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Reuters reports that Netflix has teamed up with LG and three other manufacturers to offer set-top boxes for online movie delivery. If this new service is implemented properly, Netflix could sell subscriptions to millions of potential customers who do not use a computer at home.

Netflix already offers online movie viewing, but the feature requires a computer that runs Windows Media Player 11 or better. A set top box would eliminate the computer requirement. No word on whether the boxes will let users browse and order movies through the television, but Apple already supports these features with its set top box.

The new boxes will arrive in stores by the end of 2008. Consumers will need a Netflix account and a high-speed Internet connection. Cable and telecom companies might see new broadband subscribers who don’t have a computer, but some customers might drop their premium TV channels to afford Netflix.

The biggest losers will be the US Postal Service and Netflix depot employees. USPS gets a nice chunk of revenue from Netflix mailers, and the depot employees receive, sort and stuff mailers in over 30 locations, including Honolulu. Online movie delivery would make the mailers obsolete.

Related posts on billso.com

• 17 January 2008: Netflix lifts limits as Apple enters online movie rental market
• 12 November 2007: I want a better television - but it’s not ready yet
• 8 June 2007: Amazon may buy Netflix

From Boing Boing and the Smoking Gun comes a story of revenge gone wrong.

An Oregon man, Robert Salisbury, returned home on 23 March 2008 to find approximately 30 people ransacking his home. These people were carrying printouts of Craiglist ads with the man’s address, including an invitation to take everything in his home, including Salisbury’s 32-year old horse. See the Seattle Times for more details.

Police investigated and subpoenaed the IP address of the users who posted the Craigslist advertisements. A quick check with local ISPs led police to the home of Brandon and Amber Herbert, who were arrested on “burglary and computer crime charges”. Police believe the couple posted the ads to cover up their earlier thefts of saddles from Salisbury’s garage.

Who’s dumber? The Herberts or the people who ransacked Salisbury’s home? It’s a real horse race among these folks for the title!

I’m knee deep in paper grading right now, but here’s a quick post with some April Foolishness.

Patrick Altoft has a live blog of April Fools pages and pranks here.

Planning to take over the world? Read the Evil Genius Guide to Business. I’m talking to you, Hank Scorpio!

ThinkGeek and Amazon are selling a book on silly Internet RFCs. A Request for Comments is a document that describes proposed Internet standards and technologies, and there is a long tradition of joke RFCs.

Google continues its annual tradition of gags, as reported on Cnet. This year’s crop includes Gmail Custom Time, a feature that lets Gmail users send thir email messages into the past.

There are almost a dozen Google hoaxes this year, including Google Australia’s gDay, a search engine that travels 24 hours ahead in time.

Google also announced Virgle, a joint venture with Virgin to develop an open-source expedition to Mars. Google’s co-founders describe the project in this YouTube video.

Wikipedia has a stub article about AFCYBER, a new Air Force command that, for now, is based in Bossier City, Louisiana. Several cities are contending for the command’s permanent headquarters, but I am not sure if Honolulu is one of the candidates.

I discussed the Cyber Command on 2 November 2006, when the funding request was first announced.

See these two Wired articles for some more information.

The Air Force has a new marketing slogan that incorporates its new emphasis on cyberspace, but the tagline sounds a bit too German to BoingBoing and tongodeon – and I agree with both blogs. The German national anthem during World War II was “Deutschland Ueber Alles”.

From the New York Times and Om Malik: Google and five telecom companies will build a trans-Pacific cable between Tokyo and Los Angeles, to increase bandwidth and reduce costs. The Times reported on the Unity consortium last September, but this new announcement confirms the US$300 million project. GearLog has more information on this topic. I haven’t determined if this new cable will connect with Honolulu.

It’s an important announcement because, as Om notes, this is the first time that Google has publicly confirmed its corporate strategy of building its own international telecom infrastructure through acquisition and investment. Google claims it wants to provide more reliable service to its users, so the company is entering the undersea cable industry not as a competitor but as a customer and complementor of Bharti Airtel, Global Transit, KDDI Corporation, Pacnet and SingTel.

As I mentioned on 7 February 2008 and 31 January 2008, the oceanic cable business can be risky. Google will have priority on the 7.68 terabit connection when it is completed. Adding more bandwidth is an essential part of providing scalable, reliable web services in North America and the Pacific Rim. If Google controls its own network as a source of competitive advantage, will competitors like Yahoo and Microsoft face higher costs to stay in business?