Apparently Jesus works at Microsoft Middle East division. You may be glad to find that Jesus’s “job is my passion”, and that he has “learned to appreciate different cultures, religions and people.” Bet you didn’t know that Jesus was a triathlete, though. Maybe the Beast from Redmond isn’t so bad after all.
Yes, I know it’s a common Hispanic name. What can I say, slow news day.
Something fascinating is created when one fuses form and function. Witness the finalists of the 2004 Idea Design Excellent Awards (IDEA).
My favourite is Farm Design’s Weight Forward Hammer. It has an elongated, smooth top makes it easier to less damaging to take out nails, while its continuous curved shape makes it easier to pound nails in with less effort. The fact that it looks like it travelled through a temporal distortion from the 24th century doesn’t hurt, either. It’s a simple concept, yet they managed to refine it into a higher level of usability.
Other winners include everything from a cardboard toilet (once it’s done, you can burn it for fuel!) to a cocoon-like kidney transporter to this really cool Umbra salad bowl. Amusingly, Apple seems to have pulled a Lord of the Rings and carried off a multitude of awards, including ones for the G5 and iPod Mini. [from engadget]
In a matter of months, Bell Canada will make it easier for Dexit tag users (like me) to funnel cash into their RFID tags. Using voice recognition and authentication, people can just pick up the phone, dial the Dexit 1-800 number, and say, “Hey, it’s me Bob. Stick $20 more in my account.”
There’s been a Dexit stand in the basement of where I work, hawking these tags for the past two days. All the employees even got an email to come on down.
Bell Canada has had great success in using voice recognition in fielding their own service calls. When calling 310-BELL, Bell’s consumer hotline, customers can interact with a chip voice called “Emily” that will point them to the right department. It uses Nuance’s SayAnything software, and they plan to roll it out to all of Bell’s subsidiaries.
Too bad they can’t get robots to pay that $1.50 refill fee too. That would be lovely.
“The weekend started with a literal bang here in the Baldwin household, as the nation of Taiwan attempted to kill me and my child.” It’s the screwball way that Matthew Baldwin explains his altercation with a exploding Taiwanese-made balance ball is what makes this story a winner. The funny thing is, Silverlotus owns the same ball for yoga. Same colour too. Yes, it’s still a ball. [from This is Broken]
On the night of April 17th, 2002, two hotshot American pilots detected small arms fire as they flew over Tarnak Farms, Afghanistan. Maybe it was the speed they were taking to improve their reflexes, or plain machoism, but despite being told by AWACS to “hold fire” twice and that friendlies may be in the area, wingman Major Harry Schmidt dropped a 500kg laser-guided bomb. A bomb that killed four Canadians and injured eight others. The Canadians were undergoing a training exercise in a designated zone.
His punishment? A reprimand and a $5,600 US fine. That comes out to $1,400 a head, literally. Maj. William Umbach, who flew with him, was given a reprimand and voluntary early retirement.
We give worse sentences to hockey players who whack other players.
Well, the guy did get a tongue-lashing from the judge. A real flame of Internet proportions. In the verdict transcribed by CBC News, the judge charged Schmidt with “arrogance” and “poor airmanship”, and felt no “heartfelt remorse” over the deaths.
The judge also had these bon mots to say:
“…You used your self-defense declaration as a pretext to strike a target, which you rashly decided was an enemy firing position, and about which you had exhausted your patience in waiting for clearance…to engage. You used the inherent right of self-defense as an excuse to wage your own war.”
“…You lied about the reasons why you engaged the target after you were directed to hold fire and then you sought to blame others.”
Sounds familiar?
Who do you think sleeps better at night, Bill Gates or Linus Torvalds? We’ll never know for sure unless they ever shack up together like a 21st century Odd Couple, but BusinessWeek argues that sometimes passion and pride outperforms money, like how thousands of developers have contributed their blood and tears to the Linux operating system for no apparent reason.
It’s not like Linus is a pauper. The Linux kernel became his resume, and he was quickly hired by hot startup Transmeta when he graduated from the University of Helsinki. The RedHat IPO left him a millionaire; he drives a Mercedes SLK. Like Gates, he’s married with three kids and lives in the Northwest USA. He’s known for his humility (he was once spotted waiting in line with everybody else for his ID badge at a Linux conference, even though he was the keynote speaker) and straight-faced wit (such as when he stepped in to describe the ideal Linux mascot – a plump penguin).
Despite the fact Bill Gates has personally contributed $5 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest charity in the world, people are merely jealous of Gates. Linus, on the other hand, is adored.
Who do you think sleeps better at night, Dennis Hayes or Dale Heatherington? Together, they founded Hayes Microcomputer, the inventors of the computer modem. If you ever had to type in an AT command, it’s because your modem’s manufacturer licensed Hayes’s technology. As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution attests, “Hayes was always the one who got the glory. Heatherington was the one who got the money.”
Hayes wanted to remain in control, and remained there when the company finally fell in 1998. Hayes is currently a part-time consultant living in a rented Manhattan bachelor apartment. He is twice-divorced, hounded by alimony payments.
Heatherington, the silent partner, retired in 1984, shortly after the company hit the big time, amassing a payout approaching $20 million. He now lives in a 7,000 square foot home with his wife, dedicating his time tinkering in his workshop. As Heatherington says, “How much money do you need? You go through life once. You’ve got a certain number of years to live.”
“If you put the energy in to build a profitable company, why not be good to yourself and enjoy it?” says Kelli Greene, an entrepreneur interviewed by Inc.com. She’s managed to handle one of the largest growing private companies in America with a 25 hour work week.
In the D drive: Thief: Deadly Shadows True to its past, but why do I have to fiddle with the default.ini just to make it bearable to play?