My Birthday.

Sorry for the late and short post but it is my 21st birthday today and I had a little fun tonight. See you again tomorrow.

Some Tech News.

Wow, I find myself focusing on technology a lot in my blog. Not that technology as a focus is a bad thing, its just I didn't expect my interest to be so heavily weighted by tech. But the more I view my RSS feeds, which are a mixture of technology, business, and political news, the more I'm drawn in by technology.

The user experience of technology has evolved. I remember typing commands into MS-DOS at the age of 7. Not an easy thing for a seven year-old with no direction to figure out, suffice to say, I didn't accomplish much. Now my little cousin whom is 10 set up a wireless net work at my Aunt and Uncle's home. Technology is becoming easier to use, which is a great thing. That is what I find so fascinating about technology.

Life is made much simpler in many ways by a vast amount of technology. Now I'm not big on planning out vacations or even short weekend trips. I usually show up and try to find something to do after getting to my destination. Why, you ask. Because planning required a lot of information gathering about a multitude of possibilities. Where you're staying, what time of the week/month/year, etc. I've tried some travel planning sites and never fell in love with any of them. But Google has announced Google City Tours and so far I like it. The program is not completely polished but worth trying out.

Google City Tours overview
Google City Tours site

Next more info on the Zune HD. The 16GB model is said to be priced between $250 and $280 there is also a 32GB and 64GB model in the works. The Zune HD will play back full 720p through HDMI output. And is said to be on track for release in September. Of course these are all just rumors.

Zune HD news

Busy Sunday

Well I just had a busy day. I haven't even looked to see what I can post about. I'll have to make up for it Monday.

Here is hoping your Sunday was a good one.

Stories About Special Fords.

Ford recently released the new F-150 for the 2009 model year. The new pickup comes in lots of trim levels but my personal favorite is the SVT-Raptor. The Raptor is seven inches wider then its other F-150 cousins and carries a huge list of upgraded parts for extreme off-roading abilities. My post would be extremely long if I posted all the updates here so I'll let you read them from the links. I would love to have this truck with the new 6.2L Boss V8 it will have later this year. The new grill with the large FORD lettering is a real nice touch. The Raptor was announced a while ago but Ford has put together a video promoting the new truck. The video in question is Raptor-Born in Baja it will detail Ford's effort at running the new truck in the legendary off road race in Baja. Take a look at the trailer below. I will be watching the show on Speed tv July, 12 at 4pm EST.

SVT-Raptor Site
Raptor News Article by PickupTrucks.com



The Raptor isn't the only special edition Ford in the works, Shelby has announced no less then six new versions of fast Mustangs. Granted most are based of the last gen Mustang, but Shelby has put together a 725hp Super Snake package for the 2010 Shelby GT500. Follow the link for all the details. I love myself some fast Mustangs, but there are so many special editions out there that I'm starting to lose track. Now if only I could afford any of them.

New Shelby Packages

Quick Update.

Busy night tonight so I'm going to make this one short.

Neowin.net has an interview with someone on the Zune HD project. There are some really neat rumors in it. I still wish it would be a phone. There is almost no reason to carry a dedicated gadget for music playing anymore. How full must our pockets be?

Neowin Interview

I've bookmarked some other stories and will try to post about them soon. I'm going to have a very busy weekend but I'll make the effort to sit down and type up some posts, happy Friday everyone.

Some Older Stories.

Well the first thing I want to talk about is a story that has been around a while, but I just didn't know if I wanted to post about it.

A girl electrocuted herself while taking a bath. What did she do to shock herself? She was twittering. All the stupid what is the world coming to and Darwin Award jokes aside, it is beyond me that people can be so careless. What I wouldn't give to know what was so important this lady had to risk her life to tell the Internet about it. Technology is great until it isn't, stay safe people.

Death by twitter

A better keg? Yes please. Some acquaintances of Mr. Bill Gates are working up an interesting way to store liquids and one of the uses is beer. Read the full story after hitting the link. But I just want to say it is great to hear somebody is still thinking about improving the quality of the beverages we all enjoy.

Better Beer.

Not much in the way of great content tonight folks, sorry about that. But it has been a stressful week at work and I'm just not finding the time at home to come up with great posts. On the personal news front, I'm planning on a new computer purchase this October when Windows 7 is released and along with that a new web cam and video editing software. I'll start a web-cast show and maybe that can take the place of some posts. Goodnight everyone.

