Monthly Archives: April 2008

Gadgets

Where's the Party At? — Helio Knows

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Helio joins with Buzzd to tell you where the party is at and whether you want to go to it.  GPS functionality is not implemented yet but it sounds like it’s in the works.  What I really like about this is the ability to get close to real-time reviews and information from people at the nightlife location.  This is great for gossip and celebrity stalking ;p  (The name of some the services tracking night life crack me up!  Half of them are direct references to drunkeness.  My tee-totaling self would use such a service to know what areas of town to avoid.)

Here’s a link to the article

Helio’s new nightlife search site has lofty ambitions

Posted by Caroline McCarthy

General

The Dirt on the US Tax Rebates

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Here’s a great explanation on the US tax rebates from CNN.  Personally, I would rather pay less now, then get my money back later … but whatever … if we need more money than this, then we’ll just print more ;p.  Sigh … none of this helps anyone in foreclosure or with the heating bills someone may be paying now. 

Okay, cynical remark:  this feels so much like the tenent farmer/share cropper crap of the past — you borrow money from the owner to buy items from the owner (borrow from China to shop at Walmart).  But not quite, because it seems it wasn’t the intent of anyone involved for the situation to get this way (I hope).  In the end I feel bad for the countries that bought our debt.  I worry that we are so far in the hole, that it’s a debt we can never repay and consequently all will sink with us.  We are soooo screwed … in the short term.  In some ways I wish the politicians would let the correction happen, so we can all come out the other end of this stronger.

Rebates: What you need to know

The lowdown on Washington’s new tax rebates: Who qualifies and how much will you get? What do you have to do? And most importantly: When will you see a check?

By Jeanne Sahadi, CNNMoney.com senior writer
February 8 2008: 5:33 PM EST
Movies

Star Trek Movie Pushed out 6-months

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All you Trekkers out there can gnash your teeth in frustration.   Yes, the Star Trek movie is being pushed out from a Christmas ’08 release date to early May ’09 due to issues not related to the scripting or the cast.  I call “BS” on this and all the other movies currently nearing the end of production or in post-production that are being moved.  Anyhow, here’s the story from the Hollywood Reporter.

Here’s a link to the article
Paramount shuffle delays ‘Trek’ By Carl DiOrio

Feb 14, 2008

Digital Entertainment

Toshiba Quits HD DVD Busines

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Now, I can finally convince my husband that we NEED a PS3!

Actually, I’m glad that Toshiba has the guts to exit the business this quickly, thinking more about the customer and the company’s future than their own pride at this single moment in time.  Also, this allows them to quickly switch gears and concentrate on something else, which from this article is NAND drives — no doubt a good area to be investing in as laptops become more mobile and mobile electronics demand more memory.  I also like the idea of NAND drives being using as the primary Windows drive for quick Vista boot and speedy deployment of programs. Again, great for Toshiba, for showing that a large company can be agile :).

But what about those people who bought HD-DVD drives, like those folks who bought the HDX laptop.  Do we intend to make it right?  Will a discounted switch to Blu-Ray be offered or is the customer SOL for taking the gamble?  Personally, I would like to see the obsolete drives taken back in to HP for recycling rather than thrown in the landfill.  I also think swapping the drives for a reasonable fee would make customers who paid a bunch for their PC or laptop very happy.  In the long run, this is good for us because customers that may have been holding on the large purchase, can now execute.

Now here’s an excellent article from the Associated Press on Toshiba’s announcement.

Toshiba Quits HD DVD Business

By YURI KAGEYAMA
The Associated Press
Tuesday, February 19, 2008; 12:16 PM