Painfully True

From here.

Independence Day Fireworks punted by the Great Recession

As the Great Recession drags on and on, more and more municipalities are being caught by the cash crunch. This year, a major casualty of shrinking budgets may be the traditional July 4th fireworks celebration. Towns all over are canceling or getting creative.

"It's becoming harder and harder to justify," she says of the $20,000 event. "The tax dollars only go so far, and it's one of those expendable items."

Other places such as Birmingham, Ala., may scale back the festivities as well unless they can attract more corporate sponsors. The Independence Day celebration in Moorestown, N.J., across the Delaware from Philadelphia, was canceled for the second year in a row. Monterey, Calif., suspended its Fourth of July festivities because of "budget constraints and ongoing safety concerns regarding the Fireworks Display," according to the city's website. Maplewood, Minn., Mayor Will Rossbach told the Pioneer-Press that it no longer made sense to pay about $19,000 for the town's 30-minute fireworks display while struggling to maintain more basic city services.

In another strategy, Morris Plains, N.J., saved its traditional July 4th fireworks display -- and some of its tight budget -- this year by holding it on Saturday, June 26, instead.

My Video from the Tornado in Stratford/Bridgeport CT

This video was taken at 30 Sperry Ave. in Stratford, Connecticut.

I wish I had an AT-AT as a pet!

The nightmare every techie lives

The origin of the iPhone 4's signal problems?

Fans of government intervention and regulation believe that it is possible to create complex guidelines for businesses which give us only benefits and no detriments. But the reality is that every government regulation has an unintended consequence and one antenna designer is suggesting an FCC regulation is behind the reported iPhone 4 antenna issues. It may explain several other mysterious decisions behind Apple's designs in previous generations.

Just about every cell phone in current production has the antenna located at the bottom. This insures that the radiating portion of the antenna is furthest from the head. Apple was not the first to locate the antenna on the bottom, and certainly won't be the last. The problem is that humans have their hands below their ears, so the most natural position for the hand is covering the antenna. This can't be a good design decision, can it? How can we be stuck with this conundrum? It's the FCC's fault.

You see, when the FCC tests are run, the head is required to be in the vicinity of the phone. But, the hand is not!! And the FCC's tests are not the only tests that must be passed by a candidate product. AT&T has their own requirements for devices put on their network, and antenna efficiency is one of them. I know because I have designed quad-band GSM antennas for the AT&T network. The AT&T test similarly does not require the hand to be on the phone.

So, naturally, the design evolved to meet requirements - and efficient transmission and reception while being held by a human hand are simply not design requirements!

I can confirm that I have seen this issue with my iPhone, and it now appears Apple has acknowledged the issue. But it is interesting to see how it came about, and the pressures that may have justified it. In the meantime, many users are looking into cases to alleviate the issue.

Penguins make me laugh every time

Feds again stop Oil Spill efforts

The story of the Katrina debacle was a story of the Federal government falling over itself and failing to deliver. The story of the Gulf Oil Spill debacle is a story instead of the Federal government impeding local action. Over and over, local individuals, companies, and agencies try to stem the damage from the disaster. And over and over, a random Federal bureaucrat steps in to stop it for his/her own petty reasons.

The newest example is over sand dredging which the Fish and Wildlife Department has stopped for fear of the location of dredging. While I realize in isolation they are just doing their job, this shortsightedness is becoming endemic. It is time for the President - or some other high-ranking official - to step in and personally take responsibility for these snafus. We are past the point of "figuring out what is going on" and have run out of excuses.

Voters take note. This is one that can not be laid at the feet of George W. Bush. Vote accordingly in the mid-term elections. The Democratic Party deserves to lose their majority. The president has proven he needs someone to hold him accountable.

Priorities

From here. On topic for Guys Night Out's discussions from last night.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader Trailer

I love C.S. Lewis's worlds.

CT is not a great place for cyclists

I love riding the shoreline and many greenways and rail-trails of Connecticut, but a recent survey makes a good point when they observe that CT is not a good place to actually get places on a bicycle.  While my home state has done a lot of work to encourage cycling as a passtime, there are few to no bike lanes and even official maps of cycling routes note that commuting in this way is "not recommended".

Connecticut ranks 40th in the League of American Bicyclists’ latest survey of how the 50 states rank in terms of being “bike friendly.” We’re behind every one of our New England neighbors, behind New York, behind New Jersey and Delaware. Hell, even icy-assed Alaska is rated a better cycling state than Connecticut.

