of height, weight, and mass among others. Just enter your desired conversion into the search box and we'll do the rest.
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Choosing Keywords
Synonym Search
If you want to search not only for your search term but also for its synonyms, place the tilde sign (~) immediately in front of your search term.
Dictionary Definitions
To see a definition for a word or phrase, simply type the word "define" then a space, then the word(s) you want defined. To see a list of different definitions from various online sources, you can type "define:" followed by a word or phrase. Note that the results will define the entire phrase.
Spell Checker
Google's spell checking software automatically checks whether your query uses the most common spelling of a given word. If it thinks you're likely to generate better results with an alternative spelling, it will ask "Did you mean: (more common spelling)?". Click the suggested spelling to launch a Google search for that term.
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Local Search
Local Search
If you're looking for a store, restaurant, or other local business you can search for the category of business and the location and we'll return results right on the page, along with a map, reviews, and contact information.
Movie Showtimes
To find reviews and showtimes for movies playing near you, type "movies" or the name of a current film into the Google search box. If you've already saved your location on a previous search, the top search result will display showtimes for nearby theaters for the movie you've chosen.
Real Estate and Housing
To see home listings in a given area type "housing", "home", or "real estate" and the name of a city or a U.S. zip code into the Google search box and hit the Enter key or click the Google Search button. Clicking the "Go" button on the results page will display details of individual homes that Google has indexed.
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Trip Planning
Airline Travel Info
To see flight status for arriving and departing U.S. flights, type in the name of the airline and the flight number into the search box. You can also see delays at a specific airport by typing in the name of the city or three-letter airport code followed by the word "airport".
Currency Conversion
To use our built-in currency converter, simply enter the conversion you'd like done into the Google search box and we'll provide your answer directly on the results page.
Maps
Looking for a map? Type in the name or U.S. zip code of a location and the word "map" and we'll return a map of that location. Clicking on the map will take you to a larger version on Google Maps.
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Query Refinements
Plus (+) Operator
Google ignores common words and characters such as where, the, how, and other digits and letters that slow down your search without improving the results. If a common word is essential to getting the results you want, you can make sure we pay attention to it by putting a "+" sign in front of it.
Related Search
To search for web pages that have similar content to a given site, type "related:" followed by the website address into the Google search box.
Fill in the Blank
Sometimes the best way to ask a question is to get Google to 'fill in the blank' by adding an asterisk (*) at the part of the sentence or question that you want finished into the Google search box.
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Search by Number
Package Tracking
You can track packages by typing the tracking number for your UPS, Fedex or USPS package directly into the search box. We'll return results that include quick links to easily track the status of your shipment.
Patent Numbers
To search for U.S. patents, enter the word "patent" followed by the patent number into the Google search box and hit the Enter key or click the Google Search button.
Area Code
To see the geographical location for any U.S. telephone area code, just type the three-digit area code into the Google search box and hit the Enter key or click the Google Search button.
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Vote Democrat (Tee Hee He)
Please, Please, Please... Watch this Video.
But be forewarned, you may need tissue by the time it's done!
Friday, October 3, 2008
Nokia Brings Out iPhone 3G Competitor
| Nokia Brings Out iPhone 3G Competitor |
The company's first touch-screen phone has GPS, Wi-Fi, a 3.2-megapixel camera, expandable memory, and robust multimedia functions.
By Marin Perez, InformationWeek
Oct. 2, 2008
URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210605367
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Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Smartphone (click for larger image) | |
|
The 5800 has a 3.2-inch resistive touch screen, and it's powered by Symbian S60, fifth edition. The user interface will be somewhat familiar to Symbian users, but the company has tweaked the UI for touch control.
"By adding the benefits of touch-screen technology to S60, the world's leading smartphone interface, Nokia is taking the familiar and giving it a human touch," Nokia VP Jo Harlow said in a statement. "We have used touch technology where it really adds value such as the contacts bar, media bar, and clever shortcuts from the home screen to menu items such as calendar, profiles, and clock."
With a 640-by-360-pixel display, the 5800 can play multiple types of video at a high resolution. Nokia is also emphasizing the handset's audio abilities, and there will be a built-in music player capable of multiple codecs. The handset will come with an 8-GB microSD card for storing this media, and the memory can be expanded up to 16 GB.
Nokia's first touch-screen handset also has a bevy of connectivity options with built-in Wi-Fi and 3G capabilities. These can be used to browse the Internet as well as check e-mail. The 5800 also will have Bluetooth version 2.0, GPS, and a proximity sensor to save battery life and avoid inadvertent touches.
The handset measures in at 4.3 by 2 by 0.6 inches, and it weighs about 3.8 ounces. Nokia said the handset will be available in Europe in the fourth quarter, and it will roll out to other markets in early 2009. The company said a version with its unlimited music download service, Comes With Music, will be available early next year.
