racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

Got to this site while DIGGing for stories: christine.site.ph.

No indication of the beneficiary being Pinoy on the DIGG story headline, but .PH on the URL stood right out and got me looking for more info. From the site:

Our beloved Christine is in the US battling cancer, and urgently needs to find a bone marrow donor. Unfortunately, finding a perfect match for her bone marrow type is particularly difficult. This is hard enough for the average person; there are over 20,000 types of bone marrow, so the average person has a 1 in 20,000 chance of finding a match. These numbers are even worse for Christine. Because she is Filipino, she needs to find a donor of the same ethnic background, and there are hardly any Filipinos on the US National Registry.

So if there are any US-based Filipinos willing to help, please do get in touch with info@christine.site.ph, and do check out the website at christine.site.ph.

After decades of debate, let’s all see how things clear up with the GIF pronunciation issue:

The GIF graphics file format was invented by CompuServe in 1987. In the years since, a debate has been raging as to the correct way to pronounce "GIF": like "jif", or with a hard ‘g’ as in "gift" as a majority of Mac users seem to prefer. With this page I intend to clear this up once and for all…

It’s pronounced like "jif". Period. The end. That’s final. End of story.

I’m convinced.

(via DIGG)

I’m disposing of my old assortment of Time, Newsweek, Fortune, Forbes, and other glossy news- and tech-magazines dating 2004 and 2003 (and some older). This is part of our annual new year’s magazine-rack clearing–there simply is too little space to hold all those valuable sources of information.

Unfortunately, valuable as they are, they have to go and give way to newer publications of interesting technological, political and social insights. A two and a half foot pile of glossies can get to be an eyesore. That’s what Al Gore invented the Internet for–to rid the world of papber-based publications (now look where that led us: more papber-based publications).

Anyone want to make an offer to buy this stuff? Maybe I should donate the lot to a library.

Want to own a piece of tech history?

Check out this auction on eBay for a Lexus that Bill Gates owned (and probably drove) in the early 1990’s.

This vehicle was owned/driven by Gates from 1990-1995, during his rise to world prominence and the development and release of his famed Windows operating system. The significance of this car presents you with an opportunity to purchase an investment like no other. This is a powerful piece of history and an item that will command the highest level of international interest.

Okay, Bill Gates proably owned and had driven several other cars during this time period.  But I think this car does have its place in history, nonetheless.

I wonder how many multi-million dollar deals were thought up or made in this car.

I was looking for any lost Microsoft paperwork that could be of any historic significance, but to no avail. I did find, however, a light brown hair that could very likely be from Bill Gates’ head. Ever think of cloning Bill Gates? This could be your chance!

Hmm … interesting.

(via Scobleizer)

Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder, erstwhile Chairman, and currently Chief Software Architect, has surprised his dad, William, Sr., on the latter’s 80th birthday with a very special gift: a law scholarship at University of Washington under his name.

From the Seattle Times:

Nothing gaudy or flashy, nothing stylish or sleek. In fact, nothing for himself at all. Instead, something to inspire public service in others, something to give back. Something he has insisted on long before his son became the world’s richest man.

So when Bill Gates Sr. turned 80 Wednesday, his son surprised him with this: an 80-year scholarship program for the University of Washington School of Law in the elder Gates’ name.

Chanced by this article via DIGG, and I read some very interesting comments. Some conclude that Bill is not evil, after all. Some go by the “charity-contributions-equals-tax-cuts” dogma. But an interesting few say Bill is evil, after all, because the world will end up with more lawyers!