That was amusing. Matthew Yglesias pointed out that NYT's David Brooks, while suggesting the Republican ideas about healthcare reform is eminently better, had in fact used the basic tenets of Obamacare. In other words, Republicans actually LIKE Obamacare, they just don't realize it.
Republicans are still stuck on their talking point that Government is controlling medical decisions, when it is not.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Extreme storms and temperature records.
Maybe another decade of histrionics resulting from increasing numbers of severe storm events and fire seasons will induce people to accept the threat of anthropomorphic global warming?
Too bad though, that even with drastic changes, its effects won't be diminished for decades following, if ever -- no one knows if we've hit the rubicon, so to speak.
Too bad though, that even with drastic changes, its effects won't be diminished for decades following, if ever -- no one knows if we've hit the rubicon, so to speak.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Some Americans so upset at healthcare ruling, they're moving to....
I think this Buzzfeed says it all. Some choice quotes:
"I'm moving to Canada, the United States is entirely too socialist."
"Individual mandate upheld, this fudging ridiculous. I'm marrying a Canadian n moving to Canada."Indeed, it's the JayWalk All-Stars.
Aloha, RIM.
Bad news got worse. RIM announced its recent quarter (Q1-2013 FY): 1/3rd lower revenue quarter over quarter, loss of half a billion (net loss of $192M), and more importantly, another delay of BB10, which was supposed to come out in the second half of this calendar year.
In a hyper-competitive mobile world where Android and iOS improvements come fast and hard, RIMM is going the opposite direction and slowing down. At this point, it doesn't even matter if BB10 comes out, because by the time it does, it will already be old.
After-hours trading on NASDAQ, RIMM is down nearly $1.70.
Here's how far they've fallen. In all of three months, RIM sold just 7.8M smartphones across its entire lineup. Yesterday Google announced that it was activating 1M phones a day; earlier this week Samsung said it would sell 10M GS-III phones in under two months. This slowdown of sales will only accelerate as people lose confidence that RIM will be around in a year.
RIM will not survive the year.
In a hyper-competitive mobile world where Android and iOS improvements come fast and hard, RIMM is going the opposite direction and slowing down. At this point, it doesn't even matter if BB10 comes out, because by the time it does, it will already be old.
After-hours trading on NASDAQ, RIMM is down nearly $1.70.
Here's how far they've fallen. In all of three months, RIM sold just 7.8M smartphones across its entire lineup. Yesterday Google announced that it was activating 1M phones a day; earlier this week Samsung said it would sell 10M GS-III phones in under two months. This slowdown of sales will only accelerate as people lose confidence that RIM will be around in a year.
RIM will not survive the year.
Holder emails + Fortune investigation: GOP lied.
It is a bad day for Republicans. First it was the healthcare ruling, now the DOJ has released some additional Holder emails from early on in the Fast and Furious ATF debacle, backed up by a Fortune magazine investigation published yesterday. Reality has exploded in the face of Republicans.
Contrary to what Republicans have been insinuating publicly, Holder wasn't involved with F&F. Rather, Holder had been trying to get to the bottom of what's going on, tersely replying to aides that, "We need answers on this. Not defensive BS. Real answers."
Worse, the whole narrative being pushed by Republicans, has been proven all lies, by a Fortune magazine in-depth, 6-month investigation. You need to understand: Republicans lied. >There was zero gun-running across the border, period.
Republicans didn't just twist some truths, they flat out lied to Americans.
Additional: Arizona's loose gun laws is the primary reason why Mexico's drug lords are buying guns through proxies in America, then having them walked over into Mexico. In other words, the NRA's and GOP's own anti-gun control dogma is the real reason why a border agent was shot to death.
Update: Republicans in the House voted to hold Holder in contempt of Congress. The epitome of politics, Republicans have decided to go all in on the big lie they've been publicly offering to America, that has been exposed.
Contrary to what Republicans have been insinuating publicly, Holder wasn't involved with F&F. Rather, Holder had been trying to get to the bottom of what's going on, tersely replying to aides that, "We need answers on this. Not defensive BS. Real answers."
Worse, the whole narrative being pushed by Republicans, has been proven all lies, by a Fortune magazine in-depth, 6-month investigation. You need to understand: Republicans lied. >There was zero gun-running across the border, period.
Republicans didn't just twist some truths, they flat out lied to Americans.
Additional: Arizona's loose gun laws is the primary reason why Mexico's drug lords are buying guns through proxies in America, then having them walked over into Mexico. In other words, the NRA's and GOP's own anti-gun control dogma is the real reason why a border agent was shot to death.
Update: Republicans in the House voted to hold Holder in contempt of Congress. The epitome of politics, Republicans have decided to go all in on the big lie they've been publicly offering to America, that has been exposed.
Fox News gets it wrong, is unapologetic.
Via HuffPo, both Fox and CNN, in a rush to be the first to report on the healthcare ruling, came out saying that the mandate had been ruled unconstitutional. OOPS!
What's sad, is that the FOX News folks realized that they might have gotten it wrong only after reporter Megyn Kelly had read the SCOTUSblog!
All other news channels and outlets were taking their time parsing the entire ruling, but obviously the FOX folks had only read the first two pages (where Chief Roberts spoke for the majority that the healthcare law failed to meet the requirements under the commerce clause).
To top it off, Fox doubled down on their error:
Michael Clemente, Fox executive vice president of news and editorial, was unapologetic. "We gave our viewers the news as it happened ... Fox reported the facts, as they came in."Talk about pathetic. What he meant to say is, that Fox reported the faux news as they fabricated it.
POTD: Pouting Boehner.
Priceless. It was taken yesterday, so it does not relate to the SCOTUS' ruling on healthcare. It was at a ceremony honoring surviving members of the Montford Point Marines (the first African-Americans to serve in the Marine Corps).
SCOTUS: Healthcare law is LEGAL.
Huge victory. 5-4, Roberts joined Sotomayor, Ginsburg, Breyer and Kagan.
Like I said, Roberts may be trying to adjust the court to avoid the criticism that it is a conservative, activist court.
Mitt Romney just gambled and lost, BIG.
Like I said, Roberts may be trying to adjust the court to avoid the criticism that it is a conservative, activist court.
Mitt Romney just gambled and lost, BIG.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Nexus 7 and Q and Jelly Beans too.
Jelly Bean
Jelly Bean makes you want to skip ICS (especially since JB includes ICS goodies). The key to making JB awesome, is Project Butter which speeds up frames so that everything operates smoothly - as in iPhone smooth - on your device. JB also makes pull down notifications a lot more useful, with integrated usability in the notifications, so that you don't need to click on the notification which then sends you to the app -- it's all done within the notification itself.
Also within JB is Google Now, a feature that allows for information Cards that are deeply integrated with your interactions, based upon your Google account, ie your searches, location, purchases, interactions. It might scare off quite a few people who are worried about their personal lives out in the open, but without this sort of access to your data, you lose the ability to have what amounts to a true digital assistant that can predict what you want, what information you're looking for, and what's important to you.
It also sounds like Google is aware of the complaints about how long it has taken for ICS upgrades, so they've started what they call as a Platform Development Kit (PDK), starting with JB.
But JB won't be available (to the general public) until mid-July, when Nexus7 ships, and Galaxy Nexus phones receive an OTA update. I'm starting to think I need to switch to Nexus devices altogether.
Nexus 7
As expected, Nexus 7 matches all the specs that were previously revealed, but some additional things were revealed with the Nexus7:
It's up for pre-order, set for delivery "mid-July".
Nexus Q
Intriguing if expensive ($299), the Nexus Q "social streaming media player" is an orb-like object that links between your speakers / home stereo, television, and your router. It is meant to work with Nexus 7 (and other NFC Android Beam devices), allowing you to add and control content streaming via your device, via Google Play Music, Movies or TV, or Youtube. To me, it's what GoogleTV was meant to be, if Google had had the content ecosystem of Play, at the time they introduced GoogleTV.
