Tech:
Standford Gets Blessed With High-Speed Fiber, How About The Rest of Us?:
“Like some sort of archangel descended from internet heaven, Google has bathed Stanford University in glorious high-speed goodness as part of the beta test of their new gigabit fiber network. Since the program was announced, the service, which is now being provided free to students and faculty in the Palo Alto area, has caused a lot of people to ask (sometimes beg) that their city be next on Big G’s list for communication salvation. But can Google save us all from crappy internet? And more importantly, is it a good idea to let them?”
Steve Jobs resigns as CEO of Apple:
“Steve Jobs, the visionary CEO at the helm of the most valuable tech company in the world, has stepped down.”
Global Warming / Environment / Energy:
Study links El Nino climate to civil wars, unrest:
“Scientists have found another thing to blame on the climate demon El Nino: civil strife in poor tropical countries.”
Insurance / Gambling:
Internet gambling’s new best friend? Conservatives:
“Advocates for legalizing Internet gambling have neutralized opponents with arguments designed to appeal to fiscal and social conservatives.”
[click to continue…]
Tech:
Verizon Video launches. Bandwidth capped buyers beware:
“Yesterday Verizon rolled out an updated version of its V Cast app, rebranding it to Verizon Video. This is more than just an app update though; the service itself seems to have been rebooted.”
Global Warming / Environment / Energy:
Hurricane Irene strengthens to Category 3 storm: NHC:
“At 8 a.m. EDT, Irene was located about 55 miles southeast of Acklins island, Bahamas, and about 335 miles southeast of Nassau and was packing maximum sustained winds of 115 miles per hour (185 km/h).”
Insurance / Gambling:
California USA Celebrity Cassavetes Challenges Poker Laws:
“For those avid fans of online poker and even those who just like to watch the spectacle, poker is a major entertainment entity. When it comes to entertainment one must admit the American culture is alive and well and poker and gambling has been a big part of it. Say what you want, parts of America can be a paradise for gambling and great entertainment possibilities.”
[click to continue…]
Tech:
Booksellers are wary as Amazon tries to have it all:
““Amazon is doing to the world of book publishing what iTunes did to major record labels,” Trelease said. “This is an alarm bell to the giant publishers, and if they fail to heed the warning, they will lose.””
Global Warming / Environment / Energy:
GE uranium enrichment plans raise fears: report:
“US conglomerate General Electric is seeking permission to build a $1 billion plant for uranium enrichment by laser, a process which has raised proliferation fears, The New York Times said Sunday.”
Insurance / Gambling:
Cash-starved states may run into trouble with Internet gambling:
“It’s an idea gaining currency around the country: virtual gambling as part of the antidote to local budget woes. The District of Columbia is the first to legalize it, while Iowa is studying it, and bills are pending in places like California and Massachusetts.”
[click to continue…]
Tech:
Court Ruling Opens The Door To Rejecting Many Software Patents As Being Mere “Mental Processes”:
“Well, this is getting interesting. Last year, when the Supreme Court ruled very narrowly in the Bilski case, without making any explicit statement (as precedent) on overall software or business model patents, many people were frustrated. Here was a situation where the Supreme Court could have drawn a much clearer map, but it declined to do so. Of course, we wondered if this would just mean that another case would have to make its way to the Supreme Court to get a clearer ruling on software patents. In effect, with Bilski, the Supreme Court basically said “this one test you use is fine, but it’s not the only test.” It didn’t say what those other tests should be, but basically left it up to the courts to decide. However, it did reject the specific Bilski patent for being an “abstract” idea, saying that this was not patentable under Section 101 of the Patent Act.”
IBM unveils chips that mimic the human brain:
“It terms the machines built with these chips “cognitive computers”, claiming that they are able to learn through experience, find patterns, generate ideas and understand the outcomes.”
Global Warming / Environment / Energy:
Bad news from NASA: If we don’t reduce carbon emissions, the aliens might come and kill us:
“This is really just the story of Sodom and Gomorrah repackaged with a scientific patina for the green agenda, no? An omnipotent super-being looks down upon mankind, is angry at what it sees, and resolves to smite the sinners. Can the angels at NASA find 50 righteous world leaders willing to strike a deal at Copenhagen II before it’s too late?”
Insurance / Gambling:
Tribes, officials discuss changes to gambling laws:
“The meeting, which will continue through Friday, is part of the commission’s regulatory review process to solicit input from tribes on drafts of proposed rule changes.”
Health / Safety:
School District Offering Drug Testing Kits To Parents:
“The test kids will be available to parents of middle school students in the Hempfield School District.”
[click to continue…]
Tech:
A Bull Market in Tech Patents:
“Google was willing on Monday to pay $12.5 billion for Motorola Mobility in no small part because of its stockpile of 17,000 patents. The patent portfolio, some analysts estimate, could represent more than half of the value of the deal, or more than $400,000 a patent.”
IE 9 best option against Web-based malware attacks:
“This claim was made by NSS Labs in the recently released results of a test conducted globally from May 27 through June 10 of the current year, which saw five of the most popular Web browsers pitted against each other.”
Men jailed for inciting riots on Facebook:
“Two men who attempted to use social networking site Facebook to incite riots during last week’s unprecedented civil disorder in Britain were on Tuesday both jailed for four years, police said.”
Global Warming / Environment / Energy:
Seattle’s ‘green jobs’ program a bust:
“Last year, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn announced the city had won a coveted $20 million federal grant to invest in weatherization. The unglamorous work of insulating crawl spaces and attics had emerged as a silver bullet in a bleak economy – able to create jobs and shrink carbon footprint – and the announcement came with great fanfare.”
Insurance / Gambling:
Internet poker battle waged in Sacramento:
“A group of casino operators has taken to radio and television with ads urging state lawmakers to legalize Internet poker in California, prompting opponents to step up pressure for legislators to table the proposal for the year.”
[click to continue…]
Tech:
Driver using two cell phones gets 12 month driving ban:
“This guy is the poster boy for why cell phone usage in cars should be banned in more places.”
Record Industry Braces for Artists’ Battles Over Song Rights:
“Since their release in 1978, hit albums like Bruce Springsteen’s “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” Billy Joel’s “52nd Street,” the Doobie Brothers’ “Minute by Minute,” Kenny Rogers’s “Gambler” and Funkadelic’s “One Nation Under a Groove” have generated tens of millions of dollars for record companies. But thanks to a little-noted provision in United States copyright law, those artists — and thousands more — now have the right to reclaim ownership of their recordings, potentially leaving the labels out in the cold.”
Global Warming / Environment / Energy:
Further snowfalls expected tonight:
“The bitterly cold blast that has hit New Zealand this week should ease off over the coming days, but heavy snow is still expected overnight in many areas, including Wellington and Christchurch.”
[click to continue…]
RSS Updates 
RSS E-Mail Updates 
Twitter 
Facebook 
CEI.org 
WorkPlaceChoice.org 
GlobalWarming.org 
CEI On Demand Video 
Liberty Week Podcast 