Category: Business

Head of PC Mag Dumps on Vista

Passing the Torch – Columns by PC Magazine
After five years at Ziff Davis Media and nearly 16 years in editorial content—the last two at the helm of this terrific magazine—I’ve decided to try something new. I’ve jumped over to become CEO of Revision3, the leading Internet television network focused on developing programming for the on-demand generation.

Maybe it was something in the water? I’ve been a big proponent of the new OS over the past few months, even going so far as loading it onto most of my computers and spending hours tweaking and optimizing it. So why, nine months after launch, am I so frustrated? The litany of what doesn’t work and what still frustrates me stretches on endlessly

Free Net Phone Calls?

Get Your Free Net Phone Calls Here – New York Times
The price of home phone service has dropped 30 percent since 1999. Surely, say the analysts, that trend line will eventually plummet all the way to zero. Surely, thanks to the Internet’s ability to carry your voice, landline phone calls will soon be free.

Of all of these approaches to free Internet calling, T-Mobile, Jajah and Ooma come the closest to delivering the holy grail: free calling, to any phone number, from regular phones. Even they are not entirely without drawbacks — but they’re certainly enough to keep phone company executives awake at night.

C.E.O. Libraries Reveal Keys to Success

C.E.O. Libraries Reveal Keys to Success – New York Times
Serious leaders who are serious readers build personal libraries dedicated to how to think, not how to compete. Forget finding the business best-seller list in these libraries.

Perhaps that is why — more than their sex lives or bank accounts — chief executives keep their libraries private.

Ethanol kills the Gulf of Mexico

Gulf Of Mexico Dead Zone Could Reach Record Size
The dead zone of lifeless water in the Gulf of Mexico could exceed the largest size ever recorded, in 27 years of monitoring, a team of federal and university scientists said today.

At 8,500 square miles — roughly the size of New Jersey — it has the potential to be more than 75% larger than the 4,800-square mile average recorded since 1990, and more than 25 % bigger than last year’s 6,662-square mile zone. Thanks to Natalia for this. Continue reading “Ethanol kills the Gulf of Mexico”

Japan’s lonely hearts turn to dolls for sex, company

Japan’s lonely hearts turn to dolls for sex, company | U.S. | Reuters
The man, who says he has had sex with five women but prefers the dolls, is one of a gradually increasing, though secretive, group of Japanese men who have given up on women.

A Japanese maker said it started producing its life-sized and anatomically correct dolls 30 years ago, targeting initially handicapped men who might find it difficult to find a partner.

Orient Industry Co. now makes 80 dolls a month in an eastern Tokyo factory to nine designs that sell for between $850 and $5,500 each. The more expensive models are made of silicon and have 35 movable joints. More pictures at under-lined story link at top.

IEA sees oil supply crunch looming

reportonbusiness.com: IEA sees oil supply crunch looming
Carlton Palmer writes about this link he sent us: Well it’s official now The wests own energy Think tank created in the wake of the the Saudi/Iran oil shocks of the 70-early 80’s is warning of whats has been known for awhile.

In late June Jim Buckee retiring Ceo of Tailsman Energy at the Canadian Assoc. of Petro Producers annual confab. hand drew some graphs of the decling production of the Super Elephant mother of all oil fields in the World that would be Saudi’s Ghalwar and despite “Parabolic” investment in all the best super straw oil recovery technology the Halliburtons and Shlumberger have on offer, nothing is steming the decline.He showed this to a small group of longtime friends and analyts off the record. Sooooooo don’t count on the Sunni Saudi.s to be the big swinging dick producer of last resort making up for shortfalls as it has historicaly done.
Not anymore! Click the link above for the IEA take. And they don,t want to alarm the markets or the masses. Translation they are being conservative,Oh and have a Great Day!

Global oil companies will reap the windfall from growing demand and constrained supply for years to come – and consumers should expect higher fuel prices for the foreseeable future, the International Energy Agency says in a report released Monday.

In its medium-term outlook, the agency warns that higher crude prices over the last several years have failed to trigger the typical market response of slowing demand and additional supplies.

Instead, while demand growth has slowed in the developed world, booming economies in Asia and Middle East have taken up the slack. The emerging economies and developing world will soon account for nearly half the crude oil demand in the world, according to the IEA, which is the energy monitoring arm of the developed world.

At the same time, the agency is forecasting only modest growth in crude oil supplies, as the producers struggle to offset declines from existing fields.

Free VoIP Phone List

My VoIP Provider – VoIP Services – – Free VoIP Phone Service
We have identified 13 VoIP providers offering free VoIP services to a few selected countries and have displayed them in a matrix for an easy overview. Click the My VOIP link above for the list.

The first generation of VoIP services — Vonage, Skype and others — used computer and Internet technologies to make voice communications cheaper (and often free). Now a second generation of services is integrating VoIP with mobile and POTS handsets and services as they try to find ways to compete with their more established big brothers. Click to read more

You Can’t Afford Live Music Anymore

Music licensing companies come calling for royalties | floridatoday.com | Serving Brevard County and Florida’s Space Coast
Playing for nothing. Robin Krasny and Eddy Fischer play at East Coast Coffee and Tea. Fischer, who has been a member of ASCAP since he was 17, thinks the licensing companies have gotten a bit out of line. “It seems kind of rough that little coffee houses with no stage or no lights that were not built for live music have to come up with that kind of money,” he said. Craig Bailey.

Andrus said a friend of his who owned a restaurant that did not feature music was contacted by a company looking to charge him because it owned the rights to a Hank Williams Jr. song, “Are You Ready for Some Football?” The song preceded every “Monday Night Football” telecast, which the restaurant carried on its televisions. He said his friend simply chose to turn the volume down when the song came on.

Mp3.com Dead, Long Live Mp3.com

Mp3Sparks.com

As part of his deal to join the WTO (World Trade Organization), Putin agreed to shutdown the Russian allofMp3.com music site. It attempted to re-open under the Russian allofmp3.ru domain, but was shutdown again. Now it is up again as Mp3sparks.com. We have blogged this copyright struggle earlier here.

UPDATE –  Mp3sparks.com has also been shutdown now, but according to the allTunes.com website, AllofMP3.com’s six million existing accounts can still be accessed if users download the allTunes software client. Once downloaded, users can browse through its catalogue and download from the 778,861 available tracks. More here