A truly UNIQUE gift idea from Amazon.Com

Let me just say, "WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE THEY THINKING?" Oh, well. I guess Iran had to find some way to make its nuclear program profitable.

China Turns Away Our Ships

For the third time this month, China has denied our Navy's ships from docking at Hong Kong. This time it is a frigate, the USS Reuben James. Before it was two minesweepers and the USS Kitty Hawk. Now, China is a sovereign country. They can choose who to allow into their ports. At one point, the denial of the docking of the USS Kitty Hawk was claimed to have been a misunderstanding; however, China Daily has quotes of China explicitly stating that this is not so. You may remember the USS Kitty Hawk from this previously posted story. That only makes the story more interesting. I doubt that China is doing more than trying to show off its muscles, but it's a reminder that China's friendship is really only a friendship of convenience.

Gas prices

Gas prices
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Republican Debate

I did not get to see the CNN/YouTube debate, but I did read the transcript and watched some of the question videos. If nothing else, you should check out the GOP Debate Song for a chuckle. All-in-all it was a pretty good debate. There was some avoidance of questions, but it was nice to hear some straightforward and direct answers as well. I'm not sure who I'll vote for, but it reaffirmed good feelings about Mike Huckabee and Fred Thompson. The biggest surprise was that I found myself being OK with John McCain getting the nomination based on his responses tonight.

Rock Band vs. Real Band

I love music, all sorts of music. I used to play many different instruments and sincerely appreciate the skill it takes to play an instrument with skill as well as the skill required to compose and spontaneously create music. For some reason the video game marketers decided that we needed a way of imitating all the things about music that I love. First there was Guitar Hero and now EA is releasing Rock Band. The guitarist for Sleater-Kinney (a band I know only by reputation) has taken on the challenge of comparing Rock Band to what it's like to be in a real band. It's an interesting article that makes some good points for the music aficionados amongst us. (Note: there is one instance of crude language). It's worth a read.

And, really, if you are going to play the game with a group of friends for more than a night, shouldn't you just form a real band? There is something sad about the thought of four teenagers getting Rock Band for Christmas and spending all of their after-school time pretending to know how to play.

Jesus loves OBL

It is definitely an interesting sentiment, and unarguably true. But a lot of people are being angered by a sign in Sydney, Australia which declares that Jesus loves Osama Bin Laden. Personally, I have no problem with it, and hope OBL one day repents and turns to the Savior. I have little hope that this is the way it will go, however.

Hollywood Writer's Strike Nears End?

CRChair and I were bemoaning only yesterday the lack of news on progress for the Hollywood writers, and now there is news that progress may actually have been made. Apparently, while the writers and hollywood studios have been mostly posing for cameras, the unsung middleman - the agent - has been working hard to get the cash flowing again.

"It's already done, basically," the insider describes. That's because of the weeks worth of groundwork by the Hollywood agents working the writers guild leadership on one side, and the studio and network moguls on the other. I was told not to expect an agreement this week. But my source thought it was possible that the strike could be settled before Christmas.

While the writer's strike is hardly on the same level as any strike that actually impacts SERVICE, it is nice to see that Hollywood is not COMPLETELY incapable of resolving its own problems. At least its labor problems. When it comes to quality, the jury is still very much out.

Music: Free and Legal Downloads

I heard about this from Wired, but today was the first time I went to RCRD LBL. What is RCRD LBL? To quote their about page, "RCRD LBL is a network of ad-supported online record labels and blogs offering completely free music streams and downloads from emerging and established artists." The good? They offer music that you can stream or download for free. You don't even have to create an account. It seems that they might get that giving away music is a cheap form of advertising. The bad? The site design needs some help. It took a while to figure out how to download a song. The trick is to "Jump to an artist" from the main recrdlbl.com page (don't go to one of the sub-pages or you'll have to make sure the band you want is part of that sub-label), click on tracks, and then click the download icon that looks like a down arrow above a line. Not easy or user friendly, but it is free. You won't find the big, popular bands here, but I did find a song by a group called Cold War Kids that I saw on an episode of The Tonight Show With Jay Leno so they're not completely obscure bands either.