Still, it's an expensive option because you have to rely on Play and Youtube content, no subscription Hulu or Netflix included (at the moment). If Hulu+ and Netflix support is added, and if you had the ability to upload your personal content to Play, then this would be the perfect device. As it is, it's not quite ideal, even if it looks really nice.
It too, is up for pre-order, set for delivery "mid-July".
Jelly Bean makes you want to skip ICS (especially since JB includes ICS goodies). The key to making JB awesome, is Project Butter which speeds up frames so that everything operates smoothly - as in iPhone smooth - on your device. JB also makes pull down notifications a lot more useful, with integrated usability in the notifications, so that you don't need to click on the notification which then sends you to the app -- it's all done within the notification itself.
Also within JB is Google Now, a feature that allows for information Cards that are deeply integrated with your interactions, based upon your Google account, ie your searches, location, purchases, interactions. It might scare off quite a few people who are worried about their personal lives out in the open, but without this sort of access to your data, you lose the ability to have what amounts to a true digital assistant that can predict what you want, what information you're looking for, and what's important to you.
It also sounds like Google is aware of the complaints about how long it has taken for ICS upgrades, so they've started what they call as a Platform Development Kit (PDK), starting with JB.
But JB won't be available (to the general public) until mid-July, when Nexus7 ships, and Galaxy Nexus phones receive an OTA update. I'm starting to think I need to switch to Nexus devices altogether.
Nexus 7
As expected, Nexus 7 matches all the specs that were previously revealed, but some additional things were revealed with the Nexus7:
- Designed as integrated into Google Play and not the clean Jelly Bean implementation;
- Includes $25 credit in Google Play;
- Includes free Transformers movie, Dark of the Moon;
- Includes some free digital magazine issues;
- Includes gyroscope, magnetometer, accelerometer and GPS;
- 340g / .75 pounds.
It's up for pre-order, set for delivery "mid-July".
Nexus Q
Intriguing if expensive ($299), the Nexus Q "social streaming media player" is an orb-like object that links between your speakers / home stereo, television, and your router. It is meant to work with Nexus 7 (and other NFC Android Beam devices), allowing you to add and control content streaming via your device, via Google Play Music, Movies or TV, or Youtube. To me, it's what GoogleTV was meant to be, if Google had had the content ecosystem of Play, at the time they introduced GoogleTV.
Still, it's an expensive option because you have to rely on Play and Youtube content, no subscription Hulu or Netflix included (at the moment). If Hulu+ and Netflix support is added, and if you had the ability to upload your personal content to Play, then this would be the perfect device. As it is, it's not quite ideal, even if it looks really nice.
It too, is up for pre-order, set for delivery "mid-July".
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Healthcare ruling -- a split decision?
Maybe it's just me, but it feels like the SCOTUS' ruling on SB1070, was an attempt to avoid the Roberts court being seen as a purely conservative activist one?
The delay would seem to indicate extended back room negotiations and writings that attempt to weave a tortured interpretation of the healthcare law, under the US Constitution.
Along with the delay on its issuance, it seems that all signs point to a mixed ruling where the law is upheld, except for the individual mandate requiring most people to buy healthcare coverage. That despite efforts on both sides to tie the individual mandate with the totality of the healthcare law.
Interestingly, Mitt says that if the healthcare law is tossed, then Obama's presidency was a waste of time.
Talk about tortured logic, trying to tie an entire presidency on a single issue. Hey, let's forget sending in Seal Team 6 to get Bin Laden, let's forget the attempt to save GM and Chrysler as well as the US banking system and the prevention of the Great Depression 2.0, and let's forget the mini-START agreement with Russia to reduce nuclear arms. Nope, all that pales in comparison to healthcare reform, according to Mitt. [eyes rolling]
The delay would seem to indicate extended back room negotiations and writings that attempt to weave a tortured interpretation of the healthcare law, under the US Constitution.
Along with the delay on its issuance, it seems that all signs point to a mixed ruling where the law is upheld, except for the individual mandate requiring most people to buy healthcare coverage. That despite efforts on both sides to tie the individual mandate with the totality of the healthcare law.
Interestingly, Mitt says that if the healthcare law is tossed, then Obama's presidency was a waste of time.
Talk about tortured logic, trying to tie an entire presidency on a single issue. Hey, let's forget sending in Seal Team 6 to get Bin Laden, let's forget the attempt to save GM and Chrysler as well as the US banking system and the prevention of the Great Depression 2.0, and let's forget the mini-START agreement with Russia to reduce nuclear arms. Nope, all that pales in comparison to healthcare reform, according to Mitt. [eyes rolling]
Comparison of Eurozone - America
The Eurozone crisis seems like the perfect time to consider some of the differences between it and the United States:
US
Eurozone
US
- Central bank -- the Federal Reserve Bank -- goals are for "maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates"'
- Single currency;
- Fiscal union that redistributes wealth, by way of stimulative investment and low-income / unemployed benefits;
- States must balance budget, no lending facility outside of capital bonds (but shortfalls in state budgets may be partially deflected by the fiscal union);
- Primacy of federal laws is immediate and absolute, even if contested and limitations delineated in a federal-level court (the Supreme Court of the United States);
- Single, official, national language (English).
Eurozone
- Central bank -- the European Central Ban -- goal is to "maintain price stability"
- Single currency;
- No fiscal union;
- Member states don't need to balance budgets as long as they can access long-term bond markets, but have signed the Maastricht Treaty whereby they agreed to limit deficits to 3% of GDP and debt to 60% of GDP;
- European Union-level laws hold primacy, but sovereignty rights creates conflict in cases of member states' Constitution;
- Multiple official languages.
Monday, June 25, 2012
That Muslim Brotherhood Egyptian President is a Trojan.
Via Inside USC, the new Egyptian President is a fellow 'SC alum, class of 82 (PhD). He was also previously a CSUN professor.
I wonder if they'll play that up in the media tonight?
FWIW, my classes looked like the United Nations, with Iranians, Jews, South Koreans, Mexicans, and everything in between.
I wonder if they'll play that up in the media tonight?
FWIW, my classes looked like the United Nations, with Iranians, Jews, South Koreans, Mexicans, and everything in between.
Definitely feeling the love for Nexus Tablet. You?
Leaning heavy on getting it.
Gizmodo Australia's got purported leaked images and specs of Google's Nexus Tablet, expected to be revealed officially in just a few days at Google's I|O conference.
7-inch;
built by Asus;
running Android Jelly Bean;
1.3Ghz quad-core Tegra 3 processor;
GeForce 12-core GPU;
1GB of RAM;
IPS screen, 178-degree viewing, 1280x800;
1.2MP front-facing camera (no rear);
9 hours operation;
Near-field communication (NFC) / Google Wallet w/ Android Beam;
8GB - $199, 16GB - $249.
Gizmodo Australia's got purported leaked images and specs of Google's Nexus Tablet, expected to be revealed officially in just a few days at Google's I|O conference.
7-inch;
built by Asus;
running Android Jelly Bean;
1.3Ghz quad-core Tegra 3 processor;
GeForce 12-core GPU;
1GB of RAM;
IPS screen, 178-degree viewing, 1280x800;
1.2MP front-facing camera (no rear);
9 hours operation;
Near-field communication (NFC) / Google Wallet w/ Android Beam;
8GB - $199, 16GB - $249.
QOTD: "Merkel has emerged as a strong leader..."
George Soros offered an outline in order to prevent what he thinks, is a disaster that will occur, following a lack of direction that will likely result from a leadership meeting of EU officials (and the like), in three days.
From his outline, comes the priceless Quote of the Day:
From his outline, comes the priceless Quote of the Day:
“Merkel has emerged as a strong leader. Unfortunately, she has been leading Europe in the wrong direction.”I know I shouldn't be laughing, but it captures my sentiment perfectly.
The media: The Supreme Court did something.
A quick rundown of the bylines today, for the SCOTUS' ruling on Arizona's SB1070:
WSJ - "Supreme Court upholds key part of Arizona law"
MSNBC - "High Court strikes down key parts of Arizona immigration law"
NBC News - "The Supreme Court on Monday struck down key parts of touch anti-illegal immigration law."
