Every day, I watch for news I care about - interesting stories about advances in technology and science, news about what is happening in the gaming industry, advances that affect privacy concerns, and other random tidbits here and there.  About a year ago (Sept 2005), I started grouping the most interesting links into a single email for the friends I had been bombarding throughout the day.  I don't claim anything unique about what I do; in fact, I simply pull from popular aggregators already (the blogs I watch can be seen here, I also actively track /. and Wired).  Instead, the links I mark are those stories that I find most interesting of what's available.  If your interests happen to match up well with mine, then this could be helpful.

I wanted to see what Google Notebook was really capable of before I invested in it for other projects, so decided to take what I already do throughout the day and use it for that.  Now I'm interested in what this becomes when it is public.  So that's what this note is for - in case you are not one of my regular readers and you've stumbled across this page.  

It has actually proven fairly easy to use and helpful to me, anyway; so I expect I will continue to collect links here as well.  Each entry begins with a date (month/day) or range of dates indicating which email collection it was included in.  In addition to my description above, I also collect links to essays and editorials - primarily gaming philosophy - and links to those annoyingly addictive games and other strange things that can be found on the internet.  By default, Google adds new notes to the bottom of a section.  Until a preference is added to change that, you can expect to scroll down to find the new entries.

So this has been a fun experiment.  I've learned what I was looking for in how Notebook presents itself and the quirks of collecting links and page quotes (It is surprisingly difficult to both quote and comment on a web page in a single note, requiring at least two steps.  And for a public Notebook like this one, that means for a brief time you'll have a partially completed note online.)  All this to say that I don't intend to keep this page up to date any longer.  The extra effort to link articles here as well as in email combined with the growing problem of what to do with this becoming an unwieldingly large page has made me think that it isn't worth it to keep this up.  I've learned what I like and find useful about Notebooks and have some other applications for them, none of them public at this point.

I'm no longer anywhere near as active about collecting news, but that which I do collect is now (as of Dec 2007) stored exclusively using Furl.

(9/20) Wired article on bionic research

(9/20) Fossil of child found, believed to be 3 million years old 

(9/21) NASA concerned about increasing average age of employees

(9/21) it is now possible to sail from Europe to the North pole due to melting of perennial ice, if it continues faster routes around the world could be used

(9/21) supernova more than twice as bright as others of its type suggests a star much larger than expected possible.  implications for dark energy 

(9/21) Lockheed teams up with Bigelow Aerospace to help bring about space tourism 

(9/22) research into regrowing lost limbs 

(9/22) Japan launches spacecraft that will live in a sun-synchronous polar orbit to study solar activity, particularly solar flares and what triggers them 

(9/23-9/26) The problems of String theory and where we should go from here 

(9/23-9/26) Converting propane and other fuels into hydrogen 

(9/23-9/26) Breeding hypoallergenic cats 

(9/28) extreme immune system reaction to 1918 flu causes body to kill its own cells - part of trying to understand this deadly flu to treat it

(9/28) China reports successfully testing their fusion reactor, unknown yet whether the test produced more energy than it consumed 

(9/28) Fermilab scientists discover nature of the B-sub-s meson which switches between matter and antimatter 3 trillion times a second 

(9/29) NASA discusses whether it is a good idea for future rovers to be nuclear powered 

(10/3) scientists accidently create egg-shaped buckyball, calling it a buckyegg 

(10/3) scientist claims to have discovered an easier more efficient way of cloning animals 

(10/3) Research into a large magnetic ring to launch objects into orbit at mach 23 

(10/4) Working toward handheld particle accelerators 

(10/4) another step forward in the advance of teleportation technology, specifically for quantum computing 

(10/5) researchers at UCLA modified a virus to create a transistor, envision a future of significantly faster memory for small devices 

(10/5) basic planned budget for California Institute for Regenerative Medicine released (created for stem cell research using $3 billion allocated by Prop 71 in 2004)

(10/6) migrating birds take hundreds of seconds-long powernaps 

(10/9) NASA's catalogue of nearby supermassive black holes complete

(10/9) full skeleton fossil of a plesiosaur dubbed "The Monster" found off Norway 

