Due to the tremendous response we've gotten, we've decided to give The Rugged Elegance Inspiration Network site room to grow by moving it to a new, improved location:

http://www.ruggedelegantliving.com

Please re-set your bookmarks as all new posts will occur on the new site.

As part of the move we are also transitioning to a Moveable Type content management system, which will allow us to add more editors while providing better search and categorization capabilities.

Thank you your continued support. Growth is good.

-Tim
1:41:54 PM    

New York Times:

Apple Computer seems to have the future of online music in its hands for the moment. Its new service, iTunes Music Store, has been the first real success story in the long effort to sell music over the Internet. In just its first month of operation the service, by the company's estimate, has sold three million songs online, at 99 cents each. This is an impressive figure considering the limited access that music fans now have to the service.

7:43:55 PM    

BBC NEWS:

The cost of downloading songs from the internet has been cut in the first round of a price war. Listen.com, which provides internet radio broadcasts for $9.95 a month, is slashing the price for burning music onto CDs from 99 cents to 79 cents. This comes just a month after Apple Computers launched its online iTunes music store, which allowing Mac users to download songs for 99 cents with no monthly subscription fee. The Apple service has been far more popular than expected, with two million songs downloaded in its first 16 days.

This is obviously good for all of us who are consumers.

-Tim
3:58:18 PM    

Mercury News:

The personal computer is overtaking the television, stereo and other home entertainment devices, now that digital content -- MP3 music tracks, digital photos and digital video -- has become mainstream, according to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive for Microsoft.

10:49:15 PM    

HealthScout News Service:

If you're worried your bad breath will put a damper on a date, you might consider substituting tea for wine with that candlelight dinner.

Two new studies suggest that regular tea drinking can stave off unsociable mouth odors. Both were presented May 20 at the American Society for Microbiology's annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

More good news about tea.

-Tim
12:52:50 PM    

Business 2.0 by John Battelle:

Everyone who has TiVo loves TiVo; it is to television what Macintosh was to computing -- a revelation. Which is exactly why Apple should buy TiVo and once again redefine the intersection of culture and technology.

Personally I think it is a perfect fit. TiVo has embraced Apple's Rendezvous networking technology which, together with TiVo's Home Media Option, allows you to stream music from iTunes and view photos from iPhoto.

I can even imagine an iPod-like device with a nice flat panel display that would synch up with my TiVo, allowing me to view my favorite programs on cross-country flights.

Let me know what you think about Apple buying TiVo.

-Tim
10:38:41 AM    

In a bold move, TiVo will offer a free TiVo Basic Service that consumer electronics manufacturers will bundle with DVD players. Consumers purchasing devices with the ability to receive the TiVo Basic service will get limited DVR functionality such as pausing live TV, record from guide, manual repeat recording by time and date, and 3 days of program guide data (versus two weeks of program guide data in the full version).

Consumers using TiVo Basic Service can use the full TiVo service on a free trial basis, then choose to pay either $12.95 per month or a $299 one time fee to upgrade to the full version of TiVo. Consumers can also pay an additional $99 to upgrade to the Home Media options, which allows a TiVo device to play MP3s and view digital photos from a networked computer.

The success of this move depends on two factors:

1) Price Point of DVD/TiVo Devices: DVD manufacturers will need to bundle a hard disk drive with their players, so the bundled devices will need to be priced higher that a DVD player. In fact, Toshiba will be offering a DVD/TiVo device which includes the TiVo Basic service. The price point for that device, which will ship this fall, is $549. This price point doesn't do much for TiVo as it would be cheaper to buy the full fledged TiVo and DVD separately. Success for this initiative depends on TiVo getting distribution in much cheaper devices.

2) Consumer Reaction: It may well be that consumers will find that their needs are met by the TiVo Basic service and, as such, find no reason to shell out $12.95 per month to access features such as two week program guides, Season Pass, search by title, etc.

Time will tell. Stay tuned.

-Tim
10:42:03 AM    

AP via CBS News:

In a step toward electronic newspapers and wearable computer screens, scientists at E Ink Corp. have created an ultra-thin screen that can be bent, twisted and even rolled up and still display crisp text.

The material, only as thick as three human hairs, displays black text on a whitish-gray background with a resolution similar to that of a typical laptop computer screen.

The screen is so flexible it can be rolled into a cylinder about a half-inch wide without losing its image quality.

9:19:27 AM