Many of the blogs I read regularly posted something yesterday, encouraging those who live in states that voted yesterday to get out and vote. And not one said, “vote for my candidate”. Many of them previously had mentioned who they were supporting, but the message yesterday was simply to vote.
It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to see so many saying that it is not important that you vote the way I do, but it is very important that you vote.
He lost Iowa’s caucuses, came third in New Hampshire, admitted getting his “butt kicked” in Nevada and came third in his native South Carolina.
Hooray! John Edwards finally woke up to the fact that America doesn’t want him to be President! He should have done it a while ago, and he definitely should have done it when he failed to win his home state, but whatever. He’s out now, and we can concentrate on the two people who actually do have a chance of winning.
Here’s hoping he follows Ted Kennedy and endorses Obama.
Deal Spotlights Rarity Of Bipartisan Action – washingtonpost.com
The agreement on a stimulus package represented the first time since divided government returned to Washington a year ago that the two ends of Pennsylvania Avenue sheathed their swords and came together on a major initiative without any bloodletting first.
Is it just me, or did you think this was how it was supposed to work, all the time? It shouldn’t take the worst economic crisis in years to get politicians to do what we elected them to do.
This is one of the reasons I won’t affiliate with a party anymore. Politics is not supposed to be about advancing your cause and the cause of your party. It’s supposed to be about serving the people. I think someone wrote that down somewhere a long time ago. And that’s why I’m supporting Obama – he’s the only one running who I’ve ever even heard of saying something remotely related to bipartisanship.
And I think this is good for the country. Even if the rebates don’t fix the economy (And I don’t think they will), I think it will help confidence a little bit to see the government come together and get something done quickly. If the Senate blocks this, which the Post suggests they might, we should fire all of them.
Dutch firm launches phone with fold-away screen | Tech&Sci | Technology | Reuters.com via Gizmodo.
“You get the large display of e-reading, the super battery life of e-reading, and the high-end connectivity … and the form factor and weight of a mobile phone,” said Karl McGoldrick, chief executive of the venture capital-funded firm, in which Philips still has a 25 percent stake.
In what hopefully will be an unpleasant development for Amazon’s locked up Kindle, a company spun off of Phillips is planning to bring a phone to market in 2008 that uses fold out e-paper. This is pretty awesome. If they release it in the States around the time that Verizon opens up their network, this could change the whole marketplace for mobile devices.
Or it could be another expensive toy that the wife tells me not to buy.
So, it’s 2008. The wife and I are enjoying the day off. Well, I am, at least – she has work to do. I think I’m going to bake some bread (Still trying to get a loaf of whole wheat to turn out as nicely as the white loaf did). And I’ll probably play around on the computer. Maybe even do something constructive. I don’t have any big resolutions. I’m trying to be more organized and motivated, get more done, and that sort of thing.
The tv is on, and there was just a commercial for a toilet cleaner that kills 99.9% of germs deep down into your toilet. The commercial ends with a mom walking out after cleaning the toilet, patting her young son on the head as he goes to use it.
I have a better idea when it comes to protecting your kids from germs in the toilet – tell them not to stick their hands in it. I mean, come on. Cleaning is great, but toilets are dirty. You know what we put in there, right?
Anyway, I resolve to be less annoyed by stupid things like that. I’ll probably still write about them sometimes, though.
Techdirt: How Pursuing Software Piracy Hurts Proprietary Software Firms
After all, as Microsoft and others have long admitted, you’re much better off if someone is using an unauthorized version of your software, than if they’re using the competition (especially if that competition is free). If they’re using an unauthorized version of your software, then at least there’s a chance that they’ll either buy it at a later date or convince others to buy it. However, by putting such a big effort into cracking down on software piracy, all the industry has done is highlight why people are better off going with free alternatives.
This is a big reason why I’m using Ubuntu as my only operating system. I dislike Microsoft, and have no interest in Vista. But I’m not going to pirate it. I dislike stealing, as well. I won’t say that I’ve never pirated software or music or movies. But when there is a free, open-source equivalent that fits my needs and I can live with the drawbacks (Ubuntu is obviously rougher than Windows. But nothing deal-breaking for me. YMMV.), I’m going to go with that, even though I know I could get a cracked copy of Vista or Photoshop or whatever expensive software I wanted.
