BamaInvestment already 145 days old, growing slowly but already became a trusty HYIP. (...)

When Apple started running the anti-Vista commercial (above) mocking Microsoft for spending $300 million on Vista’s own ad campaign instead of on fixing its problems, I called it hypocritical:

Apple’s advertising budget is also pretty massive. I mean, I see more Apple commercials on TV than ads for Barack Obama. Apple is on track to spend more than $3.5 billion on SG&A (selling, general, and administrative expenses) for its fiscal year that ended September 30. How much of that was spent on advertising? I don’t know, but 10 percent doesn’t seem unreasonable.

It turns out that I underestimated Apple’s advertising budget. Lindsay Blakely at Bnet (a former Business 2.0 reporter) found the actual numbers in a subsequent SEC filing. In its 2008 fiscal year that just ended last September, Apple spent a whopping $486 million on advertising. (In fiscal year 2007, it spent $467 million, and in fiscal year 2006 it spent $338 million).

Half a billion dollars on marketing. No wonder I think Apple products are so great.

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

A Kentucky inmate who resisted all appeals to stop his execution was put to death for murdering two young children. It was the state's first execution in nine years.div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~f/CBSNewsMain?a=Xyu6n"img src="http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~f/CBSNewsMain?i=Xyu6n" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~f/CBSNewsMain?a=y5jjN"img src="http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~f/CBSNewsMain?i=y5jjN" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~f/CBSNewsMain?a=4yVBn"img src="http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~f/CBSNewsMain?i=4yVBn" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~f/CBSNewsMain?a=w4Y3n"img src="http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~f/CBSNewsMain?i=w4Y3n" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~f/CBSNewsMain?a=danSN"img src="http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~f/CBSNewsMain?i=danSN" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~f/CBSNewsMain?a=VzfwN"img src="http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~f/CBSNewsMain?i=VzfwN" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.cbsnews.com/~r/CBSNewsMain/~4/461512517" height="1" width="1"/

Ian Lesnet sent in a link to his Bus Pirate project, a universal bus adapter that lets you interface with most standard integrated circuit serial protocols at different voltages - all from you PC's serial port. The idea is that you can debug, test, and prototype ideas a lot faster if you don't have to breadboard an interface circuit every time you work with a new chip.

the bus pirate is a serial terminal bridge to multiple ic interface protocols. we type commands into a serial terminal on the computer. the commands go to the bus pirate through the pc serial port. the bus pirate talks to a microchip in the proper protocol, and returns the results to the pc.

all pins output 3.3volts, but are 5volt tolerant. on-board 3.3volt and 5volt power supplies are available to power the connected chip. software configurable i2c pull-up resistors complete the package.

the serial terminal interface works with any system: pc, mac, linux, palm pilots, wince devices, etc; no crapware required. we considered a usb device, but usb isn't compatible with the huge number of hand-held devices that have a serial port. we also wanted a 3.3volt device with 5volt tolerant inputs, but most popular through-hole usb microcontollers were 5volt parts (e.g. the pic18fx550).

The device supports i2c, spi, uart/serial, and raw 2-wire and 3-wire. It looks like a pretty handy little tool, and Ian has included all the information you need to build one of your own.

The Bus Pirate

a href="http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/11/bus_pirate_universal_seri.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890" /Read more/a | a href="http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/11/bus_pirate_universal_seri.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890" / Permalink/a | a href="http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/11/bus_pirate_universal_seri.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890#comments" /Comments/a | a href="http://blog.makezine.com/archive/electronics/?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890" /Read more articles in Electronics/a | a href="http://digg.com/submit?url=blog.makezine.com%2Farchive%2F2008%2F11%2Fbus_pirate_universal_seri.htmltitle=Bus%20Pirate%20-%20universal%20serial%20interfacebodytext=%20Ian%20Lesnet%20sent%20in%20a%20link%20to%20his%20Bus%20Pirate%20project%2C%20a%20universal%20bus%20adapter%20that%20lets%20you%20interface%20with%20most%20standard%20integrated%20circuit%20serial%20protocols%20at%20different%20voltages%20-%20all%20from%20you%20PC%26apos%3Bs%20serial%20port.%20The%20idea%20is...topic=tech_news" /Digg this!/a

via MacNN:

The latest development in the Apple-Psystar case may potentially see Apple stumbling over potential fines, as a recent filing shows that the company does not practice common document and email archiving etiquette. The Industry Standard reports that Apple maintains no company standard for email and document retention, a practice that can lead to millions of dollars in fines when adequate documentat...