For decades, our state Department of Transportation (which originated more than a century ago in response to cyclists’ demands for better roads) seems to have felt the best place for bicycles was anywhere but on the roads.

There isn’t a single inch of state roadway designated and signed as a Connecticut bicycle route. New York has 2,200 miles of state-approved cycling routes.

The good news is bicycle awareness is on the rise in the Constitution State, and we're seeing more and more people riding two wheels on the roads.  There is hope yet that one day cyclists will be given an equal place on the road with our four-wheeled, carbon-monoxide-spewing bretheren.

Posted via email from The Bike Nomad

Manute Bol: The Commedian

Manute Bol Cruises - watch more funny videos

SNL via FunnyorDie.com

Happy Father's Day!

We here at Mod-Blog wish all of our fathers, and all of our friends who are fathers, a VERY happy day today. Thanks to all you have done for all of us.

RIP Maunte Bol

A very big man died today. Manute Bol who played in the NBA and at the University of Bridgeport died today of Kidney Failure. He was 47. Manute played many years in the NBA, but was also know for his generosity as he spent lots of time and money trying to help his native land of Sudan. Our dad once saw Manute and some other players on the Metro North train from New York City to Bridgeport and said that although he stood out, he did not try to make a big deal of himself. May his legacy of peace and generosity last for his homeland of Sudan.

One step ahead

Tool Award

Well...It's been a while since I felt there was one person worthy enough of the Tool Award. It seems like everyone has been spending so much time in the toolshed that it was hard to narrow it down to one. But finally we've had one person dumb enough to stick his head above the crowd again. I suppose I owe him a debt of gratitude since he helped me finally find a reason to bring the Tool Award back out. So, without further ado...

Thank you, Rep. Joe Barton for helping to re-enforce every negative stereotype about Republicans. Doesn't care about the "little guy" who has been devastated by the oil disaster? Check! Absurd pandering to the oil industry? Check! Ridiculous hyperbole implying that a crime had been committed in requiring a company to clean up its own mess? Check!

You sir, are truly one-of-a-kind. Or I sure hope to God that you are, anyway. But maybe I should give you some credit. After all, it must be difficult to go against the stream here. We have so many reports of the unparalleled damage that this spill will cause and so much talk about the economic cost to the Gulf Coast. But no one has really discussed how much this is going to hurt poor BP. That poor corporation that has taken its turn making record profits off of oil sales for all these years. It's just outrageous that they should be expected to part with a tiny fraction of their massive earnings to clean up this mess that...you know...they made.

So, Rep, Barton, thank you for putting the interest of this poor, hurting company above the interest of all those who have died, become ill, and lost their livelihoods because of this disaster. It's good to know that someone is looking out for the big guy still. You sir, are a tool.

The Worst Idea in the Long, Sad History of Bad Ideas

Yup, that pretty much sums it up.

I tend toward iconoclasm...

...although I recognize scripture is not as clear on the subject as I tend to think it is, and I recognize many Christian traditions enjoy statues and other images as useful outreach tools.

(For those who do not know, iconoclasm is a belief that images are inappropriate in Christian worship. Iconoclasts during the Reformation were known for raiding churches and destroying statues by force.)

But, the destruction of the famous Jesus statue in Ohio is a good reminder that any image - even that of Christ - is just a thing made of human hands. It is not God or even a god.

A bolt struck a 62-foot-tall statue of Jesus Christ on Monday outside a church in Monroe, Ohio, and the statue erupted in flames. All that remains is a charred steel skeleton, its spindly arms stretched toward heaven, a gesture that once earned it the nickname "Touchdown Jesus."

Darlene Bishop, co-pastor of Solid Rock Church, says she's simply relieved that the lightning hit Jesus and not the home for at-risk women next door.

Plus, how often do you have the excuse to use "iconoclasm" in a blog headline?

Obama Administration Expands Biking Programs

Being a philosophical Conservative, I do not often agree with the Obama administration's policies.  But I also make an effort to always keep an open mind, and look for areas of common.  So I was happy to read that the White House has increased funding for bicycling initiatives by $400 million.  This should lead to more bike paths, greenways, and bike lanes across the country.  This reduces our dependence on foreign oil, and encourages fitness.  It's a win all around.

