conventions

Earlier this week, we took a quick glance at a few of the many production and concept cars making their debuts at the 2009 SEMA Show last week at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Well, today's video needs little explanation, simply because I don't have much extra information to give you. This Web clip shows off four nice customized Ford Mustangs that were exhibited at the most recent SEMA Show in Vegas, and really, this video is just a lot of nice eye candy for Mustang enthusiasts. Observe...

This video is more or less a commercial for Stage … Read more

This last week saw yet another big auto show in the form of the 2009 SEMA Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The show ran from November 2 to Friday November 6, and boy, was there a ton of eye candy for us car enthusiasts. However, the SEMA Show was not open to the public--only auto industry insiders were allowed inside these doors full of what SEMA refers to as "automotive specialty products." This video is a teaser of some of the many automotive delights that were on display at this year's event.

Here we go … Read more

Roughly a week ago NASCAR representatives announced the members of the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame at the Charlotte Convention Center. The inductees into the 1st HoF class included NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., his son Bill Jr., Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Junior Johnson. One name not included on this list was the NASCAR legend David "Silver Fox" Pearson. The 74 year old Pearson took the denial in stride, but many fans and critics perceived it as either an oversight or an outright snub. Regardless of HoF status, Pearson is a classic racing hero, … Read more

In a corporate blog post this week, Microsoft Vice President Horacio Gutierrez promoted the idea of a "harmonized, global patent system," in which all the nations adopt common standards for processing and approving patent applications.

Properly done, patents approved in one country could become enforceable in other countries, as is the case with copyrights under the terms of the Berne Convention.

I really have no problem with harmonization if it is properly done, but I think it would be tremendously difficult to achieve good results. The reality of patent protection is radically different from that of copyrights because … Read more

As with landmines and napalm, cluster munitions are decidedly politically incorrect, and there is a concerted international effort to ban them. Problem is, they're highly effective, and countries that actually fight wars, like the U.S. and Russia, are loath to give them up.

However, a "humanitarian" version of the "cluster bomb" may head-off some objections to their continued production, or at least provide cover for those who want to keep them in the inventory. Billed as safer alternative to cluster munitions, Sensor fuzed weapons (SFW) contain independent self-destruct features based on altitude, time elapsed, … Read more

Microsoft blogger Steve Clayton thinks he has the answer to the mystery of president-elect Barack Obama on a treadmill with--gasp--a Microsoft Zune instead of his usual iPod. Microsoft made a special-edition 4GB Zune for the Democratic National Convention. I can imagine Obama wanted to work out, realized he didn't have his iPod, and asked one of his many staffers to borrow their MP3 player.

The funniest part of this story isn't that Obama was using a Zune, but that everybody was so surprised to see one in public! Outside Microsoft, they're still relatively rare beasts.

(Tip courtesy … Read more

I was happy to refrain from commenting about John McCain's acceptance speech last night. There are enough political spin doctors out there already and Microsoft is keeping me plenty busy.

But now that my junior high school has taken on the starring role, I can't leave it alone.

It turns out a photo displayed on a screen during the first part of McCain's speech, which some thought was one of McCain's many mansions, was in fact the front of Walter Reed Middle School in North Hollywood, Calif., where yours truly spent three awkward, hormone-filled years. (TV … Read more

MINNEAPOLIS--Republican partygoers in the Twin Cities this week may have been sporting slightly more formal attire than their counterparts in Denver--think more suits and pearl necklaces--but that doesn't mean their parties were any less bumping.

The Google/Vanity Fair party Thursday night in Minneapolis for the Republican convention largely measured up to, and in some respects surpassed, the Google party in Denver.

The two parties were the same in concept--well-known politicians, unknown aides, and a smattering of Hollywood celebrities moved through rooms sporting colored themes, finger foods, and open bars. However, the lines at the bars in Minneapolis were … Read more

With Thursday night's finale at the Republican National Convention, the preliminaries of the 2008 presidential contest are over and done with--on to the general election in November.

The centerpiece of the Republican event Thursday in St. Paul, Minn., was the acceptance speech by nominee John McCain. The senator from Arizona offered up his vision for what the country can expect if he and running mate Sarah Palin are sworn into office in January.

Get the full lowdown on the night's proceedings from Katie Couric and the CBS News team:

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