LOTD for September 30

Wow, after the big debate over whether or not there is water on Mars, the Phoenix just spotted SNOW falling on Mars! Thank you to Ben for the article!
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/09/30/mars.snow.ap/index.html

Oil shale deposits actually exceed Saudia Arabia’s oil reserves! One example is the *trillion* barrels of oil in the Green River Formation (Colorada/Wyoming/Utah). New processes may make it economical to retrieve that oil, which would be great for the US!
http://energybusinesswire.com/single.php?id=56

I didn’t realize that the field of algae-based biofuels was growing so quickly–$179.5 mil in VC money already this year:
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/algae-biofuel-investments-explode–1434.html

Article on how wind power can solve the US’s oil addiction. I didn’t realize that wind power generated electricity so much cheaper than nuclear, coal, or gas-powered electricity plants:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/96292-wind-power-can-solve-the-u-s-oil-addiction

Wind power is generating jobs in Colorado–for example, more than 2600 wind energy jobs are expected to be created in 2010:
http://www.gazette.com/articles/wind_41122___article.html/colorado_energy.html

Birds and bats forced the closure of these Pennsylvania wind turbine location–wind farms cannot be placed along the migratory patterns of birds!
http://www.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=107755

Analysts expressed concern about Apple’s computer sales and Apple’s stocked dropped nearly 18%. The stock dropped more after the bailout news hit yesterday, but it rebounded almost to the level it was before the bailout news came out. The iPhone is considered the big saving grace for Apple:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/29/BUF01385JH.DTL&type=tech

China Mobile may offer an Android-based phone by the 2nd quarter of next year:
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20080925PD221.html

Nokia’s CTO Bob Iannucci resigned:
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/33875.php

The Federation of American Scientists say that fundamental physics will prevent laser weapons from being used in real-world conditions:
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/09/why-lasers-wont.html

Nintendo is launching a new version of the DS that can take pictures and play music. They also say that it will have advanced wireless communications functions (the current DS has WiFI, so I’m not sure what they are planning for the new DS that is more advanced). The new DS will be out in time for the Christmas season:
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE48R09X20080928

These Dolphins in Japan had to be put on a diet:
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/ap-0930cn,0,7714458.story

Yuk…BYU study found that cell phones contain more germs than toilet seats!
http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/69558

LOTD for September 29

Looks like the House Republicans were successful in voting down the bailout, even though the Republican leadership in the House supported it. Less than 1/3 of House Republicans voted for the plan and it failed to pass by 13 votes:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/29/news/economy/bailout/index.htm?cnn=yes

WaMu’s CEO was on the job for 17 days, but when his company failed he got a $20 mil payday:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,428641,00.html

Open source program enables an owner to track the location of his/her laptop if it is stolen. Mac owners can even get a photo of whoever has their laptop!
http://adeona.cs.washington.edu/

An invisibility cloak could protect ocean-based platforms against tsunamis?
http://www.physorg.com/news141617575.html

SpaceX’s success in putting the first privately-developed rocket in orbit could lead to very good things for the DoD:
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/09/spacex.html

Very interesting that pirates who hijacked an Iranian ship have been getting sick and dying of mysterious illnesses. At least some of them had tried to inspect the cargo. First Iran said that the ship was carrying “crude oil” and then they said it was carrying “minerals” and “industrial products”…my best guess is that the speculation on chemical weapons is correct:
http://www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/Article.aspx?id=851953

Pretty cool that this robot can rebuild itself after it is taken apart due to a kick, fall, etc.:
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/09/robot-rebuilds.html

Canadian police sure like to use their tasers…in this example they tasered a 16-year-old mother who was holding her baby:
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=3363cc2a-e922-4d0f-8444-d72e485dcba6

Motorola has put a 350-person team to work on Android phones! Nokia and Verizon also seem interested in the Android platform:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/28/motorola-building-up-350-person-android-team-nokia-also-sniffing-around/

Interesting editorial predicts that Android will crush the iPhone and Blackberry:
http://weblog.infoworld.com/editor/archives/2008/09/why_android_wil.html?source=NLC-DAILY&cgd=2008-09-29