Update 1: Looks like some songs, such as tracks by the aforementioned Cold War Kids, are available for streaming only.

Clinton, No Longer the Most Electable

In new Polls released today, Hilary Clinton is no longer the most electable Democrat running for President. She trails all 5 of the top Republican candidates in one on one matchups. (Guliani, McCain, Romney, Thompson, Huckabee) John Edwards and Barak Obama both lead the Republicans in the same match-ups. This can't be good news for the Clinton campaign as their best argument is that she is the strongest candidate in a general election.

This is for you, Ward

I don't agree with the politics, but I still think it's funny

The Glen H. Curtiss Museum

Several Mod-Bloggers went to college in the area surrounding Hammondsport, NY. But I wonder how many of us knew in that sleepy little town there was a museum celebrating the life of one of the most important workers in early aviation: Glen H. Curtiss. Curtiss flew the first public flight of a heavier-than-air machine (the Wright brothers worked in secrecy), and built many of the planes that we used in World War I. Click on the image below for many more pics from the museum and his life.

WorkFriendly.Net

I work in a job where there are days when I spend literally HOURS staring at a screen, waiting for the system to do something. It is sometimes due to a bug, but sometimes it is because it simply takes a certain system a long time to respond. During these times, I often keep a smaller second window open on my desktop, and browse the Net looking for information. My boss is entirely satisfied with this arrangement (as is his boss, as is her boss), but I have some coworkers who are decidedly not. They feel even one moment spent on the web is too much.

Well, for those situations, there is now workfriendly.net. It is a website that reformats ANY web page to look like text displayed in Microsoft Word! For example, click here to see what Mod-Blog looks like through this interface. Clean, easy, and non-infuriating for those nosy coworkers looking for any reason to complain about you. To change the site, enter a new URL where mod-blog.blogspot.com is located, and then click the left arrow next to it.

Obviously, the official Mod-Blog stand is not to endorse using this tool to deceive spouses, bosses, or yourself during a particularly effective procrastination session.

Really True

This is how pretty much everyone I know who works in an office building feels.

Why You Can Never Say "This is the Only Way"

Sometimes I wonder if God laughs at us and our limited minds. The Stem Cell issue is one of the issues that recently prompted this question in me. Two sets of Scientists recently released a study in which they were able to change regular human skin cells so that they took on the characteristics of embryonic stem cells. That's right, the same stem cells that people argue are the only way that we'll ever cure Parkinsons Disease or spinal cord injuries. So it may be that the debate we've had over embryonic stem cell research will be moot as these new cells can do the same thing without having the overwhelming ethical questions. Thanks be to God. He created all things, even our cells.

Christmas Tree Goes Greener

The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree will switch this year from traditional Christmas lights to LEDs. The owners say that this will cut daily usage so much that it is equivalent to the electricity used by a 2,000 sq/ft house daily. Isn't it great when technology can help us to be better stewards of God's Earth and our resources.

Does God Use UPS?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you, Lord, for good friends, happy families, good food, secure shelter, and for introducing us to your Son so that we have known from an early age the joy of the certainty in our Salvation.

Happy Birthday CrChair

Today CRCHAIR exits the most sought after demographic by advertisers, that of the 18-29 year olds. Happy birthday from all of us here at Mod-Blog to a terrific friend, brother and son.

Be aware, an unactivated credit card CAN be charged

A few of you know that I work for a bank. What you may NOT know is that I often work with the ATM Operations group who manages ATM and Debit Cards. I know that a LOT of their time is spent monitoring cards for unauthorized purchases, and to ensure that fraudulent activity is as difficult as possible (while real activity is as easy as possible for the real consumer). And yet, we still get burned all the time. One big way banks ensure against fraud is by making it hard to activate a card if you are not the person who ordered the card.