Tech That Saves You Money.

Technology is used to better our lives in many ways. The biggest and most prevalent change technology has brought is the increase in ease and speed of communication. The Internet and phones being the largest players, but other devices share information for improving our lives, think GPS, television, radio, etc.

But the Internet is the catalyst of the information age. And now both Google and Microsoft are going to use the Internet to help you save money on energy bills.

Microsoft's tool is called Hohm. It is a free tool that anyone can use to monitor home energy use. Microsoft's tool can work without any peripherals, which helps with ease of use.



Next Google has also debuted a tool called Google PowerMeter. It uses some monitoring devices to help Google determine real time power consumption.



Well I'm making this post before reading too much into the details of both services. I can say that this is a great idea for both consumers and companies. Even though I'm not sure how this will make money for the companies providing the service, if anyone could figure it out Google and Microsoft can. Also the ability to use Microsoft's Hohm without any special gear is nice. I can't wait to use these two services.

Really Late Post Today.

Sorry everyone, I have just gotten home and sat down at the computer. I don't have time for a well thought out post as I have work in the morning so I'll leave you with a little piece of advice.

Check your credit score! You can request one free copy yearly from the 3 major credit reporting agencies. Find them at www.annualcreditreport.com

Look over your report and make sure its accurate. I'll post more advice on credit scores soon. Goodnight everyone.

Do I Want an iPod?

The new Zune from Microsoft was announced a while back now. I'm just posting about it now because after having enough time to think about it, I want the Zune HD more then an iPod touch.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I hate Apple. I hate the ultra trendy feel, I hate the price, I hate the stuck up people that buy Apple products (granted jerks can buy any product, it just seems there is a higher jerk to regular person ratio in the Apple fanbase). But most of all I hate that you can't right click. And with all that said, there is very little that I want more then an iPhone. A touch phone with tons of apps and easy to use interface that uplinks with your music library seamlessly (I'm assuming you use iTunes). What is not to love, besides AT&T?

An iPod touch is just an iPhone that can't make phone calls (there are some more differences but I digress). So given just the choice of a portable music player, the iPod touch should win outright. Not with the Zune HD in town. I could go over all the specs of the new Zune but I think I'll just link them. Microsoft might have a real winner with the new Zune, especially if they can integrate the Zune HD with its other products (Windows 7, Xbox 360, Windows Live, etc.). I really hope they make the Zune HD into a phone. This would allow me to integrate all my entertainment and communication products across one platform, if Microsoft can pull it off right.

Here is a hands on preview:

Zune HD Announced

I'm Sorry

Well yesterday was a blast. We saw an unbelievable amount of cars. But sadly I forgot my camera. So I don't have any pictures to post right now. I'll try to chase my Dad down, he remembered his. If I don't get the pictures I'll try to post about something else.

Happy Father's Day everyone.

Going To The Car Show

Well today I'm headed to the back to the fifties car show. My dad and sister will be along also, hopefully I'll get a lot of pictures I can post up for everyone. It might wait until tomorrow though. If I don't make another update today, have a great Saturday everyone.

What A Long Day.

Well my day has me a little burned out. So this will be a short post.

Speaking of burned, the second season of Burn Notice came out this week. I suggest checking it out. I didn't give the show a chance until after the second season was over and now I can't get enough.

Next quick note. The Mustang is having renewed rumors of a 5.0L engine finding its way under-hood. Also the glass roof option will carry over to the new body style. I'll have to test drive the new, bigger V8, Mustang sometime soon.

Well until tomorrow, hear are the links:

Burn Notice

Big V8

Glass Roof

Why So Serious Microsoft?

Microsoft has put together a nice page comparing some popular web browsers. Microsoft has long dominated the browser market but is loosing ground at an alarming rate. Microsoft is pitting Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer in an epic battle (that would be sarcasm). Can you guess who takes home the gold (and silver and bronze for that matter)? IE8 wins flat out in 7 of 10 categories and ties for first in the other three.

Now I haven't used IE8 yet. I've been using Chrome since it was released and am loving the new features and speed that Chrome 2.0 brought us. Before that I was using Firefox 3.0. I haven't used Internet Explorer since IE6. That said I am interested in the features that have been spotlighted in IE8 and have been suggesting that people download the newest IE to help hungry Americans. I will get around to trying out IE8 sometime soon and writing up my own review.

