"The VOIP Blaster is a very useful device at a very attractive cost. It allows you to make voip calls using a standard telephone in much the same way you make normal wireline calls. The software that comes with it has one very big limitation, it will not work behind a firewall, NAT, or other internet-connection share scheme. It also requires that you sign up with a credit-card for their service. In order to overcome these limitations I have written software to use it under NetBSD, Linux, and Windows. Since FreeBSD (?and OpenBSD?) use the same usb subsystem, should be relatively easy to use with these also. "

Another hardware device offered as a "loss leader" for a service is hacked, this time creating an interesting Long Distance alternative... Someone needs to get behind consumer VOIP and drive it. Open source is as good an option as any. Otherwise it will have to be hardware makers or broadband providers. There is no money in this for a "start up" (which is the reason you're still using a pots line.)

VOIP Blaster Driver Software

"After you locate the blogs whose readers you want to market to, there are many ways to present your message. You can allow blog readers to participate in private test groups, provide them with samples for testing, and allow more direct communications. This can drive discussions in blogs and is particularly suited to new products and capturing early adopters. "

The value of weblogs in marketing.

The coming of the blogs - Tech News - CNET.com

"Smooth, full-screen video. Sparkling stereo audio. The ability to watch a recorded show while recording another. A real infrared remote. These are the features that separate the serious TV cards from the toys, and you get them all with the Video Blaster® Digital VCR. "

This device has some serious potential if it doesn't get sued out of existance.

Creative Labs : Digital VCR PCI card

An FBI agent who wanted to access the information would obtain a search order that was digitally signed by a judge. The vault would recognize that signature and divulge only the information specified by the court. There would be no chance -- assuming the vault was programmed properly -- for a fishing expedition.

This is a fairly straight forward idea that makes a lot of sense.

Carnivore's New Leash on Life?

The tool, called Fragroute, performs several techniques to fool the signature-based recognition systems used by many intrusion-detection systems and firewalls. Many of these duping techniques were outlined in a research paper published four years ago.

I'm fairly certain that tools like this have been around for a while, they just haven't been very accessable to the "public."

New tool helps hackers evade detection - Tech News - CNET.com

"Earlier research has shown that the distribution of links to web sites approximates a "power law" (Science, 286; Nature, 401), where a small number of sites receive the majority of links, and most sites receive very few links. The distribution has been attributed to a process called "preferential attachment", wherein new links on the web are more likely to go to sites that already have many links. "

Winners don't take all: Characterizing the competition for links on the web [David Pennock, Gary Flake, Steve Lawrence, Eric Glover, C. Lee Giles; NEC Research Institute]

When the $1,000 Ultra-Personal Computer hits stores this fall or winter, it will operate as a wireless handheld computer, akin to a Palm, OQO Inc. said. Or it can be used as a "modular PC" that connects to a full-size keyboard, mouse and monitor to replace a desktop PC.

This is a small step, but notable. Take three more steps and then take a look around.

CNN.com - Little-known company unveils tiny PC - April 17, 2002

In the meantime, Svenson said his brief experience as a blogger already has brought him into contact with a small group of fellow lawyer-bloggers. “We all link back to one another, and I have already contacted three or four people and gotten to know them pretty well,” he said. “It’s possible that somewhere down the road they would decide to refer business. But the main thing is, we develop a web of trust. That’s sort of how this community works.”

Business pros flock to Weblogs

April 11, 2002 | The thing that amazes me isn't that I
lost a million dollars, but that I had it to begin with. My career
path looked more likely to lead to a night manager's job at
Border's than to financial success. I racked up a solid C
average as an English major, then temped at law firms,
proofread, taught English in Prague and reported for a small
newswire service.

Salon.com Technology | Make a million, lose a million, who cares?

"Annotea is a LEAD (Live Early Adoption and Demonstration) project enhancing the W3C collaboration environment with shared annotations. By annotations we mean comments, notes, explanations, or other types of external remarks that can be attached to any Web document or a selected part of the document without actually needing to touch the document. When the user gets the document he or she can also load the annotations attached to it from a selected annotation server or several servers and see what his peer group thinks."

Annotea project