July 31, 2006
First Cruise
On August 2nd, we will have had our iMac for six months. That's enough time for me to have dug around in the OS, locked it up once and fretted over little scratches on the surface that I can only see when I get really close and turn my head 70 degrees so my cheek is almost against the LCD screen.
This is the finest piece of equipment I have ever owned. It is not flawless; for example, I replaced the keyboard and mouse with a wireless Logitech combo because the Mighty Mouse leaves something to be desired, in my opinion. But in total, I would have no reservations about giving a machine such as this to someone who had never touched a computer before. I would rest easy in the knowledge that they would be using it on day one and that it's nearly impossible for them to break any of the software included with it, including the OS.
A few months after we bought the iMac, Apple rolled out Boot Camp, a utility that resizes partitions on the fly and allows Intel Macs to run Windows XP. Of course I installed it, mainly to see how it worked. It was wonderful, but really nothing more than a curiousity. I haven't used the XP partition more than a handful of times. Put simply, the Mac does everything I need to do with a computer, and does it almost flawlessly.
It will seem slower and slower at its newer siblings come down the Cupertino pipeline, but I am comforted by the fact that I know quite a few people using older G4 Macs who are still getting work done with no problems. Will I be using this iMac in 2010? Probably not, but I'll be using it in 2008, and it will be running the latest version of OSX. Try running Windows Vista (when it finally ships) with bells and whistles engaged on a non-upgraded PC more than two years old and see what happens.
July 29, 2006
The Thin Gold And Blue Line
According to Time, Senator John McCain's son, who is 18, is leaving for Marine Corps boot camp in September. I didn't know that the Senator, who is 70, would have a son so young, but I was even more surprised to learn that he did not want to attend the Naval Academy like his older brother, father, grandfather and great-grandfather did. Talk about big shoes to fill!
As things stand now, I believe there are only two human beings who can beat Hillary Clinton in a 2008 Presidential run: Condaleeza Rice and John McCain. Sec. Rice has already said she will not run. Although that may change, I don't get that vibe of desire from her. She seems more of a back room dealer than a PR hack, a trait that is required for the Presidency. McCain, on the other hand, has already made the run once and will likely do so again. I disagree with him on many issues, but when compared to who he will most likely be running against, I will have no problem pulling the lever for him in two years.
It also won't hurt knowing that one of his sons is an enlisted man in the military. No offense to you current and former officer-types ;-)
July 28, 2006
Keeping It All In Perspective
From my friend John, who's helping us all feel a little smaller today ;-)
July 26, 2006
And The Hand-Wringing Continues
The professional diplomatic spares at the UN are up in arms over the deaths of 4 of their observers in Lebanon by Israeli artillery. Tel-Aviv has expressed regret for the incident and has promised an investigation. Meanwhile, Kofi Anan, the chief thug at the dictator saloon in Manhattan, is saying that the attack was "apparently deliberate targeting". How he has determined this is unknown. After all, he can't seem to account for billions of dollars squandered as part of Iraq's Oil For Food program; should we accept that he is a master analyst of battlefield manuevers?
Another thing that bothers me about the conflagration in Lebanon and Israel is the constant bleating on blogs and forums about "peace", as if a cessation of hostilities would make everything rosy once again. Let's be clear: a state of war has existed between Israel and Hezbollah for years. The events of the past two weeks is just an advancement of the situation. If the fighting stopped now, what would happen? Rockets would still be fired into Israel daily, as they have been for over a year. Palestine would still be run by Hamas, a terrorist organization. If fighting stopped now, it would only be a matter of time until the shooting war returned.
The zealous desire for peace at any price is touted by those who believe that justice exists only where peace exists. In face, the opposite is true: peace can only exist where justice prevails. The terrorists in Lebanon are having justice delivered to them as we speak, in the form of the Israeli Defense Forces. When that justice is finalized and those who treaded upon Israel's borders are exterminated, then peace can flourish.
If you disagree, consider this: what would've happened had there been a peace treaty between Germany and England in July, 1941?
July 25, 2006
5K
Yesterday was the first day that "Matt's Today in History" had more than 5,000 downloads in a 24-hour period. We've been flirting with that number for a while (averaging something like 4,800), but the podcast has slowwwwwlyyyy garnered more and more listeners until 5,000 a day became a possibility. This number will dip, of course, during weekends and holidays, but I'm hoping that soon 5K will be the "bottom" number on the graph.