Nokia's has much ground to make up in the touch-screen market, as the field is filled with entries from virtually every major phone manufacturer. InformationWeek writer Eric Zeman spent some time with the new handset, and you can read his thoughts here
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Scary "Bailout": 32 Words That None Dare Utter
Thirty-Two Words That None Dare Utter
A critical - and radical - component of the bailout package proposed by the Bush administration has thus far failed to garner the serious attention of anyone in the press. Section 8 (which ironically reminds one of the popular name of the portion of the 1937 Housing Act that paved the way for subsidized affordable housing ) of this legislation is just a single sentence of thirty-two words, but it represents a significant consolidation of power and an abdication of oversight authority that's so flat-out astounding that it ought to set one's hair on fire. It reads, in its entirety:
Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency. <bold added for emphasis>
In short, the so-called "mother of all bailouts," which will transfer $700 billion taxpayer dollars to purchase the distressed assets of several failed financial institutions, will be conducted in a manner unchallengeable by courts and ungovernable by the People's duly sworn representatives. All decision-making power will be consolidated into the Executive Branch - who, we remind you, will have the incentive to act upon this privilege as quickly as possible, before they leave office. The measure will run up the budget deficit by a significant amount, with no guarantee of recouping the outlay, and no fundamental means of holding those who fail to do so accountable.
Is this starting to sound familiar? Robert Kuttner cuts through much of the gloss in an article in today's American Prospect:
The deal proposed by Paulson is nothing short of outrageous. It includes no oversight of his own closed-door operations. It merely gives congressional blessing and funding to what he has already been doing, ad hoc. He plans to retain Wall Street firms as advisors to decide just how to cut deals to value and mop up Wall Street's dubious paper. Thereare to be no limits on executive compensation for the firms that get relief, and no equity share for the government in exchange for this massive infusion of capital. Both Obama and McCain have opposed the provision denying any judicial review of decisions made by Paulson -- a provision that evokes the Bush administration's suspension of normal constitutional safeguards in its conduct of foreign policy and national security. [...]
The differences between this proposed bailout and the three closest historical equivalents are immense. When the Reconstruction Finance Corporation of the 1930s pumped a total of $35 billion into U.S. corporations and financial institutions, there was close government supervision and quid pro quos at every step of the way. Much of the time, the RFC became a preferred shareholder, and often appointed board members. The Home Owners Loan Corporation, which eventually refinanced one in five mortgage loans, did not operate to bail out banks but to save homeowners. And the Resolution Trust Corporation of the 1980s, created to mop up the damage of the first speculative mortgage meltdown, the S&L collapse, did not pump in money to rescue bad investments; it sorted out good assets from bad after the fact, and made sure to purge bad executives as well as bad loans. And all three of these historic cases of public recapitalization were done without suspending judicial review.
Kuttner's opposition here is perhaps the strongest language I've seen used, pushing back on this piece of legislation, in any publication of repute, and even here, Section 8 is not cited by name or by content. McClatchy Newspapers also alludes to Section 8 with concern, citing the "unfettered authority" that Paulson would be granted, and noting that the "law also would preclude court review of steps Paulson might take, something Joshua Rosner, managing director of economic researcher Graham Fisher & Co. in New York, said could be used to mask previous illegal activity." Jack Balkin also gives the matter the sort of attention it deserves on his blog, Balkinization.
But elsewhere, the conversation is muted. The debate over whether Congress is going to pass the Paulson bailout package, or pass the Paulson bailout package really hard seems to have boiled down to a discussion of time and concessions. The White House has made it clear that they want this package passed yesterday. Congressional Democrats seem to be of different minds on the matter, with some pushing back hard, and others content to demand a small dollop of turd polish to make the package seem more aesthetically pleasing, at which point, they'll likely roll over and pass the bill. Neither candidate, John McCain or Barack Obama, seem all that amenable toward the bailout, but neither have either demonstrated that they are willing to risk their candidacies to do much more than exploit the issue for electoral purposes.
Sunday morning came and went, with Paulson traipsing dutifully from studio to studio, facing nary a question on Section 8. Front page articles in the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal detail the wranglings, but make no mention of this section of the legislation. On TV, cable news networks are stuck in the fog of the ongoing presidential campaign.
Throughout the coverage, one catches a whiff of what seems like substantive pushback on this power grab, but it largely amounts to a facsimile of journalistic diligence. Most note, in general terms, that the bailout represents a set of "broad powers" that will be granted to the Department of the Treasury. Yet the coverage offsets these concerns through the constant hyping of the White House's overall message of "urgency."
But one cannot overstate this: Section 8 is a singularly transformative sentence of economic policy. It transfers a significant amount of power to the Executive Branch, while walling off any avenue for oversight, and offering no guarantees in return. And if the Democrats end up content with winning a few slight concessions, they risk not putting a stop-payment on the real "blank check" - the one in which they allow the erosion of their own powers.
Over in the Senate, Christopher Dodd has proposed a bailout legislation of his own, which critically calls for "an oversight board that not only includes the chairman of the Federal Reserve and the SEC, but congressionally appointed, non-governmental officials" and would require the President to appoint an "independent inspector general to investigate the Treasury asset program." In Dodd's legislation, Section 8 is effectively stripped from the bill.
Nevertheless, the fact that Section 8 of the Paulson plan seems to strike few as a de facto dealbreaker can and should astound. The failure of Congress to hold the line on this point would be truly embarrassing. But if we make it through this week with nobody in the press specifically informing the public about the implications of this single sentence - in the middle of a complicated bill, in the middle of a complicated time - then right there, you have the single largest media failure of this year.
A critical - and radical - component of the bailout package proposed by the Bush administration has thus far failed to garner the serious attention of anyone in the press.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
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