Archive for category News

Gamasutra – News – Netflix CEO Discusses Hulu Plus, Disc-Free PS3 Version

Jul 23

With competition becoming increasingly fierce among online streaming services for television and movies, console makers are trying to one-up each other in as many ways as possible, and soon PlayStation 3 will join Xbox 360 in the ability to watch Netflix-streamed video without a dedicated disc."Before our next [financial results] in October, we expect to be launching a major new version of our Sony PS3 user interface which doesnt require a disc, and is dynamically updated continuously with the latest Netflix UI improvements," said Netflix CEO Reed Hastings this week as part of the companys second-quarter earnings report.

via Gamasutra – News – Netflix CEO Discusses Hulu Plus, Disc-Free PS3 Version.

Now that’s some good news – I can’t wait to be able to use Netflix through my PS3 without having to find the disc.

Tags: netflix, ps3

Save the economy, Fund Basic R&D

Aug 31

Posted by andreas in News, Politics | No Comments

Great article in businessweek. Look at the infrastructure that brought us most of the technology we use today – much of it was done by public-private parterships (e.g. Bell Labs, Xerox Parc, etc.). If we want to recreate the jobs that have been lost during the recession, we need to put our faith back into the innovation that created the strong US economy – our intellectual leadership through scientific innovation. Great article.

Tags: innovation, science

Reboot

Aug 3

Posted by andreas in News, Personal | No Comments

It’s time to reboot the old blog – so I quickly changed themes, not sure if this one will stick, but I’m giving it a shot.

Things are … pretty good, I must say. Work is going well, we just had friends stay with us for a few days which was great. I got to see Yankee Stadium, and I got to visit Paris with Stephanie.

Stephanie’s pregnancy is going *very* well, and the excitement is mounting. October will come quickly, but, with the newly painted room, and the new furniture that we’re going to be assembling tonight, we should be ready… Although, is anyone really ready for a baby?

I did one fun thing to “get ready” for the baby. I got a new camera, which is a wonderful toy – a Nikon D90. I’m still getting the hang of it, but I’m sure my flickr account will soon be bursting at the seams.

Next week we’ll be in Duxbury for a well deserved, week-long vacation. And I just can’t wait. Summer is here!

Iconic Harvard Square newsstand may close – Boston.com

Nov 19

Posted by andreas in News, boston | No Comments

I just learned two things. 1) The Out of Town news is owned by the same people who own all those Hudson News kiosks in airports. 2) Harvard Square is in desperate need of a new soul.

Iconic Harvard Square newsstand may close – Boston.com.

Best Of New Orleans Blog » Blog Archive » URGENT REQUEST FROM REPUBLIC OF AMERICA FOR BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP (CONFIDENTIAL!)

Sep 25

Posted by andreas in News, Politics | No Comments

Dear American, My Dear Friend:

I am Ministry of the Treasury of the Republic of America.

I need to ask you to support an urgent secret business relationship with a transfer of funds of great magnitude.

My country has had crisis that has caused the need for large transfer of funds of 800 billion dollars US. If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you.

I am working with “Mr. Phil Gram,” lobbyist for UBS, who will be my replacement as Ministry of the Treasury in January. As a citizen, you may know him as the leader of the American banking deregulation movement in the 1990s. This transactin is 100% safe.

This is a matter of great urgency. We need a blank check.

We need the funds as quickly as possible. We cannot directly transfer these funds in the names of our close friends because we are constantly under surveillance. My family lawyer advised me that I should look for a reliable and trustworthy person who will act as a next of kin so the funds can be transferred.

Please reply with all of your bank account, IRA and college fund account numbers and those of your children and grandchildren to wallstreetbailout@treasury.gov so that we may transfer your commission for this transaction.

After I receive that information, I will respond with detailed information about safeguards that will be used to protect the funds.

Do not discuss this message with anyone! Time is of the essence!

Yours Faithfully.

Minister of Treasury Hank Paulson

Best Of New Orleans Blog » Blog Archive » URGENT REQUEST FROM REPUBLIC OF AMERICA FOR BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP (CONFIDENTIAL!).

Alan Moore on the Watchmen

Sep 18

Posted by andreas in News, Personal | No Comments

I just had a wonderful time …. driving from NJ to Boston. Oh well, it could have been South Carolina to Boston.

Before I retire, great LA Times article on Alan Moore. Will the Watchmen hold up? I hope so!

Tags: Alan Moore, Watchmen, work

American Life in Poetry: Column 181

Sep 11

Posted by andreas in News, Web | No Comments

American Life in Poetry: Column 181

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE, 2004-2006

Stuart Kestenbaum, the author of this week’s poem, lost his brother Howard in the destruction of the twin towers of the World Trade Center. We thought it appropriate to commemorate the events of September 11, 2001, by sharing this poem. The poet is the director of the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts on Deer Isle, Maine.

Prayer for the Dead

The light snow started late last night and continued
all night long while I slept and could hear it occasionally
enter my sleep, where I dreamed my brother
was alive again and possessing the beauty of youth, aware
that he would be leaving again shortly and that is the lesson
of the snow falling and of the seeds of death that are in everything
that is born: we are here for a moment
of a story that is longer than all of us and few of us
remember, the wind is blowing out of someplace
we don’t know, and each moment contains rhythms
within rhythms, and if you discover some old piece
of your own writing, or an old photograph,
you may not remember that it was you and even if it was once you,
it’s not you now, not this moment that the synapses fire
and your hands move to cover your face in a gesture
of grief and remembrance.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine.

Tags: 9/11, poetry

Buchanan Liked It…

Aug 29

Posted by andreas in News, Politics | No Comments

Watched it last night from my new living room chair. Obama is rockin’ my world.

Tags: buchanan, obama, Politics

I’ve got Hope, and We’ve Got Change!

Jun 4

Posted by andreas in News, Politics | No Comments

From here:

Obama Clinches Democratic Race

Sen. Barack Obama has claimed the Democratic presidential nomination after outdistancing rival Sen. Hillary Clinton in a history-making campaign that has energized the party’s base.

Obama’s declaration Tuesday night came in the same Minnesota arena where Sen. John McCain will officially accept the Republican nomination for president in September.

“Because of you, tonight I can stand here and say that I will be the Democratic nominee for the president of the United States of America,” he told cheering supporters.

Obama was magnanimous to Clinton, who has so far declined to officially withdraw her candidacy.

Speaking of the New York senator, he said she had “made history not just because she is a woman who has done what no woman has done before, but because she is a leader who inspires millions of Americans.”

While Clinton refused to concede the race outright, she told supporters Tuesday night that she was “committed to uniting our party so that we move forward, stronger and more ready than ever to take back the White House this November.”

Obama promised to steer away from divisiveness in the general election and acknowledged his presumptive opponent in the general election.

“We honor the service of John McCain and I respect his many accomplishments even if he chooses to deny mine,” he said.

Now, the big question becomes Hillary. What’s her next step?

Tags: barack obama, obama, Politics, president