More...

Author : Glenn Blakeslee

At four in the morning the alarms went off. Lois hardly stirred, but I went downstairs to the kitchen, started a pot of coffee, and then slogged my sorry ass to the control console, next to the laundry room.

Red lights glared from the temperature control panel. The needles showed an overtemp in the secondary thermocouple but normal temperatures in the primary, so I couldn’t tell if the relay was actually over-heating or if the secondary had failed again. I dialed down the master motor-control rheostat a couple of notches —losing precious speed— but the warning light didn’t go out, so instead of doing anything more I went to the kitchen, poured a cup of coffee, and waited until dawn.

I spent most of the day under the home. Replacing the thermocouple dimmed the warning light but I could feel, just by a touch on its titanium casing, that the number three stepper motor was running much too hot. I took the motor offline and spent a few hours tightening and replacing coolant lines. I inspected the narrow yard-tall wheels on the rear outboard truck assembly and ended up replacing the bearings on two of the twelve wheels.

Around noon Lois came down the stairs, shook her head and grinned at me. “Come on up for lunch, Herb,” she said. It was a nice day, cool for summer, so we ate sandwiches and watermelon on the veranda.

After lunch I climbed to the roof, and in the strong midday sun I dusted off the solar panels and checked the alignment on the control linkage. I stood for a while admiring our new cupola, built a few weeks ago toward the front of the house. It was expensive, but Lois and I both believed the cupola completed our home.

Lois invited the Smiths from next-door over for supper. I grilled steaks on the patio while Bill Smith drank my beer and Lois and Dorothy Smith sat gossiping. “Nice cupola, Herb,” Bill said, gloating.

“Yeah?” I said.

“Sure,” Bill said. “That thing must weigh a couple tons.” Bill’s home had been inching past mine for the last year. He’d gained nearly half a house on me.

“Lois and I love the cupola,” I said.

“You should have gotten the high-performance relays instead. Like I did,” Bill said.

“I think the cupola is beautiful!” Dorothy said with a smile.

After the Smiths left we cleaned up, and I went to the control console and moved the master rheostat up a notch. No warning lights came on. The indicators showed that we’d moved a little less than thirty-three inches that day.

At dusk Lois and I climbed the stairs to the cupola. We opened the windows, let the breeze in. “Bill isn’t racing you, you know,” Lois said.

I put my arm around her shoulders. “The hell he isn’t,” I replied, and I kissed her.

From the cupola we could see the neighborhood as it stretched toward the horizon, each home moving at its own good speed. We were heading toward the sunset, the sky before us streaked with red and gold and salmon. I was happy.

From the cupola I could see that, from here, it was all down hill.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The board of directors of embattled U.S. automaker General Motors Corp is considering "all options" including bankruptcy, according to a report on the Wall Street Journal's website late on Friday.div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~f/reuters/topNews?a=vSc5DGhp"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/reuters/topNews?d=41" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~f/reuters/topNews?a=z58nFNvm"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/reuters/topNews?i=z58nFNvm" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~f/reuters/topNews?a=xahqkYE8"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/reuters/topNews?i=xahqkYE8" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/reuters/topNews/~4/e7hh9GDlXEA" height="1" width="1"/

liDell comes out with Mini 12 artist editionsliDeclining demand affecting notebook chassis makersliDell exceeds profit forecasts with cost cuttingliLeft 4 Dead game now available

