Hilton, IBM tinker with check-in kiosks, very cool
from Cnet News.com
IBM is developing a pilot with Hilton Hotels for kiosks that will let hotel guests check themselves in and out. Self-service kiosks will be installed in the Hilton Chicago and the Hilton New York and become operational in the fourth quarter. The pilot will then continue for three to six months before a larger launch of the technology across a broader number of Hilton properties.

Travel and transportation is one of the industries IBM hopes to conquer through its new organizational structure. Under the strategy, IBM prepares hardware, software and consulting packages tailored to specific businesses.

People get on my case for not riding on rollercoasters
Man killed in roller coaster accident at Disneyland
ANAHEIM, California (AP) -- A locomotive broke loose on Disneyland's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster Friday, killing a man and injuring 10 other people, officials said.

TV helicopters showed a triage unit set up near the ride and one person being taken on a stretcher to an ambulance.

The roller coaster takes amusement park visitors on a twisting, turning ride aboard what is supposed to be a runaway train in the Old West. Riders zoom through mine shafts and caverns, past falling rocks and tumbling waterfalls.

The ride opened in 1979, making it one of newer roller coasters at Disneyland. It is computer-operated, said Joe Aguirre, a park spokesman.

Man Charged With Raping Girl He Met on Internet
I told you that internet is bad...

from New York Times
WHITE PLAINS, Sept. 4 An Ossining mother came home from work one day last month to discover that her kitchen screen had been cut and pots overturned. Nothing had been stolen, but another detail a teddy bear had been rearranged in her 13-year-old daughter's bedroom while the girl was out of town seemed even more peculiar.

Dell Finally Ships Axim ROM Update
After several glitches, updates on CD are en route to PDA customers, Dell says.
Tom Krazit, IDG News Service

Dell is shipping a long-awaited ROM update to its Windows Mobile 2003 Axim handhelds on CDs, a company representative says.

The ROM update fixes performance problems related to the firmware needed to make the Windows Mobile 2003 (http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,111265,00.asp) operating system work with its Axim handhelds, says Jess Blackburn, a Dell spokesperson.

Glitch in the Fix
The company had intended to distribute a fix by posting it on the tech support section of the Dell Web site. Dell scrapped that plan (http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,111833,00.asp) after a few enterprising Pocket PC 2002 users discovered the patch on a Dell FTP site and hacked the patch to give themselves free upgrades to the new operating system.

The ROM update was supposed to be available only to Axim users who had purchased their handhelds after the June 23 launch of the new operating system. Several of those customers also obtained the patch from Dell's FTP site, but encountered problems (http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,112113,00.asp) when attempting to install the patch.

Dell needed to fix the installer problem and make the patch more secure before it could distribute the CDs. That led to frustrating delays for many Axim users who have been unable to productively use their new handhelds since June.

Customers who purchased an upgraded version of the operating system from Dell will also start to receive their CDs shortly, Blackburn says. The upgrade CDs will begin shipping to U.S. customers on September 17, and shipping to European customers began this week, he adds.

Huge Art Benefit for the West Memphis Three tomorrow night

CRUEL AND UNUSUAL:
an Exhibition to Benefit the West Memphis Three

September 6 - 20, 2003
Opening September 6, 2003
Hosted by Winona Ryder

sixspace
549 West 23rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90007

Help them raise money to start the DNA testing that will help these three innocent people go free.
More info at http://www.wm3.org/ and good story at LA Weekly

Ok, new piece of software that I found
So, if you use a pocketpc and like to blog, check out pocketblog at http://www.pocketblog.com. I am posting from it right now. All you need is a net connection and something to write about. Great software!

Google unlinks sites like Kazaa Lite
Originally found on CNET News.com

In response to a legal threat that invoked the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Google has removed from its index eight sites that distribute a hacked version of file-swapping service Kazaa.

The popular search engine took action last month after it received a legal notification from Sharman Networks, owner of Kazaa, claiming that the eight sites contained software that violated the company's "exclusive rights" under U.S. copyright law.

The software, Kazaa Lite, is an unauthorized copy of Kazaa with the pop-up ads removed. These advertisements, often called "spyware," appear every few minutes and cannot be turned off.

Because Sharman Networks receives revenue from those advertisements, it's seeking to force peer-to-peer users to connect using only authorized copies of the software. Another incentive for the company to block illicit versions of Kazaa is that it sells a paid version--without advertisements--called Kazaa Plus that's similar to Kazaa Lite. Last week, Sharman Networks and Avalon Online Distribution, a subsidiary of software publishing company Titus Interactive Group, released an updated version of Kazaa Plus for $29.95.

Google responded to Sharman Networks' notification by including a warning at the bottom of pages that appear when the term "kazaa" is typed in: "In response to a complaint we received under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, we have removed eight result(s) from this page. If you wish, you may read the DMCA complaint for these removed results."

The complaint lists eight sites, including Kazaalite.tk, Doa2.host.sk, K-lite.tk and Kazaa-lite.tk. Other copyright holders, including the Church of Scientology, have used the controversial DMCA to force Google to remove links to allegedly infringing documents.

Kazaa has been a primary target of a legal offensive the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has launched against file-sharing software. Last week, the RIAA filed papers in federal court in Washington in a case relating to file swapper "Nycfashiongirl," who allegedly shared more than 900 songs online, many downloaded from Kazaa.