5,000 downloads a day is nothing in the big scheme of things. Consider that a top 10 podcast like Dawn and Drew has hundreds of thousands of downloads in the same period of time. But we certainly have more listeners than we did at this time last year, although the number is growing more slowly than before. Thanks to those of you who have told friends, family and co-workers about the podcast.
I see now that MTIH needs a jumpstart, something that will bring it to that next level of subscribers. The 'cast was featured on Adam Curry's Podfinder podcast (which is produced by Apple), but our numbers didn't really peak from the exposure. I received an e-mail this week from a listener who told me that MTIH has at least one fan in the iTunes division of Apple, so maybe I'll see front page exposure there (or maybe not).
Part of the reason I mention all this it to let you know that the Podcast Awards nominees have been posted. I did not make the list (unlike the Podcast Peer Awards, which are in their first year). I noticed that many of the nominees are 'casts that have small audiences but whose producers spend a lot of time hanging out in various podcasting forums. Additionally, many of the nominees spent a great deal of time begging listeners to go vote for them. I do neither, other than asking twice a month for a vote at Podcast Alley. If noteriety gets more votes than talent or presentation, then how meaningful is the award itself?
July 24, 2006
Ominpresent, Omnistupid
If John Heinz-Kerry were President right now, Hezbollah and Hamas would not have kidnapped Israeli soldiers and Israel would not have teed off on Lebanon and Gaza. I'm no expert on foreign policy there, Mr. Swift Boat Skipper, but how would your magic diplomacy have stopped two terrorist groups who have been fighting against Israel in one guise or another since 1948? Has any President been able to curb radical Islamic terror aimed at Israel?
What Commander Queeg would've done when Israel began bombing Hezzbolah positions is call Tel Aviv and tell them to give diplomacy a chance, something that has failed time and time again over the past 40 years. The correct thing to do, the course the White House pursued, is to get out of the way and let Israel defend herself. It is obvious that radical Islamists only understand force---that is what they must be shown, in copious amounts.
Side note: please follow the link above and notice how the story explains the kidnapping of the Israeli soldiers. Keep in mind that Detroit has a huge Middle Eastern/Muslim population.
Beginning Of The End?
There are diplomatic discussions underway concerning a possible NATO-led force acting as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon. This is a positive move, but it also speaks to Israel's well-founded mistrust of the United Nations. You may not be aware of this, but there are/were UN troops on the Lebanese-Israeli border; I'm not sure of their mission, but if Hezzbolah was able to fire rockets across the border into Israel with impunity, they were not doing their job.
As the UN grows more and more impotent, I believe it will fall to the countries of NATO to keep the peace in many parts of the world. After all, have UN peacekeeping forces ever really prevented a war or genocide? Most of the time, peacekeepers are sent in after the fighting is over and are pulled out if fighting resumes. This being the case, why are they there in the first place? Maybe it's to give the UN a reason for its continued existence.
Speaking of Israel, the once-reserved media response is now beginning to carry the first stories about what will become front page news in a few days: the "humanitarian crisis" in Lebanon. Expect cries of anguish to be heard from all the usual talking heads this week about refugees streaming from the southern part of the country.
Maybe my memory is shaky, but I don't seem to remember these sames cries of anguish being heard when terrorists in Lebanon and Gaza fired rockets into Israeli towns day after day for years. Does a "humanitarian crisis" have to be large and sudden in order to matter? Or, as I believe, do the media here and abroad see the Palestinians in Gaza and Hezzbolah in Lebanon as freedom fighters whose actions are justified?
July 20, 2006
July 19, 2006
The Sound Of Silence
I don't think I'm going to post audio here anymore, at least not from my cell phone while I'm driving. I went back and listened to the audio I have posted thus far and, damn, it's pretty bad. Plus, I tend to ramble.
So, it's back to the writing board, so to speak. As I've said far too many times in the past, I will endeavor to do better.
July 18, 2006
July 16, 2006
On The Road Again
I'm leaving in the morning for our office in Chicago. I've been traveling more than I initially thought I would, but the occasional trip makes a nice diversion from the daily routine.
Radio chatter this evening is saying that the Israeli offensive into Lebanon will ramp up if Tel Aviv is hit with rockets. I certainly hope so: that's the Israeli equivalent of bombing Washington, DC. I am continually annoyed by those in the media who continue to use phrases like "cycle of violence", as if there is some sort of moral equality between a legitimate nation defending itself and a group of terrorists launching rockets in the hope of killing innocent civilians.