Reuters - "Supreme Court upholds key part of Arizona SB1070"
Arizona Daily Star - "Supreme Court strikes down most of Arizona's SB 1070"
Tuscon Sentinel - "Supreme Court strikes down most SB 1070 provisions"
TPM - "The Supreme Court threw out most of Arizona's controversial immigration law."
If you don't read the story, you might never know what really happened, and you might be inclined to think this was about the balance of state and federal rights...but the mixed verdict shows that it's all about court politics. Members of SCOTUS negotiated in order to get a partial victory for everyone -- perhaps Justice Roberts is trying to deflect criticism of a politically-driven court.
WSJ - "Supreme Court upholds key part of Arizona law"
MSNBC - "High Court strikes down key parts of Arizona immigration law"
NBC News - "The Supreme Court on Monday struck down key parts of touch anti-illegal immigration law."
Reuters - "Supreme Court upholds key part of Arizona SB1070"
Arizona Daily Star - "Supreme Court strikes down most of Arizona's SB 1070"
Tuscon Sentinel - "Supreme Court strikes down most SB 1070 provisions"
TPM - "The Supreme Court threw out most of Arizona's controversial immigration law."
If you don't read the story, you might never know what really happened, and you might be inclined to think this was about the balance of state and federal rights...but the mixed verdict shows that it's all about court politics. Members of SCOTUS negotiated in order to get a partial victory for everyone -- perhaps Justice Roberts is trying to deflect criticism of a politically-driven court.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
USC's class grows, shows off its stars.
Fans around the nation are probably blowing a gasket right now as they watch USC's 2013 class sprout stars. According to Rivals, Sebastian Larue just committed; at #162, he's the lowest ranked verbal commit.
Looks like players are starting to understand the situation: wait too long and there might not be room left for you. Losing Darrell Daniels to Washington didn't hurt, now did it?
Rub your eyes, put them back in your eye sockets if necessary.
Looks like players are starting to understand the situation: wait too long and there might not be room left for you. Losing Darrell Daniels to Washington didn't hurt, now did it?
Rub your eyes, put them back in your eye sockets if necessary.
| #5 | Max Browne | QB | Skyline (WA) | 5 stars | 6'5" | 202 |
| #6 | Kenny Bigelow | DE | Eastern Christian Academy (MD) | 5 stars |
6'3" | 322 |
| #8 | Su'a Cravens | DB | Vista Murrieta | 5 stars | 6'1" | 205 |
| #24 | Ty Isaac | RB | Joliet Catholic (IL) | 4 stars | 6'3" | 215 |
| #41 | Justin Davis | RB | Lincoln (CA) | 4 stars | 6'1" | 195 |
| #63 | Steven Mitchell | WR | Bishop Alemany (CA) | 4 stars | 5'11 | 170 |
| #78 | Chris Hawkins | DB | Rancho Cucamonga (CA) | 4 stars | 6'0" | 170 |
| #97 | Kylie Fitts | DE | East Valley (CA) | 4 stars | 6'4" | 260 |
| #141 | Eldridge Massington | WR | West Mesquite (TX) | 4 stars |
6'3" | 205 |
| #162 | Sebastian Larue | WR | Santa Monica (CA) | 4 stars | 5'11" | 185 |
If USC grabs more 5-star players or if some of their current verbal commits are moved up to 5-stars, 2013 may become the highest rated class in the last 12 years. Come now, stop drooling.
Year
|
USC's average Rivals stars rating
|
Highest average Rivals stars rating
|
School (rank of recruiting class)
|
|---|---|---|---|
2013
|
4.30
|
USC (#7)
|
|
2012
|
4.07
|
USC (#8)
|
|
2011
|
3.47
|
3.91
|
Alabama (#1)
|
2010
|
4.20
|
USC (#1)
|
|
2009
|
3.89
|
3.94
|
Florida (#11)
|
2008
|
3.89
|
3.96
|
ND (#2)
|
2007
|
4.22
|
USC (#2)
|
|
2006
|
3.81
|
3.89
|
Florida (#2)
|
2005
|
3.95
|
USC (#1)
|
|
2004
|
4.05
|
USC (#1)
|
|
2003
|
3.43
|
3.82
|
Michigan (#17)
|
2002
|
3.50
|
4.09
|
FSU (#4)
|
DSB.
Duck Store Bend (and University of Oregon extension). Almost ready to open doors of the relocated, remodeled building -- I'll do a before-after post, following the grand opening, because it was quite dramatic.
Windows Phone 8 -- a death knell for Nokia?
See if this sounds familiar: A company makes a strategic announcement where its current lineup of devices will become obsolete over the next year, meanwhile it'll be several months before new devices will be available.
That was Stephen Elop's monumental error last year, when he announced to Nokia's employees and the world that he was dropping Symbian (and MeeGo) for the Windows Phone platform. And yesterday, history repeated itself with a twist, when Microsoft announced that the new Windows Phone 8 would require beefier specs that the entire Lumia line could not support, and would therefore not be transitioning to WP8.
So the scenario that will play out in 2012 will look a lot like the one played out in 2011, when people stopped buying Nokia Symbian phones. In this case of course, people will put off purchases of the Lumia lineup, in anticipation of a new Lumia phone that will have WP8 installed.
The ruckus of current Lumia owners is a distraction, because I suspect Nokia will find a way to help these people upgrade for a reduced price, to quell the growing angry chorus.
But I can see extreme storm clouds on the horizon, and they're the category 5 hurricane type clouds. Here's the worst-case scenario:
The upcoming Pure View 808 with its 41 megapixel Carl Zeiss lens seemed destined to become a decent hit for Nokia. But what if it too, doesn't support WP8 upgrades? If true, and due to the fact that its entire Lumia lineup will not be upgraded to WP8, you can imagine what the sales people at wireless and electronic stores will tell customers: wait four or five months, or buy an Android or an iPhone. That's what I would tell my friends, if they were actually contemplating buying a new WP phone this year, and I would suspect most people would give their friends and family members the same advice.
So let's say Lumia 900 sales, after having dealt with a data connection software bug and the purple keyboard screen, turns out to be lackluster in Q2...well, things WON'T get better in Q3, that's for sure.
The final blow however, may occur from outside forces. At around (or before) the time that WP8 is released, so will Android's Jelly Bean and Apple's iPhone5.
The recent announcement that Nokia was cutting jobs, now makes some sense. A panicked Elop realized that they will have to start from basically scratch and re-engineer phones to meet minimum specs for WP8. Worse, cash is going to flow out like cheap box wine, once Microsoft makes its announcement that current WP phones won't be able to support WP8.
Scary times for Nokia, don't you think?
That was Stephen Elop's monumental error last year, when he announced to Nokia's employees and the world that he was dropping Symbian (and MeeGo) for the Windows Phone platform. And yesterday, history repeated itself with a twist, when Microsoft announced that the new Windows Phone 8 would require beefier specs that the entire Lumia line could not support, and would therefore not be transitioning to WP8.
So the scenario that will play out in 2012 will look a lot like the one played out in 2011, when people stopped buying Nokia Symbian phones. In this case of course, people will put off purchases of the Lumia lineup, in anticipation of a new Lumia phone that will have WP8 installed.
The ruckus of current Lumia owners is a distraction, because I suspect Nokia will find a way to help these people upgrade for a reduced price, to quell the growing angry chorus.
But I can see extreme storm clouds on the horizon, and they're the category 5 hurricane type clouds. Here's the worst-case scenario:
The upcoming Pure View 808 with its 41 megapixel Carl Zeiss lens seemed destined to become a decent hit for Nokia. But what if it too, doesn't support WP8 upgrades? If true, and due to the fact that its entire Lumia lineup will not be upgraded to WP8, you can imagine what the sales people at wireless and electronic stores will tell customers: wait four or five months, or buy an Android or an iPhone. That's what I would tell my friends, if they were actually contemplating buying a new WP phone this year, and I would suspect most people would give their friends and family members the same advice.
So let's say Lumia 900 sales, after having dealt with a data connection software bug and the purple keyboard screen, turns out to be lackluster in Q2...well, things WON'T get better in Q3, that's for sure.
