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Time Standing Still

I have often heard the expession regarding time standing stil... Now, it seems some scientists think it eventually will.

Blogged via wireless handheld

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2008 Airport Battery Rules

From the same people who brought you the alternative minimum tax comes something all new for 2008. It's what you have been waiting for. It is the equivalent of the tax code for gadget freaks. It is - virtual drum roll please, the new airport battery rules for 2008.

If you thought the security procedures weren't confusing enough, just wait… 2008 promises to be full of surprises, starting with the first time you encounter a TSA agent who starts to ask you probing questions about the lithium content of your batteries.

Yes, we now have new limits on the batteries we can take with us on flights. How many, what sizes and the rules - in typical government fashion are so confusing, you will likely need an attorney and CPA to decipher them all.

After starting at the government's DOT web page for far too long I think I may be able to share some wisdom with you.

From now on, you can no longer take individual batteries with more than 8 grams of lithium content. Moreover you can only have 2 spare batteries with 8 grams of lithium each. Total lithium content must be below 25 grams.

Lithium metal batteries can have no more than 2 grams of of lithium metal. How many of these can you have? No matter how many times I read the government's site, I still can't figure it out.

Worse yet, you cannot pack spare batteries in checked bags.

Which sort of batteries do you have? Who knows? Will the typical TSA agent know? Will there be lithium detectors, scales and burly rubber glove-laden agents ready for us at airports nationwide?

These rules will just make life more confusing for those who travel and the person who wrote this web page can do us travelers all a favor and go back to writing IRS tax code to keep the fine people at H&R Bock busy.

I for one am not looking forward to my next business trip where I suppose I will have to trash at least some of my batteries.

What's your take?

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Dell's XPS One desktop

I have always wondered why the entire PC market is just so inept. Apple routinely designs better looking computers and charges a premium for such products. Not so for PC makers who think if they keep designing commodity looking products they will do better. Well surprise, this is not a winning strategy.

To drive this point home in fact, Dell has done what I suggested back in a March, 2007 column where I asked if any PC maker can just copy Apple. Even if PC makers can't innovate, I imagined that copying Apple should be easy enough to pull off.

Although Gateway tried to copy the iMac a while back, it took Dell to do a good enough job that The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg took notice and actually complemented their efforts. This is a big deal for Mossberg and for Dell.

In the end, Mossberg suggests Apple over the PC but this is partially because the PC uses Microsoft's much maligned Vista operating system. Oh -- and one last point, The Dell is more expensive than the Apple!

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Wanted: Dead or Alive

Haven’t we all seen those old Western movies with those “Wanted” posters looking for bandits? I know I have. Now it is time for those posters to go high-tech in the form of electronic billboards the FBI will use to display the faces and names of criminals.

As the engadget article points out, be sure to commit your crimes quickly as once these billboards get rolled out, your odds of getting caught for your crimes will likely rise greatly.

I am just wondering what might be next for the FBI and law enforcement in general? Now that they embraced electronic billboards, will web advertising be next? How about mobile ads?

Will the Feds and others place graphical ads on news websites with link back to FBI/law enforcement home pages for videos and photos of their targets?

It seems to me if the billboard idea is so great, web ads will work even better.

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