| Permalink | 
But gambling on what this hurricane season will produce is proving almost as irresistible as guessing the day Britney Spears will give birth.
U.S. casinos do not offer hurricane bets, and the Justice Department says online gambling is illegal, but that doesn't stop devotees, a few thousand of whom have placed hurricane wagers with online casinos based in other countries.
"Betting on baseball gets boring. You're looking for a little action every now and then," said Ken Moore, who plunked down $75 in hurricane bets. "Betting on the hurricanes, I couldn't resist it."
Moore, a graphic designer from Quincy, Mass., will make a profit of about $72.50 if exactly two hurricanes of Category 3 or higher strike the United States this season. He will make $5 if one hits. If none hit or three or more hit, he loses. Category 3 storms have sustained winds of at least 111 mph.
Some victims of Hurricane Katrina and the seven other storms that walloped the U.S. over the past two seasons think the betting is tacky if not downright cruel.
Virginia Saussy Bairnsfather said her fellow New Orleans residents have developed a pretty good sense of humor since Katrina devastated their city, killing 1,577 Louisiana residents. It's a sort of "if you don't laugh, then you'll cry mentality," she said.
She isn't appalled by hurricane wagering, but would like to see the money better spent.
"I wished that everyone who placed a bet on where a hurricane is going to land, would take at least 10 percent of that money and do something to help victims," said Bairnsfather, who lost the first floor of her home to 8 feet of water poured in by Katrina.
Moore could go along with that. "If I got a little windfall, I'd probably give some to the Red Cross," he said.
Hurricane gamblers have several options for placing bets. One is how many hurricanes will hit the United States. Another is how many will hit Florida and what category they will be.
The safest bets offer 2.25 to 1 odds that at least two Category 3 storms will hit the U.S, according to odds posted by BetCRIS.com. Gamblers think the chances of six or more storms hitting the U.S. (5 to 1 odds) are more likely than no hurricanes hitting at all (6 to 1 odds).
"Hurricanes are a hot subject right now," said Calvin Ayre, founder and CEO of online casino Bodog.com. "Anything they have an interest in generally, they also like to bet on, if they're gamblers."
Mickey Richardson, CEO of BetCRIS.com, said he did wonder if he should continue offering hurricane bets after Katrina.
| Permalink |
| Permalink |
| Permalink |
Microsoft has long come under fire for being too easy a target for criminal hackers, and Gates acknowledged that his company bears a large responsibility in this area. But he also said the entire computing industry needs to get together to build a "trust ecosystem."
InfoCards will be part of Microsoft's updated browser software, Internet Explorer 7, which has been released in a limited preview version, and also the company's upcoming operating system software, Vista, due out toward the end of the year.
| Permalink |
The X1900 XTX runs at 650MHz and is fitted with 512MB of 775MHz DDR memory. The Radeon X1900 XT and CrossFire versions run at a slower 625MHz clock speed with access to 512MB of 725-MHz DDR memory.
The All-In-Wonder X1900 is supplied with ATI's Multimedia Centre, Remote Wonder Plus (for wireless computer control), a European program guide for DVB-T broadcasts, input and output cables and support for Windows XP Media Centre.
| Permalink |
Microsoft Corp. released another "community technology preview" of Windows Vista, adding a number of new features to the preliminary version of the upcoming operating system.
Monday's preview added new security features and updated the program's on-screen appearance, giving a further sense for where the company is headed with the new Windows version.
The operating system is Microsoft's biggest moneymaker, used on most of the world's PCs.
It was the third such preview, issued for use and testing by software developers, information-technology professionals and others along those lines.
But Microsoft declined to give a date for the second beta release of Windows Vista, a more formal preliminary version that will also be made available to some end users.
The first beta was issued in July, and the second beta was originally expected this month, but the company said it won't have more details on its timing until early next year.
Microsoft has said a final version of Windows Vista will be released in the second half of 2006..
| Permalink |
