The Firefox 3 download!

Well, they logged 8 million downloads yesterday apparently. That's pretty cool, I downloaded it on two computers. I did not install it, and I'm glad, because....

THEY'VE DISCOVERED A VULNERABILITY! Everybody raise your hand if you're surprised. Funny, I don't see any hands.

It was discovered five hours after the download frenzy started. I'm a little intrigued that it wasn't caught during the open beta, but that's the way these things sometimes go.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20080619/tc_pcworld/147277

Higher gas prices are really hurting small gas stations

Apparently the mark up on gas is pretty thin, 10-12 cents a gallon. Credit card fees are killing gas stations, they pay a fixed percentage rate, and because of the increase in price, they are no longer making that margin. Some gas stations are offering a cash discount and in some cases stations are going cash-only.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080618/ap_on_bi_ge/gas_prices_credit_cards

So how utterly screwed is the airline industry?

Amusingly, currently playing on my laptop is "I'm damned if I do, damned if I don't" (Alan Parson's Project). Strangely apropos.

ANYWAY, I think they're pretty screwed.

Here's a story about the industry trying to become more green. From growing bio fuel from pond scum to the Boing 787: 20% lighter, 20% lower fuel requirement, 20% less nasty tail pipe pollutants.

http://www.wired.com/cars/futuretransport/news/2008/06/ecoaviation?currentPage=all


And here's a lovely article arguing for the re-regulation of the air transport industry. Basically it would ensure that no matter how stupid, poorly run, and surely the companies became, the government would make sure they wouldn't fail.

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/06/re-regulate-com.html


Personally, as much as I'd hate to see as many people employed by any given airline lose their jobs, it might do some good for one or two of the big airlines to die. It would certainly scare the hell out of the survivors, and it's a definite possibility: a quote from the latter article "24 airlines go under or go bankrupt in the past six months alone. That's one a week."

Border Laptop Searches: the EFF is asking the courts to review the legality of it

This is a good thing. I don't cross the border, but I'll certainly disinfect my laptop and encrypt the stuff that I consider private if I need to.

http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/06/12/Groups_ask_court_to_review_laptop_searches_1.html

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/13/1133208

If cooks ranted about cookbooks like gamers ranted about rule books...

Oh, man! Gotta love Lore!

http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/commentary/alttext/2008/06/alttext_0618