(1) Surfing will slowPEERING into Tech.view’s crystal ball, the one thing we can predict with at least some certainty is that 2008 will be the year we stop taking access to the internet for granted. The internet is not about to grind to a halt, but as more and more users clamber aboard to download music, video clips and games while communicating incessantly by e-mail, chat and instant messaging, the information superhighway sometimes crawls with bumper-to-bumper traffic. (more…)

(1)China-During 2007, the Year of the Pig, Mattel is forced to recall almost 20 million items made in China because of lead paint on toy cars and tiny magnets that could be deadly if swallowed. Lead paint problems are also found in 844,000 Chinese-made Barbie accessories and toys with the Sesame Street brand. (…)

(2) Eli Lilly- Eli Lilly wins FDA approval to put Prozac into chewable, beef-flavored pills to treat separation anxiety in dogs. (more…)

Wine blog Vinquire has a list of the top wines of the year. Not only the venerable and much written about Wine Spectator Top 20 (Number 1? Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape, 2005, natch) but also:

• Wine Spectator Top 20: Selections Under $20
• Wine Enthusiast 2007 Top 20
• Wine Enthusiast 2007 Top 20 Best Buys
• Wine.com Top 20

The entire list is in the original post, with links to the full lists:
Top Wines of the Year(Vinquire)
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A list of the top ten universities offering free online instruction:

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (mit.edu)

Free MIT Courses Online
If you are looking for a wide range of free courses online, MIT is your best option. There are more than 1,800 free courses offered through the school’s OpenCourseWare project. Courses are in audio, video and text format and can be translated into a number of different languages. People from all over the world use OpenCourseWare and 96 percent of visitors say they would recommend the site to someone else.

2. Open University (open.ac.uk)

Free Open University Courses Online
The Open University is the UK’s largest academic institution. The school’s OpenLearn website gives everyone free access to undergraduate and graduate level course materials from The Open University. Courses cover a broad range of topics, such as arts and history, business, education, IT and computing, mathematics and statistics, science, health and technology.

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Pantone’s color of the year is No. 18-3943… er, em, blue.

AT least one color authority, Pantone, has taken the plunge and announced its favorite color for 2008. To be sure, this news doesn’t seem as delectable as People’s Sexiest Man Alive or as snugly affirming as Time’s Person of the Year. You probably did not even know that chili pepper red was the color for 2007. (more…)

(1) Doesn’t natively support push business email or over-the-air calendar sync. … The iPhone can sync with Microsoft’s Exchange and IBM’s Lotus Notes over IMAP and SMTP ports, but your server and security admins have to configure their infrastructure to do so or purchase a mobile gateway from Synchronica or Azaleos….
(2) Doesn’t accommodate third-party applications, including those internally developed. … This is a showstopper for companies with enterprise mobility initiatives that require line-of-business applications like mobile sales force automation or an industry-specific application like mobile claims…
(3) Doesn’t support securing data on the device through encryption.
(4) Can’t be remotely locked or wiped in the event of a lost or stolen device.
(5) Lacks a hard keypad that provides feedback, which isn’t ideal for rapid and accurate input.
(6) Has limited service provider support and its carrier lock-in inhibits flexibility.
(7) Comes with a premium price tag.
(8) Is only the first generation.
(9) Lacks a removable battery, so when the battery kicks it, so does the device.
(10) Lacks case studies of firms that have deployed it enterprisewide.

This list has been severely truncated.
To read the full list and text, please visit the original article:
Top 10 reasons IT won’t support the iPhone (Fortune)

1. w00t
2. facebook
3. conundrum
4. quixotic
5. blamestorm
6. sardoodledom
7. apathetic
8. Pecksniffian
9. hypocrite
10. charlatan

Click to original article for definitions.
Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year 2007

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1. Clarify what you plan to do.
(…) How will you actually make money at this? With some businesses, it’s obvious: you’re going to sell a product. With other great ideas, it’s not so clear. Where will the money actually come from? What will the costs be (roughly)? (…)
2. Find a mentor.
(…) Schedule a meeting. If it’s a local businessperson, take them out to lunch. If it’s an online person, ask them if they have time to talk at length on IM (better) or by email (if this is the only option). Be persistent, but not annoying - if they say no, ask if you can try to schedule again in the future. If you still get a firm no, send a gracious response and let it drop - don’t make a nuisance of yourself and respect that other people are very busy. (…) (more…)