Posted via email from The Bike Nomad

The Gulf Oil Spill could still get worse

Take this one with a grain of salt, as it comes from a comment on a discussion board. But the reasoning seems sound and predicts that the broken oil well is more broken than we think and getting worse. The cusp of the argument is speculation that the break is not just at the head of the well, but that the actual pipes deep in the seabed are broken as well. This would mean the more done to cap the well, the more flow will simply come from the hidden leaks farther down the pipe.

Contrary to what most of us would think as logical to stop the oil mess, actually opening up the gushing well and making it gush more became direction BP took after confirming that there was a leak. In fact if you note their actions, that should become clear. They have shifted from stopping or restricting the gusher to opening it up and catching it. This only makes sense if they want to relieve pressure at the leak hidden down below the seabed.....and that sort of leak is one of the most dangerous and potentially damaging kind of leak there could be. It is also inaccessible which compounds our problems. There is no way to stop that leak from above, all they can do is relieve the pressure on it and the only way to do that right now is to open up the nozzle above and gush more oil into the gulf and hopefully catch it

SW:TOR Trailer

I might well be the only MMORPG player on the blog, but I know I'm far from the only Star Wars fan, so I present the new trailer for the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO being worked on by Bioware for your viewing pleasure. For those unfamiliar with the lore, the "Empire" mentioned in the trailer is the ancient Sith Empire, not the Empire from the original trilogy.

The Fruits of the Left

And I do mean fruits. I can't imagine being so paranoid and delusional but I suppose that's why I'll never be a part of the "reality based community." The latest claim is that should the Republicans take the House in November, they will certainly impeach President Obama.

The reason? Well obviously because he's black and all Republicans are racists. And surely since they can find a few random people asking if they could impeach Obama, the Republican controlled House would jump at the chance! I just really don't know what to say about these people anymore. Every time I'm convinced they couldn't become any more stupid or paranoid, they prove me wrong. It's like they come from a different planet.

iPhone 4 Preorders Ready to Go

There were quite a few problems this morning - the U.S. Store was going up and down and up and down - but things appear to have stabilized now. If you want to preorder your iPhone 4, you may get it here. The real thing ships for June 24.


Update: You can also attempt to order you iPhone 4 thru the new Apple Store app. But the process still seems flaky on both the web and the app for now.

Truly a Big BAD Wolf

Share Some Music

I just can't post about politics. I'm so disgusted with the whole thing that I can't even muster the willpower to write up a full post about how I don't want to post about it...

So I thought I'd see if we could share some music with each other. Below are the top five most played songs on my iPod this past week. Link the top songs that your mp3 player/xm radio player say you've been listening too (Or if you still use CD's just take a guess based on what you've been listening to) in the comments so we can share some music. You never know, some of us might find a new band we enjoy.

1. Lacuna Coil - Within Me
2. Chevelle - Shameful Metaphors
3. The Outlaws - Green Grass and High Tides
4. Muse - Map of the Problematique
5. MGMT - Kids

Will Afghanistan be transformed by mineral wealth?

Afghanistan has for decades been little more than a mountainous no-mans-land where Superpowers do battle. The Soviet Union lost a war there. The United States is now fighting a war there. The geography has done little more than to isolate ethnic tribes and frustrate Western powers. But now, those same mountains may transform the nation.

The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials.

The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe.

There be a great irony if the greatest legacy of the Afghan War is not the vanquishing of the Taliban, but the discover of great wealth to empower a people.

World Cup Starts Today

The Great Recession hits Teens

It has been a long, hard couple of years for everyone. Layoffs, overtime, fruitless job searching, and unemployment payments. Unsurprisingly, the Great Recession is hitting the summer job market as teens and college students are finding it harder and harder to find employment.

Employment among 16-to 19-year olds in May grew by just 6,000, the smallest increase since 1969, when teen jobs fell by 14,000, according to government data analyzed by employment firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. In May 2008 and 2009, teen employment grew by over 110,000...

Jobs traditionally given to teens are apparently going to older workers who are willing to take low paying job to make ends meet.

Clearly, steps taken by the Obama administration and Congress are not doing the job. And issues created by the Gulf Oil Spill - decimating tourism and the fishing industries in the South - are likely to make things worse. It time for a change in direction... just in time for the 2010 Congressional Elections.