Now, however, some banks are weakening the protection of card activation in order to get more money into their own coffers by charging for credit protection services. Be VERY careful if you sign up for a new card that you are not hit by this particular scam which is costing consumers thousands in fees and unintended hits to credit ratings.

Hand-On Video Review of Amazon's New eBook Reader

Color me "interested but skeptical" when it comes to the Kindle. I must wonder whether it really is worth it when you can get an Asus Eee PC or OLPC for the same price. And when you can already read lots of books on your iPhone.

SCOTUS to tackle the second amendment

For a large portion of my childhood my father was a licensed gun dealer and an NRA member. Because of that I was very familiar with the rhetoric surrounding the gun control debate. As I've grown older I've started to understand the points that many in the gun control movement are trying to make - I disagree with them, but I can understand their point. The biggest rub for this debate has been what exactly the second amendment meant by the right to bear arms. It seems that SCOTUS is going to let us know - at least in part - when they hear the arguments for and against the Washington DC gun control law - one of the tightest in the country.

Given that the court is at the moment rather conservative, I wouldn't be surprised to see this come out against the gun control law - or at least parts of the law. But I also think that there will still be a good deal of wiggle room left from their opinions for the gun control lobby to get some things passed and get the NRA quite upset.

Greenpeace Co-Founder Advocates Nuclear Power

Although Patrick Moore left Greenpeace in the 80's, he was one of the co-founders of the organization. Now, he is working on the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition and is advocating switching the nation to as much as 50% nuclear power by the end of the century. Instead of banking on high cost alternatives, he feels that we should work on better disposal of the nuclear waste.

Is it possible to create a biting parody of yourself?

The Economics of Ink Cartridges

The black ink in my printer has run out again. It seems like I just bought ink. I went down to Staples and found my ink cartridge... around $18 for one (there are 5 ink cartridges total in my printer, so about $90 to replace all of them). Being somewhat of a cheapskate, I decided to go back to my online searching I had done before to see what I could find. For $8.40 I can get a generic cartridge shipped to me. Granted, I have to move the electronic chip from my old cartridge to the new one, but they provide easy to follow directions. Has anyone else had any dealings with non-manufacturer ink cartridges? What have you found? Is the hassle and risk of non-manufacturer ink cartridges worth the savings?

Early Sesame Street episodes are "UNSAFE"?

Here we have another case of unbelievable political correctness. DVDs of early Sesame Street episodes are being released with a warning that they are for adults only. Why?

I asked Carol-Lynn Parente, the executive producer of “Sesame Street,” how exactly the first episodes were unsuitable for toddlers in 2007. She told me about Alistair Cookie and the parody “Monsterpiece Theater.” Alistair Cookie, played by Cookie Monster, used to appear with a pipe, which he later gobbled. According to Parente, “That modeled the wrong behavior” — smoking, eating pipes — “so we reshot those scenes without the pipe, and then we dropped the parody altogether.”

Are parents really unable to explain to kids that smoking is NOT okay? I must say that as a toddler I watched Sesame Street religiously, and I never once interpreted these spots as promoting tobacco. I was not once tempted to try to eat a pipe myself.

Can we PLEASE get a grip?

The Gettysburg Address Revised

I find this pretty funny. Then again, I've been sick for almost a week, so your mileage may vary. Wired has put up the Gettysburg Address, as presented by Abraham Lincoln as a CEO using PowerPoint.

Gas prices

Gas prices
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Halloween Film from a Friend

This film was put together by friend who makes small films for a movie contest. I thought our Mod-Blog readers might enjoy it.

It's funny, because its true!

Things that make you go, "Hmmmm..."

I must admit it would explain a lot of what I see on my way driving into work these days.

Now Playing at Your Church: Halo 3?

I have, at best, a love-hate relationship with Plugged In. I read the site constantly becuase they do a good service in many ways. However, they are often times close-minded to the absurd and very nearly draconian in their interpretation. There have been several times when I've read a review on a film or CD that I own and am painfully aware of where the reviewer has either 1) Deeply misunderstood important parts of the piece reviewed, or 2) Blatantely mispresented facts about in the review.

