Frank Boosman points out that, according to a report from the Chicago Sun-Times, the war in Iraq has cost $130 billion to date or $198M per day. That makes the amount committed to date by the U.S. to tsnuami relief ($350M) equal to 42.27 hours of Iraq war costs. Hmmmmm.
HP Goes Linux for Home Entertainment
Despite already offering one of the slicker Windows Media Center solutions, Hewlett-Packard is announcing a Linux-based home entertainment hub at CES this week. Link to C|net report.
HP’s new media hub will run the Linux operating system, include HD TV recording and an ethernet connection to your home network for access to media files stored on other PCs. It will have a remote control, much like the MCE, but likely have an option for a full keyboard.
It’s fascinating that HP is choosing to go the Linux route when they have so fully embraced Windows Media Center. Variety is good, and a statement on Tuesday from Vyomesch Joshi, executive vice president of HP’s imaging and printing group that “customers want simplicity, innovation and mainstream price points,” seems to explain some of the reasons why they have gone the Linux route.
HP has done this before, way back in 2001, also on a Linux platform. And we all know and love another fabulous Linux-based home entertainment box – the TiVo!
I’m looking forward to seeing HP’s new offering.
Not That Tsunami
Photo editors have a job to do. Part of that job is to make sure of the sources of the images they publish, especially gigantical, four-column monstrosities like the one in the Calgary Herald. Great image, illustrates the story well. Trouble is, this photo is from a tsunami that hit China a few years back. It’s easily found on the web via a google search. Turns out this is a two-year-old Reuters photo of a group of people who gathered to watch some large waves, and one turned out to be larger than expected. The mayor of Calgary had the image and showed it during a presentation for tsunami aid, and the Herald asked for the image, assuming that it was a current image. Ooops. Link to apology here.
Patently Absurd
The patent office is a fascinating resource, I have discovered, after readying an interesting post on Waxy.org.
Andy Baio points out a patent application by Apple Computer for the backend software used to publish music to the iTunes Music Store. Cool stuff.
Even more interestingly, he points out that you can keep up with your favorite companies approved and pending patents, like so.
So, here are all approved patents and pending applications for Apple Computer. Some other interesting company searches: Google’s pending and approved, TiVo’s pending and approved, and Yahoo’s pending and approved.
And this blog, FreshPatents.com, has RSS feeds by industry on new patent requests/grants. Cool!