The X-Muppets?

Not mine. Via Reddit.

United Illuminating's Power Outage Information

Here is a link for United Illuminating's Outage information. UI services much of South Western Connecticut.

Now That 85 Million Dollars Isn't Much Money...

At least, that's the impression you'd get if you've been keeping up with baseball news lately. Angels pitcher, Jared Weaver has decided to re-sign with the team, sighting his love of the west coast and the team as his main motivation.

Immediately, the baseball press made a very large deal out of his decision. Why would he not go into free agency where he's sure to get a better deal than the one he received from the Angels? One MLB Network anchor even suggested that he should have gone into free agency just to come back to the Angels with a better deal. And so Jared Weaver has become a poster boy for loyalty and for team pride over money. And don't get me wrong, I appreciate that Weaver wanted to stay with the team he loves even if he got less money for it.

But here's the thing. The Angels contract is 85 million dollars for five years. That's right, Jared Weaver is going to make 17 million dollars a year and the baseball press is acting as if the guy is going to be suffering. True, he could have gotten more but in his words,

“How much more do you need?” Weaver asked. “Could have got more, whatever. Who cares?”

Indeed, at that level of money, who cares about another 10 or 20 million?

Welcome to a Post-Steve Jobs Apple

It has been coming a long time - his illness has been quiet but well-documented, and he has been on medical leave 3 times - but it was still a shock to see the headlines: Steve Jobs resigns as CEO of Apple. Today likely begins a panicked sell-off of Apple stock, as touchy investors flee a company without the iCEO at the helm. But tomorrow likely begins a smug buy-up of all open Apple stock by bargain hunters, who realize Jobs leaves Apple with a well-trained executive team, molded in his own image, with a strong vision for the future.



First, as an Apple investor and owner of Apple products, I want thank Steve for his many years of service. A life is not to be judged on its wealth, which can be accrued thru virtue or thru sin. But a life is to be judged thru its accomplishments, and Steve has had many. He was part of the personal computer revolution with the original Apple. He was part of the GUI revolution with the Macintosh (technically starting with LISA). He was part of the network revolution with NEXT computers and then the iMac. And he is at the forefront of the mobile revolution with the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. Few men have lead through more transformations of the way we live and do business, and few have kept a consistent focus on customers.



Second, I want to reassure my fellow Fanboys that Apple will not die without Steve at the helm. Tim Cook has been CEO for several years now, de-facto, and the iRevolution has been as much about the executive team he leaves behind, as it is about Steve himself. Surely, he was the unifying visionary behind it, but there are many years of that vision left to go. I doubt the iPad is the last "One More Thing" to come out of Apple... perhaps not even the last one this year.



Third, I want to encourage Mod-Blog readers not to lose sight of the real base of this story. It is NOT a CEO resigning, or a visionary stepping down, or a world-class business changing hands. It is a human being fighting a difficult illness. Likely in the process of dying (although Steve Jobs is notoriously private about such things). Please be praying for him and his family - for healing if it be God's will, or for comfort if it is his time. While others are hand-wringing about supplies of the iDevice they lst after, let us show compassion for the man himself.



My thoughts. I am interested to read yours in the comments, or on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+.

Nuns a Literally Dying Breed

Very few of know any Nuns who are young. I must admit, that I haven't even been aware of any campaigns in the last 10-20 years aimed at encouraging young women in America to become Nuns. One area where this is having an impact is Catholic hospitals. Today, very few hospitals have Nuns as administrators, where as 20-30 years ago, the majority of these positions were filled by Nuns. This has caused a more profit centric view of the healthcare at these hospitals, instead of a view based on mission. It will be interesting to see how religions role in our health system evolves in the next 20-30 years.

Mammoth Find

A Russian reindeer herder stumbled upon a frozen woolly mammoth carcass in the arctic. The mammoth is said to be very well preserved and may be a great find for both scientists and mammoth lovers alike. The Russian government hope to excavate the mammoth and transport it to a facility where it can be studied and then displayed for the public.

Entire US Stealth Fighter Jet Fleet Grounded

With the current debate between the need to provide our military with the best technology and the need to cut some spending, you would think that our government would make the most of what they had. But instead, news comes out that our entire stealth fighter plane fleet is currently grounded because of one or two problems. What is worse, is that the fleet has actually been grounded since May. It is unthinkable to me that with all the best engineering minds, neither the military or the manufacturer can figure out how to fix these problems. On top of that, our government just committed to spend over a half a Billion dollars on more of these planes. I agree that we need to make sure these planes are safe before we risk our pilots lives in them, but how can it take more than 2 months to diagnose the problem? This should be the number one priority for the manufacturer and the government should withhold any future payments until these problems are fixed.

Is it Cheaper to Demolish a Home than to Repair it?

A new trend in the home market, is for banks to demolish foreclosed homes instead of reselling them. Banks have found that in some of the least sellable areas of the country, it is actually better for them to demolish a home and donate the land to the local municipality than to fix up the homes and then try to resell them. The companies also have the added bonus of not having to pay taxes or upkeep on the homes that they demolish. It will be interesting to see if this helps the housing market by taking cheap, but undesirable homes off the market, or if it just ends up creating places for people to illegally dump their trash.