| MacBook Air’s collapsible port patent revealed, more
On February 28, 2008, the US Patent & Trademark Office published Apple's patent application detailing the MacBook Air's collapsible port feature. The patent presents evidence that the collapsible port was originally earmarked for the rear of the notebook and was to present additional options. Yet what was interesting to discover is that this new collapsible port isn't limited to the MacBook Air. According to Apple's own technical notes, “the present invention may apply to other types of devices, and still remain within the spirit and scope of the present invention." MacBook Air's Flip-Down Port Hatch Apple highlights the MacBook Air's innovative features on their websites by stating that “the innovative now-you-see-it, now-you-don't port hatch flips down to reveal (and closes to hide) all the ports you really need: a USB 2.0 port, a headphone jack, and a micro-DVI port that supports DVI, VGA, composite, and S-video output.
Can you love an animatronic dinosaur?
We also played some music for it to listen to and, apparently, it likes Love in the First Degree by Bananarama. I thought I saw it dancing, or was it moving awkwardly to the beat.
During the "birthing" process when Pleo was awakened for the first time, a smart ass colleague asked a question--is it a he or a she?--and attempted to turn the beloved Pleo on its back to check, which I stopped promptly. According to the Ugobe Web site, Pleo is a he. But like all the toys on my desk which seem to have received a fair bit of flak from my colleagues, I prefer to call Pleo a she. I think toys should take on a feminine form, unless you are talking about Optimus Prime. Indeed, with Pleo, I feel like a doting parent already.
As much as I'd like to see Pleo as a real pet, it's hard to forget that she's ultimately an AI robot.
SFGate: World Views
Now that their man has failed in everything he has touched, from the costly boondoggle of an illegal war in Iraq and an aimless war in Afghanistan, not to mention disaster-relief services (the Hurricane Katrina fiasco), economic policy (where will the up-to-its-neck-in-debt administration find the $150 billion it's proposing to help boost the ailing economy?) and all-around diplomacy, here comes the news that China might want to set up a military base in Iran, one of the points on Bush's infamous, international "axis of evil." .
Issues 2008
Supply figures since credit markets froze are even more telling. Volume between July and December slumped 72.5% and reached a five-year record low for a half-year supply..." January 3 - Financial Times (Paul Betts): "Last spring, the Spanish property developer Astroc started the ball rolling. Its debt servicing problems triggered the first serious plunge in the shares of Spain's financially over-stretched property and construction companies. Before crashing, Astroc shares had increased 10-fold since first listing in 2006. Its chairman, Enrique Banuela, who had been catapulted into the Fortune 100 list of the world's richest tycoons... Then, in the autumn, it was the turn of Llanera to bite the dust.... Now, it is Colonial, another small property fish that has grown by aggressive debt-financed acquisition into the country's second biggest property group...
Sleepless in Seattle, for Delegates
Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., made her case to supporters that she's more qualified than her opponent in the presidential nomination race, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., suggesting that his lofty rhetoric about hope and unity is empty and meaningless. "I am hoping to unify the country," Clinton said, "but to unify it to do the work of the country. Not to unify it just for the sake of saying we are unified. In the meantime more and more people lose health care. More and more kids can't afford college. We need to be unified with a common purpose." .
Saturn dominates during March, while Jupiter moves onto the stage
See http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm for the latest news and images from the Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn.
As Saturn drops toward the western horizon each night, Jupiter will be climbing upward in the southeast. The brilliant white planet will rise around 4 a.m. local time at the beginning of the month and about 90 minutes earlier by month's end. It will dominate the stars of the constellation Sagittarius the Archer.
Venus and Mercury will be very close in morning twilight in early March, but you'll need a clear view of the east-southeastern horizon to see them. The pair of planets will rise an hour before the sun. Venus will be easy to see in the brightening sky, but you may need binoculars to find much fainter Mercury slightly to the upper right (south).
Border security tightens
Those quick trips across the border to Mexico and Canada will soon come with new requirements for travelers. As of Thursday, all travelers 19 and older crossing U.S. borders by land or sea from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean must show a government-issued I.D. card, such as a driver’s license, and proof of citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate. U.S. citizens 18 and under must prove citizenship. This new initiative will strengthen the security at U.S. land and sea borders, according to the U.S. Department of State Web site. Starting Friday, U.S. residents can apply for a cheaper, wallet-sized alternative to a traditional passport, which already is required for all air travel outside the USA. The new passport card, to be issued sometime this spring, will be valid for 10 years for adults and five years for children 15 and younger.
Stocks struggle higher
The Ambac news dragged on a number of financial stocks and initially pulled down the broader market. But stocks crawled back into positive territory by the late afternoon. Adding to the afternoon malaise was the release of the Federal Reserve's periodic "beige book" reading on the economy, which showed that most of the 12 districts reported a slowdown in economic activity since the beginning of the year. Although some reports will suggest improvement here and there, the current theme in the economy is pretty obvious, said John Merrill, chief investment officer at Tanglewood Capital Management. "We've seen a sudden and extreme downturn in economic activity since December," Merrill said. "Not every report shows that, but taken together, it suggests a pronounced slowdown." "There's not a lot to suggest that we aren't in a recession," he said.
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