Monthly Archives: May 2006

Blogroll Dive: 5/29/06

Posted on by
Reply

Here are the highlights from today’s Blogroll dive:

  • Michael Heilemann announced that the “Final Cut” of Blade Runner may be released on DVD in 2007.
  • Khaled discussed the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo’s move towards simplified gameplay.
  • Rick discovered a tutorial that shows “how to easily hack a $9 refill from a $200 Monte Blanc pen into a $2 Pilot G-2.”
  • Michael Hampton reported on the use of the State Secrets Privilege to dismiss two NSA lawsuits.
  • Angsuman reported on the settlement of Sony’s Rootkit lawsuit.
  • Mark discussed immigration and the pressure caused by the combination of strict border enforcement and strict legal immigration procedures.
  • And, Tom announced the birth of Enrique Raftery Carnicero.

CMP Media LLC Attacks IT@Cork Over Web 2.0 Trademark

Posted on by
Reply

Not too long after the birth of Enrique Raftery Carnicero, Tom Raftery (and the rest of his fellow IT@Cork committee members) received a cease and desist order from CMP Media LLC suggesting that the title of the upcoming IT@Cork Conference, the Web 2.0 Half-Day Conference, was in “flagrant violation” of their “Web 2.0″ trademark. The following is an excerpt from an article that I published on MacMerc.com earlier today:

IT@Cork, a non-profit organization based in Cork, Ireland, will be presenting a Web 2.0 Half Day Conference on June 8th, 2006. According to CMP, IT@Cork’s usage of “Web 2.0″ in their conference’s title “directly violates [CMP's] exclusive rights” and “can only be viewed as a deliberate attempt to trade off the good will of CMP and cause confusion in the market.”

After a small exchange of communications, IT@Cork was allowed to keep “Web 2.0″ in the title of the upcoming Web 2.0 Half-Day Conference, but has been forbidden to use “Web 2.0″ in all future conference titles.

If this issue concerns you, please help to increase its exposure by voicing your opinion wherever possible, including your own blog and the comments of other related blog posts, and by voting for this Newsvine seed to increase its level of importance in Newsvine’s technology column.

Favored Freeware: Cashbox

Posted on by
1

Cashbox was designed from day one to be a quick and simple to use application for managing personal finances. As it has evolved, it has become more feature packed while keeping with the original goal of simplicity.

Pros: Cashbox is a free and easy-to-use alternative to most financial management applications.

Cons: None significant.

Blogroll Dive: 5/22/06

Posted on by
Reply

Here are the highlights from today’s Blogroll dive:

  • Bryan published a brief tutorial on how to add a custom header image to your WordPress.com blog.
  • Michael Heilemann discussed “The Shuttle That Wasn’t”.
  • Khaled reviewed Blog Design Solutions.
  • Michael Hampton ruminated on the U.S. government’s progressive shift towards “less privacy and more government intrusion into the personal lives of their citizen-subjects.”
  • Angsuman launched “an online cross-reference of WordPress’ source code” with support for user-contributed annotations and comments.
  • Mark ruminated on “Trading Freedom for Safety”.
  • And, Tom published a brief tutorial on “automating the backup of your [WordPress] blog”.

Favored Freeware: iStat nano

Posted on by
Reply

[iStat nano is a Dashboard widget which allows you to] view detailed information on CPU usage, memory usage, hard drive usage, bandwidth usage, CPU temperature, battery usage, system uptime, and the top four active processes.

Pros: iStat nano offers almost everything that iStat pro does, but presents it in a smaller and more convenient interface.

Cons: iStat nano does not offer any fan speed statistics. For fan speed statistics, try iStat pro.

Apple Releases the MacBook

Posted on by
Reply

Apple has released the new MacBook, Apple’s Intel-based successor to the iBook line. According to MacMerc:

Apple today unveiled the MacBook, a consumer notebook featuring the Intel Core Duo processor and a new 13-inch glossy widescreen display. With speeds up to five times faster than the iBook and up to four times faster than the 12-inch PowerBook, the new MacBook completes Apple’s Intel-based portables lineup and replaces both the iBook and the 12-inch PowerBook.

The MacBook is a quarter of an inch thinner than the former iBook G4 and features a display which is “79% brighter with 30% more viewing area,” a built-in iSight camera, Front Row and the Apple Remote, and a MagSafe Power Adapter, which “is designed to magnetically guide your cord into place and disconnect smoothly if someone trips over it.” Like the iPod, the MacBook is available in either black or white.

Blogroll Dive: 5/15/06

Posted on by
2

Here are the highlights from today’s Blogroll dive:

  • Bryan discussed the NSA’s recent collection of domestic phone call records.
  • Bonnie discovered a simple, artistic, and addictive adventure game.
  • Michael Heilemann discovered a collection of NASA space colony concept art.
  • Khaled announced the launch of the Shuttle project and its acceptance as the future of the WordPress administration panel.
  • Jon reported on the new products and services launched by Google during Google Press Day 2006.
  • Michael Hampton moved Homeland Stupidity to a new domain.
  • Sarah discovered information on the most expensive violin, “recently valued at $10 million.”
  • Angsuman published a list of the “top 10 missing Java features”.
  • And, Tom published a “brief blog search engine review”.