Below The Beltway

For the past several weeks, we have been dealing with cable television frustration on two levels.
First, all of the digitial channels we receive through our Comcast box were showing a distorted picture and distorted sound which made watching anything other than basic cable pretty much impossible for the past two weeks or so.
That was the […]

The new version of Firefox became available to the world today at 1:00pm EDT, and at least some early reviews are very positive:
June 17, 2008 (Computerworld) The Mozilla Foundation is celebrating the arrival of Firefox 3 with a worldwide party — and an attempt to set a new world record for the most downloads ever […]

At 1:00pm EST today, Firefox 3 will be available for download, and the browser wars will begin anew:
Mozilla plans to release Firefox 3 on Tuesday, and the open-source project is opening a new front in the browser wars.
As the Web transforms from a static repository of content into a foundation for applications such as word […]

It’s been long enough, but it looks like the merger between XM and Sirius Satellite Radio may finally go forward:
WASHINGTON (AP) — The proposed merger of the nation’s two satellite radio broadcasters, bogged down in the regulatory process for over a year, has cleared a major hurdle with Federal Communications Commission chief recommending approval of […]

It’s official, the next version of Firefox will be released next Tuesday:
After more than 34 months of active development, and with the contributions of thousands, we’re proud to announce that we’re ready. It is our expectation to ship Firefox 3 this upcoming Tuesday, June 17th. Put on your party hats and get ready to download […]

cNet reports on signs that the iPhone may not be tied exclusively to AT&T for much longer:
While everyone else was calling the iPhone the greatest device of all time and putting Steve Jobs on that pedestal he enjoys so much yesterday, AT&T quietly told its investors that the revenue sharing deal it had with Apple […]

Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connnor is apparently involved in a project to bring Constitutional jurisprudence to the online gaming world:
If you imagine what Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is doing in her retirement, you might not come up with this: Designing provocative clothing for virtual avatars to wear in a multiplayer […]

If you could narrow it down to two words, for most of us it would apparently be — you’re boring:
New research that makes creative use of sensitive location-tracking data from 100,000 cellphones in Europe suggests that most people can be found in one of just a few locations at any time, and that they do […]

The writer’s strike may have only been the beginning of what looks to be a momentous media change:
With the exception of Fox’s surprisingly strong “American Idol” finale on Wednesday, the May ratings have been pretty atrocious across the board, in a strike-shortened year that’s already shaping up as the TV executives’ annushorribilis.
The worst part is […]

The WaPo’s Howard Kurtz has sour grapes over the fact that the newspaper industry is being forced to change:
Let’s not bury the lead: This is a rough time for the newspaper business, a rough time for The Washington Post and a rough time for me.
No one need shed any tears for the people leaving this […]