Mark Fiore: NarcoMex, Inc.
March 31, 2010 :: Posted by - admin :: Category - Inventions
Mark Fiore: NarcoMex, Inc.
March 31, 2010 :: Posted by - admin :: Category - Inventions
Spam Site Registrations Flee China for Russia
March 31, 2010 :: Posted by - admin :: Category - Inventions
A crackdown by the Chinese government on anonymous domain name registrations has chased spammers from Chinese registrars (.cn) to those that handle the registration of Russian (.ru) Web site names, new spam figures suggest. Yet, those spammy domains may soon migrate to yet another country, as Russia is set to enforce a policy similar to China’s beginning April 1.In mid-December 2009, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) announced that it was instituting steps to make it much harder to register a Web site anonymously in China, by barring individuals from registering domains ending in .cn. Under the new policy, those who want to register a new .cn domain name need to hand in written application forms, complete with a business license and an identity card.
Chinese authorities called the move a crackdown on phishing and pornographic Web sites, but human rights and privacy groups marked it as yet another effort by Chinese leaders to maintain tight control over their corner of the Internet. Nevertheless, the policy clearly caught the attention of the world’s most profligate spammers, who spam experts say could always count on Chinese registrars as a cheap and reliable place to buy domains for Web sites that would later be advertised in junk e-mail.
According to data obtained from two anti-spam experts, new registrations for sites advertised in spam began migrating from .cn to .ru just a few weeks after the Chinese domain policy took effect.
More here.
Spam Site Registrations Flee China for Russia
March 31, 2010 :: Posted by - admin :: Category - Inventions
A crackdown by the Chinese government on anonymous domain name registrations has chased spammers from Chinese registrars (.cn) to those that handle the registration of Russian (.ru) Web site names, new spam figures suggest. Yet, those spammy domains may soon migrate to yet another country, as Russia is set to enforce a policy similar to China’s beginning April 1.In mid-December 2009, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) announced that it was instituting steps to make it much harder to register a Web site anonymously in China, by barring individuals from registering domains ending in .cn. Under the new policy, those who want to register a new .cn domain name need to hand in written application forms, complete with a business license and an identity card.
Chinese authorities called the move a crackdown on phishing and pornographic Web sites, but human rights and privacy groups marked it as yet another effort by Chinese leaders to maintain tight control over their corner of the Internet. Nevertheless, the policy clearly caught the attention of the world’s most profligate spammers, who spam experts say could always count on Chinese registrars as a cheap and reliable place to buy domains for Web sites that would later be advertised in junk e-mail.
According to data obtained from two anti-spam experts, new registrations for sites advertised in spam began migrating from .cn to .ru just a few weeks after the Chinese domain policy took effect.
More here.
MindMapper Collaboration Released
March 31, 2010 :: Posted by - admin :: Category - Inventions
I have worked with MindMapper 2009 for some time now and did a review of the product in an earlier post. Today I had a chance to catch up with Patrick Koh from SimTech and had the opportunity to try out their new product called MindMapper Collaboration. With MindMapper Collaboration it is now possible to host a live session over the web and host your mind maps that can be simultaneously worked on during the session.
During this morning’s session Patrick hosted the session and sent me an invitation via an email. Once I clicked on the Join Session button, my instance of MindMapper 2009 opened and I was able to work on the mind map with Patrick as if it was on my computer. MindMapper Collaboration was very fast when I was entering information into the map and it was hard for me to believe that I wasn’t working on the map from my standalone application. All of the features that I have in the desktop version are there and now when I am collaborating, within MindMapper Collaboration, I have access to a Chat and Polling feature. Unlike some other collaborative tools you can invite MindMapper 2009 users and non-users to your session which is a big plus. There is no need for your client to have access to MindMapper 2009 in order to participate in the session. At this time users will need to use Internet Explorer to access the session. Using MindMapper Collaboration, hosts can schedule and set up meetings ahead of time that are sent to the collaborators via an email. For individuals who participate in the meeting who don’t have access to MindMapper 2009 there is a small application that will need to be downloaded in order to participate. Once the application is downloaded, guests will have all of the functionality as that of an individual who has a standalone version of MindMapper 2009. During the next couple of weeks I will have some time to test MindMapper 2009 on my own and will give you my impressions. The trend is clear- more users want to be able to use their mind mapping tools to collaborate and all of the publishers are listening and chart a course to make this happen. For more information about MindMapper Collaboration click here.
