Best of WIN

by Best of WIN on

The Weblogs, Inc. network features over 100 independent, unfiltered bloggers producing over 1,000 blog posts a
week across over 75 industry-leading blogs. Each week we ask our bloggers to choose their top posts, which we bring to
you in one easy-to-read weekly post. You’ll find links to the hottest posts from the second week of July after the
jump. Enjoy!


The Download
Squad?s Jordan Running speculates on
when Longhorn really will ship.
Victor Agreda, Jr. turns you on to
Portable Firefox for surfing without
leaving a footprint. Barb Dybwad gives the skinny on
the latest bump to OS X 10.4.2.
Marc Perton dispels the rumor that Microsoft is buying
spyware-maker
Claria. 

Engadget?s Marc
Perton finds the ideal accessory to protect iBook and
Powerbook ports. Ryan Block spreads reports of an ultrathin
Motorola Scalpel cellhone. Vince Veneziani explains how
to build your own pedal board from scratch. Barb Dybwad
follows Robocup 2005.

Autoblog?s Eric
Bryant goes inside the 2006 COrvett Z06?s new LS7 engine,
and reports that rising fuel prices are sinking used
truck sales. Randall Halcomb thinks the ?cute? little
Nissan Micra 350SR has got cojones. John Neff reveals
that half of all hybrids sold in June were Prius?.

Joystiq?s Steve
Parsons offers Burnout Revenge eye candy. James
Ransom-Wiley solicits your great game ideas, and reports
on the San Andreas sex scandal. Conrad Quilty-Harper sheds
light on plans for the Nintendo Revolution controller.

Gadling?s Erik
Olsen covers the famous running of the bulls, rants at the
New Yorker, and ruminates on
mosquito season. Adrienne Wilson cools things off with
ice skating in Florida.

Hackaday?s Vince
Veneziani says it?s looking good that Jolt cola will sponsor the August 4
Hackaday meetup in Philly and offers another juicy set of
Hackaday links. Eliot Phillips finds a way to mod an
Epson printer to print labels directly onto CDs and
scopes out a homebrew wind turbine. 

Luxist?s Peter
Thompson is awestruck by Dubai?s Golf City. Adam Newman
showcases a $15,000 Humid?or. Rick Reed looks at
Havencrest, on the market in St. Thomas. Deidre Woollard
follows the huge Rising Sun yacht to its new home in
Cartagena, Spain.

Blogging
Baby?s Sarah Gilbert discusses stigmatization of
Moms who don?t breastfeed, and reports on a lawsuit
over a man dying during his wife?s epidural. Jay
Allen applauds Britney Spears? maternity clothing
line. Meiera Holz Stern ponders whether pink is a
no-no for boys.

Cinematical?s
Karina Longworth wonders if the
box office slump
is a political issue. Ryan Stewart revisits
Immortal Beloved.
C.K. Sample III ranks

Photo of the Day: (7/13/05)

by Erik Olsen on

Since we’re on the toppic of Vietnam, that’s where we’re going with today’s POTD. I didn’t have to go far to find a
great picture, either. Newly Purnell posted
this photo of the sun simmering in a
saffron haze in the Gadling Flickr group, and it works
great.  And the photo is quite new. It was taken in March of this year while Purnell was driving a motorcycle in
the “deep north” of the country, from Lao Cai to Hanoi.

Happy in Hanoi

by Erik Olsen on

Among the places at the top of my “must visit” list is Vietnam. I’ve spent a fair amount of time in Thailand, and
went to Cambodia just a few years ago, but the one place in
Southeast Asia that really fascinates me is Vietnam. I’ve had a couple buddies live there, and each has said Vietnam in
immensely beautiful, the food is awesome and the people are friendly.

And while Saigon would be cool, there is something, too, about Hanoi that really intrigues me. So I was very pleased
to read this piece in the Mercury
News (subscription) about Hanoi. It gives a nice low down on the town and how far its come since the war, and makes
mention of some of the places you might want to visit should you be lucky enough to go. Among these is, of course, Hoa
Lo prison, the infamous “Hanoi Hilton”, where American POWs were kept during the war.

Guns, Germs and Steel

by Erik Olsen on

Pretty cool. Worldhum picks up on the
fact that National Geographic is running a series based
on the Pulitzer-winning book by Jared Diamond Guns, Germs and Steel. You knew this was coming. GG&S was one of the
few science books of the last few years that people actually have read. I enjoyed it immensely, although there were
times when I thought the author was trying to be too nice. Perhaps a bit politically-correct. But it is a fine
read.  The book attempts to explain why certain societies have been “successful” while other have not. 
Presumably the series will do the same. I’ll watch.

Ruth Harkness and her Pandas

by Adrienne Wilson on

This

article out of the Orlando Sentinel made me feel a little fuzzy on the inside, and it’s not

because it’s about a panda. It really isn’t too adventure travel related today, but for the
30’s it was a hell of a journey and feat for Ruth Harkness. In 1936 the well-off lady set out to
the wilderness of the China-Tibet border and became the first person to ever bring a panda back west. Harkness
admitted never being much of an explorer, but the details to her days in Asia, stays in So. America and the high and
low times of her life can be found in a newbie from Random House. The Lady and The Panda by Vicki
Constantine Croke sounds like a potential read if you’re on the road and eager to learn about
the passage of an interesting woman.