Apple will offer the 3G iPhone unlocked in Hong Kong. That is interesting, since they have been trying to stay away from that business model with the 3G iPhone. The unlocked iPhone will cost between $700 and $800, but those who buy a subsidized iPhone in Hong Kong have a minimum 2-year agreement for $188 per month for service! At those rates, users might save money buy buying an unlocked phone and keeping their current phone plan:
http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Carrier_less_iPhone_Offered_In_Hong_Kong_25357.html

The Blackberry Bold will hit Best Buy stores on 10/26/08, so it should be at AT&T stores in a few weeks:
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/09/28/blackberry-bold-release-date-at-best-buy/

Sprint launched their Xohm WiMAX network in Baltimore:
Article link

Interesting that last year UK travelers preferred WiFi hotspots but this year they prefer mobile broadband networks over WiFi hotspots:
http://www.techworld.com/mobility/news/index.cfm?newsID=104837&pagtype=samechan

Mathematicians at UCLA have discovered a 13 million-digit prime number (thanks to Ben for the article link):
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/09/27/prime.number.ap/index.html

LOTD for September 28

Interesting how some analysts think that the Letterman-McCain feud (and Letterman’s unflattering depictions of McCain) could hurt McCain in November:
http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/09/letterman-mcc-1.html

Pretty interesting way that this woman tried to get a nanny–she advertised on Craigslist that her kids were a “pain in the …” and she warned that she worked from home and was difficult to get along with. That couple had more than 10 nannies before this!
http://www.parentdish.com/2008/08/30/unusual-approach-to-finding-a-nanny-on-craigslist/

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/28/nyregion/28nanny.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin

It is amazing to me that Universities have found that they get MORE applications when they raise their tuition–families seem to think that high prices mean better quality:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/08/20/pf/college/college_price.moneymag/index2.htm

Toyota cut its sales forecast for next year by 700,000 cars:
http://www.motorauthority.com/report-toyota-to-cut-2009-global-sales-target.html

This car thief tried to use a portable toilet as a hiding place…but the person whose car he stole chased him and overturned the toilet–trapping him inside with the contents of the toilet poured all over him!
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-b3court02_508sep02,0,632539.story

Interesting that people buy 100-calorie snack packs to lose weight but they end up indulging more and actually gaining weight!
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=5373173&page=1&mediakit=adgallery9

It is great how this Pastor joked from the pulpit about how their church was going to have to rent a new facility for their services unless they somehow had $1 million dropped on them…and then a member of the congregation won a $3 mil lottery and anonymously gave them the whole lottery winnings! It is also nice how the church donated their entire first year revenue from the lottery winnings (a little more than $100k) to other charities:
http://www.sermonaudio.com/new_details.asp?ID=26119

US children (6-12 years old) do 24 minutes of chores per day, a 25% drop from 1981 levels:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121978677837474177.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Microsoft now concedes that the Wii will beat out the XBox 360 in sales, but they are saying that they will at least beat the PS3:
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/54603

Interesting article about Wii Music. It sounds really interesting, but I think that Wii Fit, Mario Kart, and NCAA Football 2009 will be keeping us busy!
http://seanmalstrom.wordpress.com/2008/09/22/why-wii-music-is-genius/

LOTD for September 27

CBS News is now mad at Letterman for going off on how McCain lied to him!
http://www.nypost.com/seven/09262008/tv/mad_about_letterman_130739.htm

Lori didn’t know that Washington Mutual was seized and then sold, so I thought I should include this link:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20080927-9999-1b27wamu.html

Looks like Wachovia could be next to be acquired, with Citi in the lead:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20080926-1349-wachovia-citigroup.html

The Russian invasion of Georgia resulted in a 30% decline of their stock market as international investors pulled $20 bil of foreign capital out of their country:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7600784.stm

Interesting how thinking can make us fat!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26548282/

It is very interesting to me that the popularity of Facebook and Myspace among 18-to-24-year-olds is a factor in the decline of porn on the web. Gen. Y are too busy with their social networks and are too busy for porn!
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1678586,00.html?xid=feed-cnn-topics

A Saudi Arabian cleric says that Mickey Mouse must die:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/saudiarabia/2963744/Mickey-Mouse-must-die-says-Saudi-Arabian-cleric.html