But come on Microsoft. Your own review is just insanely biased. Not that I would expect an honest review from any company anywhere, it's just almost laughably biased in this case. Also Microsoft is spotlighting Google's Chrome browser which has almost no hold on the browser market share. Is this a smart move? I think so, most people on the Internet understand that IE is not the only web browser out there. Microsoft is being (a little) proactive and not reactive in the case of Chrome. Just don't let your hubris kill you Microsoft.

Microsoft browser war.

Chrome.

Firefox.

IE8.

Moore's Law

For those who don't know about Moore's Law, it states that the number of transistors that can be placed on an integrated circuit doubles approximately every two years. This means an exponential rise in computing power. The idea was posited by Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel. And since the 1960's Moore's prediction has held true.

But no exponential rise can last indefinitely and indeed even Gordon Moore has stated that physical limits would prevent the continued rise in transistors. As transistors get smaller and smaller they will approach the size of atoms, which is a physical barrier that can't be crossed.

Now iSuppli has suggested that a barrier could be reached by 2014. Perhaps not a physical barrier but an economic one. In simple terms, the money invested in producing chips with smaller transistors will be so high that production costs will not be justifiable.

I hope that iSuppli has this one wrong. I want to see technology advance to absolute limits not economic ones. Even if (when) those physical limits are reached, new technologies or methods will evolve to compensate for the end of Moore's Law. Now I'm curious to see what kind of computers we will be using in 2015.

iSuppli

Moore's Law

Moore perdicts end to his own law.

Money.

Today I'm just going to go over a few self education sites that deal with money. Educating yourself about the financial world is very important and I urge everyone to learn as much as they can about money.

First is Investopedia.com. This website works like an encyclopedia for investing. Investopedia has daily updates with new articles about the financial world, and is part of Forbes Inc. But not only does Investopedia offer educational articles, it has stock investing games and an investor community. The site has a vast knowledge base and I highly recommend checking it out.

Investopedia.com

Next up is The Motley Fool. This is a combination of investment news and education. The website has daily updates about news in the stock market from money managers and offers a diverse investment community. The Motley Fool CAPS is an online investment game that has participants pick stocks to out or under preform the S&P 500 index. These participants also post their opinions and observations about the stock market. I like this website but be warned, The Motley Fool provides a wide range of "premium" services (mostly newsletters on investment ideas in certain sectors of the markets) that it often suggests you to join. This can be annoying but it's not enough to turn me off completely.

Fool.com

Last is the website Mint.com. Mint.com is a personal finance management website that uses your online banking from all your financial institutions and presents all the information in one easy to use place. You can see all your checking account balances, credit card balances, car loans, home loans, etc. Mint also collects all your spending information allowing you to budget and plan accordingly. Mint is a great personal finance tool.

Mint.com

Mondays Are Never Fun.

Well I've had a busy day at work and feel a little burned out. So if this post is unreadable, I'm sorry. Anyway here goes.

My good personal friend Bill Ford Jr. was on CNBC this morning. Okay Bill is more of an acquaintance. Okay we've never met but I'm sure we would have one thing in common, we both love Ford Motor Co. Bill talked about a range of topics, but focused on the importance of building fuel efficient vehicles in all segments. Bill put forth the goal of leading fuel economy in all segments. Hope you guys at Ford can pull it off.

Bill Ford Jr. on CNBC

Microsoft has announced that it intends to donate 8 meals for every download of Internet Explorer 8 made from the browserforthebetter.com website. I urge everyone to download the browser even if you do not intend to make it your default. In the interest of full discloser, I use Google's Chrome web browser. I will download IE8 because of this promotion and will give it a try. Maybe I'll even write up a review for everyone. Microsoft is donating $1.15 for each download to Feeding America. That sounds small but a spokesman for Feeding America said the up to $1 million Microsoft will donate is a godsend. And $1 dollar can provide 10 pounds of food to hungry Americans.

Microsoft donation details.

As a quick side note, does anyone like links in the body of the topics or is it preferred that I put all the links at the bottom?

Some Video Games I Want Now.

I found that my video game playing time fell off a cliff once I was out of highschool but I'm starting to play again. Here are a few games I'm looking forward to playing.