Mouille, mouille, paradis
Tout le monde est à l’abri
Il n’y a que mon p’tit frère
Qu’est assis dans la gouttière
Pour refroidir son p’tit fion
qu’ont ramoné vingt garçons.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A suspected U.S. drone aircraft fired missiles in the North Waziristan tribal region of Pakistan killing at least four people, according to Pakistani intelligence officials.div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~f/reuters/topNews?a=z0UNdbmQ"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/reuters/topNews?d=41" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~f/reuters/topNews?a=fQc5qIA5"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/reuters/topNews?i=fQc5qIA5" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~f/reuters/topNews?a=v3rQG9Iy"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/reuters/topNews?i=v3rQG9Iy" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/reuters/topNews/~4/zstlJhGOVfI" height="1" width="1"/

Ian Lesnet sent in a link to his Bus Pirate project, a universal bus adapter that lets you interface with most standard integrated circuit serial protocols at different voltages - all from you PC's serial port. The idea is that you can debug, test, and prototype ideas a lot faster if you don't have to breadboard an interface circuit every time you work with a new chip.

the bus pirate is a serial terminal bridge to multiple ic interface protocols. we type commands into a serial terminal on the computer. the commands go to the bus pirate through the pc serial port. the bus pirate talks to a microchip in the proper protocol, and returns the results to the pc.

all pins output 3.3volts, but are 5volt tolerant. on-board 3.3volt and 5volt power supplies are available to power the connected chip. software configurable i2c pull-up resistors complete the package.

the serial terminal interface works with any system: pc, mac, linux, palm pilots, wince devices, etc; no crapware required. we considered a usb device, but usb isn't compatible with the huge number of hand-held devices that have a serial port. we also wanted a 3.3volt device with 5volt tolerant inputs, but most popular through-hole usb microcontollers were 5volt parts (e.g. the pic18fx550).

The device supports i2c, spi, uart/serial, and raw 2-wire and 3-wire. It looks like a pretty handy little tool, and Ian has included all the information you need to build one of your own.

The Bus Pirate

Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, the eldest son -- and heir apparent -- of Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi, said he'd like to see "shock treatment" democratization in his country, while his father wants a slower pace.div class="feedflare" a href="http://rss.cnn.com/~f/rss/cnn_world?a=t7Ph8EBS"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/rss/cnn_world?d=41" border="0"/img/a a href="http://rss.cnn.com/~f/rss/cnn_world?a=4nZpImYF"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/rss/cnn_world?d=50" border="0"/img/a a href="http://rss.cnn.com/~f/rss/cnn_world?a=6Veqseo6"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/rss/cnn_world?i=6Veqseo6" border="0"/img/a a href="http://rss.cnn.com/~f/rss/cnn_world?a=8jZo1eAL"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/rss/cnn_world?d=52" border="0"/img/a a href="http://rss.cnn.com/~f/rss/cnn_world?a=D5ZpQWoN"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/rss/cnn_world?i=D5ZpQWoN" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rss/cnn_world/~4/GMnyd_fdxOE" height="1" width="1"/

Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, the eldest son -- and heir apparent -- of Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi, said he'd like to see "shock treatment" democratization in his country, while his father wants a slower pace.img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rss/edition_world/~4/it1kUqeTI_U" height="1" width="1"/

this is classic! haha

http://www.cultofiphone.org/forums/showthread.php?t=426

(Dec) Jan 1st - April 30 (dates flexible). Spacious 3 1/2 in Mile End on Parc Avenue and Fairmount. Well-decorated, furnished, one bedroom apartment: separate living room, long hallway, closed bedroom, balcony. Lots of plants, fun neighborhood, convenient proximity to McGill, grocery stores, cafes, and restaurants. $800/month including heat and electricity. WiFi.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. banking regulators seized California banks Downey Savings and Loan and PFF Bank amp; Trust late Friday as the housing crisis claimed two more victims from the financial crisis.div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~f/reuters/topNews?a=Piyakvym"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/reuters/topNews?d=41" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~f/reuters/topNews?a=NApxcS9B"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/reuters/topNews?i=NApxcS9B" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.reuters.com/~f/reuters/topNews?a=bbZltHkQ"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/reuters/topNews?i=bbZltHkQ" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/reuters/topNews/~4/PWvYkf0wYOs" height="1" width="1"/

This is so weird. I just had to get a new MOBO (old one fried) and picked up an ASUS PQ5 Deluxe. Everything is working great except for this one weird problem.