However, I have to agree 100% with them on their piece concerning Halo 3 in church. Using a game like this is absolutely the wrong way to go about getting kids into the church. I am aware, and have used the argument many times myself, that we must become all things to all people. However, we can become 'cool' to youth and relevant without appealing to video games that are rated M for graphic violence, language, and some sexual content. I simply can't see any justification for such an action.

I'm as strong a proponent as you'll find for Christian liberty. As an adult, I enjoy playing FPS style games. But when I sit down in my home after making a rational decision that playing a game like Halo 3 won't harm my spiritual walk, that is vastly different from encouraging underage youth to play a game that is meant for adults as a sanctioned church event. Youth ministry is hard. I slugged through it myself and many of our staffers have worked with youth in the church in various capacities as well. We know you have to be willing to rethinking what is acceptable to get kids to show interest. But would any of these churches using Halo 3 as an outreach tool allow their youth pastors to show South Park in order to gain youth? Somehow, I doubt it. Yet, that show has the same M rating that Halo 3 does.

Gas Prices. Sigh.

Gas Prices. Sigh.
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Suddenly, I am thinking the lock manufacturers aren't serious anymore

Hack Open A Lock!! - For more amazing video clips, click here

If you wondered if people can be TOO paranoid...

...look no farther. Australia has just bypassed the USA for stupid politically correct policies.

Santas in Australia's largest city have been told not to use Father Christmas's traditional "ho ho ho" greeting because it may be offensive to women, it was reported Thursday....One disgruntled Santa told the newspaper a recruitment firm warned him not to use "ho ho ho" because it could frighten children and was too close to "ho", a US slang term for prostitute.

This is beyond words. Let simply suggest if a child knows in Australia what "ho" means and that is American slang for a member of the oldest profession and somehow associates Santa's laugh with that word... well... either he is a normal 8-year-old boy who is also taking great joy in using the word "poopie" in public, or the child has larger problems.

The caucusing process

My wife has asked on several occasions over the past couple months what's the difference between a primary and a caucus. Typically we all know how a primary works - it's just like any other election - while a caucus is different. I was sent this link to a fun, clear description of how the Iowa caucus works - it's from hillaryclinton.com. If you want a less biased version of basically the same information here's Wikipedia's explanation.

Rolling Stone on Huckabee

I know it is petty, but I still have a hard time taking seriously any candidate who shares a name with the movie I Heart Huckabees which was a horrifically-bad film from a couple of years back. Still, Mike "The Other Man from Hope" Huckabee has been steadily gaining in the Republican nominee horse-race, and is wooing the Religious Right as a man who truly can represent their values. For me, however, it has been hard to really get past the "image" that his campaign and the media put out there, and into the real man.

Somehow, Rolling Stone Magazine has been the first to put out a truly balanced piece on the man. (Warning: There are several points of profanity in the piece, so if you are sensitive to such things, don't click thru.) It lays out both his strengths (populism, likability, appeal to both the religious rich and religious poor) and weaknesses (he is a true-believer in born-again Christianity, he accepts and expects lots of "gifts" from friends, and can be sensitive and petty at times).

I am still not sure whether I would vote for the man, but I feel like I would now understand better what I'd be "buying".

Marching Band does Video Games

I was in Marching Band in high school and loved the experience. I also loved playing games on friend's Nintendo Entertainment Systems. Who knew someone would find a way to combine the two? For me, this was a nice early-morning laugh-maker.

Cowbell Hero?

Can you be President?

Politico.com has up an article on the personalities of the Presidential candidates and who's personality is best suited to be President. Click here to take the test for yourself. I took it and came up a Gaurdian. That is the same personality as: Rudy Guliani, Mitt Romney and my hero George H. W. Bush. A Guardian is described as "the cornerstone of society, for they are the temperament given to serving and preserving our most important social institutions. Guardians have natural talent in managing goods and services--from supervision to maintenance and supply--and they use all their skills to keep things running smoothly in their families, communities, schools, churches, hospitals, and businesses."