AT&T leaks personal information for iPad 3G owners

Every day, the choice of AT&T as exclusive partner for Apple seems like a worse and worse decision. Not only have they dropped the unlimited data plans for iPhone and iPad, but now they have leaded personal information for iPad 3G owners. This is a very serious security breach, and affects many, many powerful people. It is time for Apple to take AT&T to the woodshed, or else open up the deal to other providers.

The breach, which comes just weeks after an Apple employee lost an iPhone prototype in a bar, exposed the most exclusive email list on the planet, a collection of early-adopter iPad 3G subscribers that includes thousands of A-listers in finance, politics and media, from New York Times Co. CEO Janet Robinson to Diane Sawyer of ABC News to film mogul Harvey Weinstein to Mayor Michael Bloomberg. It even appears that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's information was compromised.

It doesn't stop there. According to the data we were given by the web security group that exploited vulnerabilities on the AT&T network, we believe 114,000 user accounts have been compromised, although it's possible that confidential information about every iPad 3G owner in the U.S. has been exposed.

Google confirms capture of Wifi Data in CT

The Google Wifi scandal - where Street View cars captured data from unsecured wireless networks as it mapped locations - is now officially not just a European issue. CT attorney general - and senatorial candidate - Richard Blumenthal has announced that they have admitted collecting the same kinds of data in Connecticut.

Google told Blumenthal’s office it “believes” it started collecting WiFi data in Connecticut in 2008.
“Google’s acknowledgement that it vacuumed up data from unencrypted wireless computer networks in Connecticut is disturbing and demands additional inquiry,” Blumenthal said. “Google grabbed information -- which could include emails, passwords and web-browsing -- that consumers rightly expect to be private. Google needs to better explain how this practice happened, exactly when, where and why.
“We will consider the legality of Google’s WiFi collection practices. Google’s actions raise troubling and profound questions about privacy and whether laws need to be clarified or changed,” Blumenthal said.

This is also a good reminder to secure your network as even a very simple password in WEP or WPA security would have foiled the attempt to snoop. If you're not sure how to set up security on your router, please contact the manufacturer.

iRony

WWDC Announcements

The 5 cent summary:
- iPhone 4 with "retina display" screen, HD camera, new design - $199 starting price with 2 year contract on AT&T - on sale June 24
- iMovie for iPhone ($4.99 from App Store)
- iPhoneOS has been renamed to iOS
- iOS 4 goes Gold Master today, releases June 21
- iBooks coming to iPhone/iPod Touch with iOS 4
- iAds to enable more free/low-cost Apps, coming July 1
- FaceTime - Video calls over Wifi (3G in 2011)

WWDC is today

Those less obsessed with Apple than me may not be aware that today is the first day of Apple's World Wide Developer Conference. Today, at 1 PM EST, Steve Jobs will give the keynote address where he expected to announce:

- the next iteration of the iPhone
- Safari 5, with better HTML 5 support
- iPhoneOS 4
- an updated XCode
- iBooks and possibly NetFlix for iPhone

The keynote will not be streamed live, so if you want to see the announcements check out a liveblog like that of MacRumors.

It begins - CT has its bond rating cut

My home state is the first, but it won't be the last. Ratings agencies are beginning to cut the bond ratings for the state. This will make it much more expensive to raise funds in the future

Connecticut is preparing to borrow $956 million to close a budget gap in the fiscal year beginning July 1, after borrowing money last year to cover a deficit of $947.6 million. Not good. Fitch has reduced the states credit rating from AA+ to AA.

Never Forget

Security thru Obscurity doesn't work for Nukes either

In the computer world, many companies used to rely on their closed code and poorly-documented functionality to keep pirates and hackers from gaining unauthorized access to their systems. This was termed "security thru obcurity" and it worked pretty well until the Internet Era. Then the sharing of information allowed hackers to pool their knowledge and skills to defeat even the most obscure code. Nowadays, vendors have to resort to encrypted code or "signed apps" in order to secure their systems (one of the reasons for the Apple App Store).

But nuclear policymakers are still relying on "security thru obscurity" as a way to stop proliferation of nuclear weapons. They figure if they carefully control the spread of nuclear knowledge, and track materials, then no one can secretly develop their own nukes. Unfortunately, recent news that the tiny nation of Myanmar (formerly Burma) is developing nukes with North Korean help puts the lie to this theory. So long as nations can benefit from nuclear weapons - and can afford the raw materials - they will try to build them as protection against other nuclear powers.