Of course, I kind of shot myself in the foot with my last computer – I paid for the computer with Vista because I couldn’t get it without, and then overwrote it with Ubuntu. But I remain hopeful that my next computer won’t have the “Microsoft Tax” on it. I’d love to see Dell or someone start shipping all their computers with full hardware warranties and then some stripped down version of Linux. When you boot up, it tells you, “This operating system is not supported by us. It’s up to you to put whatever OS you want on there. We promise the hardware will work, and we’ll replace it if it doesn’t. Otherwise, you’re on your own.” Or something to that effect.
Anyway, it’s great to see that the use of open source is expanding. Maybe soon we’ll also be able to convince people that jumping to Apple because you hate Microsoft is like running from the hyena and getting eaten by the tiger. Sure, the tiger is prettier and impresses your friends, but you’re still dead.
Striking writers in talks to launch Web start-ups – Los Angeles Times
“It’s in development and rapidly incubating,” said Aaron Mendelsohn, a guild board member and co-creator of the “Air Bud” movies.
Shoot, you had me until “Air Bud”.
Seriously, I think this is very cool. If the writers can’t get what they want from Hollywood, they should remind Hollywood that their monopoly on the distribution of video entertainment is taking a big hit from the internet.
It will be very interesting when some of these writers start making real money. It will not only strengthen their position by making them more independent, but also by demonstrating the power of the internet as a revenue stream. If the writers can go to the studio and say, “Look at all the money our work made online. Now do you see why we want you to pay us when we do it for you?”.
In the meantime, I eagerly await “Air Bud Online!”
Salad: The Wife’s Signature Salad, spinach with candied pecans, dried cranberries, blue cheese, apple and a delicious honey vinaigrette.
Dinner: Scallops over lemon orzo.
Accompanied by: Bell’s Sparkling Ale, a November-only 9% alcohol American Triple.
In the oven: 100% whole wheat bread, rising and almost ready to bake (NB – I used all 100% whole wheat flour instead of the other two types).
Most of the ingredients are organic. It’s very low fat, low sodium, and totally delicious. You thought I was smug about living in the city and taking public transportation to work? You haven’t seen us eat dinner.
Complaint Hub » Blog Archive » I win! I’m a big winner!
We’re still waiting on a response for the big ticket, the $100 ticket. The wife wrote that letter. She’s a lawyer, so she should be better at convincing them, but we had a much stronger case on the one that I contested. So we’ll see.
Yes, I just quoted myself. Shut up. A couple of days ago, we finally got the letter saying that they forgave the big ticket, too. We weren’t sure what was going to happen – the car still had the old Virginia tags then. I’m sure if they tried they could get my SSN or VIN or something from Virginia and track down my DC registration that way, but that involves WORK, and I just wasn’t sure they were actually going to do that. But I didn’t want to contact the DMV after it was taking them forever to get back to us on this ticket, because that would absolve them of doing any work to connect me to the old ticket. Anyway, it’s moot now, because they finally succumbed to my wife’s crushing grip of reason and tore up the ticket. That brings our record on contesting tickets to 4-0, I think.
Inhabitat » TRANSPORTATION TUESDAY: The Smart Car
The Smart car is a tiny subcompact vehicle, only about 9 feet long and 5 feet wide. The three cylinder engine has fantastic fuel consumption, getting 42 miles per gallon, and has a top speed of 90mph.
So, those of you not in the United States, or who have traveled to some of those other countries who realize that not everyone needs a gigantic car may have seen the Smart car, about the size of two defensive linemen. Seeing them parked on the street looks a little ridiculous even when the cars around them are smaller than your typical American behemoth, so imagine this car parked between a Yukon Denali and chromed-out H2.
I ‘m a little disappointed that it will both cost $11,000+ and get only 42 miles to the gallon, but the bigger picture is that Daimler thinks this thing will sell here. That means that we’re starting to see people thinking differently about transportation and conservation and things like that. Hopefully seeing these tiny things driving around will make more people reconsider buying an 8-passenger SUV to drive to work alone.