Chinese Sub Surprises U.S.S. Kitty Hawk

The other day while the U.S. Navy was doing exercises in the Pacific, a Chinese sub surprised them surfacing within range of firing a torpedo or missile at the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk. Now, I happen to know that the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk is one of our older aircraft carriers so perhaps a newer aircraft carrier would have detected the sub, but the Chinese sub had to also slip past at least a dozen surface ships and at least two submarines to get that close. This is a wakeup call that China's friendship is merely one of convenience. We must be on our guard and continuously researcher how to keep our military superior and safe.

Spitzer withdraws Licenses-for-Illegals plan

After weeks of combat for himself and weeks of derision for Hillary Clinton for seeming to support the plan, Elliot Spitzer has withdrawn his controversial bill to grant driver's licenses to illegal aliens. He refuses to see this as a defeat, and still believes that some kind of program is essential to provide New York with safe roads. I find this particular quote most disingenuous.

"What we are trying to do, first of all, is address a problem that the federal government has created, which is that there are one million people here in New York state alone who are not here with proper documentation," he said.

"We want security. We want our roads to be safe, which is the initial impetus behind letting them get a license so we know who they are, where they are. They can get insurance, everybody is safer."

(Emphasis is mine.) Because it ignores the simple fact that for decades New York (along with most other large states) has refused to report illegal aliens to the Federal Government when they are discovered. This is like blaming your landlord for a mouse in the house, and then refusing to let them put down traps, poison, or get a cat.

The Dangers of Social Networking for Kids

I have been amazed at my church and work to see the cavalier attitude many parents have toward MySpace and Facebook. The same parents would not allow their children to have an independent e-mail account will often allow them to spend hours unmonitored on social networking sites. You may have heard the stories about predators stalking children on MySpace, but what about stories like this one of stupid adults messing with the mind of an impressionable youth.

"(She) stated in the months leading up Meier's daughter's suicide, she instigated and monitored a 'my space' account which was created for the sole purpose of communicating with Meier's daughter.

"(She) said she, with the help of temporary employee named ------ constructed a profile of 'good looking' male on 'my space' in order to 'find out what Megan (Meier's daughter) was saying on-line' about her daughter. (She) explained the communication between the fake male profile and Megan was aimed at gaining Megan's confidence and finding out what Megan felt about her daughter and other people....

"According to (her) 'somehow' other 'my space' users were able to access the fake male profile and Megan found out she had been duped. (She) stated she knew 'arguments' had broken out between Megan and others on 'my space.' (She) felt this incident contributed to Megan's suicide...

Parents need to be reminded again and again that the internet is NOT a safe place for children. It should not be considered a fenced-in backyard, but a city square or busy mall in which a stranger can easily target your child, whether from malice or stupidity, and do damage that can never be recovered from. This is not a MySpace problem. It is a problem of naive parents.

Android (GPhone) SDK is out

It has been released for Windows, Linux, and Mac. Check out the linked video, which shows off the features pretty well.

Pssst! OLPC laptop now "for sale"

It is now official. You can place your order for one of the "$100 laptops" from the One Laptop Per Child program. Of course, you are paying over $400 for the laptop, so that one is bought for you and one is donated to a third-world child. I will be interested to see how many are sold before Christmas.

Veterans Day Observed

Thanks to All Who Served or Are Serving

Let's not forget those currently in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere now on this Veterans Day.

Defeating Giants

I thought our Mod-Blog readers might enjoy seeing some photos from an event last Friday produced by frequent Mod-Blog commenter "Nick". It was a time of storytelling, mime, and interpretive dance which was really fascinating. Click on the image below for the whole set.

Using Virii to Kill Cancer

There's an interesting article about studies that are attempting to use modified cold, smallpox, or herpes virii to kill cancer cells. The one attempts to use a 1-2 punch to knock out the cancer. First, the modified virus kills most of the cancer cells. After that, the immune system is boosted to mop up the rest. Interesting idea, though it sounds like one of those "crazy enough it might work" ideas. Then again inoculations are based off of weakened virii, so maybe it's not so crazy.

