] In a step toward electronic newspapers and wearable
] computer screens, scientists have created an ultra-thin
] screen that can be bent, twisted and even rolled up and
] still display crisp text.
]
] The material, only as thick as three human hairs,
] displays black text on a whitish-gray background with a
] resolution similar to that of a typical laptop computer
] screen.
]
] The screen is so flexible it can be rolled into a
] cylinder about a half-inch wide without losing its image
] quality.
]
] Although it's not quite the dream of single-sheet,
] electronic newspapers or books that can display hundreds
] of pages of text, its creators said it's the first
] flexible computer screen of its kind.

Cool! Where do I get one?

Laughing Boy

Paper-thin screen created

] In the end, the Republican Congress looks likely to force
] through a stimulus package that is largely based around
] tax cuts. Some of these measures may be sensible
] long-term reforms, and returning money to taxpayers is
] seldom unpopular. But the stimulus will not create many
] jobs now, whatever Mr Bush says.

Don't quit your day job. No, really. How many 'jobless recoveries' can we survive?

Another Bush, another jobless recovery

] SYDNEY, Australia (Reuters) - Marijuana-scented cell
] phone covers caused such a buzz in Australia that the
] company selling them had to pull them out of a technology
] fair in Sydney Wednesday.
]
]
] Local authorities and New South Wales state Premier Bob
] Carr slammed the green, marijuana-motif covers as
] promoting drug use to young people.
]
] "A big over-reaction," said Robert Punch, founder, owner
] and CEO of Corporate Phone Covers.
]
] "It's a novelty. You wouldn't go and buy a big block of
] chocolate after smelling the chocolate one," he said.
]
] Made in China and arrayed next to chocolate, strawberry,
] blueberry, cherry and rose-scented snap-on covers, the
] marijuana version sold well, though only to the over 18s,
] Punch said.
]
] "It sells better than the strawberry, much better," he
] said.

Marijuana-scented phone covers cause hangup - May. 8, 2003

For those of my friends and associates who have been asking me questions about how to get started on Memestreams (and for anyone else who finds this of use), here's the QuickStart:

 (1) Create a Memestreams account
 (2) Create a "Recommend" button on your browser Links bar
 (3) Recommend something
 (4) Check how it looks by going to your own Memestreams page

Here's more info on each of the above:

 (1) Create a Memestreams account by clicking on "Create an Account" on the lefthand toolbar (or go here: http://www.memestreams.net/registration/ )

 (2) This is the trickiest part: Add a "Recommend" button to your browser. You do this by dragging the "Recommend" link from the following page to your Links bar. Go to this page, find the "Recommend" hyperlink, click, hold, and drag up to your Links bar to have it automatically make the button for you:
 http://www.memestreams.net/documentation.html#bookmarklet

 If you don't see a Links bar or have a nonstandard browser, you'll need to read the Help file or ask for help. Email/IM me and I'll walk you through it.

 (3) Recommend a link as follows:

    (a) Go to a URL that you find of interest (a news story or favorite website)
    (b) (optional) Highlight a couple sentences on the page, as some type of reference quote
    (c) Click on the new "Recommend" button you have.
    (d) A popup box will appear with info already filled in such as your quoted text, the page's URL, title, a category dropdown menu, and a text box. You can add in any additional comments that you want to, and click on "Submit"

 (4) That's it! If you want to check how your link showed up, go to your Memestreams page at http://www.memestreams.net/users/YOURACCOUNTNAME to see what it looks like. If you don't like how it looks, you can always click on "Edit" at the bottom of the link, to change it.

After you've recommended a few links, you can start playing with more advanced features such as tweaking categories, reviewing/replying to threads, recommending other people's links, and diddling the "Reputation Agent" to get it to recommend other links to you that you may find interesting. To start though, the above 4 steps should get you up and running!

Let me know if you have any questions,

Elonka :)

Memestreams QuickStart

I love the expression on the cats face in the photo - "REEOOOW!" Sort of what I expect I'd look like if I suddenly had $160k dumped in my lap!

Laughing Boy

] LONDON, England (AP) -- Tinker really is the cat that got
] the cream.
]
] Thanks to his late owner, a wealthy widow, the former
] stray now lives in some splendor in his own house, valued
] at 350,000 pounds (US$560,000) and dines on fish bought
] from his 100,000-pound (US$160,000) trust fund.
]
] The will of Margaret Layne, 89, published in The Times
] newspaper on Tuesday, named Tinker as the beneficiary of
] a large chunk of her estate, including her house in
] Harrow, northwest London.

Cat inherits house, trust fund

From the "so stupid it just might catch on" category...