On the motherboard.


From here:
http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1282&pageID=4882

Look at this:
http://www.bjorn3d.com/Material/revi..._p5q_dlx/9.jpg

On the left (bottom) is the read firewire header. Over on the right are two USB headers which are right up against each other.

The problem is all three of those headers are much larger than the back plate expander or my front pannel connectors. If I try to plug into those, the 5 pin row of the connector will fit over the 4 pins on the header.

It makes no sense at all - I'm so lost :p

Visit ESPN.com for the complete story.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Nokia Corp plans to launch a mobile phone service in Japan next spring, a move expected to intensify competition among Japanese cell phone carriers, Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun reported on Saturday.div class="feedflare" a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/reuters/technologyNews?a=kbs7VgHi"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/reuters/technologyNews?d=41" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/reuters/technologyNews?a=nY1tRR2v"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/reuters/technologyNews?i=nY1tRR2v" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/reuters/technologyNews?a=kOz3ezzK"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/reuters/technologyNews?i=kOz3ezzK" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/reuters/technologyNews/~4/okOtlEfobz4" height="1" width="1"/

span class="cap"é›–/span然撿拾購物手推車裡的垃圾造æˆéº»ç…©ï¼Œå¿ƒæƒ…å»èƒ½å¦ç„¶æŽ¥å—，或許是體èªåˆ°é€™ä¹Ÿæ˜¯å·¥ä½œå…§å®¹ä¹‹ä¸€ï¼Œä¸èƒ½è®“下一ä½é¡§å®¢ä½¿ç”¨åˆ°è£æœ‰åžƒåœ¾çš„手推車。如果是兩三年å‰çš„我應該會ä¸åœæŠ±æ€¨ï¼ŒæŠ±æ€¨ä¸Šå»æ‰€çš„人為衛生助ç†è£½é€ å™å¿ƒé«’亂的工作環境，學生身分矇蔽我應該è¦æœ‰çš„工作態度。br /br /一ä½åŒäº‹å‰‡èªç‚ºæ¡ƒåœ’地å€çš„消費者素質比臺北市的è¦å·®ï¼Œæˆ‘ä¸æ›‰å¾—他是從何得知這項差異？他並éžè‡ºåŒ—人怎麼有臺北觀點作祟？「城鄉差è·ã€çš„刻æ¿å°è±¡æˆ–許普é存在，因為長期居ä½æŸåœ°ï¼Œå³æœƒè¢«ç•¶åœ°çš„人文ç¾è±¡æ‰€å¥—牢，我也曾經誤解臺中的æ±æµ·åˆ¥å¢…是全臺ç£æœ€ç„¡æ”¿åºœç‹€æ…‹çš„地å€ï¼Œç›´åˆ°æˆ‘去中原大學週é­é€›éŽå¾Œï¼Œæ‰é«”èªè·¯é‚Šæ”¤ã€æ©Ÿè»Šå’Œé•ç« å»ºç¯‰æ˜¯å¤§å­¸å­¸å€ç’°å¢ƒçš„毒瘤，毒瘤的產生主è¦æ˜¯å¤§å­¸æœªæ供足夠的宿èˆã€‚br /br /有的顧客會帶寵物來購物，比較有衛生觀念的飼主會將寵物關在æœå‹™è‡ºçš„éµç± ã€‚為何我è¦æ到衛生觀念？首先ã€çŠ¬è²“這類動物會掉毛，也會排泄屎尿，影響其他顧客的觀感；其次ã€è¬ä¸€é£¼ä¸»æŠ±è‘—動物逛熟食和麵包å€ï¼Œé›£ä¿é€™äº›ç­‰å¾…挑é¸çš„食物ä¸æœƒæ²¾ä¸Šç‰ å€‘的體毛？第三是當手推車有乘åå°å­©æ™‚，看到別人的手推車有犬貓，是å¦æœ‰ã€Œçœ¾ç”Ÿå¹³ç­‰ã€çš„感觸？br /br /span class="fullpost"把寵物留在æœå‹™è‡ºçš„éµç± ï¼Œå¯µç‰©å®‰éœæ˜¯å¯é‡ä¸å¯æ±‚，狗å å€‹ä¸åœä¾¿ä¾µå®³åˆ°å‰ä¾†å°‹æ±‚æœå‹™çš„顧客權益。貓狗ä¸æ˜¯äººé¡žå°å­©ï¼Œç‰ å€‘ä¸æœƒåœ¨å®¶çŽ©æ‰“ç«æ©Ÿã€ç¸±ç«ç‡’屋，沒必è¦æŠ±è‘—出門å§ï¼é€™äº›é£¼ä¸»å¤§æ¦‚無法體會其他人ä¸æƒ³åœ¨é£²é£Ÿå ´æ‰€åƒåˆ°ç‹—毛ã€è²“毛的懼怕心情。