(10/9) Work toward finding the solution of a Millennium Problem - the Navier Stokes problem, showing that a solution is possible

(10/9) hydrogen sulphide may work better to produce suspended animation than the currently used induced hypothermia 

(10/10) researching shape shifting aircraft 

(10/10) Engineering food at the molecular level 

(10/10) research into controlling computers with only the mind, applied to playing Space Invaders 

(10/10) "images" of black holes taken with Japanese Suzaku satellite 

(10/10) substance discovered that stops bleeding wounds in seconds 

(10/11) using honey to kill superbugs 

(10/11) improving collective intelligence - joining of computers and communities 

(10/12) Jupiter's little spot becoming more red, additional explanation in Yahoo's article

(10/13) new native mouse species found in Europe 

(10/16) element 118 discovered 

(10/16) exposure to certain stimuli (such as the smell of cookies) can make you more likely to make impulse decisions (like purchases) 

(10/16) using stem cells to [potentially] treat ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease)

(10/17) Cornell study ties TV viewing for toddlers strongly to autistic tendencies 

(10/17) listening to the sound of melanoma sounds to detect cancer 

(10/17) computer created out of DNA strands 

(9/20) Newscientist running a series on social networking sites and their impact on society 

(9/20) Cingular sponsoring "Battle of the Bands" on YouTube 

(9/20) Rechargeable batteries that plug into USB ports to recharge 

(9/21) Technology companies rallying against Net Neutrality

(9/21) using google earth to plan urban development 

(9/21) "Space race" of this generation US vs China - building a better internet.  China already has one envisioned to release at 2008 olympics 

(9/22) third party group releases patch for IE exploit 

(9/22) Census Bureau loses hundreds of laptops over past 5 years.  They offer [thin] assurance that the laptops are secured so that data will not be lost... 

(9/23-9/26) New energy storage device planned to replace the combustion engine - charge for 5 minutes to store enough energy to drive 500 miles.  Note yet released, planned with listed specs for 2008.

(9/23-9/26) Revision3 launching tonight as a full broadcast network of original programming delivered to cable tv, PCs (iTunes, BitTorrent, ...), and mobile devices 

(9/27) Sharp improves on its two-way viewing-angle LCD by developing a Triple Directional Viewing LCD, three different images all on one full screen seen according to viewing angle - left, center, and right

(9/27) an interview with a technology futurist, interesting to compare with another futurist's recent talk, Vernor Vinge from the Austin Games Conference earlier this month

(9/28) China attempted to blind US spy satellites with high powered lasers, How successful they were is unknown

(9/29) Wired looks at the future with NextFest, one item featured there is a suite that amplifies human strength

(9/29) Sony Ericsson and Fossil work together to create bluetooth-enabled watches 

(9/29) mapping the world accurately

(10/3) Netflix offering reward of $1 Million for an improvement to their movie recommendation algorithm

(10/3) scientists considering open peer review system 

(10/3) company believes (based on a submitted patent) it can create an automated drone that is virtually invisible to the naked eye 

(10/3) UK firm develops cell phone that locks itself and emits a high pitched "scream" if stolen 

(10/4) Software tools being developed to monitor foreign news services to watch for threats to the US 

(10/5) LucasFilms to focus on TV rather than feature films 

(10/5) Skype's founders launching video web site, hoping to get professionally produced content on the site in addition to anything submitted by users 

(10/5) confusion over geekspeak (primarily acronyms) 

(10/6) will anyone catch google? 

(10/6) the future of MS without Bill 

(10/6) Google subpoenas MS and Yahoo to show "everybody is doing it" in response to lawsuit over book publishing/searching efforts 

(10/6) CNN Money profiles company ideas that VCs would love to invest in.  an odd way to advertise I think...