At this rate, we may see Israeli forces in Syria or bombing missions against sites in Iran. A world war? I hope not, but history shows us that we have been here before.
July 14, 2006
July 13, 2006
The Beat Goes On
My friend Hash has posted an essay on his blog about the recent bombings in Bombay (Mumbai), India. It is his hometown, so he adds more to then conversation than I could ever hope to. I have not posted for the past few days, mainly because so many things have happened in the world that I am left speechless. We are and have been engaged in a world war for nearly five years. As much as I've written about it, it took until this week for the reality of that to sink in.
Hash has not yet given me permission to copy his post here, but I hope he will forgive me for jumping the gun:
During the evening rush hour on July 11, 2006 terrorists set off a series of seven explosions on commuter trains in Mumbai. At this point close to 200 people have lost their lives and no one has claimed responsibility for the blasts. The bombs are believed to have been RDX (a military grade explosive) detonated within minutes of each other in a coordinated attack on the Western Railway grid. You can draw your own obvious conclusions from that.
This is not the first time this has happened in Mumbai and unfortunately I don’t think it will be last. There were bombings in Mumbai well before 9/11 in 1993 and more recently in 2003. As someone who spent my formative years growing up in Bombay (back when it was still called that), I still stand in amazement at the capacity of the denizens of that city to absorb punishment and keep going. Many outsiders look upon this resilience as an attitude of chest thumping bravery.
When you scratch the surface however, you will realize that what drives this resilience is not some macho attitude or sense of pride. This intestinal fortitude to me has always been more an act of resignation as anything else. An offspring of Mumbai's nonchalant "Chalta Hai" answer to every situation. Of all the mangled images I have seen in the past few days, the above picture one struck me the most. It was of an unidentified person who was injured at the Mahim railway station walking away from the carnage. I don’t see anger, grief or bravery on this man’s face. I see a person who has to put aside this horrific act of violence, somehow get home to his family today, and have the guts to get up and go to work the next day. It is this steely resolve that sets the people of this great city apart from all others.
It is the same resolve that manifests itself in the people of Mumbai coming together and helping each other out in times of crisis. According to news reports, before the police, the military or other help arrived, the slum dwellers on the side of the railroad tracks were pulling people out of the carnage, building makeshift stretchers out of sheets and transporting people to hospitals in auto rickshaws and taxis.
Last year I was stranded in Mumbai for 3 days after the city experienced a freak flood during the monsoons. 37” of rain fell in 24 hours and any semblance of emergency preparedness on the part of the government was washed away in the deluge. But the city kept going - thanks to the unselfish random acts of kindness displayed by the people of Mumbai who are often maligned as rude and uncaring. There was no looting, no riots and no price gouging. The citizens of Mumbai know that the only ones who will come to their aid during times of crisis are their fellow Mumbai-ites. They no longer look to the police, the state government or any other agency to help them anymore, and know that if they don’t help each other, no one will.
Just a day after the bombings, the trains are running, the shops are open and kids are riding the same local trains to go to school. It sounds pedantic and clichéd but you won’t understand this attitude unless you have lived in Mumbai. You literally don’t have time to dwell or mourn or grieve in this city. You just shrug your shoulders even after something horrendous like this happens, and life goes on. It is not an attitude of callousness. It is indeed an act of resignation. No matter how bad it gets, people have jobs to do and families to feed.
It has been decades since I have lived there, but I still identify with that attitude. And no matter how many heinous acts these subhuman terrorists commit, they cannot and will not break this Indomitable Spirit. It is the city's way of telling the terrorists - "You LOSE". After all this is "Amchi Mumbai” – Our Bombay.
When historians write about the first decade of the 21st century, what will they surmise? Will they look and say that this was yet another time that Western civilization was saved from tyranny by the resolve of civilized people? Or will they say that we slept until it was too late, like we have done so many times in the past? Or will anyone be able to say anything at all?
July 11, 2006
I'm So Whonwee
It looks like North Korea may be on the verge of putting on another rocket show. When I see stories like this, I can't help but wonder what the average rocket technician there thinks of his work. Does he know how old the technology is? Or is he filled with patriotic fervor thinking that his rocket force keeps the Yankees and their South Korean lap dogs at bay?
The reason for these pitiful displays of 50's aerospace engineering is simple: Pyongyang wants something. First, Kim Jong Il wants direct, bilateral talks with the United States. I don't know why they don't like the current six-way talks; the only thing I can think of is the fact that Japan is sitting at the table.
