Eubie's notes

Wall Street Journal: How Wal-Mart Influences Rivals and Inflation — Wal-Mart plans to cut prices aggressively through the end of the year — a strategy that could force other discounters to respond. That could have a noticeable effect on the U.S. economy as it weathers the housing slump.

Christian Science Monitor: In Britain, wind turbines offer homespun electricity — Miniature windmills are the latest ‘must have’ eco-accessory for green-minded urbanites.

Silicon.com: Apple: Cool enough for your granny: Silver surfers biggest Mac owners

In its latest batch of adverts, Apple painted the Mac as the young, cool face of desktop computing. But now research has found it’s the silver surfers who have a yen for Cupertino’s goods – while the kids are opting for cheap Windows machines.

According to a report from industry watchers MetaFacts, nearly half of Mac owners are 55 and older – that’s almost double the share for average home-PC users.

For the digital youth, high-street box shifter Gateway is the brand of choice, taking the number-one slot among PC buyers aged between 18 and 25.

A spirited discussion on Slashdot: Apples are for Grannies and original release of study on Lost Remote.

NY Times: Flexible Hours, Using Your PC and Never Leaving Home — Online volunteering, long thought of as more superficial than on-site volunteering, has entered a new, smarter phase. Sites mentioned: onlinevolunteer.org and VolunteerMatch.org.

I missed this when it came out, but thanks to Steve Yelvington here is Pew Internet & American Life Project report: Riding the Wave of “Web 2.0”.

I agree the charts are the best part of the report.

I like Six Apart, run by Ben and Mena Trott. I use MoveableType here and I’m enjoy my Vox site. Here’s an Economist story about Vox and here are links to other stories about Vox. Others are more visible at the front of “Web 2.0” but Six Apart and the Trotts seem to be as key in its development as the others.

NY Times: A Smarter Computer to Pick Stocks: Traders? quest for a competitive edge has led some of them to look at the outer frontier of trading: computer programs that use artificial intelligence.

NY Times (AP story): An Early-Warning Army of Foot Soldiers — A diverse group of organizations has started a long-term project to monitor the Appalachian Trail for environmental problems.

NY Times: Personal Health: Keeping a Winter’s Worth of Temptation at Bay — By adopting a sensible eating strategy and factoring exercise into your daily routine, you can survive winter without gaining weight.

Silicon Valley Watcher by Tom Foremski — Updated: (Thanks to Mitch Ratcliffe!) The most important rules for today’s workforce bar none

My three rules of today’s workforce:
–Carry and use your own cell phone/number for business
–Carry and use your own email address even at work
–Carry and use your own health insurance
To Tom’s rules, I’d add:
Incorporate and work on contract rather than as an employee.
Carry and use your own hardware, building tech expenses into your compensation.