Federal Court judge ruled that the Bush administration’s plan to expand snowmobile access to Yellowstone and Grand Teton was illegal:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/15/AR2008091502830.html

It is sad to read about how XL Airways closed and stranded so many British people in the US who had to pay for a ticket on another airlines to get home. From what I read in another article, the 260 passengers on a flight from Orlando to London boarded the plane, were taxiing for takeoff, and then the plane stopped, announced they had gone out of business, and were told to get out…the passengers were literally stranded on the tarmac and had to walk back to the terminal!
Article link

Interesting that the hard economic times means that state lotteries have record sales. Apparently, people buy more lottery tickets when times are hard:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/13/us/13lottery.html?pagewanted=print

LOTD reader Ben loves Chipotle…so I’m sad to inform him that Chipotle may be raising prices soon due to increased food costs:
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/09/12/chipotle_may_raise_prices_to_combat_food_costs/

This guy is suing because he went to the doctor for a circumcision and woke up to find out that his item was amputated instead!
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/sep/26/patient_sues_over_amputated_penis/

LOTD for September 26

Interesting how Obama was able to get NASA a waiver to be able to have access to the International Space Station, which was slipped into a spending bill passed on Wednesday:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/26/science/space/26nasa.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin

It is interesting that political surveys ignore people who don’t have landlines…I wonder who would be better supported by cellphone-only users? With the numbers of cellphone-only users increasing, this seems like a flaw in the way that old-school surveys are conducted:
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/33834.php

Letterman REALLY went off on McCain for lying to him and skipping out on his scheduled appearance. How could McCain cancel his interview with Letterman because he said he was going to DC to work on the financial crisis…and then go to an interview with someone at the same network that Letterman was on??? Didn’t McCain realize that Letterman would hear about McCain going on another show on his network?
http://gawker.com/5054512/letterman-pummels-mccain

The Bush Administration had been pressuring the EPA about perchlorate, and they succeeded in getting the EPA to decide NOT to limit the toxic rocket fuel in our water supply…even though the levels of perchlorate have already been measured at levels dangerous enough to interfere with thyroid function and the development of babies. The DoD is happy…but I don’t think I want this in my water supply:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hkmR-wSU9LKmVT3Iduv0DS9XPTbAD93C4TN83

Production bottlenecks are preventing the Army and Air Force from getting the UAVs they want:
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htairfo/articles/20080926.aspx

Who owned the Predator spy drone that was shut down? That apparently is classified…
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/09/new-twist-in-do.html

Somali pirates just hijacked a ship that had a LOT of Russian weapon systems–including tanks, rocket-propelled grenades, and anti-aircraft guns. Now they will be even better armed (bad!) and they will sell lots of the dangerous stuff to anyone with the money (really bad!):
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article4831652.ece

The food safety problems in China has resulted in the EU banning all baby food imports from China:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/sep/26/foodsafety.china

Interesting conflict here–new techniques can gas a lot more natural gas, but it could pollute drinking water supplies:
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/09/17/controversial-path-to-possible-glut-of-natural-gas/

About 1 million people per year die from malaria (most US citizens only hear about it during the annual American Idol telethon), but this plan would attempt to eliminate deaths due to malaria by 2015:
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=AP&date=20080925&id=9191242

New technology has been announced that will allow for quicker and cheaper testing for things like E. coli:
http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?ID=31694

Nice summary of the reviews of the G1 smartphone:
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE48N7VV20080925?sp=true

Google’s patent application describes a way to circumvent WiFi and cellular providers, allowing wireless devices to connect to any provider. This probably won’t happen if devices are locked to providers and I cannot see a business case to switch to this, but it would make things a lot more flexible:
http://gizmodo.com/5055176/google-instant-bid-wireless-patent-could-threaten-cellular-wi+fi-providers

DoCoMo’s Super-3G network is basically pre-LTE and could serve as a testbed for LTE deployments throughout the world:
http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=25267&email=html

Here is the user manual for the G1 phone:
http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/09/25/t-mobile-g1-manual-leaks-out/