Second, they probably want money. North Korea is slowly dying, mainly due to the current regime's belief in self-reliance (in other words, a closed Marxist society)---the Juche ideal. The ruling class in Pyongyang lives well while most of the population lives on the brink of starvation. The elites aren't worried about feeding the hungry. They are worried about staying in power.
Finally, they may want a deal similar to what President Clinton promised them in 1994. Then-Secretary of State Madeline Albright made an agreement in which North Korea agreed to quit developing nuclear weapons in exchange for pressurized water reactor technology. Of course, they cheated, we withdrew the offer and here we stand today. They will not get another agreement like this.
The best way to handle North Korea, in my opinion, would be to ignore the regime entirely. After all, they obviously want our attention. It's like a spoiled child: if he knows that crying will bring you running, then he will cry.
July 09, 2006
Goo Goo Dolls
As Matt said, we arrived in Indianapolis on Friday evening to actually spend the weekend together away from the house and all the work that we still have to do by the end of summer. On Saturday, we did a little shopping at a Keystone Crossing and checked out the new Mac store. It seems my husband has embraced the Mac as his preferred machine, while I have clung to my "gently used" Dell laptop. After looking around the store, I have to admit I am almost ready to upgrade to the new e-books. The store was clean, neat and the sales staff was young, hip and used words like "cool" and my personal favorite "awesome". While this visit was more for Matt, mine was only a few hours away. Later that evening, Matt & I attended our first Goo Goo Dolls concert together. I have seen them several times, but never with Matt. This concert was exceptionally interesting because in addition to having great seats, I won a ticket to a pre-concert Meet & Greet with the band. For those of you who know me, you understand exactly how cool this is for me. I have been a fan for a lot of years and have travelled far and wide to see their shows. I met a lot of other fans who enjoy the band as much as I do, but were even more fanatical than me. The band was very nice and took time to shake hands, introduce themselves and take photos with each of us. The concert was good and they played lots of new material. Of course they covered the big hits, but the focus was the new album. I will have pictures from the show posted later, but here is the photo from the meet & greet! http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/ggdphotos/detail?.dir=f506re2&.dnm=15bcre2.jpg&.src=ph
July 07, 2006
Indy
I didn't mention this before, but Kelli and I are spending the weekend in Indianapolis. On Saturday night we are going to the Goo Goo Dolls concert at the Verizon Center. It's a cool venue; we saw the Cranberries there about five years ago.
It's been a long time since Kelli and I went somewhere alone. On the rare occasions that we do get to go away like this, I am reminded of how much fun I have just spending time with her. She laughs easily and knows when and where to poke fun at me. She is very intelligent and well-read, which means that our conversations meander all over the place.
Every man should be so lucky.
One Year Later
Today is the first anniversary of the London subway bombings which killed 52 people and injured dozens of others. The scariest part of the event, in my opinion, is the fact that all the attackers were British citizens. They may have been ethnically from another part of the world, but they attacked their own countrymen.
In this way, all of Europe suffers from the same problem: large Islamic minorities who, while citizens, have not really become integrated into the nations in which they live. A look at the riots in France this year is a good example of how easily radicalism can grow in these essentially segregated groups.
I have said this before, but it bears repeating: if something is not done, Europe will be a Muslim enclave in 50 years.
July 06, 2006
The Tubes Be Full
Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) is on the Senate Commerce Committee, meaning that he has a great deal of power with regard to the argument over net neutrality. In case you thought we were in good hands, check out this quote from him which is being posted all over the web:
There's one company now you can sign up and you can get a movie delivered to your house daily by delivery service. Okay. And currently it comes to your house, it gets put in the mail box when you get home and you change your order but you pay for that, right.
But this service is now going to go through the internet* and what you do is you just go to a place on the internet and you order your movie and guess what you can order ten of them delivered to you and the delivery charge is free.
Ten of them streaming across that internet and what happens to your own personal internet?
I just the other day got, an internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday. Why?
Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the internet commercially.
So you want to talk about the consumer? Let's talk about you and me. We use this internet to communicate and we aren't using it for commercial purposes.
We aren't earning anything by going on that internet. Now I'm not saying you have to or you want to discrimnate against those people
The regulatory approach is wrong. Your approach is regulatory in the sense that it says "No one can charge anyone for massively invading this world of the internet". No, I'm not finished. I want people to understand my position, I'm not going to take a lot of time.
They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the internet. And again, the internet is not something you just dump something on. It's not a truck.
It's a series of tubes.
And if you don't understand those tubes can be filled and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and its going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material.
