I just found a Wiki site for Grand Theft Auto IV and I thought I would share the link. There are probably spoilers in it so be for warned.

http://gamewiki.net/Grand_Theft_Auto_IV

I'm really impressed with this new game. It seems as amazing to me as GTA3 was when it first came out.

It sure is getting good reviews too.
http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps3/grandtheftauto4

:-)

The company I work at here in Canada is an exporter of software. Now, the biggest market we sell into is the USA. With the Canadian dollar reaching parity with the US Dollar we have a real conundrum on our hands. See the value of the two currencies here.

For 30 years exporters like our company have been charging in US funds to cover the costs of production and make some capital on the exchange rates. Basically it is part of the business model. Now with Canada being the only G7 country to get a handle on its debt as the US dollar falls into oblivion we have to ask ourselves, do we start charging in Canadian or Euro? Will US based customers accept paying in a foreign currency?

Time will tell.

September 19th is Talk Like a Pirate Day. Wikipedia has a great article about Talk Like A Pirate Day for all ye ScurvyDawgs.

Some recommended sayings.

"Bring me one noggin of rum, now, won't you, matey."
"Avast, there!"
"Dead men don't bite." "Shiver my timbers!" (often pronounced as "Shiver me timbers!")
"Fifteen men on the dead man's chest -- Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!"
"There! That's what I think of ye. Before an hour's out, I'll stove in your old block house like a rum puncheon. Laugh, by thunder, laugh! Before an hour's out, ye'll laugh upon the other side. Them that die'll be the lucky ones."

The archetypal pirate grunt "Arrr!" (alternatively "Rrrr!" or "Yarrr!") first appeared in the classic 1950 Disney film Treasure Island, according to Wikipedia.

US backing for two-tier internet (bbc)

There are fears that ISPs could become the web's gatekeepers
The US Justice Department has said that internet service providers should be allowed to charge for priority traffic.
The agency said it was opposed to "network neutrality", the idea that all data on the net is treated equally.

The comments put the agency at odds with companies such as Microsoft and Google, who have called for legislation to guarantee equal access to the net.

The agency submitted its comments to the Federal Communications Commission, which is investigating net access.

Several US internet service providers (ISPs), including AT&T and Verizon, have previously said that they want to charge some users more money for certain content.

This has particularly become an issue with the rise of TV and film download services.

A similar debate is ongoing in the UK.

One web

The Justice Department said imposing net neutrality regulations could hinder development of the internet and prevent ISPs from upgrading networks.

The agency said it could also shift the "entire burden of implementing costly network expansions and improvements onto consumers".

"Regulators should be careful not to impose regulations that could limit consumer choice and investment in broadband facilities," said Thomas Barnett, the department's antitrust chief.

The agency's stance is contrary to much of the internet community that believes in an open model for the internet.

Net neutrality advocates argue that a two-tier internet would allow broadband providers to become gatekeepers to the web's content.

Providers that can pay will be able to get a commercial advantage over those that cannot, they say.

In particular, there is a fear that institutions like universities and charities would suffer.

Last year, Sir Tim Berners-Lee the inventor of the web rallied against the idea of a two-tier internet.

"What's very important from my point of view is that there is one web," he said.

"Anyone that tries to chop it into two will find that their piece looks very boring."

CALL FOR ENTRIES TO THE BUCKMINSTER FULLER CHALLENGE!

For more information, visit: http://challenge.bfi.org

"If success or failure of the planet and of human beings depended on how I am and what I do ... How would I be? What would I do?" — R. Buckminster Fuller

SEPTEMBER 4th, 2007, NEW YORK CITY — The Buckminster Fuller Institute has announced a call for entries to THE BUCKMINSTER FULLER CHALLENGE, an international design science competition which seeks to confer a prize of $100,000 to a single winning solution.

Prize monies will be awarded in June, 2008 to support the development and implementation of a solution that has significant potential to solve humanity's most pressing problems in the shortest possible time while enhancing the Earth's ecological integrity.

Inspired by the life and work of visionary 20th Century futurist and global thinker, R. Buckminster Fuller, The Challenge seeks solutions that epitomize what Fuller called the trimtab principle. The Trimtab a nautical term for a tiny rudder on the trailing edge of the main rudder of very large vessels, causes an initial momentum allowing the main rudder to turn with less effort in pulling the whole ship around.

"We anticipate receiving many creative and viable solutions that may, at first glance, not seem commensurate with the task at hand Ñ but upon closer inspection we'll discover they contain certain missing ingredients that are just what it will take to help bring about a future that is ecologically sustainable", remarks Challenge co-founder and BFI Executive Director, Elizabeth Thompson.

"The winning solution will demonstrate how a relatively small effort Ð in terms of energy and resources Ð precisely applied at the right time and place can put the ship onto a whole new course. We think there are solutions out there, in the hands of visionary individuals and teams of people, that will play a pivotal role in helping to turn things around."

The Buckminster Fuller Challenge was announced to the public on July 12th, the occasion of Buckminster Fuller's 112th birthday. "We have had a tremendous response", explains Angela Molenaar, Challenge co-director and BFI's Director of Development.

"Participants in The Challenge can submit solutions from any domain of human endeavor, focused on the problem they feel most urgently in need of attention. Fuller's pioneering example of ground breaking, highly original solutions to problems such as shelter and transportation serve as an inspiration for the approach we have taken in crafting the call for proposals. We have deliberately avoided limiting The Challenge to a particular professional field and topical focus, in an effort to capture Fuller's comprehensive approach to problem-solving. You never know what form a brilliant idea might take, and we want to The Buckminster Fuller Challenge to attract the very best ideas out there."

Submissions to The Buckminster Challenge will be accepted from Sept. 4th through midnight (EDT) October 30th, 2007.

For more information, visit http://challenge.bfi.org

Introducing Snap Shots from Snap.com I just installed a nice little tool on this site called Snap Shots that enhances links with visual previews of the destination site, interactive excerpts of Wikipedia articles, MySpace profiles, IMDb profiles and Amazon products, display inline videos, RSS, MP3s, photos, stock charts and more.

Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without your having to leave the site, while other times it lets you "look ahead," before deciding if you want to follow a link or not.

Should you decide this is not for you, just click the Options icon in the upper right corner of the Snap Shot and opt-out.