Austin

Michael Dell has grown tired of discussing his company's reinvention.

He mocks suggestions that the company he founded is taking more risks than in the past and parries questions about how Dell's culture had changed.

"It's O.K. if everyone doesn't understand what we're doing," Dell said during an interview at Dell headquarters here, just north of Austin.

Conçue comme la réponse européenne au vaste programme mondial de numérisation lancé par Google, Europeana, la future bibliothèque numérique européenne sera officiellement lancée cet automne. C'est le souhait exprimé hier, lundi 11 août, par Viviane Reding, la commissaire européenne à la Société de l'information. Dans un communiqué, elle a annonçé que Bruxelles allait investir dans ce projet 120 millions d'euros sur deux ans.

It may not be one of the burning social issues of our time -- neither presidential candidate made it part of their stump speech -- but Internet retailer Amazon.com has announced that it is taking a stand on "wrap rage."

Amazon is launching "Frustration-Free Packaging" (FFP), an initiative to reduce the use of plastic "clamshell" packaging and plastic-coated wire ties that are often used to secure unopened toys and electronics.

Austin is building a biomass plant, and in traditional Texas fashion, it’s huge. The city of Austin approved a $2.3 billion purchasing agreement to buy all the energy produced by a 100 MW facility that will be up and running sometime around 2012 in Sacul, Texas. 100 MW is pretty dang big, beating out Hawaii’s biomass plant by 76 MW.

From MKGandhi.org:

Reports continue to flood in from U.S. iPhone 3G users about problems with 3G connections and speeds. The problems tend to come from large metropolitan areas, but one informal survey points to the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles.

"I'd estimate that I see the 3G icon on the phone less than one-third of the time in so-called 3G areas that I frequent in the Bay Area and Austin (Texas)," reported a resident of Santa Clara, Calif.

Justin E. H. Smith

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