Just a few days ago, the stock market took one of the biggest hits since the great depression. People cried, panicked, and were filled with worry. When one of the largest corporations in the world files for bankruptcy, everybody living in America and elsewhere are effected.

Thousands of jobs lost, lives ruined, billions of dollars gone to waste. What are we to do when we face such challenges? The hopeful thought would be for CEOs to get together, stop being greedy, and give back to the people that need it most. It's true, if companies cared more about being great at what they do, and profits were just an added bonus, we wouldn't have these kinds of situations occur as they do.

People say "tragedy is one of the only ways change is initiated." Is something like this enough to make a difference and serve as a wake up call to large corporations and people in general? I certainly hope so. I don't want to have to wait for a grander tragedy to destroy more lives and cause harm to the world, like the climate crisis. Continue to read the rest...

Waking up to this kind of news is pleasing to hear. What I don't understand is why it's not promoted on a larger scale. Throughout 1999 and 2000, over 1200 weapons were collected, and gun violence was noticeably reduced. Local police stations offer $100 in exchange for guns, which is pretty decent as well. If reducing gun crimes, and the general dangers from having access to a gun is not important enough to promote it, I don't know what is.

I haven't seen a single advertisement on TV or in the subway, which means that it's poorly advertised. I would be more than glad to design posters and newspaper ads for this, encouraging people to be safe! Taking illegal weapons off the streets should be the priority of all cities and government, and there's no better way than cash incentives. People love cash.

I think I am going to work on some ads promoting gun safety, just for fun. Anyone have any ideas? I'd like to view your thoughts.

Sony's true intentions with this marketing move makes me wonder. Clearly, their marketing teams are aware that they are over 3 years late on the whole "designed for..." accessory branding bandwagon. Maybe this was done just for the heck of it, to test the waters on what kind of response they would get. If exposure is what Sony is after with this new accessory tagging, they won't be getting much of it with a 2% market share.

To put it straight out, Sony has been in the market long enough to make whatever business decision, and for it to be completely okay. Their experience in the field is extensive, but the current position is 4th from the top. Honestly, I have NEVER seen a Sony Walkman accessory in a retail store. Have you?

So here it is. Another installment of my soon-to-be-famous Random Thoughts. What goes on through your head, I'd like to know. Are my thoughts so different from yours?

• I bought a 30-day Unlimited Ride metro card for $81. I better take advantage of it!
• Reading a book about the devil visiting the every day streets of Moscow can be quite interesting.
• Need to renew the passport. I couldn't get my driver's permit because of that! Hmmph!
• I started working on a new website design. Coming along quite well. Stay away from blue! I use too much blue!
• I should get some breakfast...morning fasts are not cool.
• How the heck did my friend's car's transmission blow out just out of nowhere? Now I have to go and help push the damn thing to a shop!

Continue reading for the rest of the thoughts...

I must give props to Dell for taking a big step towards greener computing with their new Studio Hybrid lineup. In terms of design, I'm very picky about what I like and Dell has been producing some pretty good looking hardware (although I prefer Mac OS X over Windows for software). I applaud Dell for making a machine with a tiny form factor that consumes 70% less energy than standard computers and ships in 95% recyclable materials.

The reason why I am promoting this is simply because I believe it is a step in the right direction for a major market holder in the industry. Not to worry, the Hybrid line comes with a variety of options to customize it to your needs. You will not only save energy but you'll also have a smaller carbon footprint.

Apple has already begun its process of making their machines as green as possible by using highly recyclable materials (aluminum), smaller packaging, mercury-free LCD backlights, and more. It makes feel that much better about companies doing the right thing, and it should be the same with you.

It's not so often you hear about a 100% organic clothing shop opening in your town. Treehugger reports that "Eden" has opened its doors about a month ago in Sao Paulo, Brazil that does just that. All articles of clothing in this shop are made with organic cotton, and the shop goes as far as having its furniture made using bamboo and demolition wood.

