Okay, I’ll admit it. I am curious about the bee situation. So I’m following it as various articles come up, and more than likely, I’ll continue posting here about it.

From the article:

“Preliminary work has identified several likely factors that could be causing or contributing to CCD,” says Dennis vanEngelsdorp, acting state apiarist with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. “Among them are mites and associated diseases, some unknown pathogenic disease and pesticide contamination or poisoning.”

So, it could be wi-fi electrical interference or some form of disease. Either way, there doesn’t seem to be a solution sighted in the near future.

ScienceDaily: Honey Bee Die-off Alarms Beekeepers, Crop Growers And Researchers

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Apparently, this is becoming a big issue. First, they report the electromagnetic radiation may be a cause for bees to lose track of where “home” is. And now more bees, into the billions according to the article, are being lost.

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EnGadget reports that Wal-Mart is getting into the High Definitive market with a $299 HD-DVD player. We’ll have to see the quality of the Chinese made units will be, but this could be a huge hit.

The Wal-Mart $299 HD DVD player on the way - Engadget HD

On Tuesday, April 18th, 2007, “The Children of Hurin” by J.R.R. Tolkien was released. This is a new complete work from the late author. I’ve not gotten my hands on it yet, but the book is on it’s way to my door today.

This promises to be a very good read, if a little darker than the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I’d encourage any fan of Tolkien to check this book out.

This is a great article, in my opinion…

It harps on the rising cost of DRM-less music tracks from iTunes Music Store, to locked content on video games. It’s an editorial piece, with an opinion I can support.

From the article:

There’s a balancing act here: You want to give players substantial, meaningful rewards for doing well, but you don’t want to make them suffer through boring or unwanted parts of the game to get to the “good stuff.”

And of course, you don’t want players who aren’t really good to miss out on any of that costly content you built for the game.

Clearly, the trend emerging now is toward a less locked-down future. One of the big RIAA labels is offering a path — albeit not a well-priced one — to music that you can more easily move around to different devices.

Read on: FOXNews.com - The Cost of Unlocking Everything - Technology News | News On Technology

Reading along my usual news sources today brought up an interesting article about the disappearance of large amounts of bees. And strangely, it has been attributed to electromagnetic radiation released from many of our high-tech gadgetry — mainly cell phones. (more…)

CNET Reports:

AnywhereCD.com allows you to purchase DRM-free MP3’s that can be played on any portable MP3 player.

This sounds like a good plan to me. However, the freedom to play your songs on the device of your choice comes at a premium… looking to be about $2 USD per album. And this new site doesn’t carry quite the library as the popular Apple iTunes Music Store. And you can’t buy individual tracks, just full albums. So, you can take the good with the bad…

For those music lovers who have a strong distaste for DRM, and who doesn’t, I’d say check out this site and see if it’s got what you are looking for at a price you are willing to pay.

Michael Robertson launches new DRM-free music service | News.blog | CNET News.com

How I didn’t know about this before now is beyond me, but this coming Saturday (April 14th) Apple is opening the Apple Store at the Summit! Birmingham may just be officially on the map now.

Thanks to JeremyFlint for reporting this to my attention.

Apple Store Coming To Birmingham - Jeremy Flint - Red Hot and Daily

I know this may not be new to most of the tech crowd, but I’ve recently rediscovered this handy tool: Process Explorer. This comes from the SysInternals site, care of Microsoft now, and provides you with a diagnostic look into the belly of the beast that is your Windows OS.
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In yet another study to validate one’s own cravings, it seems that dark chocolate could be even better for you than just satisfying your wants for something sweet. Yes, apparently, researchers have shown that dark chocolate, high in cocoa, contains more beneficial flavonoids that help reduce high blood pressure. Even more than in green tea, the current health kick (one that I subscribe to, actually). (more…)