The final blow however, may occur from outside forces. At around (or before) the time that WP8 is released, so will Android's Jelly Bean and Apple's iPhone5.
The recent announcement that Nokia was cutting jobs, now makes some sense. A panicked Elop realized that they will have to start from basically scratch and re-engineer phones to meet minimum specs for WP8. Worse, cash is going to flow out like cheap box wine, once Microsoft makes its announcement that current WP phones won't be able to support WP8.
Scary times for Nokia, don't you think?
Parting thoughts about my SSD.
Here's a summary:
- The Windows Experience Index score on the SSD is 7.8, 0.1 point shy of a perfect 7.9 score -- why 7.9 as a top index score as opposed to 10, I have no clue. It's interesting that my old workstation with SATA-II, can still achieve a WEI 7.8 on the Kingston Hyper X drive.
- You don't dare put your computer - and therefore the SSD - to sleep or hibernation, ever. Turning it off / turning it on is extremely fast, so it's not the same drag as with a regular hard drive.
- You don't dare defrag your SSD ever -- something you might need to remember if you're using third-party defragging software.
- I still haven't completed the install of all the software on my list -- a very time-consuming task. But even so, the process is much faster with an SSD as you encounter the need to restart changes to the registry frequently, especially with those accumulated Windows fixes / updates.
- It's a SATA-III SSD, so I have a lot of flexibility to reuse it in the future -- like in later this year or next, when I grab a new workstation.
- I still have the positive feelings from Microsoft customer service on my mind. I think the worst service I ever had, was from Adobe.
- Yesterday, Newegg had the 330-series Intel 120GB SSD available for $90, but it required a mail-in rebate. I will never give in to a mail in rebate.
So far, no weird noises, no BSODs, no issues whatsoever. Loving it.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Foxconn -- we hate snitches and antitrust laws.
Foxconn's CEO hit back at Samsung, referencing a widespread Asian TFT-LCD price-fixing scheme that was unveiled by Samsung several years ago under a US Department of Justice amnesty program for whistle-blowers. He blasted Samsung saying that, “unlike the Koreans, [the Japanese] will not hit you from behind."
Thus Foxconn confirms: you really don't know what's going on behind their closed doors, and that they support noncompetitive markets.
I'm also curious if Foxconn's CEO placed Apple in an unenviable position of having to possibly defend themselves against stockholder lawsuits? In addition to stating a hatred for Samsung, Foxconn's CEO made the bold assertion that the expected iPhone5 would "shame" the Galaxy S-III, at a Foxconn stockholder meeting, no less. Presumably he has extensive insider knowledge in order to make such bold statements. But what if sales do not measure up to Samsung's -- will Apple stockholders sue, claiming that Foxconn, with insider knowledge, misled investors?
Egos as big as their pocket books.
Thus Foxconn confirms: you really don't know what's going on behind their closed doors, and that they support noncompetitive markets.
I'm also curious if Foxconn's CEO placed Apple in an unenviable position of having to possibly defend themselves against stockholder lawsuits? In addition to stating a hatred for Samsung, Foxconn's CEO made the bold assertion that the expected iPhone5 would "shame" the Galaxy S-III, at a Foxconn stockholder meeting, no less. Presumably he has extensive insider knowledge in order to make such bold statements. But what if sales do not measure up to Samsung's -- will Apple stockholders sue, claiming that Foxconn, with insider knowledge, misled investors?
Egos as big as their pocket books.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
SSD and Windows 7 installed.
It was not simple.
Installing the drive into the Dell snap-in case required flipping the drive around, then switching screw positions to get the drive up to the necessary depth to plug the SATA and power cables.
Rather than wipe the OEM 80GB 7200rpm hard drive, I swapped it out so that if need be (considering the failure rates of SSDs) I'd always have a backup, albeit a WindowsXP backup. Actually, I had some data on it that I should have migrated, but I chose to leap ahead with the SSD.
I pulled out the Windows Upgrade DVD that, if you can believe, I pre-purchased it the month before Windows 7 was released. Don't ask why I waited so long, other than the knowledge that I had meant to do this a long time ago.
Anyway, the clean install was going fine, until it came to activation -- it didn't work. I pulled up Dell chat to see if there was anything they could help with, but they were not very helpful at all, except to say that the product key on my case was just for XP -- duh!
Next step was to talk to Microsoft customer service. It turns out, they are very solid in customer service. Love them for that.
Somewhere in between getting Microsoft's help, I had to figure out what I did with my passphrase for my WiFi -- something that I did not apparently write down anywhere, but somehow after 10 minutes I figured it out.
After getting online and reconnecting with Microsoft customer service, I was transferred to a technical service guy, who used LogMeIn to go into my computer and edit the registry -- something I had read about online as one of the options to get Windows7 to install on a clean drive.
Yay! I am now finally on the computer and slowly installing programs.
The biggest benefit, is that now my computer recognizes all 8 GB of RAM, which it would not when it was running 32 bit XP.
Double-yay!
Eventually I'll grab the old data and drop it into the new drive. Start up is very fast by comparison. Can't wait to add an SSD to my laptop.
Update: I should mention, everything worked without having to download drivers for. The biggest problem is remembering where I left the info for my registered software, discs, and the software that I need to download and install to make things mostly whole again. The *partial* software list:
Installing the drive into the Dell snap-in case required flipping the drive around, then switching screw positions to get the drive up to the necessary depth to plug the SATA and power cables.
Rather than wipe the OEM 80GB 7200rpm hard drive, I swapped it out so that if need be (considering the failure rates of SSDs) I'd always have a backup, albeit a WindowsXP backup. Actually, I had some data on it that I should have migrated, but I chose to leap ahead with the SSD.
I pulled out the Windows Upgrade DVD that, if you can believe, I pre-purchased it the month before Windows 7 was released. Don't ask why I waited so long, other than the knowledge that I had meant to do this a long time ago.
Anyway, the clean install was going fine, until it came to activation -- it didn't work. I pulled up Dell chat to see if there was anything they could help with, but they were not very helpful at all, except to say that the product key on my case was just for XP -- duh!
Next step was to talk to Microsoft customer service. It turns out, they are very solid in customer service. Love them for that.
Somewhere in between getting Microsoft's help, I had to figure out what I did with my passphrase for my WiFi -- something that I did not apparently write down anywhere, but somehow after 10 minutes I figured it out.
After getting online and reconnecting with Microsoft customer service, I was transferred to a technical service guy, who used LogMeIn to go into my computer and edit the registry -- something I had read about online as one of the options to get Windows7 to install on a clean drive.
Yay! I am now finally on the computer and slowly installing programs.
The biggest benefit, is that now my computer recognizes all 8 GB of RAM, which it would not when it was running 32 bit XP.
Double-yay!
Eventually I'll grab the old data and drop it into the new drive. Start up is very fast by comparison. Can't wait to add an SSD to my laptop.
Update: I should mention, everything worked without having to download drivers for. The biggest problem is remembering where I left the info for my registered software, discs, and the software that I need to download and install to make things mostly whole again. The *partial* software list:
- SketchUp Pro
- Adobe CS 5.5
- 7Zip
- Kerkythea 2008 / 2.5.2
- CDBurnerXP
- Winamp
- VLC player
- Chrome
- Firefox
- Opera
- IE9 (Win7 shipped with IE8)
- Dropbox
- Picasa
- Google Earth
- Handbrake
Thoughts about Microsoft's surface tablet.
It's going to flop.
Microsoft is betting that their industrial design and engineering will sell these products. I think they're coming from the wrong end of the price spectrum, and I do not find the product they presented to be nearly as cool as the make it out to be.
Have you ever heard of the term, "fail-safe"? It's the idea that if something were to fail, it would not require intervention to prevent a catastrophe. Similarly, the Surface tablet sports a fold-out, rear prop, which, if it were to fail, it would fail miserably, resulting in the prop breaking off and some potentially unsightly rear, fully exposed. A close-up review of the photo / video of the side profile suggests the rear exposed area is utilitarian and not entirely clean.