MindMapper Collaboration Released
March 31, 2010 :: Posted by - admin :: Category - Inventions
I have worked with MindMapper 2009 for some time now and did a review of the product in an earlier post. Today I had a chance to catch up with Patrick Koh from SimTech and had the opportunity to try out their new product called MindMapper Collaboration. With MindMapper Collaboration it is now possible to host a live session over the web and host your mind maps that can be simultaneously worked on during the session.
During this morning’s session Patrick hosted the session and sent me an invitation via an email. Once I clicked on the Join Session button, my instance of MindMapper 2009 opened and I was able to work on the mind map with Patrick as if it was on my computer. MindMapper Collaboration was very fast when I was entering information into the map and it was hard for me to believe that I wasn’t working on the map from my standalone application. All of the features that I have in the desktop version are there and now when I am collaborating, within MindMapper Collaboration, I have access to a Chat and Polling feature. Unlike some other collaborative tools you can invite MindMapper 2009 users and non-users to your session which is a big plus. There is no need for your client to have access to MindMapper 2009 in order to participate in the session. At this time users will need to use Internet Explorer to access the session. Using MindMapper Collaboration, hosts can schedule and set up meetings ahead of time that are sent to the collaborators via an email. For individuals who participate in the meeting who don’t have access to MindMapper 2009 there is a small application that will need to be downloaded in order to participate. Once the application is downloaded, guests will have all of the functionality as that of an individual who has a standalone version of MindMapper 2009. During the next couple of weeks I will have some time to test MindMapper 2009 on my own and will give you my impressions. The trend is clear- more users want to be able to use their mind mapping tools to collaborate and all of the publishers are listening and chart a course to make this happen. For more information about MindMapper Collaboration click here.
Charging via wi-fi with RCA’s AirPower
March 31, 2010 :: Posted by - admin :: Category - Inventions
The bane of all our portable electronic devices is when they run out of power. RCA has come up with a way to absorb power from increasingly wi-fi signals. That could mean a stop off in Starbucks can now juice up your batteries.
While the first set of devices that will utilize this technology will be a standalone battery/charger system, which once, after 6-8 hours, can be used to charge your devices, RCA has also said that the technology can be integrated into devices themselves. Imagine that: anywhere a wi-fi signal existed you could get a boost to your iPhone / Nexus One / whatever battery.
According to RCA, the AirPower does this by “regurgitating and converting the 2.4GHz Wi-Fi signal,” whatever that means. It sounds like the device takes the signal and converts it to usable energy that can be made to charge a battery.
This is an interesting new technology that RCA has come up with. No details on pricing or exact availability for the chargers (above) yet, except that they should be around in time for the holidays.
Charging via wi-fi with RCA’s AirPower
March 31, 2010 :: Posted by - admin :: Category - Inventions
The bane of all our portable electronic devices is when they run out of power. RCA has come up with a way to absorb power from increasingly wi-fi signals. That could mean a stop off in Starbucks can now juice up your batteries.
While the first set of devices that will utilize this technology will be a standalone battery/charger system, which once, after 6-8 hours, can be used to charge your devices, RCA has also said that the technology can be integrated into devices themselves. Imagine that: anywhere a wi-fi signal existed you could get a boost to your iPhone / Nexus One / whatever battery.
According to RCA, the AirPower does this by “regurgitating and converting the 2.4GHz Wi-Fi signal,” whatever that means. It sounds like the device takes the signal and converts it to usable energy that can be made to charge a battery.
This is an interesting new technology that RCA has come up with. No details on pricing or exact availability for the chargers (above) yet, except that they should be around in time for the holidays.
The house edge on blackjack worsens
March 31, 2010 :: Posted by - admin :: Category - Inventions
Well, the inevitable has begun to happen. When the recession first hit and credit dried up, everyone predicted the casinos would lose out. If the banks squeeze credit, people cannot maintain their levels of discretionary spending and, sadly, gambling is always going to be one of the choices made less often. The prediction then ran on: if fewer people go into casinos and those that do go spend less, the casinos will find their profits under pressure. At this point, the forecasters would take a deep breath. This will not be a problem so long as the casinos hold their nerve. The economy will slowly pick up. Confidence will return as consumers save less and spend more. In three to five years time, casino revenues will be back to their normal levels. But, and this is where the forecasters would look grim, if the casinos try to suck extra dollars of profit out of fewer players, they risk killing the golden goose. So which way have casinos played their hands?
