The inventor of easyJet, the British no-frills airline, is taking his idea to sea with a venture called easyCruise. At present the cruise industry is an all expenses paid trip which lasts a week (or specified length of time) where passengers embark at point A and then get off at point A at the end of the cruise. Typically round trip charter flights are included in the package. The result is that the cruise industry appeals only to wealthier, older customers who have time on their hands. easyCruise will un-bundle this package and offer rooms on board the ship on a night by night basis, so that customers can cruise for as many or as few days and nights as they wish. They will be expected to make their own way to the ship. The Mediterranean-based ship would set sail in the mornings, land at port in the late afternoon and stay though the night to give passengers the opportunity to eat and search out evening entertainment, gambling, bars and clubs on land. Food and beverage will be available from the ship's restaurant and shop on a "pay as you go" basis so that passengers can purchase according to their appetite and budget. EasyCruise will visit three countries and 14 cities in a 14-day round trip. The route will take in Nice, Barcelona, Majorca, Ibiza, Malaga, Corsica, Rome and Naples. Cabin prices will start at £29 a night

Computers are really good at making copies of things. In a "Napster World" where every time someone expresses a market signal about the value of a song by downloading a copy of it; instead of there being one fewer copies of that song, there's now one more copy of that song; this is a really different economic proposition. This is a commons where the sheep shit grass. The more you graze the more you get.
from In Conversation With Cory Doctorow (Download his first novel)

"'The Google button. It's your trusted link to relevant information anywhere.' This concept moves Google from World Wide Web to world-at-large. It positions Google as a global infrastructure that provides a physical, context-aware link to relevant information. By taking advantage of context, Google can provide targeted information in almost any capacity." from Wired.

In his text - which was written especially due to the CeBIT 2004 - Bill Gates writes among others:

* TVs, DVD-players and other equipment will look the same in future but will be more intelligent and will have access to the Internet

* till 2010 there will be 2 billion computers (mostly in "embedded" form - as part of other devices)

* computers will be smaller and smaller and will be using much less power (what a revolutionary discovery!) and they will react to handwriting and voice

* memory chips that will be able to store terabytes (one terabyte can store 600 hours video recording) of information are coming and will be very tiny

* aritificial intelligence in machines is still far away

* battery-less computers are coming - they will take energy from room temperature or from moves (when carried)

... but he is not mentioning Microsoft powered cell phones (MS Smartphone and Pocket PC phone)... so it is clear again: this man has no vision for cell phone industry. copy and pasted from MsMobiles

It was bound to happen. Given that you can buy a Victorinox Swiss Army Knive with just about every gadget known to man, from horse-hoof awl to Hubble Space Telescope lens polisher. Victorinox is now offering cutting tools plus USB flash memory stick. The USB Swiss Army Knife is available with 64 or 128MB memory, plus all the usual extras - knife, corkscrew and tin-opener. copy and pasted from The Register

Karaoke, dance-offs, beer and pizza at the in-flight pub will be among the attractions of the world's first low-cost, long-haul budget airline, BackpackersXpress. The new airline is slated for launch this June, and is going (you guessed it) after the backpacking party crowd looking for cheap flights headed to and from Australia. Roughly half a million budget travellers flock to Australia from the northern hemisphere every year, Stopovers will include Delhi and Bangkok. "We're configuring it for fun and one class," Mr Millen said. "Our cabin features are designed around the backpacking culture." Backpackers-Xpress will offer open-ended return tickets from Manchester to Melbourne for $1290 starting in June 2004. Flight attendants have been expressly trained to "stimulate passenger interaction". Thanks to the help of some young Aboriginals, the staff will also be at the ready with trivia about indigenous culture, as well as loaded with tips on traveling. The airline has agreed to carry up to 20 tonnes of freight per flight and display the VB beer logo on the engine cowlings in a bid to lower its cost base.... copy and pasted from here and here.