My wife sent me today an interesting link from the Daily Telegraph (a UK newspaper), which had an interesting story about Da Vinci being credited with envisioning a futuristic vehicle, which was hailed as the first self-propelling car ever designed.

On my way back home after the trip South of the border, I came across a CNN story about the growing number of lawsuits by the music industry against users violating the artists' copyrights.

The numbers are incredible:  477 more computer users sued yesterday, bringing the total number of actions filed to 2,454 lawsuits.  Out of those, 437 cases have reached a typical settlement of a $3,000 one time payment.

I've been suffering from e-mail withdrawal syndrome for the past couple of days - no Internet or way to check my e-mails or even worse, update this blog.  All of this due to a short vacation trip to Washington, D.C. to show the US capital to my wife and visit the family and some dear friends.

One recent noteworthy story that I came across was cold fusion.  Jeff Hecht wrote an interesting article on the Technology Review web site about the subject - it is a must read. 

Technology Review, a prestigious publication from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), released the 2004 edition of its Patent Review Scorecard, an annual ranking of patents in eight high-tech sectors, including:

• Aerospace
• Automotive
• Biotechnology / Pharmaceuticals
• Chemicals
• Computers
• Electronics
• Semiconductors
• Telecommunications

The research shows that despite the economic slowdown, most high-tech companies remained committed to their R&D investments.  One such example of strong support of research even during tough times are telecom giants Lucent (NASDAQ: LU), Motorola (NYSE: MOT), Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERICY) and Nortel (NYSE: NT), which maintained in 2003 their respective average ranks from 1998 to 2002.

Earlier this year, the U.S. FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved the only drug cocktail that has been proven to help patients with asbestos-related cancer to live longer.

A combination of Alimta (a new drug recently introduced by Eli Lilly & Company), Cisplatin (a standard chemotherapy agent) and daily doses of folic acid and vitamin B12 has been shown to prolong the life of patients suffering of malignant pleural mesothelioma (a cancer of the lining of the lungs, often attributed to asbestos exposure).

Last week, I posted a story about major VoIP developments happening in Canada.  The CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission) gave its initial assessment about the treatment of VoIP service providers in Canada.  Originally, the CRTC had indicated that there was an April 28th deadline for industry participants to make submissions and public consultation was planned to be held on May 19-20 in Gatineau, Quebec.

In what's being considered yet another battleground in the global battle of the recording industry against alleged music piracy, CRIA (the Canadian Recording Industry Association) has filed an appeal on the ruling made last month by Justice Konrad von Finckenstein.

PC World had an interesting article about what the next generation of cell phones will look like.  They will offer far more features that the current cool mobile handsets du jour that only have a built-in camera. 

Last month, Toshiba set the record for the world's smallest hard disk drive (HDD).  In January, the Japanese vendor introduced its newest HDD model, a 0.85 inch hard drive, which is equivalent to the size of a stamp.   more »

A bunch of students, faculty, alumni and computer enthusiasts at large got together at a USF gym with a goal ...   more »

Researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory have been busy studying squid magnetronomy.  SQUID (Superconducting QUantum Interference Device) is the most sensitive known detector of magnetic flux, a sensitivity which is extremely handy for medical diagnostics.  SQUID represents the confluence of three distinct technologies: nanotech, quantum mechanics and superconductivity.   more »

Fujitsu, Sony and Mitsubishi showcased at the Robodex Forum (in Tokyo on Wednesday) new technology that enables distinct robots to ...   more »

Earlier this month, the CRTC made public its preliminary view on VoIP.  The initial verdict is not good news for any ...   more »

Intel (INTC / NASDAQ) reported on Tuesday revenue earnings for the first quarter that, while slightly lower than ...   more »

Here is a story from Drudge Report about a Florida baby who got the world's smallest pacemaker, of the size ...   more »

Lots of new cool apps were demonstrated at the Mobile Device Developments Conference held in London in October 2003 and more ...   more »

Another issue that is still grabbing a lot of attention is the Federal Court of Canada ruling (hat tip: David ...   more »