Tag: tech

Everyone else out there seeing a huge load in Rolex-related spam? I swear, Rolex-related e-mail is between 1 in 7 to 1 in 10 of the spam I’m getting lately.
I already have a Swiss timepiece, thank you very much. It cost about a tenth of a what a typical Rolex does, and will last just as long. (For what it’s worth, my model, which is several years old, most resembles the “Regiment” blue-face stainless.)

I know it’s ancient history as far as the Internet is concerned (19 July 2004), but I thought Mark Hall’s “The End of E-mail” was worth noting. I’m not saying I agree with Hall, but I totally understand his frustrations.

So-called realists out there will dismiss these lamentations by saying that despite all of its problems, PC e-mail is too popular to be abandoned. Perhaps. But those old enough to remember Usenet know that even a good, useful communications tool can be abandoned once it becomes overrun by hucksters, pornographers and other pond scum floating around the Internet. Usenet is still out there, but its popularity is near zero.

Well, the so-called realists will counter, e-mail is still far too useful for companies to abandon. That’s what these same folks said about IBM’s Selectric and the floppy disk drive. Technology is abandoned whenever cost-benefit evaluations determine it’s no longer worth keeping around. And we’re getting mighty close to the day when PC-based e-mail is determined to have a bigger downside than upside.

Dan rightly points out how wicked cool it would be to own a laptop bag made from parts of a parachute that has been in orbit around the Earth. Space junkies and NASA groupies will understand; all others need not apply.
Too bad I am so dirt poor right now due to unemployment. What are the odds of scoring one of these for a review, do you think?

Anyone out there with a black Brain Bag willing to trade for a sapphire (blue) Brain Bag? Mine is in like-new condition, was originally sent to me as a review item, and hasn’t been used in more than two years (mostly because I’ve been using other bags for review purposes).
I love the Brain Bag, but would like one in basic black, and cannot afford to buy a new one. If you’re interested in a trade, please e-mail me, and hopefully you’re savvy enough to know what to do with that e-mail address.

No, that’s not a typo. Richard “I-have-more-money-than-I-know-what-to-do-with” Branson is going to cater to his peers with the new Virgin Galactic, slated to rocket spaceward in 2007. As Dan says, the future is now. Well, almost now, at any rate.

I have some Gmail invitations to give away. All of my friends and online acquaintances already have accounts. It seems that Gmail4Troops has a surplus of invitations to give out.
So, here’s your chance to get in the club. These are the criteria, and you can leave them in the comments:
1. You must be a current Newton MessagePad or eMate owner. Not a former owner, not a wanna-be owner. It doesn’t matter which model Newton you own.
2. State your Newton’s model number, and provide a link to a picture of the device. A picture of your personal Newton, not a generic photo of your particular model. It can even be a crappy mobile phone shot.
3. Let us know if you still use your Newton every day, or is it more of a novelty you tinker with from time to time (like my 2100).
Obviously, there is a certain amount of trust involved on my end, and a lot of honesty involved on your end. Don’t be a lame faker. The first six (6) respondents get a Gmail account.

Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.
(With a wave of the flipper to Lawson.)

Could this Berkeley project be coming to a future-soldier project near you? (Wouldn’t that just tick the lefties at Berkeley off…)