According to Reuters, “After a lengthy drought, investment banks are making bold predictions that as many as a dozen European companies will go public in 2004, ranging from software and Internet to mobile phone firms.” But why do we feel scared?

Just as we were about to crown this the year that broadband finally took off, a recent study from the FCC shows us that growth over the previous quarters has slowed. According to the FCC, “the number of high-speed lines increased from 19.9 million to 23.5 million during the first six months of 2003. That 18 percent increase compared to a 23 percent increase during the last half of 2002. For the full year period ending June 30, 2003, high-speed lines increased by 45 percent.” Still sounds better than what came before.

In the wake of the elevated Terror Threat Alert and out of concern for possible harm to soft targets, 4,000 National Guard troops have been deployed to Hooters Restaurants in strategic locations throughout the area.

World Products Torquer S/R (Stock Replacement) 305 heads can and do add new life to anemic Chevy 305 engines like the one in my pathetic 1976 Camaro. The heads feature a 58cc chamber and 1.94/1.50-inch valves compared to the stock 305’s 1.84-/1.50-inch valve setup. Combined with a better cam and stouter rear gears, it should be possible to remold this pathetic 140hp slug into an honest low 15’s car.

Oh… Wait a minute… Wrong blog. Never mind.

The Department of Homeland Security raised the Terror Alert Level to HIGH from Elevated, saying, however, that there’s really nothing for the average person to worry about. The goal of the status change, it said, is to alert law enforcement officials to possible terrorist activities and asked people to remain calm, go about their normal activities, but be aware of what was going on around them. Fox News spent the next three and half hours explaining, in minute detail, everything that we shouldn’t be worrying about.

Best known for dominance in computers and servers, Intel is preparing its chips for digital televisions, internetnews.com has learned.

Nothing spelled failure more than the 90’s “Free PC” concept. Users agreeded to watch occasional ad interruptions and in exchenge got a PC they could buy for $300 anywhere else. Now a British company is trying the same, and will undoubably discover that improverished subscribers are no big hot demographic for advertisers just barely getting over the downturn.

The concept of the in-store e-commerce kiosk never really caught on because you were, uh, in the store already. But a company called Software to Go is betting that a new type of kiosk that dispenses CD-ROMs of popular software is the ticket. CompuUSA has rolled out some kiosks in Dallas, San Franciso, and Seattle stores already as part of a test, and will eventually have this offering in over 288 stores. But why limit this capability to software and even to stores that sell software? Can’t they burn DVDs too and put one of these in an airport, or a coffee shop with WiFi or anyplace you may be where you may need software?