Now we have a separate Department of Defense internet now, did you know that?
Do you know why?
Because they have to have theirs delivered immediately. They can't afford getting delayed by other people.
Now I think these people are arguing whether they should be able to dump all that stuff on the internet ought to consider if they should develop a system themselves.
Maybe there is a place for a commercial net but it's not using what consumers use every day.
It's not using the messaging service that is essential to small businesses, to our operation of families.
The whole concept is that we should not go into this until someone shows that there is something that has been done that really is a viloation of net neutraility that hits you and me.
This man is a UNITED STATES SENATOR!!! I appreciate that he may not understand the intricacies of how the internet works, but he can't even seem to string a sentence together. With guys like him in power, ISPs will soon own both the pipes and all content on the web, just like TV. I can't wait...can you?
July 05, 2006
July 04, 2006
Hate Of The States
Interesting column from Christopher Hitchens today. In it, he questions the accuracy of polls which proclaim that America is pretty much universally hated. His logic seems sound.
I believe that much of the hatred aimed toward the US from overseas is not new; it's simply that our media plays it up more now to make it appear as if all would be well if only George W. Bush had never been born. Western Europe is a good example of how the cult of America hatred gets started. First, a socialist element is introduced into the society, meaning universal health care, huge welfare programs, stifling business regulations, etc. This results in economic stagnation, but the powers that be will not admit that socialism does not work---something external must be causing these problems.
Enter the United States, a nation based on a capitalist model that, while not perfect, has grown explosively during the last 230 years. To European elitists, Americans are a crude lot. Yet, they are by any standards wealthy. To the socialist mind, this is unfair. What's more, the United States has the world's strongest military, something that liberal socialism finds abhorrent.
With all this mind, it becomes easy to point to the ugly Americans as the world's robber barons. Nevermind that Europe and Asia would both be ruled by iron-fisted totalitarian dictators if not for the US. Forget that both World Wars were started by European powers but were finished in victory ONLY because of American intervention. Forget that our farms feed the world and that we still lead the world in technological innovation.
Ultimately, I believe this hate has very little to do with foreign policy and very much to do with simple jealousy of this nation's success. The truth, as painful as it is for some, is that a world without the United States would be a dark, dark place.
Kiddie Pron In Another Form
So this four year-old kid flipped off the audience at a children's beauty pageant. What do you expect? If you take little children, sexualize them and teach them that looks are more important than anything else, they will act out.
Any parent who enrolls her young son or daughter in a beauty pageant has NO business being a parent. These things are fantasy havens for child molestors and it sickens me. Go witness one and then tell me you disagree.
Fireworks
It appears that North Korea has fired a missile this afternoon (early morning Wednesday in Asia) which landed in the Sea of Japan. It is not known at this point if it was the Taepodong 2 missile that has been at the center of so much controversy both here and in Japan and South Korea. If it was, then the Japanese will not be pleased. It will be interesting to see exactly where the missile landed.
Japan has shown herself to be a staunch ally of the United States and I, for one, am happy to see it. North Korea's actions of late have, undoubtedly, made those in power in Tokyo re-examine their constitutional commitment to a defense-only military.
July 02, 2006
Lockergnome's Buddies
Most of you don't know Chris Pirillo. Those of you who do know him as the person behind Gnomedex and and as perhaps the biggest shill for Microsoft to disguise himself as a non-biased tech dude. When Windows Vista Beta 2 was released for public testing, Pirillo set up a BitTorrent seed (feed?) so that those who were locked out of the MS site due to bandwidth could still get the download.
This is something that MS should have done in the first place and I honestly believe that Pirillo acted in good faith. Microsoft, however, doesn't like people distributing even its free products without their consent, so they sent Pirillo a cease-and-desist letter from their army of greasy barristers. Pirillo took everything down as requested, since Microsoft is one of the sponsors of his Gnomedex convention (which, I'm told, is a very big deal).
Right after one of Pirillo's presentations, two guys from MS presented Pirillo a framed copy of the cease-and-desist letter, sort of a "no hard feelings" things designed to make everybody laugh and to show that even the boys in Redmond have a sense of humor. Pirillo, still yearning for acceptance, took it all in stride.
You're probably wondering why I've written so much about this. The truth is that I despise media stunts like this, especially involving the likes of MS and Pirillo. If the perp had been some nobody from Indiana, Microsoft would've squashed him like a bug. But because it was Chris Pirillo, we are all supposed to laugh it off as no big deal.
Asshats.