Price too, is an issue that I believe will come up. A solid magnesium-based alloy that is CNC milled, adds tremendous cost. So if cost is not an issue but size and weight are (which is why one would go with a milled magnesium alloy body), then why not go for the thinnest and lightest tablet out there, rather than the Surface tablet running WindowsRT?
And now that all the OEMs have seen Microsoft's plans that are several months off from retail sales, they can play catch up. Some might even put their Windows8 tablet plans on hold, to see how Microsoft fares.
It's a no-win game that Microsoft is playing.
Note: I was secretly harboring the hope that Microsoft realized it made a mistake when it dropped the development of the Courier. I was quite disappointed today.
By the numbers:
Microsoft is betting that their industrial design and engineering will sell these products. I think they're coming from the wrong end of the price spectrum, and I do not find the product they presented to be nearly as cool as the make it out to be.
Have you ever heard of the term, "fail-safe"? It's the idea that if something were to fail, it would not require intervention to prevent a catastrophe. Similarly, the Surface tablet sports a fold-out, rear prop, which, if it were to fail, it would fail miserably, resulting in the prop breaking off and some potentially unsightly rear, fully exposed. A close-up review of the photo / video of the side profile suggests the rear exposed area is utilitarian and not entirely clean.
Price too, is an issue that I believe will come up. A solid magnesium-based alloy that is CNC milled, adds tremendous cost. So if cost is not an issue but size and weight are (which is why one would go with a milled magnesium alloy body), then why not go for the thinnest and lightest tablet out there, rather than the Surface tablet running WindowsRT?
And now that all the OEMs have seen Microsoft's plans that are several months off from retail sales, they can play catch up. Some might even put their Windows8 tablet plans on hold, to see how Microsoft fares.
It's a no-win game that Microsoft is playing.
Note: I was secretly harboring the hope that Microsoft realized it made a mistake when it dropped the development of the Courier. I was quite disappointed today.
By the numbers:
Model
|
Platform
|
Weight
|
Thick
|
Price
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
Toshiba Excite LE
|
Android
|
535g
|
7.7mm
|
$530
|
Asus Transformer Prime
|
Android
|
586g
|
8.3mm
|
$500
|
Samsung Galaxy Tab2 10.1
|
Android
|
581g
|
9.7mm
|
$400
|
Microsoft Surface Tablet
|
WindowsRT
|
676g
|
9.3mm
|
TBD
|
Apple iPad 2012
|
iOS
|
652g
|
9.4mm
|
$499
|
 |
| from Microsoft's Surface tablet site - tablet with blue keyboard |
 |
| from Microsoft's Surface tablet site - side profile with prop extended |
 |
| from Microsoft's Surface tablet site - rear quarter view with prop extended |
 |
| screen capture from Microsoft's Surface tablet video |
Skamania Lodge.
Had dinner at Skamania Lodge on Saturday. The food was mostly salty, but uneven in cooking; my chicken was exceedingly overdone to the point that it crumbled under a knife, and my friend's fish was just slightly underdone that the center was still partially uncooked while consumed. The bread pudding (meant to serve as stuffing) was overcooked with slight burns and dryness at the edges.
We wandered a bit after dinner, stopping in the main portico / lounge area, and I tried the coffee in the hot pots -- old. If it had not been old coffee, it would have been otherwise good coffee, though.
They have this interesting learning experience where they bring out hawks and a bald eagle for people to take pictures of, experience having them fly over your head, while staff give a talk about these animals. I had mixed feelings about this, because it's never easy to watch what would normally be a wild animal, shown off as a well-trained to sit on its stoop until called into action. The beauty of someplace like Yellowstone, is that the wild animals will go about their business, and you get to see them in action -- I fear that people would misunderstand the difference and not bother to go out and see wildlife in the wild.
It was a mostly-clear afternoon, and then on the drive back, it clouded up completely.
If you're going to Skamania Lodge, it's much faster to drive on I-84 then drive over Bridge of the Gods into Washington. However the drive on the Washington side is much vastly more scenic, because you will have views of the Oregon side of the Columbia Gorge, including all of the waterfalls and steep cliffs.
We wandered a bit after dinner, stopping in the main portico / lounge area, and I tried the coffee in the hot pots -- old. If it had not been old coffee, it would have been otherwise good coffee, though.
They have this interesting learning experience where they bring out hawks and a bald eagle for people to take pictures of, experience having them fly over your head, while staff give a talk about these animals. I had mixed feelings about this, because it's never easy to watch what would normally be a wild animal, shown off as a well-trained to sit on its stoop until called into action. The beauty of someplace like Yellowstone, is that the wild animals will go about their business, and you get to see them in action -- I fear that people would misunderstand the difference and not bother to go out and see wildlife in the wild.
It was a mostly-clear afternoon, and then on the drive back, it clouded up completely.
If you're going to Skamania Lodge, it's much faster to drive on I-84 then drive over Bridge of the Gods into Washington. However the drive on the Washington side is much vastly more scenic, because you will have views of the Oregon side of the Columbia Gorge, including all of the waterfalls and steep cliffs.
Grimm filming tonight.
They were filming tonight when I was walking along the waterfront, and noticed that they added a lot of backlighting to the street trees and landscaping. Nice.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Mitt to Congress: I'd wage war with Iran without telling you.
On Sunday's CBS Face the Nation:
"I can assure you if I'm president, the Iranians will have no question but that I will be willing to take military action if necessary to prevent them from becoming a nuclear threat to the world.
I don't believe at this stage, therefore, if I'm president that we need to have a war powers approval or special authorization for military force. The president has that capacity now."
Source: The Atlantic
Methinks this makes the Ron Paul list of complaints to be aired at the RNC.
Why Android wins, and why Nokia loses.
I've mentioned this before: Nokia made a terribly short-sighted error by embracing Elop's ego and his preference for his former colleagues at Microsoft. He famously critiqued Android as a bunch of tiles, even though Microsoft's own WP software is based on live tiles, and even though Android utilizes customized widgets.
Amazon adopted and completely changed the UI of Android to create the Kindle Fire tablet. So did Barnes and Noble with the Nook Color and Tablet.
More recently Sharp introduced the Evangelion phone, the SH-06D.
I challenge anyone to consider the Evangelion phone as just a bunch of tiles, or boring. Apparently Sharp's got the game figured out. They've just announced they're working with ID firm Frog, to produce a new UI for Android.
With Android, you have a growing army of developers working on the largest platform in the world -- one which does not require using monetary enticements.
You can bring your own UI and skin layered on top of Android. But somehow, Elop's ego got in the way of realizing that he could have taken Android and reskinned it to make it an entirely Nokia thing.
Amazon adopted and completely changed the UI of Android to create the Kindle Fire tablet. So did Barnes and Noble with the Nook Color and Tablet.
More recently Sharp introduced the Evangelion phone, the SH-06D.
I challenge anyone to consider the Evangelion phone as just a bunch of tiles, or boring. Apparently Sharp's got the game figured out. They've just announced they're working with ID firm Frog, to produce a new UI for Android.
With Android, you have a growing army of developers working on the largest platform in the world -- one which does not require using monetary enticements.
You can bring your own UI and skin layered on top of Android. But somehow, Elop's ego got in the way of realizing that he could have taken Android and reskinned it to make it an entirely Nokia thing.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Bought an SSD.
I was waiting for the Intel 330-series SSD to drop below $1/GB, but I have the need for two SSDs - one for my laptop which has space for two hard drives and one for my workstation. I figured what the heck, buy one now, and when the Intel SSD goes on sale, I'd pick it up then. So I jumped on Kingston Hyper X, because it came as a kit for mounting in a 3.5" drive space -- something I'd need for a desktop.
And with a coupon, it cost $90 (now expired).
On Newegg, it has just 9% 1- and 2-egg ratings (a good thing), and the entire line of Kingston Hyper X has very high ratings across the board. I hope this means it won't die on me, or come DOA. Fingers crossed, both hands; toes crossed too.
And with a coupon, it cost $90 (now expired).
On Newegg, it has just 9% 1- and 2-egg ratings (a good thing), and the entire line of Kingston Hyper X has very high ratings across the board. I hope this means it won't die on me, or come DOA. Fingers crossed, both hands; toes crossed too.