(10/9) within a week of announce, a group has already provided a solution to the Netflix problem that realized 1% improvement.  The grand prize is still available for 10% improvement to their recommendation system 

(10/9) publishers reporting increased sales thanks to Google Book Search 

(10/9) the rise and fall (and rise) of AOL - becoming a free service

(10/9) rumors have been flying for the past week which I've been ignoring, but confirmed true today - Google acquiring YouTube for $1.65 Billion.  The link below is the press release, CNN has a decent article with commentary on the announcement.  interesting slashdot comment: google has already made money on this
Google also worked out a deal with Sony and Warner Music to stream music videos for free over Google Video

(10/9) secretly competing with google and yahoo - Quigo 

(10/10) India trying to tax broadband companies for "producing" light for use in optical cables to transmit data 

(10/11) laser based TVs claim to be better than LCD and plasma offering a significantly greater range of colors, this concept was demonstrated by Mitsubishi earlier this year 

(10/11) Browser market share numbers released, firefox and safari gained ground on IE to 12.46% and 3.53% and 82.1% respectively 

(10/12) principal suing students for making a fake MySpace page.  She is also suing the parents as responsible for their children's actions 

(10/16) The cost of standby mode 

(10/17) Sun unveils data center in a box (shipping container)

(10/17) what it would take to convert to using hydrogen for power 

(9/20) Security expert uncovers hack of ATMs 

(9/21) Administration asks courts to drop wiretap case in fear that foreign intelligence will come out 

(9/21) new version of WMP, v11, new DRM controls to be significantly stricter than before
The linked article is rather editorial-like, for just the facts, see MS's release notes

(9/21) lessons learned from Facebook privacy concerns 

(9/22) more on the ATM hack problem, Wired journalist alerting major ATM companies to the problem and getting them to issue patches to systems to force password changes 

(9/23-9/26) New IM based worm, seen as invitation to view a virtual card 

(9/23-9/26) Review of latest Browser vulnerability study

(9/23-9/26) Lime Wire countersues RIAA demanding a trial by jury 

(9/27) Index of titles of articles written for NSA employees only declassified 

(9/29) 2 researchers suggest it is possible to identify individuals by their internet browsing habits, what they call a person's "clickprint" 

(10/5) members of HP indicted with felony charges for wire fraud and conspiracy 

(10/11) new DRM DVD "solution" prevents playing of DVD's on computers using WMP or any player based on DirectShow - the intended purpose is to prevent ripping DVDs 

(10/13) email tracking concerns, made notable by recent HP investigations

(10/13) MS posts warning of a potential exploit to Powerpoint 2003  

(10/16) McDonald's Japan gave away MP3 players as part of a competition that were infected with a Trojan 

(10/16) Debrecen Airport in Hungary to trial a system developed by the EU which will allow them to track all passengers using RFID, additional coverage by the BBC

(10/16) we care about privacy, but do we care enough to protect it? 

(10/16) concern for an independent site that used the text reports of 911 calls to map them using the Google Maps API, convert output to images 

(9/20) 360 to add 1080p support 

(9/22) Alice, apologetically, liveblogs Kutaragi's keynote at the Tokyo Game show 

(9/22) Gamasutra asks the industry what sony can do to make the PS3 the dominant next gen console 

(9/22) smaller hard drive version of PS3 drop in price in Japan 

(9/23-9/26) Iwata interviews Wii developers 

(9/23-9/26) MS admits responsibility in initial 360 defects 

(9/23-9/26) Wii Opera Browser to be free until June 2007 as part of promotion 

(9/27) variety of news for MS and xbox - Halo RTS in the works, Peter Jackson working on a new Halo game (not Halo 3 or the RTS), HD-DVD will be $200 in Nov this year, and some game announcements 

(9/28) Trailer for Halo Wars, the recently announced Halo RTS game 

(10/3) Burger King and MS team up to make 3 games for the 360 to be given away with some meals... 

(10/3) War breaks out in EVE between two alliances totalling 9000 players, one side (mis)uses the biggest weapon in the game for the first time  

(10/3) Gamestop learned its lesson last year - unsure when or if it will offer preorders for PS3 or Wii this year 

(10/4) This is one of the stranger stories I've read.  Profiling the founders of Gizmondo and its spectacular failure. 

(Blog 10/4) Wii will track player usage, intended for parental control 

(Blog 10/4) LOTR Online allowing players to take control of major monsters in game as their PVP solution 

(10/5) Terra Nova (TN) is discussing the use of doomsday devices in MMOs, particularly the recent use in EVE.  Additional information about that in the initial comments.

