The MP3 player wars are in full swing for the upcoming holiday season. While Apple iPods continue to own 80% market share in the space Microsoft is ready to launch it's first frontal attack with the new Zune player. Expected to be available on November 14th it will be priced at 249.99 and offer a color display, 30 gigs of storage and one feature that the iPod has yet to add.....wireless. Many in the press have been calling the Zune an iPod killer but I think that may be a bit over stated. While the features of the Zune are at or near the same level of an iPod and wireless is a nice feature I don't see the millions of users who have purchased iPods tossing them out and running to Best Buy to get a Zune. Additionally, iTunes is miles ahead of where the Zune community will be with respect to access to media.

My take on the issue is if you don't have an iPod already take a look at the Zune it might be right for you. If you have an iPod already the Zune isn't compelling enough to make a change.

I live in the Denver metro area and our offices are in Boulder both communities employ the new automatic photo speeding ticket or photo traffic violation programs. There is nothing worse than driving along and being temporarily stunned by the flash of the camera and the knowledge that in the next couple days your going to get a ticket. If this has happened to you you might find this post of value assuming you don't mind bending the rules a little.

Check out www.phantomplate.com

• 500,000 CANS IN 23 COUNTRIES!
  
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• 1.5 BILLION DOLLARS IN FINES AVOIDED!
  
• REFLECTS traffic camera flash, helping to prevent a
  costly ticket!
  
• FAST spray-on formula!
  
• INVISIBLE to the naked eye!
  
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Being that I am not an attorney I can not say for sure weather this product is legal but according to the FOX News video on the company's home page, they think it is.

In a "Friday fun" post a couple weeks ago I highlighted a new Skype enabled phone. Since then nearly 40 of you have asked for my Skype "digits". Thanks for the calls and the interest as VoIP becomes even more popular its possible that the scene below will be happening in places all over the world.

Next week Cognos will announce the launch of Cognos 8 Go! Mobile a new product to help mobile business intelligence professionals. I got a sneak peak today and I really liked what I saw. They have stayed away from PDF, HTML and excel based content and actually made the interface similar to desktop interaction complete with drill down and other functions.
The system has 4 main features that will help set it apart:

1. No need to author reports from the device - you can access anything on the fly
   
2. The client is custom designed to allow the interaction I mentioned above (drill down etc)
   
3. It's pretty secure - all content is encrypted and the IT department can even shut access down remotely if the device is lost or stolen.
   
4. Offline functionality - you can use it on a plane and still access the reports that are stored in your device.
   

Here is a way to kill a few minutes on a Friday afternoon. This type of program is commonly referred to as a mash up, it combines the Google Earth mapping application and a overlay that allows you to fly a plane over the map. It's called Goggles give it a try!