Because your schooldesk will protect you from nuclear fallout:
Month: March 2006
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‘Word Processing Error’ leads to $7 billion taxpayer expense, oil industry profit
From the AP:
The Interior Department disclosed Wednesday that a provision was mysteriously deleted from hundreds of federal drilling leases in the late 1990s that would have required producers to pay royalties, once prices reached a certain level, on oil or gas taken from deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
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Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., the subcommittee chairman, called the whole matter “suspicious.”
“This is a $7 billion word processing error,” Issa told reporters. He said some of the leases issued during those two years could remain in effect for as long as 85 years, so the government will be unable to collect royalty payments from oil and gas taken from those leases for decades to come.
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Thinksecret: video iPod debut near
Thinksecret maintains Apple is (still) nearing the release of the “real” Video iPod:
Apple’s forthcoming “true” video iPod will feature a 4-inch display with a quarter-inch border, allowing the device to maintain dimensions typical of previous iPods, further sources have confirmed. Think Secret first broke word of the upcoming touch-screen iPod in early February.
advertisementThat initial report pegged the new iPod’s display at 3.5-inches, but reliable sources say that after considering both 3.5-inch and 4-inch prototypes, Apple has settled on the larger iteration for production.
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CNET: TiVo to tighten grip on children’s viewing
Cnet seems to have a lead on today’s big announcement from TiVo:
In a new twist on helping parents control what children watch on television, TiVo will announce today a service that lets its video recorders limit children to watching shows approved by one of two groups promoting family programming.
Parental controls have been built into most television and cable set-top boxes for the last decade, allowing parents to limit their children’s viewing to shows that have certain ratings as assigned by the networks. TiVo as well had a parental control system based on these ratings. Many digital cable boxes offer even more options, letting parents select individual programs to block.
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Comcast To Show Some Movies Same Day As Theaters
Cable giant Comcast has a deal to show selected independent movies at the same time the releases hit theaters.
Comcast said indie films from “IFC in Theaters” will be shown through its “On Demand” service. That technology stores movies, TV shows and other video for subscribers with digital set-top boxes to watch at any time they choose.
The showings, priced at $5.99 each, will be launched on March 22.
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Hands tired of typing? Let your feet do the work
Hands tired of typing? Let your feet do the work.REDMOND, Wash. – Ever feel like you’re not making good enough use of your feet when you’re catching up on your e-mail or sorting through all those digital pictures you took on that last vacation?
Computer scientists in Microsoft Corp.’s research division have developed a color-coded “dance pad” with buttons you can tap with your feet — or jump on — to scroll through electronic files.
Michael Castellon 