LOTD for September 25

Very interesting to find out that some people who are “just not good at math” actually may have “math dyslexia”, a syndrome called “dyscalculia” that is similar to dyslexia:
http://hsdailywire.com/single.php?id=6870

Discussion of how the Wall Street bailout might lead to cuts in defense spending:
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/09/wall-street-bai.html

For the second time this year, DARPA lost $130 mil from its budget:
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/09/darpa-budget-sl.html

Pakistani troops fired on US helicopters while the helicopters were still in Afghanistan! So, they hadn’t crossed the border into Pakistan and they were shot at anyway!
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=51300

An American-made Predator UAV was apparently shot down in Pakistan, but the US denies it…despite the video evidence otherwise:
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/09/this-much-we–1.html

When US troops were fighting the Taliban last year, Pakistan military helicopters repeatedly flew into Pakistan to bring supplies to the Taliban according to U.S. Marine lieutenant colonel Chris Nash!
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/09/marine-colonel.html

The Air Force and Navy agreed to share UAV resources:
http://rfdesign.com/military_defense_electronics/news/share_uav_resources_0924/index.html

The Chinese say that they are building the controversial “Emdrive”. If they succeed, they will have a big advantage over the US for space travel. However, most scientists in the area say that the Roger Shawyer work is bogus and that building those drives is impossible. If the Chinese succeed, they will be way ahead of the US and they won’t have to spend much to try to build this system, so it seems to me they are making a good gamble:
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/09/chinese-buildin.html

T-Mobile removed the 1GB limit on 3G data usage:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/press-releases/t-mobile-response?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal&cmp-id=EMC-NL-FW&dest=FW

China Mobile is apparently about to start offering the 3G iPhone…with its 3G and WiFi systems disabled!
http://www.cellular-news.com/story/33810.php

Nice article comparing the iPhone and Android software development kits:
http://weblog.infoworld.com/fatalexception/archives/2008/09/sdk_shootout_an.html?source=NLC-DAILY&cgd=2008-09-25

LOTD for September 24

Great summary of the O-1 Visa and why it is an excellent alternative to the H-1B Visa. I already knew this information and more but I don’t think many people know about the O-1 Visa. If you look at 3/6/8, all someone has to do is publish a journal paper and get a high salary and they would qualify for this Visa according to this article…I think that the bar is higher than that, but from what I’ve read it is not hard to qualify someone good for this Visa:
http://hsdailywire.com/single.php?id=6852

Article discussing whether or not tech companies are faking job ads to avoid hiring US workers:
http://weblog.infoworld.com/robertxcringely/archives/2008/09/are_tech_firms.html?source=NLC-DAILY&cgd=2008-09-24

Iridium just got bought for $591 mil:
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/greenhill–co-invest-229/story.aspx?guid={5E93078F-FEFC-47FB-9DF9-9C58A83C6273}&dist=hppr

It is sad that the milk poisoning situation in China is getting worse:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7628622.stm

I cannot understand why neither Presidential candidate has contacted DHS to discuss critical DHS transition issues:
http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=41008&dcn=e_tma

Looks like the Army needs to get the radios developed for JTRS, FCS, Land Warrior, and the WIN-T network to work together better…and soon because of the go/no-go coming up next year. With budget cuts looming no matter who becomes President, I hope that these programs get in shape soon:
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/09/army-networks-i.html

The HTC Dream (the first Android-based phone) was renamed the T-Mobile G1 when it was released yesterday. If this was on Verizon instead of T-Mobile I think I would get the phone…its pricing is very attractive! $25 per month for unlimited web and e-mail access is a great price point, especially since I would only need limited messaging:
Press release

Here is a review of the G1 phone:
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/09/24/Hands_on_with_HTCs_Android_phone_1.html?source=NLC-MOBILEHARDWARE&cgd=2008-09-24

T-Mobile is capping their 3G data rate at 1 GB per month, just in time for the G1 to come out so that people might actually want to use their data servces. After reaching 1 GB, a user’s data rate can be reduced to 50 kbps:
http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2008/09/23/t-mobile-soft-capping-3g-data-at-1gb-per-month/

AT&T seems to be worried about the Blackberry Storm, so they are pointing out the advantages of the iPhone vs. the Strom:
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/09/24/att-to-potential-blackberry-storm-customers-storm-sucks-iphone-rulez/