Promoting organic cotton shouldn't be a rarity, but instead, it should be something more companies pay attention to. YD Confections and Coexis is the company in charge of the Eden brand and they work with manufacturing organizations in the field to produce sustainable materials.

According to the World Health Organization, about 20,000 deaths occur due to pesticide poisoning. On top of it all being a danger to humans, the environment takes a toll as well. Check out Treehugger's guide to Organic Cotton.

I'd like to see these kinds of stores opening up in New York City. I'm sure the fashion world would give this idea a nice big hug!

Lately I've been contemplating whether or not I should extend my .Mac Mobile Me membership. I've decided that I'll make the move and take the risk. Not everyone may find all the features of Mobile Me useful but they've all helped me a great deal. The online storage (now up to 20GB) has saved my life numerous times and I really don't wanna lose this feature.

I know that a lot of people have been complaining about the stability of the service as of late, but I haven't experienced any of that stuff. Now, to be honest, I don't really use the Mobile Me email for anything, but I plan to change that very soon. I really love the idea of having "push" email, calendar, and contacts but I've been fine without it for the longest time!

I trust that Apple will fix up whatever problems they've been having just as they do with other issues. And while on the topic of issues, I'm still disappointed at the iPhone 2.0 firmware! The camera just started messing up where it wouldn't store some of the pics that I take. Where's the update, Apple?!?!

Forbes.com recently wrote about the potential of the iPhone as a handheld gaming system. This sparked some thoughts in my mind about what Apple could be planning come June 9th. The release of the SDK and the announcement of the App Store makes the iPhone a tremendous platform for content distribution.

With the amount of market share Apple holds in the mobile world, the iPhone is more than suitable as a portable game console. We have already seen a glimpse of what the iPhone can do when EA demoed Super Monkey Ball and Spore on March 6th. The iPhone may have twice the power of Sony's PSP, but will its button-less makeup prove to be useful or inept?

iPhone vs PSP and Nintendo DS - Would Apple stand a chance?
Yes, the iPhone is powerful enough to handle top notch handheld graphics, but will it really work as a gaming platform? After all, it is a phone, and we all know what happened when Nokia attempted to join the big boys with the N-Gage. Continue reading for a list issues the iPhone faces.

We're days away from this year's Worldwide Developer's Conference and the hype is getting hotter by the minute! Lifehacker has reported that location-aware applications will be changing our lives, while rumors have it that "Snow Leopard" (OS X 10.6) will be announced. We have already seen a million iPhone 3G mockups and "leaked" shots. Now we have to see what Apple's really got hidden up their sleeves.

Geo-location Photo Tagging:
Having this feature on the iPhone would be pretty handy in my case. I use the iPhone camera all the time, and it would be cool to have location tagged photos. Some people aren't too crazy about this feature since the 2MP camera doesn't take pics that are worth tagging. Also: If cell tower triangulation is used for every picture taken, how will that effect battery life?

This, of course, is just one of the many highly anticipated features expected to be a part of the iPhone 2.0 update and iPhone 3G. We've seen some pretty awesome developments at the iPhone Software Roadmap conference back in March. I am anticipating a lot of things to be fixed and updated, as well as a plethora of applications including games, productivity tools, and more.

I came across an article over at BBC.co.uk stating that web users are becoming more selfish. They're spending less time on websites, and using direct links mostly through search engines to access data.

Basically, what it's trying to say is that people in general are spending less time looking for what they want. I don't understand how this is "selfish." The web is a developing platform where infinite amounts of data can be stored and accessed by virtually anyone. Last time I checked, searching and getting info quickly was as normal as anything else.

There's a misclassification with the term "web user," and I believe it's being used too broadly. A user can jump on a computer and quickly look up something about the second world war and be done in 45 seconds. This same user may have a list of websites that he/she visits often for much longer periods of times. One cannot say that people who use the web are getting more selfish. "Savvy" is a word I prefer to call it. More after the jump...