Finding truth in pop culture

One of the things that I've struggled with for some time is where should the line be drawn for what Christians partake of in popular culture. Some people, for instance, won't watch a movie if it's rated more than PG while others have no problem watching an R rated film. Some will only listen to music they can find at the Christian book store or on Christian radio, while others have no problem listening to Rage Against the Machine or other such acts. I've heard lots of theories for why we should or should not take part in popular culture. If you've been around this blog for long you know that I tend to fall on the more liberal side of the argument, though I can totally understand the conservative perspective. Well, I finally found an article that breaks down the whole concept quite well and will help to direct my thinking on this subject for some time to come. (Note: the article is fairly long)

Horrific Gas Prices

Horrific Gas Prices
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

Fat People Actually Live Longer?

That is what a new study appears to be saying. The study followed a group of thin people, fat people, and obese people, and found that the fat group had far fewer deaths than the thin group.

But, contrary to expectations, the obese did not have an increased risk of dying from cancer. They were slightly more likely than people of normal weights to die of a handful of cancers that are thought to be related to excess weight — cancers of the colon, breast, esophagus, uterus, ovary, kidney and pancreas. Yet they had a lower risk of dying from other cancers, including lung cancer. In the end, the increases and decreases in cancer risks balanced out.

As for diabetes, it showed up in the death rates only when the researchers grouped diabetes and kidney disease as one category. Diabetes can cause kidney disease, they note. But, the researchers point out, the number of diabetes deaths may be too low because many people with diabetes die from heart disease, and often the cause of death is listed as a heart attack.

Talk about running contrary to general wisdom. Researchers DID caution people that mortality should not be confused with health, and many of the longer-living fat people had poorer health overall. But this study may well rewrite many of our ideas about how militant to be about weight control and body image.

It's Funny Because its True

Who's First? A Twist To Sibling Rivalry

I'm sure it's not the first time, but here is a story of twins who because of daylight savings time, the younger one was born "first". I'm sure this will play a part in sibling rivalry when growing up.

Google Maps At a Gas Station Near You

Wired has up an article about being able to get driving directions from Google Maps at gas stations. While I have Google Maps on my phone, this could be handy for those that don't have GPS or Google Maps on their phone.

Giuliani Endorsed By Pat Robertson

Pat Robertson has officially endorsed Rudy Giuliani. While this doesn't change my vote (not a huge fan of Pat Robertson), I suspect it will for some. I'm actually surprised that Pat Robertson has endorsed him. On the other hand, Rudy Giuliani could take some heat because of Robertson's past comments.

Falling cows are not safe

A word of caution, when driving in central Washington be sure to avoid falling cows. This couple nearly didn't. They were driving home from church when a cow fell 200 feet off a cliff and landed on the hood of the minivan they were driving. There are a couple of things about this that surprise me. 1) The couple were not killed or injured in any way - not even whiplash. 2) The cow didn't die - as a result of the fall at least. Amazing!

Rock the Sound Photos

This past weekend, we attended Rock the Sound, a Christian concert featuring many great Christian rock bands. We don't usually get many concerts of this quality in CT (nearby NYC gets most of them), so we really enjoyed the chance to rock out in our own back yard. I thought Mod-Bloggers might enjoy seeing the pictures I got at the event. Click on the pic below for the whole set.

And here is a taste of it in video form...

Not Invented Here (In the Church)

I have been attending the same church since 4th grade (early 1980s). One of the strengths of this church and of the denomination were a series of events and programs provided by the regional or national church around which youth programs could be built. Every other summer there was a National Youth Conference. Periodically, large churches in the area would set up big events (concerts, superbowls, etc.) which other local churches would embrace. Youth pastors built their programs around these major events and everyone benefitted.

Since I have become a youth leader in 1996, however, I have seen a growing trend away from these large events. It is not that they are not being organized or offered. But youth pastors and leaders are more and more treating them with something ranging from cynicism to outright disdain. Various reasons are given for the trend (uninterested youth, post-modern parents, etc.), but none have stood up under my scrutiny.

