http://youtube.com/watch?v=IZHf6InQW60

Oh sweet Chemex. Thank you boingboing.

YouTube - The Chemex Method at LAMILL Coffee

Known as a pristine coffeemaker, Chemex� employs all of the chemically correct methods for brewing. It's hourglass shaped flask is made entirely of glass, a chemically inert material that does not absorb odors or chemical residues. The Chemex� has no moving parts and will work forever, unless it is dropped or in some other way demolished. Chemex� filters are made of the highest quality filter paper. With a wide selection of coffeemakers, filters, and accessories, we can assist you in all of your coffee needs.

Wow. I think this product could give meaning to my coffee, and plug a hole in my life. I give myself unto you, Chemex.

Chemex

Some shark populations in the Mediterranean Sea have completely collapsed, according to a new study, with numbers of five species declining by more than 96 percent over the past two centuries.

“This loss of top predators could hold serious implications for the entire marine ecosystem, greatly affecting food webs throughout this region,” said the lead author of the study, Francesco Ferretti, a doctoral student in marine biology at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia.

I have mixed feelings about sharks, but this not good.

Some Shark Populations Collapsing - NYTimes.com

"We still call spies collaborators," he noted. "We're trying to encourage collaboration, but there is still a negative connotation with that word."

Despite the early challenges, the CIA now has users on its top secret, secret and sensitive unclassified networks reading and editing a central wiki that has been enhanced with a YouTube-like video channel, a Flickr-like photo-sharing feature, content tagging, blogs and RSS feeds.

Underscoring how vital Intellipedia has become to the agency, the CIA has been providing briefings about data posted on the wiki since October 2007, according to the pair. They did not provide details on who or what agencies they were briefing based on content from the project.

Something that makes me feel good about national security and the competence of the CIA, for a change.

Top Secret: CIA explains its Wikipedia-like national security project

When I meet with entrepreneurs or Ga Tech faculty/researchers, many times they have a grand vision of their technology and what their first product will look like. It can be exciting and compelling. However, that product idea is usually quite complex and would require a significant effort to get it built and launched.

My response is to instead suggest that their idea would make a great third product. From then we start to talk about what their first product could be. Product 1 should be quick and easy to launch. It should be sold to the same poeple you think would buy Product 3. It should not have too much technical risk. It is probably not very exciting. And, at best, just plan on breaking even. There should also be a second product that acts as a link to the third product on your roadmap. We are creating a ladder.

Why do this?

* The first product gets you into the market faster.
* You start generating revenues much earlier in the process, reducing business risk.
* You reduce dilution from having to otherwise take on more startup capital.
* You learn from your customers. No matter what they say in a market survey, you don't know what people really think until they have to spend their money on your idea.
* You will find out which of your assumptions are wroing and what parts of product 3 need to be changed. If you launched product 3 first, you would never know.

Product 3 will most certainly look much different than you originally envisioned. That is due to the knowledge you gain from being in the market that cannot be achieved any other way.

What are the first two rungs on your product ladder?

OOOH OOH OOH! I've been coming to this conclusion over the course of 2 failed startups.

GT VentureLab: Maybe that is your third product

Revision3 runs a tracker expressly designed to coordinate the sharing and downloading of our shows. It’s a completely legitimate business practice, similar to how ESPN puts out a guide that tells viewers how to tune into its network on DirecTV, Dish, Comcast and Time Warner, or a mall might publish a map of its stores.

But someone, or some company, apparently took offense to Revision3 using Bittorrent to distribute its own slate of shows. Who could that be?

Along with where it’s bound, every internet packet has a return address. Often, particularly in cases like this, it’s forged – or spoofed. But interestingly enough, whoever was sending these SYN packets wasn’t shy. Far from it: it’s as if they wanted us to know who they were.

A bit of address translation, and we’d discovered our nemesis. But instead of some shadowy underground criminal syndicate, the packets were coming from right in our home state of California. In fact, we traced the vast majority of those packets to a public company called Artistdirect (ARTD.OB). Once we were able to get their internet provider on the line, they verified that yes, indeed, that internet address belonged to a subsidiary of Artist Direct, called MediaDefender.

Now why would MediaDefender be trying to put Revision3 out of business? Heck, we’re one of the biggest defenders of media around. So I stopped by their website and found that MediaDefender provides “anti-piracy solutions in the emerging Internet-Piracy-Prevention industry.” The company aims to “stop the spread of illegally traded copyrighted material over the internet and peer-to-peer networks.” Hmm. We use the internet and peer-to-peer networks to accelerate the spread of legally traded materials that we own. That’s sort of directly opposite to what Media Defender is supposed to be doing.

Revision3 - MediaDefender DOS Attacks

According to the document, he told FBI agents, "League officials would tell referees they should withhold calling technical fouls on certain star players because doing so hurt ticket sales and television ratings."

Donaghy claims he was told two refs who were "company men" acting in the interest of the NBA conspired to extend a playoff series in 2002 to a seventh game.

NBA is WWE?

Ex-referee Tim Donaghy blows whistle on NBA dirty secrets

The chief executive of the world's largest energy company has issued the most dire warning yet about the soaring the price of oil, predicting that it will hit $250 per barrel "in the foreseeable future".

The forecast from Alexey Miller, the head of the Kremlin-owned gas giant Gazprom, would herald the arrival of �2-per-litre petrol and send shockwaves through the economy. His comments were the most stark to be expressed by an industry executive and come just days after the oil price registered its largest-ever single-day spike, hitting $139.12 per barrel last week amid fears that the world's faltering supply will be unable to keep up with demand.

An ominous warning that the rapid rise in oil prices has only just begun - Home News, UK - The Independent

Firefox 2 for Mactel is about as stable as Windows 95 was.

Firefox 2 is a Piece of Shit

The American electorate is now basically split into thirds, and how Hillary proceeds from here will shape the future of all three groups.

If Hillary sits out the general election season, or campaigns halfheartedly for Obama, and McCain wins, she becomes the automatic frontrunner for the Democratic ticket in 2012.

Hillary of course must be aware of this calculus and as such is faced with an unprecedented moral/ethical choice heading into the fall. If she campaigns hard for Obama, and helps pull all of her disaffected voters back onto the Democratic ticket, Obama will probably win this thing in a landslide. If she pulls a slowdown, however, and a big chunk of her voters sit this one out or vote for McCain, it will greatly enhance her own prospects for the presidency four years later.

Hillary's Run: The Meaning Is In Her Hands | The Smirking Chimp