Nokia might have a touchscreen phone out in as early as next week!
http://infotech.indiatimes.com/News/Nokia_touchscreen_phone_on_Oct_2/articleshow/3521820.cms

Neat application that turns Wi-Fi enabled phones into Wi-Fi hotspots:
http://rfdesign.com/next_generation_wireless/news/lead-story/creating_wifi_hotspots_0923/index.html

Amazing that a pig has been holding a woman hostage in her home:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/23/2371562.htm

This Japanese phone will unlock the owner’s car and start the engine without using a key:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080924/ap_on_hi_te/as_japan_car_key_phone_2

LOTD for September 23

I’m stuck at my gate waiting for my flight to DC, so I was able to do the LOTD today. I’m not sure if I’ll have time to do the LOTD the rest of this week since I’ll be gone until Friday night, but I will try.

Pretty sad that the new Bell helicopter being designed for the Army is 2 years behind schedule and WAY over budget (its budget was $3.6 bil but its cost is now up to $6.4 bil!)…but because the other helicopter programs are in even worse shape, they do not feel able to cancel this program!
http://www.aviation.com/business/080922-us-army-arh-70-program.html

Interesting discussion of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s capabilities and the latest claims on the pro (by our government) and con (by the Australian reports of the latest testing) said:
Article link

The FBI searched the apartment of the 20-year-old they think hacked into Palin’s e-mail account:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10047437-38.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Infrared lie detector measures brain activity to figure out if someone is lying:
http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn14778-invention-infrared-lie-detector.html?DCMP=ILC-hmts&nsref=news2_head_dn14778

Interesting that Volvo is studying locusts as part of their drive for an injury-proof car by 2020:
http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/claire.rind/try1.htm

Sergey Brin’s blog will be an interesting one for me to read. His openness in discussing his predisposition to Parkinson’s Disease was interesting for me to read:
http://too.blogspot.com/

Pretty cool that the city of Chicago is looking to cut its 1990 emissions level by 3/4 by the year 2020:
http://www.chicagoclimateaction.org/

Study found that there are no real gender differences anymore between girls and boys for math:
http://www.usnews.com/articles/science/2008/07/28/study-shows-boys-and-girls-equal-in-math-ability.html

One of the best things I’ve heard about the Bush Administration in years: changes in policy have resulted in a 30% drop (175,914 to 123,833) in the number of chronically homeless people. Kudos to Bush Administration for this!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/us/30homeless.html?th&emc=th

Interesting analysis of the study that found that kids in day-care gained more weight than kids at home with a parent:
http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2008/07/turning-down-child-care-alarm.html

Interesting that results found that people drink more when and nightclubs make the music louder:
http://health.msn.com/health-topics/addiction/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100211302

Amazing that 22 people in Canada have died after police hit them with a taser, but Canadian police say that the deaths “have not been linked directly” with the taser use:
http://criminalreview.ca/index.php/category/tasers/

It is sad that New York City installed these black rubber mats in their playgrounds…and they have caused so many burn problems with kids in the summer! The mats have been measured up to 166.9 degrees!
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/07/20/2008-07-20_angry_parents_remove_dangerously_overhea.html

This woman is being sued for $75k for an accident she got into during his driver’s license test:
http://www.wtopnews.com/?sid=1452974&nid=25

This 69-year-old woman just ran her 69th marathon:
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2945726.html

This 9-year-old New Zealand girl was so embarrassed by the name she was given (Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii) that she sued and the court ruled her favor:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/07/24/odd.names/index.html

LOTD for September 22

I had a web teleconference today that had some technical problems, so while they were fixing stuff I was able to do the LOTD for today.

