South Park

Media giant Viacom took its fight to the public this week seeking to outline battle lines in its $1 billion lawsuit against YouTube's parent, Google. Viacom filed the lawsuit in March 2007 alleging that YouTube purposefully allowed Viacom's copyrighted content to be distributed on the site. The suit was filed after negotiations between Google and Viacom over licensing content fell apart.

Microsoft Corp. said late Monday it will now sell TV shows, including popular NBC series, on the Zune Marketplace, a move that brings its selection of content for the digital media player a step closer to what Apple Inc.'s iTunes offers for Apple's much more popular iPod.

Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft said it also planned to send out software updates overnight that add new features to the Zune devices and the PC software used to buy and manage digital content.

Who would’ve thought that mixing Lunch and the Web 2.0 crowd would be so popular? Well, maybe it’s the free food, maybe it’s all of those nerdy conversations, or maybe it was Ogilvy’s “Lonche 2.0″ theme, seasoned with maracas, sombreros and of course a sumptuous burrito bar from Mexico Au Parc (our favorite lil’ South Park joint).

I'm an mechanical engineer by training and I used to spend hundreds of hours simulating load on virtual mechanical parts using finite element analysis. It was great I could try various permutations of length, width, tapers etc to optimize the load bearing capacity of the part and minimize the amount of material needed. I didn't have to build 50 different parts and test them in a lab. I learned many things in the simulations and after a while I intuitively knew where to start and was able to optimize the parts in 2 or 3 passes.