One policymaker was rumored to say during the Manhattan Project, "Why did we build these devices if not to use them?" We then nuked Hiroshima and Nagasaki. How long until a North Korean or Myranmar politician decides the same thing? Welcome to Cold War II.

"Right to Remain Silent" changed by Supreme Court

It is a refrain familiar to anyone who has watched a cop show - "You have the right to remain silent." The right, enshrined by the Supreme Court, is to remain silent until speaking with a lawyer. But now, the Supreme Court has changed this right slightly by ruling that not explicitly invoking that right is equivalent to waiving the right. This has the potential to put additional pressure on the less educated who are arrested.

The high court upheld the murder conviction of a man who did not verbally assert his right to remain silent during his police interrogation. In a 5-4 ruling, the court said a suspect must explicitly tell officers he or she is asserting that right, known as Miranda rights.

My father was a lawyer and he always advised me that FIRST thing to do if arrested - whether you are innocent or guilty - is to ask for a lawyer. Otherwise, you risk unwittingly saying something to get yourself in trouble.

Unemployed not eligible for employment?!

It is a dirty little secret amongst recruiters that they tend to sort people without a current job to the BOTTOM of the pile. This is why most advisers will tell you to NEVER quit a job before you find the next one. But some companies are letting the secret out by explicitly stating in their ads that unemployed people will not be considered. That may be acceptable during good times, but in the middle of the Great Recession, that is a recipe for a permanent underclass of unemployable (yet skilled) people.

Peter May, of Atlanta, said he was hoping Orlando-based recruiter "The People Place" would help him find a job with Sony Ericsson. The company is moving its headquarters to Buckhead, which is located outside Atlanta.
May said he was mortified when he read the message on the website. In all caps, and bold type, it said, "No unemployed candidates will be considered at all."

Note to recruiters - time to change your attitude, before politicians and regulators decide to change it for you!

Nomad's Data Usage for on AT&T for iPhone

With AT&T's announcement of the end of "unlimited" data plans, new iPhone buyers will have to choose between a 200 MB and a 2 GB data plan. I thought Mod-Blog readers would be interested to see how much data I have been using.

I blame the recent spike in data usage on my new love for Evernote.

Scott Adams predicts the end of paid written content

Scott Adams of Dilbert fame is known for being willing to float a crazy theory here and there. But usually, even when floated for comic effect, his theories have at least enough truth to make you go "Hmmmm..." So when he predicts the end of paid writing - and the possible end of quality writing - it is time to pay attention.

Those of you reading this blog are already savvy enough to find and download any content you want for free. But I'll bet the average 40-something user of the Internet still wouldn't know how to search the Internet for criminally free content. At some point, I assume, a Google search for any popular book title will return an illegal source at the top of the page. When that happens, Amazon.com will primarily be selling electronics, household products, and clothes.

I predict that the profession known as "author" will be retired to history in my lifetime, like blacksmith and cowboy. In the future, everyone will be a writer, and some will be better and more prolific than others. But no one will pay to read what anyone else creates. People might someday write entire books - and good ones - for the benefit of their own publicity, such as to promote themselves as consultants, lecturers, or the like. But no one born today is the next multi-best-selling author. That job won't exist.

What do Mod-Blog readers think? Is the role of paid novelist a doomed profession? The professional cartoonist?

Google is phasing out Windows in favor of MacOSX

The reason given is security. Apparently, after the Chinese Hack, the company is looking for any operating system with a better security record than Windows. Then again, maybe it is simply an attempt to make nice with Steve Jobs, after the anti-iPhone screeds at Google I/O. (Linux is also an approved alternative to Windows at Google.)

New hires are now given the option of using Apple’s Mac computers or PCs running the Linux operating system. “Linux is open source and we feel good about it,” said one employee. “Microsoft we don’t feel so good about.”

In early January, some new hires were still being allowed to install Windows on their laptops, but it was not an option for their desktop computers. Google would not comment on its current policy.

Windows is known for being more vulnerable to attacks by hackers and more susceptible to computer viruses than other operating systems. The greater number of attacks on Windows has much to do with its prevalence, which has made it a bigger target for attackers.

You can expect an exasperated quote from Steve Balmer shortly.