Author: admin

Worst Allergy Seaon?

Apparently it is.  If you are experiencing allergies for the first time or your allergies are worst than usual.  Then it could be because of this is one of the worst allergy seasons.  Due in part to very rain to wash away the pollen.

I personally know several individuals who are having worst allergies this season or feeling allergy symptoms but don’t usually trouble from allergies.   I too have allergies that are worst this time of the year, but strangely, they haven’t been that bad.  But my allergies are strange to begin with, and have nothing to do with pollen.

Gotta See – Model Airport of Hamburg Germany to the Finest Details, at a Cost of Over $4 Mil.

I saw this story at Gizmodo and you have to check out the video on YouTube (link in the story) at least.  If you want to know how they did, then you can read the story.  But trust me, this is very very impressive.  I can’t say anything more than go check it out for sure.

As you watch the video, at first, it is hard to believe that is a model with working lights and so on.  Oh, I almost forgot to mention.   There are also some other things that are possible with this model that are not shown in the video.  You get those juicy bits from reading the article.

Microsoft Buys Skype for 8.5 Billion

There was talk last week of FaceBook and Skype being in talks, whereby, FB would buy Skype.  That would make sense for FB.  However, I was thinking that Google would try to get in the bidding for Skype too.  That certainly makes sense for Google consider they have Google Talk, which is like Skype, offers free calling to the USA and Canada.  So merging their Google Talk features and Skype, would have been awesome and would have given an even bigger user base.

I use Linux exclusively and Skype for Linux was always lagging behind the Windows and Mac versions, but they were trying.  If Microsoft do acquire Skype, that would pretty much be the end of Skype on Linux.  There are very few products Microsoft does well for any platform other than it own.  I like Skype, my buddies and I use it for our conference calls.  But I don’t know about Microsoft owning it.  I will have wait to see what happens and how they maintain the Linux version and run the service.

Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 10th May 2011 08:19 UTC, submitted by porcel
Microsoft So, the biggest acquisition in Microsoft’s history. The Wall Street Journal reports – and it has been confirmed – that Microsoft and Skype will announce today that Redmond will buy Skype for $8.5 billion. That’s a lot of money for a company that hasn’t ever actually made any profits.

Speed Demon – TomTom Has You Tagged

Apparently, some models TomTom GPS sends your GPS data back to the central office.  TomTom then feed this back to local government and law enforcement authorities.

Now they say they will stop doing that.  I think they should be sued.  They should have put some note in plain sight, saying that using this device may provide your speed to the police.  If you are thinking that speeding is against the law, it kills, etc.  You won’t get an argument from me, but I don’t think companies should be providing information about your behavior to law enforcement without you first knowing that could happen.

Saw this story over at Slashdot.

 

GPS Maker TomTom Submits Your Speed Data To Police

Posted by timothy on Thursday April 28, @01:58PM
from the put-your-speed-trap-riiiiight-here dept.
An anonymous reader writes “The GPS systems in TomTom’s Live range all feature built-in 3G data cards, which feed location and route information back to a central server. According to CNET, this data, along with users’ speed information, is being made available to local governments and the police.” From the article: “Knowing the cops can see where you’re driving and how fast you’re going is eye-opening stuff, but TomTom says the data is anonymous and can never be traced back to an individual user or device. Ordinarily, we’d be reassured by this, but we recall Apple saying something similar before the location-tracking excrement hit the phone-carrying fan.”

Sitting All Day : Bad For You

I was listening to this story about how sitting is bad for your health.  Actually, it worst than you may thing.  I too work at a desk, sitting all day and then sitting in a car on the way to and from work.

No wonder I am pining for my days on the farm.  Yes, the farm, my farm.  I can’t wait to get to living on my farm.  You don’t need to live/work on a farm to be more active.  But, for me, it is something I am have been dreaming of since I was a kid.

Robot Overlords – One Step Closer

This college student developed a piece of software he is calling Predator.  Yes, predator.  Predator is a video tracking software that leans about the subject it is tracking.  Even if the subject leaves the screen or the camera changes angle about the subject.

I say, Predator and software like is are just taking us ever so close to the day when we put all of this stuff into a fairly competent machine and we may not like the result.

Close Call – For Long Separated Bother and Sister

George and Sara Bentley almost got it ‘on’.   They meet though an online dating site and decided to go out.  Just before things heat up though, fortunately or at least that is what they are saying, they realized they are siblings.  The two were separated years ago.

That is why you need to know your family, extended family, and just to be safe–run a background check and DNA test.