] MSN U.K. has taken roaming (and communal hygiene) to a
] new level with the "iLoo", an Internet-enabled toilet
] that the software giant hopes will debut at various
] concerts in the U.K. this summer.
]
] Users will be able to access the "WWW.C." using a
] wireless keyboard and a built-in plasma screen. MSN U.K.
] is encouraging advertisers to come up with their own
] custom-designed toilet paper to prompt users to visit web
] sites.
]
] The iLoo will be mobile and is part of MSN's mission to
] allow instant logging on "anytime and any place", the
] company said. Users will be able to sit down, undock a
] wireless keyboard and conveniently access the Internet.
]
] A plasma screen will be located directly in front of them
] which can be adjusted to a desired height level. MSN is
] also in talks with toilet paper manufacturers to produce
] special web paper for those in need of URL inspiration,
] the company said.
]
] The iLoo will be broadband enabled using WiFi technology.
] There will also be a six channel surround sound speaker
] system under the sink unit for use with listening to
] music from the Internet.

Now does anyone REALLY want to be touching a keyboard in a crapper stall? Pornography? Bathroom stall?? Think about it.

One would hope there is at least a packet of sterilized keyboard wipes provided!

Laughing Boy

MSN Crafts Web-Enabled Toilet

And the Phoenix rises from the ashes...

Laughing Boy

] LOS ANGELES (Reuters) Franco-American video gme
] publisher Infogrames, in an effort to increase its
] profile with consumers by reaching back into gaming
] history, said Wednesday it is changing its name to Atari.
]
] To mark the new Atari and the new ticker symbol ATAR,
] Chief Executive Bruno Bonnell is set to open the Nasdaq
] on Wednesday.
]
] Infogrames/Atari shares have been on a run of late,
] rising more than 130% on the Nasdaq since April 18, when
] the company said it had completed work on Enter the
] Matrix, the hotly anticipated video game companion to the
] forthcoming Warner Bros. film The Matrix Reloaded.
]
] The Atari name is the most storied in video gaming,
] dating back to the early 1970s, when Nolan Bushnell and a
] team of engineers at Atari created "Pong," the arcade
] video game that was so popular machines sometimes jammed
] up because they were overflowing with quarters.
]
] Over the years, Atari went through many incarnations, and
] at one point operated as a subsidiary of what was then
] called Warner Communications and is now known as AOL Time
] Warner.
]
] It ceased to be a stand-alone company in 1996, when it
] was acquired by JTS, and in early 1998 JTS sold the Atari
] rights and assets to toymaker Hasbro.
]
] Infogrames, founded in France in 1983, acquired the
] rights to the Atari brand in early 2001 when it bought
] Hasbro Interactive. In October 2001 the company
] relaunched the brand and began using it as a games
] publishing label...

'Matrix' game company changes name to Atari

] Two radio DJs in the US have been suspended after playing
] Dixie Chicks songs, after their statio banned the group
] for its comments about President George W Bush.
]
] DJs Dave Moore and Jeff Singer played two tracks by the
] country pop group on Colorado station KKCS on Monday,
] after a discussion over whether to reinstate the group.
]
] Dixie Chicks songs were banned by the station after
] singer Natalie Maines told a London audience, days before
] the start of the Iraq war, she was "ashamed" President
] Bush came from her home state of Texas.

DJs stir Dixie Chicks row

] However, the big winner has been Marvel itself. This
] becomes its sixth consecutive licensed release to open as
] the top draw at the local multiplex after Spider-Man,
] Daredevil, Blade, Blade 2, and the original X-Men. For a
] company that was little more than a comic-book specialist
] making toys on the side, Marvel has come a long way.

Why didn't I have half a mil last year to drop into Marvel? I know what to invest in, now I just have to find the money to do it...

Fool.com: Marvel's Big Weekend [Motley Fool Take] May 5, 2003

] Hiring in the information technology field is expected to
] remain soft through 2003--despite any recovery waiting in
] the wings, according to a survey released Monday by an IT
] trade group.
]
] Sixty-seven percent of hiring managers surveyed
] anticipate hiring demands to remain the same or decline
] during the next 12 months, according to the Information
] Technology Association of America. The ITAA surveyed 400
] hiring managers from technology and nontechnology
] companies between March 27 and April 14.
]
] The managers surveyed are expecting to hire a cumulative
] total of 493,000 IT workers over the next 12 months,
] compared with 1.1 million positions anticipated over the
] same period when the survey was conducted early last
] year.
]
]
] Of the IT positions that companies plan to fill, a number
] will be for jobs overseas, according to the survey. An
] increasing number of companies, including Hewlett-Packard
] and IBM, are moving work offshore, where labor is
] cheaper.

I love my job... I love my job... I love my job... Just gotta keep saying it, and maybe I'll believe it...

IT hiring lackluster through 2003 | CNET News.com