This is an interesting demo explaining what the record industry is doing to “ruin” the quality of the music you buy….

We’ve been very busy here in Houston… most recently we’ve finally launched one of the projects we’ve been working on to the public. As Steve Jobs would call it, Natuba is a “hobby.” 😀

If you’d like an invite, drop me a line… meanwhile, here’s some local press about it:

Houston’s HushLabs launches new Natuba social media aggregator

Move over Toyota, the Koreans have taken over your turf…

Once known best as the maker of cheap, entry-level cars with nagging manufacturing flaws, the South Korean automaker outperformed its Japanese, European and U.S. rivals in this year’s survey, based on interviews with 27,780 people who bought 2007 models in September-November 2006.

Last year, Hyundai had no winners. And highly regarded Toyota Motor Corp., despite improving its overall quality, went from four leaders last year to one in 2007.

Hyundai grabs lead in auto quality study

A live shot from the camera on my phone.

I know that lot of you think I’m being silly when I say that I believe that we’ll have Startrek-style teleportation in our lifetimes… but I’m REALLY optimistic! 😀

Breakthrough Brings Star Trek Transporter Closer

My new laptop is on its way… yay!

PC Magazine Review: Toshiba Portege R500

A live shot from the camera on my phone.

I generally back into parking spots, and everyone always gives me a puzzled look about it…

Since about one-third of driving incidents involving officers on duty occur when the cruiser is in reverse, cops are instructed to back into parking spaces when they’re not under pressure. You should do the same thing. The main advantage for you is that it’s much easier to see — and avoid — cross traffic when pulling forward out of a parking space. Ever park between two giant SUVs? As you backed blindly out, your car was perhaps two-thirds into the traffic lane before you could see around the behemoths. When responding to an emergency call, cops can’t, or don’t, take time to back out slowly.

Drive Like a Cop

I whole-heartedly agree!

Google is an amazing entrepreneurial petri dish. Yet at the same time, it is doomed to disappoint nearly every entrepreneurial type who works there. This is key: Google is sowing the seeds of its own eventual destruction. It can’t help doing so.

The Final Days of Google: It is going to be an inside job.

My buddy Morris is in the news! W00t!

Companies need to focus on one thing even if they have to sacrifice other products.
That’s entrepreneur Morris Miller’s mantra.

4 to watch: Morris Miller

Interesting research regarding banner ads…

A quick test: how many of you can name the product being advertised in the banner ad at the top of the page? Chances are, the ad’s presence didn’t even register with most seasoned web browsers. But that’s probably okay, at least according to research that appears in June’s Journal of Consumer Research.

The psychology of banner ads

1,000 pages?! Thats getting a bit out of hand…

The manual and two supplements for the $104,715 Lexus LS 600h L, a high-end hybrid on sale this summer, runs 1,097 pages — a four-figure stack of instructions for the brand’s first car to exceed a six-figure price

Luxury-car manuals take on epic proportions

I’ve felt the same way for awhile now, but the TechCrunch really nailed it…

Silicon Valley is no longer any fun. In fact, it’s turned downright nasty. It may be time for some of use to leave for a while and watch the craziness from the outside again. In a few years, things will be beautiful again. The big money will be slumbering away, and the marketing departments will be a distant memory. We can focus, once again, on the technology.

Silicon Valley Could Use A Downturn Right About Now

Need some more range on Bluetooth or Wifi? Here’s a quick and sweet 2.4ghz antenna you can build yourself…

5 Element Yagi for BlueTooth or WLAN applications

Saw this on David Pogue‘s new show – It’s All Geek to Me

Have you ever been in a situation where you wished your cell phone would ring? Maybe you wanted to look extra important or popular on that hot date. Or maybe you just needed an excuse to escape from an unpleasant meeting.

The Popularity Dialer

http://www.lolpaul.com/

For more context:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolcat

How to tie knots!

How to Tie the 10 Most Useful Knots

Here’s a thought – why don’t the car companies charge something more reasonable for in-car nav… like $500? instead of the insane $2,000+ they do today?

Built-in navigation systems increase the depreciation of a car or truck, a startling fact that has some car companies rethinking their approach to the $2,000 factory-installed systems.
In-car navigation takes a new turn amid resale woes

“This is a commercial that was produced for internal use. But it has become so popular, especially with employees, that Kodak has released it for external viewing. It demonstrates that Kodak not only understands it’s changing business but also has a sense of humor.”

Who knew that I’d be “news worthy”… 😀

Instead he came back to Houston, where he’d grown up, and which he finds bigger and more interesting than Austin. He incorporated Hush Labs, an incubator for technologies to serve late adopters, the vast population left behind by broadband and Blackberries. For the time being, Hush’s first two employees work downstairs in Yoo’s townhouse — a classier, air-conditioned version of the garage startup.

It takes a Village

This is really interesting stuff…

It has been my experience that gifted and talented persons are more likely to experience a type of depression referred to as existential depression.

Existential Depression in Gifted Individuals

Wow! They’re starting to understand calorie-restriction… this is great news!

The mystery of how eating less boosts longevity is closer to being solved.

Gene clue to longevity uncovered

Some decent small-biz advice…

As the saying goes, you’ve got to spend money to make money. But no one wants to waste money. Most entrepreneurs are careful spenders, but all of us, from time to time, squander our precious funds.

Strategies: Stop wasting your money

“It’s oddly infuriating.” – I couldn’t agree more…

Peter, who is the CEO of a company called Vocal Laboratories Inc. (they conducts call center customer service surveys for companies like Apple, Dell, and HP), felt compelled to add video commentary to a call to HP that was recently logged by one of their participants.

The Most Excruciatingly Painful, Yet Typical, Customer Service Call Ever