Americans invented the Internet, but the Japanese are running away with it.

Broadband service here is eight to 30 times as fast as in the United States -- and considerably cheaper. Japan has the world's fastest Internet connections, delivering more data at a lower cost than anywhere else, recent studies show.

Accelerating broadband speed in this country -- as well as in South Korea and much of Europe -- is pushing open doors to Internet innovation that are likely to remain closed for years to come in much of the United States.

The speed advantage allows the Japanese to watch broadcast-quality, full-screen television over the Internet, an experience that mocks the grainy, wallet-size images Americans endure....Read full article here...

The shuttle blasts off.

...Free, interactive music sites like Pandora and Last.fm are a hybrid of radio station and jukebox. They provide a selection of streaming music to match your tastes, but they don't let you request a particular artist or song...

You might expect such a wealth of new music to come at a price, but these sites are free. They rely on advertising and affiliated links to online music stores. Some also offer subscription services with additional customization options or better sound quality...

But if the royalty rates recently set in the United States remain intact, rates that hit $500 per listener per year by some estimates, some of these sites say they can't carry on...

I, for one, would hate to see these sites disappear. I use both and like them a lot in helping me discover "new" music which I then go and buy.

New Washington DC baseball stadium starting to look like a stadium

Maria Sharapova of Russia beat Eleni Daniilidou of Germany to win the East West Bank Classic at the Home Depot Center on August 8, 2007 in Carson, California.

Since May 11th, the Washington Nationals have a 40-35 record. If the season had started May 11th the Nats would be just 1/2 games behind the Mets and 4 1/2 ganes ahead of the Braves. I know you have to count the first month and half of the season but this trend certainly has to bode well for next year. If we can finish the season playing above .500(which I beleive we can) then the "near future"(next year) does look brighter than most ever thought it would in April.

Go Nats!!!