(10/6) mod chip sellers and distributors fined $9M 

(10/10) Bully turns out not to be what was expected of it by critics 

(10/11) Uru Live (Myst online) is relaunching, beta coming soon

(10/11) interview of ESA president discussing ESRB and the general state of the industry 

(10/12) surprisingly, Smed has posted some comments on the PS3 networking platform and the use of Xfire 

(10/12) Wii to be available for preorder at EBs and Gamestops starting tomorrow (10/13) - announcement says they expect the preorders to sell out the first day ("in minutes")

(10/13) hands on with the PS3, fleshing out its online capabilities 

(10/13) the blog Destructoid sent a writer to the Miami trial of Bully, series of posts describing the experience - day 1 part 1, part 2, day 2 (ruling day).  The sum of it - the judge got rockstar to bring and demo the game for him and then judged that its release does not need to be prevented.  The posts are still interesting reads to get to know what is discussed and argued in these cases and a chance to "meet" jack thompson.  The BBC also has coverage (which is linked in the 3rd post) after being given a similar demo 

(10/16) virtual world economies are beginning to attract government attention for tax purposes 

(10/17) EA's Battlefield 2142 to include spyware that will monitor your internet surfing habits to better serve you ads in game.... 

(10/17) Valve releasing Source Engine middleware for the Xbox 360 - intent to make porting between PC and the console easier, but could also make it more likely for home developers to develop an xbox game 

(9/20) University of VA student graduates with double major - physics and math - in one year! 

(9/20) State of California suing automakers global warming caused in the state... 

(9/21) CDC endorses adding HIV test to standard tests taken often 

(9/21) meet our future business leaders - more than half cheat 

(9/23-9/26) President Bush wants to create an online database that will track government spending, to make the government more responsible

(9/23-9/26) Mohler, Bob the Tomato no longer allowed to talk about God... 

(10/3) New dessert draws crowds in Tokyo, simulates eating snow... 

(10/3) man trades 2 million frequent flier miles for trip into space 

(10/3) tv station produces show aimed at an alien audience at a star in the big dipper 

(10/12) don't eat the radioactive snails 

(10/13) canadian troops battling 10-foot tall marijuana plants 

(9/22) Matt Mihaly interviews Richard Bartle in game, discussing online game design philosophy 

(9/23-9/26) Death to cell phones 

(9/27 Blog) Thoughts on loot and why gamers love to collect 

(9/27 Blog) Mocking both sides of the games and violence debate 

(10/3) Betting on Biofuels 

(10/3) Slashdot interviews Jay Rosen, NYU professor and advocate of "civil journalism", can read more about him in the call for questions, he put a good deal of thought and effort into his responses making for some interesting reading

(10/4) Roundtable discussion between four doctors on whether disaster conditions could ever justify euthanasia. 

(Blog 10/4) Smed on the ESRB's effectiveness 

(10/6) Raph looks at the forums debate  

(10/6) online generation reaching saturation? 

(10/9) dawning of the petabyte age - moving our information online 

(10/9) interesting discussion going on Raph's blog over why the asian culture allowed for a greater acceptance of gaming than Western culture 

(10/9) Process vs Data, looking at the impact higher art requirements have on today's games 

(10/11) TN weighs in on the forums debate, focusing on datamining opportunities from community discussion 

(10/13) Why MS can't compete with iTunes 

(9/20) This is oddly addicting - White Jigsaw 

(9/22) Proof that the Japanese are just a little odd... 

(9/22) internet game of the month (5/2006) flOw, based on the same games research that produced Cloud

(9/23-9/26) Parents looking to drugs to improve kids' performance in school 

(9/23-9/26) Extreme costs of travelling to meet online friends ;) 

(9/27 Blog) Stereotyping the sources of drama in online games 

(9/28) uhm that is interestingly odd...  A very different way to make a film, link to trailer 

(9/28) Giant insect invades Germany, source discovered by keyhole operator 

(10/5) variety of link related to south park and world of warcraft and making fun of the latter with the former 

(10/5) heh, nice, Alice in Marioland 

(10/10) Another odd day in Richard Bartle's mind - this time trying to imagine new primary colors 

(10/10) generating power equivalent to that of a nuclear power plant using kites

(10/14) VGCats take on supply and demand with game consoles