The world’s second richest man, Warren Buffett – who’s now worth $44 billion – will start giving away 85% of his wealth in July – most of it to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation!

Warren Buffett gives away his fortune

“Buffett has pledged to gradually give 85% of his Berkshire stock to five foundations. A dominant five-sixths of the shares will go to the world’s largest philanthropic organization, the $30 billion Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, whose principals are close friends of Buffett’s (a connection that began in 1991, when a mutual friend introduced Buffett and Bill Gates). The Gateses credit Buffett, says Bill, with having ‘inspired’ their thinking about giving money back to society. Their foundation’s activities, internationally famous, are focused on world health — fighting such diseases as malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis — and on improving U.S. libraries and high schools.”

Wow. Gotta give Buffett credit! The great thing about being rich, and having made it yourself… you know how you did it, and you can do it again if need be! Kudos to Mr. Buffett! I trust his contributions will be well used!

Technorati Tags: Warren Buffett, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

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eWeek Magazine has a new article that helps you tweak your résumé. “A study released May 31 by Spherion Pacific Enterprises, a recruiting and staffing firm based in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., found that nearly half of the U.S. IT work force plans to change jobs in the next year. While this means great things for techies—the same study found that IT workers beat the overall work force in job-seeking confidence—it also means that thousands now have résumés to polish and tighten.”

10 Ways to Tweak Your Tech Résumé

Check out the suggestions in the above link… some are pretty useful!

Technorati Tags: eWeek Magazine, résumé, Spherion Pacific Enterprises

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You know I have pointed out in the past that AOL is the Internet on training wheels, even “Weird Al” Yankovik’s song “It’s All About the Pentiums” has a line that says, “And postin’ ‘Me too!’ like some brain-dead AOL-er.” So it has been previously established that AOL is lame. However, it is also hard to leave the ranks of the mind numbed as well when you do get a clue, note this exchange caught on tape:

Leaving AOL… Breaking Up is Hard to Do!

I must admit, way back when (and I mean WAY back when) I cancelled my own dial-up (no, NOT AOL, Earthlink), they gave me a hard time as well, but not THIS bad!

Technorati Tags: AOL, dial-up, Earthlink

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OpenOffice.org 2.0.3 has been released. It contains performance improvements, improved compatibility with Microsoft Office formats, support for Intel Macs, and much more.

OpenOffice 2.0.3

Since MS-Office has been delayed… treat yourself to a REAL upgrade and get OpenOffice.org!

Technorati Tags: OpenOffice.org 2.0.3, Microsoft Office, Intel Macs

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They’ve already delayed Vista, now it is MS-Office 2007. Is it just me, or is Microsoft suffering from it’s own software bloat issues?

MS-Office 2007 Delayed!

“Talk about getting your wires crossed. In the same week that Microsoft sounded the trumpets for the arrival of their online preview for Office 2007, they’re now announcing a shipping delay for the office suite. ‘Based on internal testing and the beta 2 feedback around product performance, we are revising our development schedule to deliver the 2007 system release by the end of year 2006, with broad general availability in early 2007,’ a Microsoft spokesperson told Ars Technica.”

Technorati Tags: Vista, MS-Office 2007, Microsoft, Ars Technica

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It hasn’t been voted on in the full Senate yet, but a bill that may destroy the free Internet as we have come to know it, that had already passed the Congress, is now on a fast track to pass through the Senate. We are in for dark days ahead unless the Senate can be made to see that we all benefit from a free an open Internet that is not “faster” for some, and “slower” to the “backwaters” of Internet users that won’t be able to pay gouging prices to be “in the fast lane!”

BBC Article – “Open net calls fall on deaf ears”

“Internet campaigners have failed in a bid to prevent plans for a so-called ‘two-tier’ Internet from going ahead. A US Senate committee has approved a bill which aims to let internet service providers provide some customers – and companies – with preferential services. Under the plans, providers would be allowed to give customers faster Internet access for a fee. ‘Net neutrality‘ campaigners have attacked the plan, saying there should be equal access for all web users. The critics argue that the wildfire growth of online services has been driven by the ability to deliver services to anyone.”

Here’s “Ask a Ninja” on Net Neutrality!

Ask a Ninja – Special on Internet Neutrality!

Technorati Tags: Senate, Internet, Congress, internet service providers, Net neutrality

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I have been on vacation (with no computer!) The blogging catch-up starts tomorrow! I promise! Meanwhile, an update. 30 people have signed up for my Frappr! Map. Dewd! Join the gang!

Dr. Bill’s Frappr! Group!

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Dr. Bill Podcast – 42 – (06/24/06)
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Podcast Show Notes:
The ANSWER Podcast! Dr. Bill shares a recording of the revelation of THE ANSWER from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy! It is… 42! And, amazingly, this is the 42nd Podcast of Dr. Bill – The Computer Curmudgeon! Enjoy! More Geek Culture from Hitchhikers, the video of Marvin, The Paranoid Android! Here’s the link to the video:

Marvin, The Paranoid Android

Tech News: 86% of E-mail is Spam! Using Photoshop to get rid of those unslightly blemishes! A great tutorial! Will the last person leaving Microsoft turn off the lights? Great gag on the net! A Dell Laptop explodes! Check out the link in the Blog for photos! How to stop telemarketer’s predictive dialers! A neat tech tip to defeat the evil telemarketers! More Hitchhikers Geek Culture! Vote Zaphod Beeblebrox as President of the Galaxy… a video! Here’s the link to the video:

Zaphod for President!

If you see me hitchhiking across the galaxy, be sure to pick me up! See you next week!

Technorati Tags: Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Marvin, The Paranoid Android, Photoshop, tutorial, Microsoft, Dell Laptop, predictive dialers, telemarketers, Zaphod Beeblebrox

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A cool techo-tip! Are you bothered by telemarketers with “auto-dialers?” Well, beat them at their own game!

How to Stop Telemarketer’s Predictive Dialers!

“Most Telemarketers use what is called Predictive Dialers, which are PCs with software that dials every number in a phone exchange until it gets ‘lucky.’ Now you can use their own technology against them, and it’s legal! Here is how their system works: the dialer calls your number, you answer, and you have probably notice the line appears dead after you said, ‘Hello.’ What their computer is doing is listening for a short burst of audio, your ‘HELLO,’ followed by a period of silence. With this heard, it will log your phone number as valid and transfer the call to an available telemarketer, the reason for the delay before someone comes on line… If you call a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service you will hear 3 short tones, ‘doo…dah…dee,’ thanks to Ma-Bell. Each time you Refresh this page you should hear, ‘doo…dah…dee.’ The actual frequency of these tones are 985.2 Hz, 1370.6 Hz, and 1776.7 Hz. Guess what the telemarketers’ software does when it detects these 3 tones at the beginning of your outgoing message? It thinks it has reached a line that is disconnected or is no longer in service. So, it disconnects and does not log your phone number as a working number. BINGO!”

Technorati Tags: Telemarketers, Predictive Dialers

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These pictures say it all! Whoa! It is a good thing no one was actually sitting in front of it, when it “went off!”

Dell Laptop Explodes in Flames!

“At a conference in Japan, a Dell laptop suddenly exploded into flames, and lucky for its owner the fiery blast occurred while the PC was sitting on a table and not in his lap. An onlooker reported that the notebook continued to burn, producing several more explosions over the course of about five minutes.”

Technorati Tags: Dell, laptop

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