I have my heart set on the nice-but-pricey Lenovo X60 tablet, but this HP tx1000 looks interesting.
I was holding off on the big upgrade until I see what Apple announces in January, but now, I'll have to wait to see the exact price, weight and keyboard size of this HP model.
TabletPCReview has the scoop.
Google's research director, Peter Norvig, has an issue with journalists.
But my accomplishment is somewhat diluted by the fact that you also have been named Time Magazine's person of the year.
I had my debit card replaced and forgot to update my billing info with Tripod. It should be fixed by tomorrow.
A well-reasoned piece in Rolling Stone magazine -- yes, Rolling Stone -- about why Bush isn't getting credit for a recovering economy.
The economic pie is getting bigger -- how can it be true that most Americans are getting smaller slices? The answer, of course, is that a few people are getting much, much bigger slices. Although wages have stagnated since Bush took office, corporate profits have doubled. The gap between the nation's CEOs and average workers is now ten times greater than it was a generation ago. And while Bush's tax cuts shaved only a few hundred dollars off the tax bills of most Americans, they saved the richest one percent more than $44,000 on average. In fact, once all of Bush's tax cuts take effect, it is estimated that those with incomes of more than $200,000 a year -- the richest five percent of the population -- will pocket almost half of the money. Those who make less than $75,000 a year -- eighty percent of America -- will receive barely a quarter of the cuts. In the Bush era, economic inequality is on the rise.
Some would argue that economic inequality shouldn't be cause for alarm, so long as everyone's standard of living is improving. But money equals power, and most would agree that concentrated power -- whether from a communist government, fascist dictator or capitalist oligarchy -- is a bad thing.
She didn't get the dreaded call this morning, so it looks like she's safe, at least for another six months. But this business had better figure out how to make money online, and fast.
HP has been putting a a lot more emphasis on design lately, as evidenced by its soon-to-launch Vista showcase PC.
Among other features, it sports integrated FM and HDTV tuners, built-in camera and a touch-screen interface with this at-a-glance calendar and info center. It looks like it'll cost about $1,800.
Very cool. Expensive, but cool.
Engadget has the scoop.
From BusinessWeek. Interesting graphic, though a bit inaccurate in places -- "Microsoft's Xbox marked the software company's debut in producing hardware of any kind." Really, BusinessWeek? Are you sure about that?
I have a really cool book, Digital Retro, that talks about the history of personal computers and mentions several of the game consoles. Naturally, it goes into a bit more depth than BusinessWeek could with its graphic and features lots of nice, big pictures. I would love to see the author tackle the game console business in a follow-up volume.
1. I got married
Andrea and I finally tied the knot in a small family ceremony in San Francisco. With a little help from a college buddy who's now a minister, we commandeered the steps of the City Hall rotunda, so the photos make the event look much more formal and planned than it actually was. To the left is an artist's rendering of the ceremony.
About nine members from Andrea's family came to the U.S. to participate in our union, along with the Phoenix contingent of my family. Everything worked out perfectly. More wedding pictures here.
2. I got an XBox 360
You know the old saying that it takes Microsoft three tries to get something right? Well they nailed the game console the second time around. This is a really well-designed system, with lots of power and an easy-to-use interface. I've always been partial to PC gaming because of the ability to download demo games and the fact that the keyboard-and-mouse combo is the best way to play first-person shooters. The XBox's hard drive and Internet connection takes care of the first problem, and while I still long for the free-look option of the mouse, playing with a controller isn't so bad. The nice thing about consoles is the economics -- you pay $400 every few years or so for a really powerful system that guarantees games written for it will work properly. No more worrying about having to upgrade the graphics card or memory. Now, my desktop computer won't feel obsolete as quickly.
And Microsoft did a great job designing this system. Connecting and playing with friends is a snap. Now I can finally use the video-game option on my Blockbuster rental plan. And -- aside from the original Quake, which was a breakthrough is so many ways -- Gears of War is probably the best game I've ever played.
My XBox even has its own blog. No, really.
3. The job
As I mentioned here earlier, Investor's Business Daily promoted me to Assistant Technology Editor, which has handed me a ton of responsibilities. Favorite part of the job: writing headlines. Least favorite part: dealing with angry reporters who swear I've ruined their masterpiece.
4. The election
Now the the Democrats have retaken congress and restored some level of sanity back into Washington, I won't have as much to rant about. It won't be enough to undo six years' worth of damage, but at least we have some semblance of checks and balances in the federal government. Let's hope the Dems don't blow it.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Christmas cheer seems to be a hot trend this season as several other retailers including Kohl’s Corp. and Macy’s, a division of Federated Department Stores Inc., are also stepping up their Christmas marketing. The moves respond to mounting criticism from religious groups that staged boycotts against Wal-Mart and other merchants after they eliminated or de-emphasized “Christmas” in their advertising.
Because there's nothing Jesus wants more than to see his birth turned into a way for retail chains to boost shareholder returns -- during a traditional pagan holiday, no less. Cha-ching!
"This is not depicting our town the way it should be depicted,” said Lisa Arthur, who has two children in the school and one who graduated. “Our town is about art and culture, and school should be about education."
Really? This is Orange County we're talking about, right?
Source: Real ‘OC’ Starts Objecting to Its MTV Portrayal - New York Times
It's not as simple as it should be, but it's possible.