br /br /在一場員工訓練的場åˆï¼Œå¤§æ½¤ç™¼çš„主管很自豪表示：「大潤發的退æ›è²¨æœå‹™æ˜¯æœ€ä½³çš„，就算是åƒå‰©çš„西瓜皮ã€èžƒèŸ¹æ®¼åªè¦ä¸æ»¿æ„都能退錢，其它é‡è²©æ¥­è€…望塵莫åŠã€‚ã€æœ‰å“¡å·¥æ‰“趣說：「我也è¦å¦‚法炮製ï¼ã€ä¸»ç®¡å›žèªªï¼šã€Œåªè¦ä½ è‡‰çš®å¤ åŽšï¼ˆç„¡æ¥ï¼‰çš„話，歡迎來體驗這項æœå‹™ã€‚ã€æ—¢ç„¶éŠæˆ²è¦å‰‡æ˜¯ä¿è­‰ä¸æ»¿æ„退貨，怎麼心裡åˆè¦ºå¾—這種行為的顧客無æ¥å‘¢ï¼Ÿæ‰€ä»¥æˆ‘說「顧客永é æ˜¯å°çš„ã€é€™å¥è©±è¨€ä¸ç”±è¡·ã€‚å°çš„是，顧客å£è¢‹è£¡çš„錢ï¼/spandiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TranscendentEmperor?a=BNEeN"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TranscendentEmperor?i=BNEeN" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TranscendentEmperor?a=OjeCN"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TranscendentEmperor?i=OjeCN" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TranscendentEmperor?a=yF3TN"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TranscendentEmperor?i=yF3TN" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TranscendentEmperor?a=sYUNN"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TranscendentEmperor?i=sYUNN" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TranscendentEmperor?a=0vAon"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TranscendentEmperor?i=0vAon" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TranscendentEmperor?a=SEzKn"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TranscendentEmperor?i=SEzKn" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TranscendentEmperor?a=xqgJN"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TranscendentEmperor?i=xqgJN" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TranscendentEmperor?a=0Zz2n"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TranscendentEmperor?i=0Zz2n" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TranscendentEmperor?a=aTKoN"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TranscendentEmperor?i=aTKoN" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TranscendentEmperor?a=WCNmn"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TranscendentEmperor?i=WCNmn" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TranscendentEmperor?a=6kjwN"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/TranscendentEmperor?i=6kjwN" border="0"/img/a /div

My dad bought one. And I think it nice. Access only through LAN and even from web if you have a router since it have a FTP service.

I have a MyBook myself, a Firewire/USB edition , and I am ok with, I complained with the noise in the beginning but I grew up with it as long I don't swapping much files with it.

I look for a MBWEII at Costco, it will be a backup module I will store at my parents domicile, to secure my datas in case of fire or thief. Does Seagate's external drives have some equivalents?