"Not Invented Here" syndrome - rejecting new ideas out-of-hand if they originated from an outsider. It is typically a sign of a sick company which has institutionalized itself to a point where the culture and not the customer or the product become the #1 priority. I am beginning to think this is exactly what we are seeing in many local churches. Youth leaders are not interested in embracing a wider Christianity or program structure, but want to focus their programs solely on what happens in the local body of believers. Mixing with other churches is seen as unnecessary. And supporting a regional or national initiative is Irrelevant. If it ain't invented in the local church, it has little to no place in the local church.

I started this off to be a criticism of this mindset, but the more I think about it the less certain I am. What do our Mod-Blog readers think? Where is the balance point between local independence and shared regional or national experience in the Church? (Or am I just wrong that this is a trend larger than my own corner of the universe?)

New Tech, Old Traditions

Native South American tribes have to worry about protecting their lands from those who would try to take the natural resources out of it. Some tribes are now using GPS, Google Earth, and other technologies to monitor and defend their territory.

Google Phone announcement: Android

Ever since the Apple iPhone debuted and left some people wanting, some people have been hoping desperately for a "gPhone." This imagined phone from Google would be everything that the iPhone was not: open source, cheap, and with 3G hardware for high-speed wireless away from Wifi. Some even predicted the phone might wind up being free for consumers, paid for by advertising that came up when you web surfed or perhaps played before allowing an outgoing phone call.

Well, Google has finally made its mobile phone announcements and it is not quite what the utopians had dreamed of... but it is interesting:
1. It is an open platform called Android
2. It is linux-based
3. It is designed from the ground-up to be infinitely user-customizable ("Choose your own dialer, your own picture manager, etc.")
4. It is going to be supported by multiple manufacturers (Motorola, HTC, etc.) and cell phone companies (T-Mobile, Sprint, etc.)
5. The first devices are expected toward the end of 2008

Unsurprisingly, the biggest phone companies - AT&T and Verizon - refused to sign on and open up their walled gardens. And also unsurprisingly, those with their own proprietary platform - Apple, Palm, and Microsoft - were nowhere to be seen in the presentation. It will be interesting to watch and see if Android goes from vaporware to reality. The cell phone space could use some freedom, that is for sure.

Writers Guild Strikes

It is official. The Hollywood Writers Guild is now on strike, which means new scripts for all scripted shows and movies have now been shelved until the dispute is resolved. This will hit television first, where daily scripted shows like The Tonight Show, The Colbert Report, and others won't have a writing staff. But it also will affect motion pictures as well.

The two major issues, as I understand them are:

1. Writers are still paid residuals on DVDs based on a "preliminary deal" designed back when they were an experimental, emerging medium. At the time, writers, actors, and directors agreed to take a much smaller residual than on VHS tapes in order to support the new format. Now that DVDs are virtually the entire market, they want them brought to parity. But studios want to keep the status quo in order to keep profits up in a time when illegal downloads are eating into the market.

2. Studios want to apply the same logic to downloadable shows that was applied to DVDs originally, since they are still an experimental emerging market. Writers feel burned by the DVD experience and want to ensure that they are not in the same place 10 years from now on the "downloadable issue.

Here is hoping both sides can come to an agreement quickly which is of benefit to both. If not, around January we may be seeing a flood of reruns and reality series, and shortly after theater chains may start to suffer from lack of content to bring in consumers.

Gotta love SNL

I am the only one who has actually done this in real life?

Finally Jeremy Camp

Finally Jeremy Camp
Originally uploaded by crchair

Rock the Sound

Sent from my iPhone

Predicting the future is hard

Wired is running an interesting and funny story on the 15 dumbest predictions about Apple. There are several about the ultimate demise of the company - though admittedly most of them come from the mid 90's when Apple's goose was pretty much cooked. Other funny things - the failure of the first iMac because it didn't have a floppy drive and the first iPhone being like an iPod with a scroll wheel. I guess this all just goes to show that business is just as much luck as it is strategy and that the future is really known to nobody.