Diablo 3. I remember playing the origanal Diablo when I was about 9 or 10. The game was fast paced and easy to understand. Diablo 2 was a great mix of action and RPG elements with great online play. Now Diablo 3 has been announced and it looks amazing. There have been some complaints about the art direction but I think it works well.

Diablo 3

Next is Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. The first time I played Castlevania I was 6. What a great game, at least thats what I remember. Castlevania didn't always translate to 3D well. This new game looks very promising. I don't have much info about it yet, but I know I'll be following it until release. Here is the trailer.

Castlevania

Weekend updates.

I'm still trying to figure out the format I'll be following for the blog posts. My RSS feeds slow way down on Saturday and Sunday but I would never be able to post about everything that happens over the week. If I save up a few stories over the week I could make longer posts over the weekend. The only problem with long posts over the weekend? I want to be out doing something else.

Perhaps I don't need to set a strict format. If something grabs my attention enough I'll just put it in a special bookmark folder for posting about and if motivated enough I'll make a longer post about the topics in the folder.

So anyway on to the sad news, my Red Wings lost. It was a difficult game to watch. Detroit was offsides a lot and just couldn't pull together until the final period. But by the time the Wings where flying, there just wasn't enough time left.

Game 7

Ford Racing has introduced it's new Boss 351 engine block and it looks like a monster. Check out all the info by clicking the link. The new engine is strongly based off the Windsor 351 but also takes some cues for the legendary 351 Cleveland.

Boss 351

Short and Sweet.

Tonight is a busy night and all I have time for is a quick update:

I'm pulling for the Red Wings tonight. Detroit doesn't have much in the way to cheer for when it comes to sports. But the Red Wings are a bright spot.

Red Wings

I really want to build a Factory Five replica. Posting this online is going to help me stick to my goal. The only problem? Factroy Five replicas are expensive. I want the Shelby Cobra replica and I would paint it all black.

Factory Five

Have a great weekend everybody.

Today Is All About Ford.

Today I'm focusing on my favorite automaker, Ford. I've loved the brand since purchasing my first vehicle, a '97 F-150, when I was 16. Since then I've gotten an'08 Fusion and have been loving it. There is tons of great news about Ford, here is some I have recently found interesting.

The Government has started its fleet turnover and has purchased around $210,000,000 in new vehicles. The newly purchased vehicles are intended to replace less fuel efficient models. The biggest winner is Ford. $129 million goes towards purchasing Ford vehicles while GM gets $105 million and Chrysler just $53 million. People, and even governments, vote with their wallets. This speaks to the quality of Ford's products

Gov. buys more Fords.

Ford is developing an ethanol injected, turbocharged, gas, 5.0L V8 engine codenamed Bobcat. Autoblog will go over the details, just click the link. I think its great that Ford is developing alternative technology for its engines. This one in particular could produce as much as 500hp and 750lb-ft of torque. Those are huge numbers for a 5 liter engine and for some perspective Ford's 6.4L diesel only makes 650lb-ft of torque. I want to see this engine end up in a Mustang.

New V8 engine.

This seems a little strange but the Taurus SHO was just named car of the year by Esquire. A rather impressive feat for a car that isn't even on the market yet. I can't wait to see the new Taurus in person. The SHO is shaping up to be quite a performer.

Taurus SHO.

New Tech.

Lifehacker has a roundup of some upcoming tech.

• Google Wave

I posted the tech demo for Google Wave, but since it's 80 mins long I'm not sure many watched the entire thing. I believe this could evolve into the future of web-based communication. It combines real-time communication with document creation.

• Windows 7

Microsoft's new operating system is set to launch on Oct. 22. It looks like a solid platform and most of the feedback from public testing has been positive. The new OS runs faster and is less hardware intensive. I have been waiting for Windows 7 to come out before getting my next computer.

• OS X Snow Leopard

This is mostly an under the hood upgrade to Apple's OS. The new version takes up roughly half the space of its earlier version. It boots up and shuts down faster too. Snow Leopard wont have many UI changes to it, maybe that is why Apple is offering the upgrade for only $29.

• iPhone 3GS

I might dislike most of Apple's products, but I want an iPhone more then any other gadget. The new iPhone is faster and comes with an improved camera. I can't wait for the day that our phones become our wallets. With the ability to make and accept payments. Maybe even unlock and remote start our vehicles.

