Just downloaded Windows Vista Beta and installed it on a fairly new Dell Precision M70 (which I hate, BTW). It literally took 2 hours to install, after which it rebooted several times and then presented me with the Blue Screen of Death. Hooray!

My advice? Don't try the Beta. Don't even try the final release. Switch to a Mac. :)

Smart (?) Car

Get a load of this little Smart car. SF Gate did a feature article on its rising popularity. Now, I'm all for smaller, smarter cars, but this one doesn't seem to make any sense. It costs somewhere in the mid $20,000 range and it gets a mere 40 MPG. Exqueeze me? I'm gonna pay $25k for a car that barely seats 2, has 60hp and only gets me 40mpg? That's just plain silly. Do these cars have a chance of being popular outside of a small niche of the population willing to make a somewhat rediculous and expensive social statement? In a word, no.

Web auctions, the new jackpot for middle Americans - Yahoo! News

Regular folk attend this years' eBay Live! event hoping to learn the secret to making big money on eBay. The truth is, it's just like most anything else. A lot of work.