Even Republicans admit that they can't do anything on immigration.
On the Sunday news show circuit, John McCain and Tim Pawlenty both said that Democrats failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform, during the first two years where they had majorities in both houses.
Read between the lines.
That is a blatant admission that federal government with a majority Republican Congress and a Republican in the White House, would have NEVER passed immigration reform.
Amusing, don't you think?
Republican politicians are attacking Democrats for failing to do something that they couldn't or wouldn't ever do. And history proves this point out. What did Republicans do when they had majorities in Congress and a Republican in the White House? They put billions of dollars into a steel curtain at the border, then sent the National Guard to patrol it.
Latino voters aren't that easily fooled by the false rhetoric, I think.
Read between the lines.
That is a blatant admission that federal government with a majority Republican Congress and a Republican in the White House, would have NEVER passed immigration reform.
Amusing, don't you think?
Republican politicians are attacking Democrats for failing to do something that they couldn't or wouldn't ever do. And history proves this point out. What did Republicans do when they had majorities in Congress and a Republican in the White House? They put billions of dollars into a steel curtain at the border, then sent the National Guard to patrol it.
Latino voters aren't that easily fooled by the false rhetoric, I think.
"The private sector doing fine."
Tim Pawlenty and other Republicans have been on a tear, since President Obama made this reported faux-pas. So what's going on?
This is what The Economist had to say about this issue, earlier this year:
This is what The Economist had to say about this issue, earlier this year:
"Profit margins in America are higher than at any time in the past 65 years.
As a proportion of GDP, American business investment is close to 30-year lows.
So the cash is going on other things. Robert Buckland of Citigroup says both American and European companies are choosing to spend their cash on mergers and share buy-backs rather than capital expenditure."
And this is what Business Insider had to show previously this year:
"Business creates jobs".
So said John McCain this morning on Meet the Press.
He's wrong, and so are a lot of other people.
Demand creates jobs.
Businesses don't go bankrupt because they couldn't create jobs fast enough because taxes and regulation were holding them down; businesses go bankrupt because they couldn't find demand for their products or expertise.
He's wrong, and so are a lot of other people.
Demand creates jobs.
Businesses don't go bankrupt because they couldn't create jobs fast enough because taxes and regulation were holding them down; businesses go bankrupt because they couldn't find demand for their products or expertise.
Grimm's newest Treeview Hospital.
Early this morning, a sign was up at the Alber Mills office building. A Treeview Hospital extension?
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Windows 8 is going to flop.
I was already extremely skeptical of Metro, and when they decided to hide the Start button, that seemed to me to be yet another bad decision. But after reading this article and watching these videos, I'm no longer on the fence: Windows 8 is going to flop.
Imagine you're trying to buy a desktop or laptop this Fall, and everything has Windows 8. You walk into a store to test out computers but the sales person is helping someone else, and this is what you run into:
Kids.
Seniors.
Middle-age.
Eventually, people will figure out how to get in and out of apps, and how to navigate. Eventually. I would hate to be the IT person of a company that upgraded to Windows 8.
But here's the thing: people HATE having to go through several steps to achieve their goal -- it's why we all create shortcuts, or quick-launch icons in our task bar. Windows 8 makes it quite a lengthy process to perform some tasks.
Imagine you're trying to buy a desktop or laptop this Fall, and everything has Windows 8. You walk into a store to test out computers but the sales person is helping someone else, and this is what you run into:
Middle-age.
Eventually, people will figure out how to get in and out of apps, and how to navigate. Eventually. I would hate to be the IT person of a company that upgraded to Windows 8.
But here's the thing: people HATE having to go through several steps to achieve their goal -- it's why we all create shortcuts, or quick-launch icons in our task bar. Windows 8 makes it quite a lengthy process to perform some tasks.
Grimm was also filming last night.
The area around Union Station and the Post Office was lined with No Parking signs, and trailers and equipment storage were spread about. Night filming, apparently, as was indicated by the light props that they've used before in the Pearl, to film night scenes around Adalind's condo.
Incidentally, right around the corner of this spot, is where the Welcome to Portland sign is located (not real) in the episode Cat and Mouse, where Ian gets off the bus. In that scene by the way, the cabs are driving the wrong way on a one-way path, and that's Union Station (rail) where he's getting off from the bus.
Incidentally, right around the corner of this spot, is where the Welcome to Portland sign is located (not real) in the episode Cat and Mouse, where Ian gets off the bus. In that scene by the way, the cabs are driving the wrong way on a one-way path, and that's Union Station (rail) where he's getting off from the bus.
Spotting a fake iPhone image.
While I was reading a BGR article on tablets, their side panel indicated that the most popular story on BGR was about next-generation iPhone photos leaked from a Chinese site. I find it implausible that, so far in advance of any possible new iPhone, that a ready-to-manufacture device would be floating around. So I clicked to see what was going on, fully expecting fake images. I was not disappointed.
The images were impressive, but nonetheless they were renderings. Let me point out the flaws that gave this particular image away.
 |
| There are many flaws, these are most of them. |
 |
| Pumping up the exposure and gamma in Photoshop can reveal the edits and flaws. |
- Scale and details in the wood material matters. If you look at the wood pattern and then at the phone, the two are at different scales -- the slats are less than 1/2" wide, if you go by the scale of the phone, but the slats have the details of wood that is about 2" wide. If you look very closely, the supporting structure below the wood slat faces, implies that the slats are extremely thin and repeated often. That's the sign that someone applied a photograph as a texture, and inappropriately so. This is a wood floor texture, not a wood table top texture.
- Reflections do not match up. The side walls, which are implied to also extend to the top and bottom face of the rear of the phone, reflects strongly on the horizontal faces, but not on the vertical faces. In the vertical face, the reflections do not match up to the adjacent wood.
- Blemish artifacts. Post editing of an image can often be highlighted by pumping up the exposure and gamma in Photoshop, where blurs might otherwise be difficult to detect.
- Construction of a model must be plausible. The glass of a modern smart phone is under a millimeter thick, but in this case, the slot for the receiver (hearing) implies that the surface material is more than 1mm thick, which does not match. Further, there is a metal surround of the slot, which is not how the phone would be constructed. There would not be any thin metal surround; instead the glass would simply have a clean, chamfered edge.
- Real LED flash and cameras have depth to them. Image textures cannot effectively replicate depth, especially when portraying objects behind glass. The flash looks like someone placed a sticker on the face of the phone, while the lens of the camera is perfectly centered, but in real life it would be slightly offset. If you click through to the website source, another image shows how they tried to cover up the imperfection of the lens image texture that was used, by trying to obscure it.
- Edges have to match the material. If you've seen an iPhone's glass edge, they are chamfered and have a peculiar reflection (and refraction) of light. In this case, the edges look more like metal with specular reflections or worn edges of metal. Neither would apply to the glass edges of the iPhone. Also, if these edges were supposed to be reflections, they do not match up to the metal band's edges that are adjacent.
This is a really good rendering, but even with the best renderings, you can usually find some flaws. Another decade and this might not be the case, though -- each iteration of rendering software makes it harder to tell the difference.
Friday, June 15, 2012
McCain criticizes SCOTUS (and indirectly Republicans)
Rich guy Shel Adelson, a casino magnate with properties mostly in Macau but also in Las Vegas, has really gotten under the skin of McCain, so much so that he's questioned whether the money Adelson has thrown at Republicans and conservative SuperPACs is legal.
He has a point. Most of his profits come from his properties in Macau, so in effect foreign money is being used in elections -- at least in one sense. Most multinational companies in the US take advantage of the occasional corporate tax holiday to repatriate profits back to the US. And they too, contribute towards candidates. Does that mean they're also violating the law?
I think McCain is stretching it quite a lot, but his main point is to highlight the threat to the political system, when billionaires like Adelson, promise to throw $100M into a campaign. Adelson's spending could plausibly count for 5% of conservative funding in the Presidential campaign.
