News highlights
A neat party trick might make you smarter.
Increases or improvements in advanced mental functions might result from learning to juggle -- a revelation that is believed to lead to disease management, accoring to Arne May, who heads reasearch in this area at Germany's University of
Regensburg.
Mars rover 'Spirit' is in critical trouble.
NASA engineers think a hardware failure is the cause of malfunctions that cropped up this past week, which means the mission is terminated for all intents and purposes. Spirit's twin, 'Opportunity', is expected to land later today. It's unclear whether the second rover will suffer the same demise.
A new way to contribute to the presidential candidate of your choice.
Amazon.com rolled out a new feature Friday that collects campaign contributions of up to $200 for the candidates. As of this morning, Kerry received 1,699 bucks, Dean got 1,095 dollars and Libertarian candidate Michael Badnarik earned 252 dollars.
A major hotel chain Offers Free Hi-Speed Internet Access in all its properties.
In a big step bound to put pressure on its rivals, Best Western International Inc. said Friday it would begin offering free high-speed Internet access in all 2,300 of its hotels in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Best Western is the first to implement the policy for all its hotels. In each of the hotels, at least 15 percent of the guest rooms will have high-speed Internet access. The company also plans to make wireless cards available for guests to connect in the hotels' public areas.
How to get the attention of a major software developer with your domain name.
Mike Rowe is a 17-year-old Canadian who caught the attention of Microsoft Corp.'s lawyers by registering www.mikerowesoft.com. Friday, he agreed to give up his Web site in exchange for training for certification on Microsoft's products, a subscription to Microsoft's developer program Web site, and an Xbox (news - web sites) video game console with games, as well as an invitation to bring his parents along for a visit to Microsoft's Redmond, Washington, headquarters for an annual technology fair. Microsoft will also set Mike up with a new web site and redirect traffic to it so the lucky kid won't lose any business.
Computer maker turned twenty yesterday (give or take a week).
Introduction of the first Macintosh came two decades ago this week. Happy Birthday!
File sharing software maker strikes back at the music & recording industry
According to Sharman Networks, a U.S. federal court has cleared the way for Kazaa to sue the entertainment industry for copyright infringement. In recent history, studios and recording companies have targeted Kazaa and other file sharing networks -- who are now accused of misusing Kazaa software to invade users' privacy and send corrupt files and threatening messages. TOO-SHAY! RIAA, says Sharman will have a very difficult time providing evidence to support their allegations.
Blogs heavily used presidential election campaigns
Such journals, known as blogs, may not be doing much to sway undecided voters, but analysts say they strongly impact the media, campaign consultants and activists.
"A blog's not going to have the same reach as a Washington Post or USA Today or an AP article," said Cameron Barrett, a longtime blogger now with Wesley Clark (news - web sites)'s campaign. "But it does have reach, and people consistently go to online blogs to find information that traditional media ignore."
Blogs are collections of links and ideas, usually frequently updated. Their most recent entries are on top, and readers can generally post comments. Blogs are increasingly popular, and the software behind them gets friendlier to use by the
day.
