Today, the usual Google logo has been replaced by the ubiquitous black-and-white bar code design to celebrate the 57th anniversary of the first bar code patent. On October 7, 1952, inventors Norman Woodland and Bernard Silver were granted the first patent for their invention. The only difference between the bar code we know today and the one Woodland and Silver invented was that it was comprised of a series of concentric circles, not the 59 black-and-white vertical lines synonymous with the current design.
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Walmart is not alone in the eCommerce world for going overboard with bleeding-edge web development practices. Rather than using W3C standards, a set of guidelines created by web developers all over the world to ensure that all web sites work with all browsers, Walmart and companies like them are choosing to use proprietary web development techniques that are buggy and break different web browsers. To add insult to injury, customers using the site take advantage of the Walmart invitation to contact their support and report defects, only to be insulted via a response from Walmart that assumes the problem is entirely with the customer’s computer system. Hey Walmart, don’t always assume it’s the customer’s problem.

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IBM has announced a new initiative with ghostly reflections from the past, but perhaps with a more promising future. In a climate where business users are unimpressed by the bulky and costly lackluster Windows Vista, IBM is offering corporate customers a viable alternative. IBM has created a “Microsoft-free” virtual desktop. The platform includes a complete suite of applications that run on a backroom server. The entire system does not require any Microsoft software, which will save companies big money. Furthermore, the platform offers even bigger savings by dramatically reducing the need for expensive personal desktop computer workstations.

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Satellite TV piracy has been going on since HBO first scrambled their C-band broadcast back in the early 1980’s. More recently the hot topic is the use of FTA satellite equipment, designed to receive free, unscrambled broadcasts, modified to receive DISH Network paid programming. This new age of DBS satellite piracy has spurred lawsuits, criminal action, and a technology war to create the best encryption and lock out the hackers. But is satellite piracy as widespread and costly as DISH Network CEO Charlie Ergen would like for the legal system to believe?

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Godaddy.com promotes their web site services all across the various media outlets. They even spent millions on a Super Bowl campaign in 2007. They claim that anyone can have a professional e-commerce web site for only pennies! Visiting godaddy.com reveals pages of smiling non-technical people, mostly attractive women, with bold face phrases such as “it’s fun for ANYONE to create their own site” and “it’s so easy-to-use.” Ask yourself this, does a hammer make it “so easy” for anyone to become a carpenter? Learn why GoDaddy’s claims are bunk, and you can get more bang for your buck by going with a pro.

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On November 17th 1951, the J. Lyons Company began weekly operation of a bakery valuations job on a computer called LEO (Lyons Electronic Office). This was the first business application to go live on a stored program computer anywhere in the world. David Caminer, LEO’s systems and programming manager at the time, died June 19 in London. He was 92. The death was announced by the Leo Computers Society, whose purpose is to keep alive the memory of LEO. He has been credited with designing the world’s first office computer.

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Has an eBay seller ever shortchanged you, the item wasn’t nearly as good as described or had some defect? When the seller wouldn’t make things right, you wanted to leave that person a negative, but wouldn’t, because you knew they’d retaliate. That was the flaw in the old eBay feedback system. Dishonest sellers could avoid negative marks by threatening to strike a negative mark against the short changed buyer. Now sellers are only allowed to leave positive feedback, or no feedback at all. This way sellers are held to a higher standard, no longer being able to avoid strikes by threatening retaliation.

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Are you suddenly becoming aware of web sites like angieslist.com and craigslist.com? If so, you’re not alone. The craigslist.com site has been around over a decade now and remains a free “classifieds” service for local communities. Alternatively, angieslist.com is a paid premium referral and review service, which recently launched a major television advertising campaign. Craig and Angie are not alone, now there are more “first-name-list.com” web sites cropping up. So, what’s the deal with these lists anyway?

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The Gateway computer company unofficially, but for all intents and purposes, ceased to exist at the end of 2007. It was split asymmetrically and sold to two different companies. ACER has acquired most of Gateway, including the low-end home user line of notebooks and desktops. They will continue to make laptops and desktop computers under the Gateway name. The business line of Gateway has been acquired by MPC Corp. They will be selling existing Gateway business models branded as MPC, merged into their own line of systems.

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A “Solid State” computer is one with little or no moving parts; a fanless system using flash storage or an EPROM based solution as opposed to a typical spinning platter type hard drive. Moving parts have the highest likelihood of failure, due to friction, which also produces heat. Moving parts tend to consume more energy, and make noise. A motionless solid-state computer is completely silent, rugged, and highly energy efficient.

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