To the core of McCain's frustration, is that the Citizens United ruling opened the gates wide open to Plutocracy in the United States, calling it, "the most misguided, naive, uninformed, egregious decision of the United States Supreme Court, I think, in the 21st century."
If a single person can threaten to contribute 5% of all conservative funds in the Presidential campaign, that HAS to be a sign of Plutocracy at work in the United States, yes?
Oddly enough, Adelson has previously said, "I'm against very wealthy people attempting to influence elections. But as long as it's doable, I'm going to do it."
Talk about embracing your hypocrisy.
He has a point. Most of his profits come from his properties in Macau, so in effect foreign money is being used in elections -- at least in one sense. Most multinational companies in the US take advantage of the occasional corporate tax holiday to repatriate profits back to the US. And they too, contribute towards candidates. Does that mean they're also violating the law?
I think McCain is stretching it quite a lot, but his main point is to highlight the threat to the political system, when billionaires like Adelson, promise to throw $100M into a campaign. Adelson's spending could plausibly count for 5% of conservative funding in the Presidential campaign.
To the core of McCain's frustration, is that the Citizens United ruling opened the gates wide open to Plutocracy in the United States, calling it, "the most misguided, naive, uninformed, egregious decision of the United States Supreme Court, I think, in the 21st century."
If a single person can threaten to contribute 5% of all conservative funds in the Presidential campaign, that HAS to be a sign of Plutocracy at work in the United States, yes?
Oddly enough, Adelson has previously said, "I'm against very wealthy people attempting to influence elections. But as long as it's doable, I'm going to do it."
Talk about embracing your hypocrisy.
Leverage filming in the Pearl.
They started setting up a couple of nights ago, and today they're apparently filming inside a townhouse condo around the block. Coupled with all the people flocking to Jamison and its water, there's nary a parking spot available on a Friday afternoon.
 |
| Not very coy, are they? |
Emma Lazarus' sonnet, today.
An excerpted portion, rewritten for today's America:
With silent lips. "Give me your righteous, your rich,by me.
Your individual libertarians yearning to live alone,
The celebrated fame of your gated communities.
Send these, the luxuriated, pampered to me,
I bow my head beside your golden foot!"
The media as an echo chamber.
The rationale for why Indymedia was created, was that you can't trust the mass media. That is not to say that what is reported in Indymedia isn't often biased, but the reality is that the mass media frequently, simply broadcasts whatever any pundit or politician wants to say, without validating what is said. Worse, many willingly acquiesce to being herded and controlled by a politician's PR reps.
It's an abdication of journalism's responsibility to society, especially in America where the US Constitution expressly provides for the freedom of the press.
Here's some proof. (Ironically, via Bloomberg.)
In the above cited study, news stories between 1984 and 2011 were analyzed for content citing "job killer". The authors noted:
It's an abdication of journalism's responsibility to society, especially in America where the US Constitution expressly provides for the freedom of the press.
Here's some proof. (Ironically, via Bloomberg.)
In the above cited study, news stories between 1984 and 2011 were analyzed for content citing "job killer". The authors noted:
"In 91.6% of the stories alleging that a government policy was or would be a “job killer,” the media failed to cite any evidence for this claim or to quote an authoritative source with any evidence for this claim. With little or no fact checking of “job killer” allegations, Americans have no way to know if there is any evidence for these claims."
"The majority of the sources of stories using the phrase “job killer” were business spokepersons and Republican Party officials."Of course, as I've mentioned before, according to Republicans, government spending in the defense industry creates jobs, but elsewhere, government spending is a jobs killer. No one in the media bothers to note the contradictions.
A: Fight two wars, build military equipment the military doesn't want, and slash taxes.
Q: What does the US need to do, to ensure a growing, massive debt?
Source: OECD
| Total tax revenue as a percentage of gross domestic product (2010) | ||
| RANK | COUNTRY | % |
| 1 | Mexico | 18.1 |
| 2 | Chile | 20.9 |
| 3 | United States | 24.8 |
| 4 | Korea | 25.1 |
| 5 | Turkey | 26.0 |
| 6 | Ireland | 28.0 |
| 7 | Slovak Republic | 28.4 |
| 8 | Switzerland | 29.8 |
| 9 | Greece | 30.9 |
| 10 | Canada | 31.0 |
| 11 | Portugal | 31.3 |
| 12 | New Zealand | 31.3 |
| 13 | Spain | 31.7 |
| 14 | Israel | 32.4 |
| 15 | Estonia | 34.0 |
| 16 | Czech Republic | 34.9 |
| 17 | United Kingdom | 35.0 |
| 18 | Iceland | 36.3 |
| 19 | Germany | 36.3 |
| 20 | Luxembourg | 36.7 |
| 21 | Hungary | 37.6 |
| 22 | Slovenia | 37.7 |
| 23 | Austria | 42.0 |
| 24 | Finland | 42.1 |
| 25 | Norway | 42.8 |
| 26 | France | 42.9 |
| 27 | Italy | 43.0 |
| 28 | Belgium | 43.8 |
| 29 | Sweden | 45.8 |
| 30 | Denmark | 48.2 |
Source: OECD
Thursday, June 14, 2012
2012 USC football TV schedule.
Via InsideUSC, the current PAC-12 schedule, filtered down just for USC games -- filtered down so that I could add them to my calendar. Second half of the season is subject to selection, two weeks prior to the game -- any games not selected, will be on the PAC-12 network, so everyone should be able to watch their team play in every game this Fall. Exciting, eh?
Great news for people without cable, because FOX will be broadcasting one or two games a week on its network. If the SEC is CBS' territory, PAC-12 is now FOX territory.
Sat., Sept. 1
Hawai'i at USC 4:30 p.m. PT FOX
Sat., Sept. 8
USC vs. Syracuse (2) 12:30 p.m. PT ABC
Sat., Sept. 15
USC at Stanford 4:30 p.m. PT FOX
Sat., Sept. 22
California at USC TBA Pac-12 Networks
Thurs., Oct. 4
USC at Utah 6 p.m. PT ESPN
Sat., Oct. 13
USC at Washington
Sat., Oct. 21
Colorado at USC
Sat., Oct. 27
USC at Arizona
Sat., Nov. 3
Oregon at USC
Sat., Nov. 10
Arizona State at USC
Sat., Nov. 17
USC at UCLA
Sat., Nov. 24
Notre Dame at USC TBA ABC or ESPN
Fri., Nov. 30
Pac-12 Football Championship 5 p.m. PT FOX
The never-ending pains of Nokia.
Nokia just issued a press release announcing another 10,000 jobs will be cut as it closes factories and facilities around the world, specifically targeting its Devices and Services group. For Finns, it's got to be painful to hear that Nokia's going to close their Salo facilities.
It appears that Stephen Elop is following a tried and trite strategy to buy time by slashing expenses. This implies that the Lumia 900 is not the big seller that they were expecting, and that overall sales of Windows Phone models are struggling to meet lowered expectations.
So what's the reason for buying time?
Perhaps he's hoping to see if Windows 8 (tablets and phones) will positively affect Nokia's fortunes, and that he needs to buy a few extra quarters to let his strategy gain a foothold.
Or it could be that he's cutting expenses now, and writing off the consolidation costs, to make it more attractive to a prospective buyer. That rumor of a possible Samsung buyout of Nokia seems a little bit more plausible now, doesn't it?
An imagined dialog between Nokia and Samsung:
It appears that Stephen Elop is following a tried and trite strategy to buy time by slashing expenses. This implies that the Lumia 900 is not the big seller that they were expecting, and that overall sales of Windows Phone models are struggling to meet lowered expectations.
So what's the reason for buying time?
Perhaps he's hoping to see if Windows 8 (tablets and phones) will positively affect Nokia's fortunes, and that he needs to buy a few extra quarters to let his strategy gain a foothold.
Or it could be that he's cutting expenses now, and writing off the consolidation costs, to make it more attractive to a prospective buyer. That rumor of a possible Samsung buyout of Nokia seems a little bit more plausible now, doesn't it?
An imagined dialog between Nokia and Samsung:
Elop: Heeeey Lee buuuuuuddy, how's everything going?
