SEGWAY

I feel like I missed something obvious. Maybe you already knew this. Remember the Segway scooter created by Dean Kamen and announced in December? Battery-powered, using computers and gyroscopes to make it almost impossible to tip over. Kamen has a wheelchair going...

PRIVACY INVASIONS AND THE PATRIOT ACT

According to this story, the Patriot Act (passed last October) has produced results that might take you by surprise. The Patriot Act gave law enforcement officials expanded authority to subpoena information without a court order. The result is that the...

COSTCO DEALS

Some good deals at Costco right now. A stack of 100 blank TDK CDRs is $29.99 at the register, and there’s a $20 rebate from Costco. (Unlike other rebates, Costco processes rebate forms quickly and actually mails the checks.) Ten bucks for a hundred blank CDRs!...

TIME WARNER HELL

Two announcements from Time Warner today that should strike fear into your heart, as we move into a future controlled by corporations and inundated by advertising. America Online plans to increase the intensity of advertising on AOL and Time Warner web sites. (You...

GENDER GRAMMAR

I don’t know if this is correct, but it’s interesting. The Register quotes from a Microsoft technical note that uses “she” to refer to actions by a potential hacker, and adds this comment: All right, I’m only going to say this once:...

YOUNGSTERS ARE ALL THUMBS

According to a new study (reported in the Guardian Unlimited Observer), the thumbs of people under 25 have become the hand’s most muscled and dextrous digits. Almost all people over 25 rely on their forefinger as their hand’s primary tools, but under-25s...