In most states, blackjack has always been the biggest table game. But in 2009, casinos across the US lost an average 20% of their annual revenue from the tables. When you lose such a big slice of your revenue from just one game, this puts pressure on the casino operators. Unfortunately, they have tended to move in the wrong direction. Most states regulate on the basis of a 3:2 payout on blackjack (i.e. if you bet $10 and win, the casino pays $15). In Colorado, operators have applied for an increase in table odds to 6:5 (i.e. a winning $10 bet pays out only $12). For those of you who like the math, this lifts the house edge from 1.5% to 2.9%. In Nevada, the table odds moved to 6:5 months ago, closely followed by a general raise in the table minimums. This drove away the casual players and, not surprisingly, the high rollers followed. The casinos shot themselves in the foot by both tightening the rules and reducing the payouts.
Where has the business gone? Well, the hard core gamblers have decided they don’t like the deck being so obviously stacked against them. There’s no reason why should they tolerate low payouts when online casinos have kept their table odds at a fair level and not changed their table minimums. Online, you can still play at $1 or $5 tables if that’s all you want to risk. The higher table minimums are there if you want them but there’s no pressure. In the real world, slightly stressed staff are trying to encourage you to spend more. Sitting in the peace of your own home, you can pull a beer out of the fridge and take life easy. There are so many good online casinos where you can play blackjack with many different styles of online blackjack to choose from. If the mood takes you, there are tournaments to play. If the money runs out, you can always play for free. This is one time when the greed of the real world operators has worked against them. In the good old days before the internet, it was a real world casino or nothing. Now that the internet has come of age and the quality of the casino software has improved, the real world casinos have a real fight on their hands if they want to remain relevant.
The house edge on blackjack worsens
March 31, 2010 :: Posted by - admin :: Category - Inventions
Well, the inevitable has begun to happen. When the recession first hit and credit dried up, everyone predicted the casinos would lose out. If the banks squeeze credit, people cannot maintain their levels of discretionary spending and, sadly, gambling is always going to be one of the choices made less often. The prediction then ran on: if fewer people go into casinos and those that do go spend less, the casinos will find their profits under pressure. At this point, the forecasters would take a deep breath. This will not be a problem so long as the casinos hold their nerve. The economy will slowly pick up. Confidence will return as consumers save less and spend more. In three to five years time, casino revenues will be back to their normal levels. But, and this is where the forecasters would look grim, if the casinos try to suck extra dollars of profit out of fewer players, they risk killing the golden goose. So which way have casinos played their hands?
In most states, blackjack has always been the biggest table game. But in 2009, casinos across the US lost an average 20% of their annual revenue from the tables. When you lose such a big slice of your revenue from just one game, this puts pressure on the casino operators. Unfortunately, they have tended to move in the wrong direction. Most states regulate on the basis of a 3:2 payout on blackjack (i.e. if you bet $10 and win, the casino pays $15). In Colorado, operators have applied for an increase in table odds to 6:5 (i.e. a winning $10 bet pays out only $12). For those of you who like the math, this lifts the house edge from 1.5% to 2.9%. In Nevada, the table odds moved to 6:5 months ago, closely followed by a general raise in the table minimums. This drove away the casual players and, not surprisingly, the high rollers followed. The casinos shot themselves in the foot by both tightening the rules and reducing the payouts.
Where has the business gone? Well, the hard core gamblers have decided they don’t like the deck being so obviously stacked against them. There’s no reason why should they tolerate low payouts when online casinos have kept their table odds at a fair level and not changed their table minimums. Online, you can still play at $1 or $5 tables if that’s all you want to risk. The higher table minimums are there if you want them but there’s no pressure. In the real world, slightly stressed staff are trying to encourage you to spend more. Sitting in the peace of your own home, you can pull a beer out of the fridge and take life easy. There are so many good online casinos where you can play blackjack with many different styles of online blackjack to choose from. If the mood takes you, there are tournaments to play. If the money runs out, you can always play for free. This is one time when the greed of the real world operators has worked against them. In the good old days before the internet, it was a real world casino or nothing. Now that the internet has come of age and the quality of the casino software has improved, the real world casinos have a real fight on their hands if they want to remain relevant.