Lee: Stephen? How the hell did you get this number?
Elop: Oh well, a friend passed your number to me.
Lee: Damn that Ballmer! What do you want, Stephen?
Elop: Leeeeeeee, buuuuuuuudy! Do you want to buy us out?
Lee: Buy Nokia?
Elop: Yep!
Lee: But aren't you losing market share every month?
Elop: Well sure, if you want to put it that way. But on the other hand, our market share plus your market share equals double the market share of your frenemy, Apple.
Lee: Stephen, are you serious? My father always taught me to never buy into a losing position.
Elop: Hey, we've got a bunch of patents that you could use against your frenemies, you know?
Lee: Hell no...you've got too many liabilities.
Elop: Leeeeee buuuuuudy, what if we slash expenses and write off consolidation so that you won't assume those liabilities?
Lee: Stephen I tell you what, we'll talk after you act. If your stock sinks far enough, we'll consider making an offer.
Elop: Promise?
Lee: No. And why hasn't Microsoft bitten?
Elop: Come on Lee, you know Ballmer. He's playing hard ball, looking to get us for practically free.
Lee: Look, don't call me until after you've slashed your operating expenses and written off those consolidation costs, okay?
Elop: Deal!
Lee: No Stephen, that wasn't a....
---click---
Lee: Stephen? Hello Stephen? Oh ha ha, Stephen, funny guy. Stephen?
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
A shyster is born every minute.
This listing from Guru:
Budget: Over $25,000
Category: Engineering & CAD
Description: I need plans, specs and a architetual ruff draft or art rendering of a "Glass Mirror Cylinder Style" 150-200 room hotel structure that can be built on two acres in Texas for under $2,000,000.00....Send an example of what I'm asking for in your response.
First, while it says that the budget is "over $25,000), a budget of $25,000 would yield just 1.25% architectural fees, which is absurdly low. It would have to be at least $60K (3% fee) for anyone in the US to actually spend the time to take on plans and specs, and that's still a low ball number for asking what is essentially a niche, specialized architectural field. $25K would be minimally adequate if you stopped short of construction documents.
Second, $2M for a 150-room hotel, even if in Texas, is ridiculously out of scale with a "glass mirror cylinder style" building. Just for the glazing, we're talking at least $700K~$850K.
Third, just on a per-square foot basis, the $2M budget comes in at about $140/sf, which is less than half of what most hotels would be at. Even if it were a budget motel, $140 wouldn't cut it -- you'd just have a mostly empty shell after that glazing was put in.
Fourth, a "ruff" draft, really? My dog does ruff drafts all the time -- smells really bad, if you know what I mean.
Red flags everywhere. Seems like this was a shyster looking to steal from a designer / architect.
When are federal cuts detrimental to jobs?
*ONLY* when they're defense jobs.
“I’ve been told by some of our major (defense contractor) employers that layoff notices are going to come before the election. It’s dangerous and irresponsible for Congress to play with this." -- Senator Kelly Ayotte (R - NH).So according to Republican theory of Economics, Keynesian spending works for defense jobs, but austerity works for all other sectors.
Republicans: We're making sure Congress does no work.
The WSJ reports that Republicans in Congress have decided that it's worth their while to stall on nearly all bills for the rest of this year.
To tie this all together, last month Mitt issued instructions to an elected body, not to move forward on budget bills until after he's in office.
And we see another instance of Republican hypocrisy. Uncertainty is a serious problem that Democrats have fostered, but it's nothing to be concerned about when Republicans are sitting around for 8 months to deal with deadlines due in 7.
"Republicans in Congress, buoyed by optimism about Mitt Romney's chance of winning the White House, are finding new incentives to put off striking deals on major legislative issues."Great. It's a lame lame duck Congress. Last year was spent on battling two repeated debt ceiling deadlines, this year they're not going to do anything but twiddle their thumbs waiting to see if they can win the White House. House Representatives are elected every two years -- I guess this means they're only working half the time, but for full pay.
To tie this all together, last month Mitt issued instructions to an elected body, not to move forward on budget bills until after he's in office.
Halperin: Election comes in November, you win. Would you like to see the incumbent President and Congress deal with these issues during the lame-duck session?Plutocracy in action!
Romney: Of course not.
Halperin: You’d like them to defer to you?
Romney: Absolutely.
And we see another instance of Republican hypocrisy. Uncertainty is a serious problem that Democrats have fostered, but it's nothing to be concerned about when Republicans are sitting around for 8 months to deal with deadlines due in 7.
Portland Trailblazers' two biggest mistakes, ever.
Watching the Oklahoma City Thunder's success seems to highlight the tragedy of Portland's two biggest draft errors.
In no particular order:
In no particular order:
- Drafting Sam Bowie ahead of future superstars Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and John Stockton;
- Drafting Greg Oden over Kevin Durant.
Hindsight is 20/20, so the resolve going forward shall be, to never again draft a center who has had knee problems in college. Oh, and a revolving door of players does not contribute to a team that stays together and therefore plays together.
Someone slip Paul Allen a note.
Shock! Romney using double-speak on health care.
When does a ban on preexisting medical conditions in healthcare insurance become an example of government out of control? When Mitt says so.
When does a ban on preexisting medical conditions in healthcare insurance become an example of free enterprise at work? When Mitt says so.
When does a tax benefit for individuals and small businesses who buy healthcare insurance on the open market via exchanges become an example of government-controlled healthcare? When Mitt says so.
When does a tax benefit for individuals and small businesses who buy healthcare insurance on the open market via exchanges become an example of free enterprise at work? When Mitt says so.
I think you're getting the point here. Mitt rails on Obama's ACA, but then comes right back and says that the same things that are in ACA are the sort of things he'd put forward in his version of national healthcare reform.
There are notable differences:
His rhetoric ends with a trite flourish, stating that government-run health care is more expensive. But it's absolutely, positively, without a doubt, FALSE. And anyway, Mitt's version of cost-containment, is to force the states to do the rationing that he doesn't want to deal with, politically.
Tough luck for states, especially high-poverty states, ironically, like Texas and Alabama. No wait, maybe this is a good thing. Make those high-poverty Red States pay and ration their own problems, right?
When does a ban on preexisting medical conditions in healthcare insurance become an example of free enterprise at work? When Mitt says so.
When does a tax benefit for individuals and small businesses who buy healthcare insurance on the open market via exchanges become an example of government-controlled healthcare? When Mitt says so.
When does a tax benefit for individuals and small businesses who buy healthcare insurance on the open market via exchanges become an example of free enterprise at work? When Mitt says so.
I think you're getting the point here. Mitt rails on Obama's ACA, but then comes right back and says that the same things that are in ACA are the sort of things he'd put forward in his version of national healthcare reform.
There are notable differences:
- He'd get rid of the mandatory buy-in. That's fine with me, but then the cost savings advantage that was supposed to be created from everyone buying in, now goes away and because Mitt is in favor of granting tax breaks for all who qualify, to buy insurance, and that puts the federal government into a deeper hole, driven by a purported fiscal hawk.
- He'd also give block grants to states, and force them to deal with cuts to Medicaid. Depending upon how a Republican Congress and President decided how they'd change the way Medicaid dollars are handed out to states, some states may end up net losers while others net winners. Also, since he'd cap Medicaid, states would be on the hook for rationing healthcare if the number of recipients grows because of a bad economy. Sticking it to the states -- that's an odd position for a purported Conservative to take.
- ACA caps FSA ceilings while Mitt would expand it. Let me tell you, FSAs are useless when you don't work for a company, because a company is the administrator of an FSA. Expanding FSA limits gives people with those exotic thousands of dollars a month plans a major tax break to avoid paying taxes, as opposed to the self-employed.
His rhetoric ends with a trite flourish, stating that government-run health care is more expensive. But it's absolutely, positively, without a doubt, FALSE. And anyway, Mitt's version of cost-containment, is to force the states to do the rationing that he doesn't want to deal with, politically.
Tough luck for states, especially high-poverty states, ironically, like Texas and Alabama. No wait, maybe this is a good thing. Make those high-poverty Red States pay and ration their own problems, right?
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