Microsoft hiring Seinfeld

Microsoft's answer to Apple's "Get a Mac" ads.

Unhappy Android developers

Given the bumps in the road I've encountered developing for the iPhone, I can't say I'm entirely disappointed that Android developers are having a bit of a rough time as well.

But mainly because Android developers are wont to express what a bad idea it is to develop for a "closed environment" like the iPhone. Not because I'm into schedenfreud or anything. Really!

Liberal church shooting

Knoxville's police chief says the man accused of a shooting that killed two people at a Tennessee church targeted the congregation because of its liberal social stance.

Chief Sterling Owen IV said Monday that police found a letter in Jim D. Adkisson's car. Owen said Adkisson was apparently frustrated over being out of work and had a "stated hatred of the liberal movement." (AP)

Beautiful. I wonder what radio programs this guy regularly listened to. (I can guess.) If it is important to know what media teen shooters consume (playing shooters, listening to NIN, whatever), why not this guy?

End of an era

The Ford F-series pickup truck, which has been the best-selling vehicle in the United States for 26 years, was outsold by four fuel-efficient Japanese sedans in May.

NY Times

.Mac to MobileMe

Funny how so many seem inclined to interpret the latest .Mac outages to possibly be related to the upcoming upgrade to MobileMe. Maybe they are, but they also seem to me to be a bad indication of MobileMe's possible future uptime. Having the previous generation service down even more than usual in the weeks preceding the new service roll-out is not the best way to generate hype.

That said, I will consider MobileMe when it's available. Having services available between the native Mac apps, the web and my iPod touch would be nice. I've been using my iPod touch with the beta 2.0 OS at work and it's been nice having access to my work email and calendar wherever I am in the office.

More iPhone 3G pricing

Sounds like the 3G pricing is going to be even higher when you figure in SMS.

The original $20 iPhone data plan includes 200 SMSes. The new $30 3G plan does not. To get the 200 messages/month (and avoid paying 20-cents a message -- ouch!), you have to add $5/month. So that makes the 3G $15/month more expensive.

Over 24 months that's $360. Which is more than the $200 being saved initially when purchasing the phone.

iPhone 3G pricing

Okay folks, it's basic math: if the iPhone 3G is priced $200 less but you end up having to pay $240 more for the AT&T data plan over two years, you are not saving money! (Not without 10% annual inflation or something.) Yet the NY Times says "Apple Aims for the Masses With a Cheaper iPhone".

O-kay.

Beyond Good & Evil 2

More good gaming news: Ubisoft announced a sequel to a critically acclaimed game that did not do so well commercially. Hooray! Here's hoping this one does better in the market so there will be more following it.

Not that I have time these days to play games. Nor do I have a newer game console. But that would all work itself out. ;)

Oh, and there are still used copies of the first game out there. Quite the bargain!

Axon

The maker's of Britain's Axon tout the car can get over 80 miles per gallon, has lower carbon emissions and a cheaper price tag than Toyota's Prius.

Marketplace

This is with a regular gasoline engine, no hybrid technology. The trick is the auto body, made of carbon fiber and half the weight of a normal car.

Oddworld

Mmm.. Oddworld news.

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Update: Lorne Lanning confirms.