Has a 12-year-old come up with the key for widespread use of solar energy?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/232218;_ylt=AjSYG23tcXa_iPL_5cbU5OkjtBAF

Looks like men should not use headsets with their cell phones in their pockets…not if they are planning to have kids anyway:
http://www.dailytech.com/New+Study+Shows+Cell+Phones+Are+No+Friend+of+Gonads/article13011.htm

Pakistani troops reportedly shot at US helicopters today!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080922/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan_us

Israel is now using its “skunk bomb” to disperse Palestinian protesters. This sound like a good way to disperse crowds, much better than shooting rubber pellets or other techniques and are used around the world:
http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2008-08/2008-08-11-voa4.cfm?CFID=42047290&CFTOKEN=68739660

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1218104256520&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

China is REALLY ramping up its space program! They are about to do a space walk in preparation for the building of their space station:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080922/ap_on_re_as/as_china_space

Looks like Northrop will get a large termination fee from the government to make up for the cancellation of the tanker contract:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-northrop19-2008sep19,0,7521700.story

Apple recalled the 3G iPhone charger:
http://www.itpro.co.uk/606354/apple-recalls-iphone-3g-charger

Infoworld article

Sony now has a whole line of products in its Made for iPod and works with iPhone line:
http://www.tmcnet.com/ce/articles/40498-sony-debuts-new-ipod-iphone-compatible-products.htm

This LG cell phone has an 8 Megapixel camera!
http://www.mobileguerilla.com/articles/2008/09/22/lg-kc910-renoir-dolby-candybar.php

Qualcomm is planning to make satellite connections available for multi-mode cell phones:
Press release

Looks like Sprint’s Xohm will launch on October 6:
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Xohm-Baltimore-Launch-October-6-97821

The new Clearwire got $3.2 billion from Intel/Google/Comcast/etc., but they say they need $2 bil more:
http://blog.internetnews.com/jmottl/2008/09/clearwire-wimax-needs-2b-more.html

Interesting that Nextwave says that the $100 mil they got will last them into 2010 when they had said recently that the $71+ mil they had on hand would only last them a couple of months unless they got new financing. Selling off one of their businesses, laying off 20% of their workforce, and a huge reduction in overhead costs will allow them to stretch their money a lot further. Allowing the funders to buy 40 million shares at a penny a share *really* reduces the value of their existing stock!
Press release

Analyst prediction is for laptops and cameras in te future to have both WiMax and LTE:
http://www.betanews.com/article/Interop_4G_WiMAX_and_LTE_to_coexist_on_laptops_and_cameras/1221761312

Kodak has a new WiFi photo frame:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/soho-networking/?p=266

We’re about to see lots of ads and new product offerings for tissues–who knew that was a $1 bil business? Kleenex is coming out with a 3-ply tissue!
http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/packaged-goods/e3ie41d3cb71a4f00677add6eec3eeccc53

Instead of putting missing people on milk cartons, they are now putting pop/rap/rock/soul/country artists to try to spread the word on health, nutrition, and exercise:
http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/current-issue/e3ie41d3cb71a4f0067a4805ad0fb6650c9

LOTD for September 21

Funny how this man played the lottery all the time using the birthdays of his kids. However, this time he forgot his glasses and made a mistake with one of the numbers…and it turned out that the mistake made him win the $3 mil lottery! He went back to get a ticket with the correct birthdays and that ticket won him $1000:
http://www.jg.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080815/NEWS07/808150318

It is awesome that he donated that $3 mil lottery win to his church!
http://news.aol.com/article/3-million-lottery-win-donated-to-church/151760

This lottery winner won $6 mil and offered to give $600k to his church…but the church doesn’t approve of the lottery so they turned down the money!
http://www.propeller.com/story/2008/08/14/church-rejects-donation-from-lottery-winner/

It is amazing how airlines are charging up to $300 per surfboard checked in…much more than what they are charging for things like golf clubs!
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-surfboardfees22-2008aug22,0,2223741.story

Interesting study finds that many undecided voters are actually decided in their subconscious…they just don’t know what their mind has already decided:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-undecided22-2008aug22,0,2284725.story

It is really sad that this Cuban tae kwon do Olympian attacked the ref after losing the bronze medal match…and Fidel Castro said attacking the ref was justified:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/topstories/2008-08-25-974888959_x.htm

Interesting that winning one gold medal costs a country on average $37 million in training costs:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26335644/

If NBC could show what goes on in the Olympic Village as described by this former Olympian, they would get crazy ratings on a cable channel!
http://pinakib.blogspot.com/2008/08/sex-and-olympic-city-matthew-syed.html