Lifehacker Post.

Late Post Today.

Well I didn't miss today, I'm just late to my own party.

I was busy most of the day and I'm just sitting down to my computer and haven't even made it through all of my RSS feeds. But I did open one of my favorite beverages and I will now shamelessly plug them. The Boston Beer Co.'s Samuel Adams Boston Lager. What a great beer and a great company. They strive to make great tasting beer and succeed with most every brew. Take a look at their website and all their different styles of beer.

Next on my list is Microsoft, again. Microsoft's new search engine Bing has helped the company gain in market share. ComScore released data that shows Microsoft's share of searches at 15.5% up from 13.8%. Google doesn't seem worried, their CEO said this about Bing, "It's not the first entry for Microsoft - they do this about once a year." I have set Bing as my default search engine and have been enjoying it so far. I suggest giving it a try.

Sam Adams.

Bing's gain in market share.

Google's response.

The new Lincoln.

Wow, it's hard to believe that even 4 years ago I thought of Lincoln as the kinda car my Grandpa drives. Ford has been focusing on reviving the Lincoln brand and are making some great moves. I would love to have a new MkZ with an EcoBoost engine. I can't wait to see what all is in store for the new Lincoln. I even like the new, space aged ads Lincoln has.

Lincoln Website

Credit Cards.

Those helpful personal finance tools that are causing a lot of headaches will be our topic today. I know I'm a little late to this news story but my feelings on credit cards are mixed and confusing. So lets give this a try.

President Obama signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act (or Credit C.A.R.D. Act. You are so cleaver Congress.) into law on May 22, 2009. The new legislation has many rules protecting consumers from "unfair and dishonest" practices. Some changes I agree with and others I find a little too strict.

Good changes:

• Ban double cycle billing
• Allocate at least some of a payment to the highest interest balance.
• Ban universal default.
• 45 day notice of interest rate changes (this seems a tad long but oh well).

Bad changes:

• Limit on "over the limit" fees.
• Prohibit charging over the limit, unless cardholder accepts the transaction.

These are just a few that stand out in my mind. The over the limit protections are a bit far for me. I think if you charge over your limit, you can pay a fee. If you don't watch your finances, you are asking for trouble. I have very little sympathy for those that charge over their, usually ample, credit limits. You should be tracking your personal finances. I've been using credit cards for over 5 years and have yet to pay a single penalty or interest charge. I don't see how people can find themselves in so much trouble. That said, once a person slips, credit card companies don't lend a hand to help them up.

I read over that last paragraph and now think to myself, "Wow Matt, that is a little uncaring of you." I do feel bad for people who get deep into debt. It is very easy to do. But people take the risk when they sign up for credit cards. The Act will likely increase the cost of credit to responsible consumers, due to the loss in revenue from the reforms. I'm not looking forward to paying annual fees, I would probably cancel all but one of my cards. I swing back and forth about this being good or bad. All in all, I hope that it reduces the available credit to non-credit worthy individuals. After all less debt out there wont be a bad thing.

Credit C.A.R.D. Act

Credit Card News Site

Companies or Governments?

Let me start off with this, there will be no links today because it's Sunday and I'm being lazy. But I still want to bring up an interesting thought.

In the future what will be more important companies or governments? There are hundreds of countries on this planet all with their own laws and regulations and hundreds of companies that operate worldwide. These companies and governments don't always play well together. China has laws restricting access to the Internet, Japan has strong trade tariffs, OPEC attempts to control oil prices and many other examples of government restrictions and policy setting exist. Companies need to be flexible and adapt to where they operate. I think it is possible that the line between government and company will become blurred. Where companies set regulations and policies themselves or cooperatively with competitors. This happens today but many governments have final say over accepting industry standards or not.

Certain companies may become so important that a government would be unable to set policies against those companies due to the importance of the services and/or goods provided. This would allow a company to set its' own terms. A scary thought, no? Well what if it turns out to be not so bad. As I said some governments are very restrictive to their citizens. And a government is only as good as the people running it, which also holds true for companies. Companies can be very philanthropic, with profit and charity coexisting. These companies could be influential in moving human rights around the world forward.

I find this topic very interesting. Do you think companies will overtake governments in terms of importance and power? If so how will this affect the lives of people? Would companies be better at driving innovation and prosperity?