Jars of Clay is On

Jars of Clay is On
Originally uploaded by crchair

Rock The Sound

Sent from my iPhone

Skillet on Stage

Skillet on Stage
Originally uploaded by crchair

Sent from my iPhone

Rock the Sound had Begun

Rock the Sound had Begun
Originally uploaded by crchair

Story Side B

Apple acquiring Adobe would be a bad thing

As I was perusing Slashdot today I came across this article that proposed that Apple should purchase Adobe. On first blush this sort of makes some sense and the author makes most of the sensible points pretty convincingly. I use Apple and Adobe products everyday - several thousand dollars worth of each every day - so I'm very familiar and biased towards the goodness of each. My problem with this idea of Apple buying Adobe isn't with the concept of two great companies working together as one, but rather that it eliminates some of the market. I am by no means an expert on market forces or economic competition and I don't play one on tv, but it seems that taking Adobe out of the mix would push Apple less and would push Adobe to innovate less.

As a case in point, a couple of years ago Adobe purchased Macromedia - the makers of fine software like Dreamweaver and Flash (both the best of their breed in their respective niches). Before the purchase Adobe was working on competing products GoLive vs. Dreamweaver and Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) vs. Flash. All four were great products, but Dreamweaver and Flash were definitely the better products. So what did Adobe do, they bought the competition. So now GoLive is history and SVG has been left to the open source world to possibly enhance. Dreamweaver and Flash have gotten better, but not noticeably so - despite the fact that Flash is almost inescapable in our current web environment.

The question is then, would Adobe get better if Apple purchased them? Adobe's flagship programs (Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign and the previously mentioned Dreamweaver and Flash) are already without competition. Sure there are other products that try to do the same things, but hardly any of them are nearly as good or compete any more - with the possible exception of Quark even though they're pretty stagnate in terms of market share. At this point Adobe and Apple are pushing each other to be better - especially in the area of pro-photography with competing programs Lightroom (Adobe) and Aperture (Apple). If they were to become one company the market forces that make each of them have to innovate to retain the creative professional market would disintegrate and they would be worse for it. So, I think this would be a bad thing as much as it might sound great from an Apple/Adobe devotee perspective.

Ever wonder what popcorn looked like as it popped?

Patent To Interpret Brain Waves

My power came back on about 6 hours ago, but I haven't seen anything to post today. Instead, I'll dig up an older article from my archive.

Slashdot had up a summary and some links about a patent that Microsoft filed to use and interpret EEG to read your brain. The problem with reading EEGs is that blinking can mess up the results that they want. The plan is to use it to improve their user interface.

Interesting stuff, though I have no interest in having Microsoft read my brain.

Great picture from CRChair

Biscuit
Originally uploaded by crchair.

Could there be a cuter dog on the face of the planet?

Gas prices near $3

Gas prices near $3
Originally uploaded by nomad7674.

New Haven Loses Another Sports Franchise

The New Haven Cutters of the Can-Am independent baseball league have folded their operation. This is the second baseball team and third sports franchise in recent years to either fold or leave New Haven, CT. Nomad, Shadowmom1, and I enjoyed the New Haven Raven's baseball games that we used to go to. I even had been to the minor league hockey team that moved out a few years ago. Lets hope that New Haven's loss is Bridgeport's gain and that the Bluefish can benefit.

Sad But True

Interesting Thought

There are 10^11 stars in the galaxy. That used to be a huge number. But it's only a hundred billion. It's less than the national deficit! We used to call them astronomical numbers. Now we should call them economical numbers.

- Richard Feynman

From quotationspage.com

Stephen Colbert Files To Run For President

Stephen Colbert has officially "entered" the race for President on the Democratic ticket. Publicity stunt, I'm sure, but the most interesting thing is why he didn't file with the Republican party as well. In South Carolina, he needed $2,500 to run as a Democrat, but the Republican party wanted $35,000!