New Leaders.

With Steve Jobs' health sabbatical coming to an end and the 1 year anniversary of Bill Gates stepping down from his day to day roll at Microsoft, I've been thinking about how important these tech founders are to their companies.

But a comparison between Apple and Microsoft isn't completely fair. Microsoft is a software company, it develops platforms that are widely expandable by third parties and Microsoft software works well with thousands of products from thousands of companies (even though Microsoft hasn't always played well with others). Apple, on the other hand, doesn't play well with others. They develop their own hardware that is fully integrated with their software which makes programs easy to use.

I'll get this out of the way now, I loath Apple. I don't like having to buy their hardware, which is often a generation or two behind the PC market, at horribly marked up prices. I don't like Apple's DRM policies. I don't like the O.S. interface. But above all, I hate the one button mouse. Well now that we know I'm a little biased, we can continue.

Bill Gates took a simple idea and made himself the richest man on the planet with it. Make computers available to everyone. But Bill wasn't the only founder of Microsoft, Paul Allen was there. Paul was less influential at Microsoft and was no longer active at the company by 2000. Bill shaped the company and it often said that he had a clear vision from the start. Bill executed that vision with some ruthless business tactics and his company was even found guilty of anti-trust laws (even though these findings increased the price of software for consumers). But Bill alone is not Microsoft. The company is simply too big, nearly 90,000 employees in 105 countries. No one person could organize everything on that scale. Microsoft has made a rather smooth transition from the era of Bill. Steve Ballmer took over the CEO chair back in 2000 and Bill left the Chief Software Architect last June. Microsoft has changed some of its focus but, in my opinion, that is a good thing. Bill believed that computers would be in every part of our lives and while I agree with him, it won't be for some time. Microsoft's efforts are better placed on the Internet and easy to use software available on phones and other small personal computers. These will evolve overtime into an integrated network of computers that we use everyday and Microsoft needs to be the software platform of choice. I want to see more development of the Live Anywhere platform Microsoft has been talking about for some time now. The most important thing is staying the software platform of choice no matter where the market goes.

Apple's boss Steve Jobs has been having health troubles lately and this has caused fear in both investors and consumers. With Steve gone, will the company be able to maintain its focus on market shaping products? Steve has been credited with turning around but is also know for his rash and abrasive management techniques. But it is clear that Steve's focus on user products has helped Apple with huge market share gains. The must have products, such as the iPod and iPhone (which I want really bad), get people hooked on the brand. When you buy and iPod, why not get a Macbook pro to go with it? Apple is more then a computer company now, it's a culture. And this is working well for the company and I'm not sure anyone but Steve would've been able to pull this off. But Apple's restrictive ways might be its' downfall. Apple doesn't believe in the small portable and most importantly cheap netbook computers. Hopefully Apple will be flexible enough to expand into a wide range of markets and, as always, make some market shaping products in those markets.

Microsoft

Apple

Slow day.

Wow. I almost missed a day for posting. I went straight from work out to Minneapolis so I could be fitted for a tux. My cousin's wedding is coming up and I'll be in the wedding party. First congratulations to him (and her :P) but second I love dressing up so all in all it was a fun day. I've also done some reflecting on my posts, while I like posting about current events that are interesting to me, it seems like I don't post enough personal opinion. Maybe I'll post less about the topic and more about my opinion and if you need more info just click the links. I will always look for feed back too.

Strong Dollar?

The American Greenback has been falling in value recently for obvious reasons. The U.S.A. has been printing money faster then most logging companies cut trees and with more dollars in circulation, the lower their value. The newly printed money along with the record trade deficits in recent years has caused talk of credit rating downgrades for the U.S.A. The real problem, though, is inflation. The strange part is that this could cause record valuations for the stock market. Jim Rogers, charman of Rogers Holdings, believes that you shouldn't be short in the market because we could see a massive rally. The downside? It would be in worthless money. I do believe that the U.S. dollar will continue to fall in value and that we may have a credit downgrade that would cause the cost of borrowing money to jump up but I'm not sure a currency crisis is imenent.

U.S.A. Credit Downgrade?

Rogers

Cars and Video Games Oh My!

So E3 was held recently and some great games and future video game tech was demonstrated but I'm going to focus on what has my most interest. Racing games!

Forza Motorsport 3 is coming this Oct. and between this and the just announced Grand Turismo 5, I'll probably end up with Forza. Mostly because I don't own a Playstation 3 and partly because I like the online experience on the Xbox 360. It's been said that Forza will be packed with upwards to 400 cars from 50 different manufacturers and like before the cars will be customizable. GT5 on the other hand has been beautifully rendered and will include World Rally Car and NASCAR racing events. GT5 also has some really amazing damage effects. It would be an amazing game to play, I just wont be buying a PS3 anytime soon. So here are the game trailers and see which one looks more promising.

GT5

Forza:

The Future of Medicine?

I'm talking stem cells here. Stem cells conjure up all sorts of ideas and

opinions, ranging from how horrible they are to how they cure everything.

But in a recent study, stem cells have shown they can reverse blindness.

I say reverse and not cure because, in my opinion, not enough time has

elapsed to prove the effectiveness of the treatment.

No, these stem cells are not from fetuses. They come from the patients

other eye and are cultured on a contact lens, then the contact is inserted

into the bad eye. This is the future of medicine, we need to push

research like this forward.

UNSW

A New Day, New Things To Ponder

Microsoft has announced its launch date for Windows 7, October 22. I was hopping for an earlier release, maybe in time for the back to school craze. I think Microsoft didn't want the release to be too soon after the launch of Vista. I did not buy a computer with Vista but not because it's a bad OS. I simply was not in the market for a new computer until Windows 7 was rumored to be around the corner. I've played around with Vista and honestly think it wasn't bad, it just had some problems with drivers in its early release. It has been rather smooth sailing for Vista since, but it is still a resource hog and a little cumbersome so Windows 7 here I come.

Ford Motor Company, my favorite automaker, posted a year over year sales decline of 24.25% . The lowest decline of any major automaker. Toyota posted a 40.72% decline, and Honda dropped 41.46%. GM saw sales drop 29.55% even with rumors of bankruptcy (which it filed for on June 1st) and Chrysler sales fell 46.88%. Ford's comparatively light sales drop was helped by an actual increase in sales from its Lincoln brand of 2.4%. Ford has been doing amazing things recently and it shows. They have refocused on a core group of vehicle nameplates and is marketing its self well. Ford has the best online presence of any automaker, using Twitter, Facebook, Wordpress and its own recently redesigned website to raise brand awareness.

Are cars the biggest thing to worry about when talking about pollution? While stricter emission standards on cars, from an environmetnal standpoint, are not bad, focusing only on cars and trucks surly is. I've done some online reading and while I understand that the "facts" presented are not always accurate, its informing to read through. According to one British newspaper, the worlds 15 largest shipping tankers emit enough nitrogen oxide and sulphur oxide to equal the world's 760 million cars. The most disturbing part? Almsot no laws restrict emissions from tankers.

Windows 7

Auto Sales

Ford's new (awesome) website

Tanker Pollution

What a day.

• GM is bankrupt (but we knew this was coming).
• E3 has been kicked off and Microsoft is making some great announcements.
• Microsoft's new search engine, Bing, has gone live early

Three rather large news stories. I've mixed feelings about the GM bankruptcy. The GM debt holders are not getting much back, a 10% stake in the new GM. The Treasury on the other had is getting a majority stake. This is unsettling for me because I believe in free markets and the idea that in bankruptcy court debtors get the first take on assets. That said, I truly believe that we would be worse off as a country if GM was liquidated and disbanded. I don't have any easy answers but I do believe the debtors should have received a much larger stake in the new company.

E3 is an exciting event for people who love video games. I'll be honest, I haven't played many video games since I left high shcool but I still enjoy them when I do get time to pick them up. The real news is how many things Microsoft is doing with their Xbox 360 platform. They will be offering new tools for social sites Facebook and Twitter in the user interface on the Xbox. Full new retail games will be available for download. Which is a large step into the future of digital distribution, which I believe will replace hardcopy media in the coming years. Other news is coming out of E3 and I encourage you to take a look even if you don't particularly like video games.

Bing has been launched a few days early and I'm enjoying the search engine so far. I'll continue to test it out by setting Bing as my default search engine. Search results are very informative and nicely displayed. Some results Bing turns up are dated but hopefully as the algorithms evolve the results will get better and better.

GM Bankruptcy News

E3 Microsoft Keynote

Bing is Live