One of the things I've missed most since the tech "Bubble" burst, is TechTV.
Specifically "The Screen Savers".
Leo Laporte is by far the best thing going in tech reporting right now. He's always provided alot of great insight and analysis, and quite frankly is nice to just listen to.
Latley Leo has been broadcasting from his offices in CA live on the internet at twitlive.tv.
It's such a treat to get to "see" him again. I highly recommend. And if you are like me, and find him as entertaining as I do, consider donating $2.00 to his cause.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Clinton and the Damage Potential
Ever since Monday's primaries in both Indiana and North Carolina, the news has been awash in the story of Hillary's stubborn refusal to accept defeat and prevent further damage to the party by stepping aside now.
Here, is an article that details financial compensation if she bows out. There is even the added benefit of further support in the Senate.
But more interesting to me is the complete lack of attention paid to the damage she could do not only to her party, but to herself.
By not bowing out, Hillary runs the real risk of ostracizing herself. The Democratic party is not going to thank her for prolonging the fight into what can only be described as a scorched Earth policy. I suppose you could almost claim that she' s playing a dangerous game of brinkmanship.
"Either I enjoy the support of the Democrat party, or I burn this election to the ground."
If her party calls her on the bluff. She's screwed for the rest of her Senatorial term. And then will more than likely never get reelected to anything more than water district manager.
In the meantime, Obama enjoys support from just about everybody (saving the far-right of course). So if Hillary poisons his run, he's still in good standing (probably even better than he is now) to try again in 2012.
This whole thing feels of sweat and fear. And we may be in for a long, dark ride down with her.
Here, is an article that details financial compensation if she bows out. There is even the added benefit of further support in the Senate.
But more interesting to me is the complete lack of attention paid to the damage she could do not only to her party, but to herself.
By not bowing out, Hillary runs the real risk of ostracizing herself. The Democratic party is not going to thank her for prolonging the fight into what can only be described as a scorched Earth policy. I suppose you could almost claim that she' s playing a dangerous game of brinkmanship.
"Either I enjoy the support of the Democrat party, or I burn this election to the ground."
If her party calls her on the bluff. She's screwed for the rest of her Senatorial term. And then will more than likely never get reelected to anything more than water district manager.
In the meantime, Obama enjoys support from just about everybody (saving the far-right of course). So if Hillary poisons his run, he's still in good standing (probably even better than he is now) to try again in 2012.
This whole thing feels of sweat and fear. And we may be in for a long, dark ride down with her.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Now That I've Seen It
Last night I stayed up late and watched the first two episodes of PBS's Carrier.
I tried to keep an open mind, and not be prejudicial, but sadly, I'm so close to the material in question that I failed miserably. In any event, because I went and made a big fuss in the last post, I feel I owe my two readers, an explanation of how I think.
I like the over-all format. Stick a camera on the USS Nimitz as it deploys, and see what happens. It's pretty honest, and really educational to Navy outsiders. But the show is chock-full of musical montages, and it comes across as a bit "Top Gun"-ish. But they are well interspersed and provide information and action to what would otherwise be just a big collection of interviews, so I consider that element a wash.
I said before that the life being depicted is old-hat to me. It's all as I remember it. I didn't serve on a carrier, but the kinds of people you meet, the dynamics, and the stress are all there. My enjoyment in this series came in answering some of my wife's questions, and seeing her get some clarity on why things are, the way they are. The sailors they pick to follow are pretty typical, and provide a very nice example of the kinds of people that make up the fleet. I especially liked that they opened with the Command Master Chief, introducing him and his job gives a great contrast to all of the junior sailors that we end up following later. The Commanding Officer actually managed to appear to be candid without spewing practiced PR speak. But in the end, it was just appearance, and little of consequence was said. The one sailor they followed that I had any problem with was airman Garzone who is a bit of an amateur documentarian (in his bid to join the Navy's Journalist cadre). The show follows him for a bit in what felt like one filmmaker gravitating to another. A moment I found impressive was the Disciplinary Review Board (DRB), where the chief's mess was dressing down an airman for having alcohol on board the ship. I would have liked to have seen the subsequent Executive Officer's Inquiry (XOI) and the Captain's Mast (that typically follow the DRB). But I certainly understand why we can't. But later we learn the results, and the viewers learn about the concept of non-judicial punishment. I'm hopeful that there are more such surprises later-on in the series.
Finally, I found the program to be well produced, and clearly the labor of love. Big props go for not contriving drama in the editing room (at least not detectably) and somehow getting what would normally be a closed-off group of people (and I'm referring to the entire crew of the carrier) to almost pretend the camera isn't being stuffed in their faces, and that deserves your attention.
I tried to keep an open mind, and not be prejudicial, but sadly, I'm so close to the material in question that I failed miserably. In any event, because I went and made a big fuss in the last post, I feel I owe my two readers, an explanation of how I think.
I like the over-all format. Stick a camera on the USS Nimitz as it deploys, and see what happens. It's pretty honest, and really educational to Navy outsiders. But the show is chock-full of musical montages, and it comes across as a bit "Top Gun"-ish. But they are well interspersed and provide information and action to what would otherwise be just a big collection of interviews, so I consider that element a wash.
I said before that the life being depicted is old-hat to me. It's all as I remember it. I didn't serve on a carrier, but the kinds of people you meet, the dynamics, and the stress are all there. My enjoyment in this series came in answering some of my wife's questions, and seeing her get some clarity on why things are, the way they are. The sailors they pick to follow are pretty typical, and provide a very nice example of the kinds of people that make up the fleet. I especially liked that they opened with the Command Master Chief, introducing him and his job gives a great contrast to all of the junior sailors that we end up following later. The Commanding Officer actually managed to appear to be candid without spewing practiced PR speak. But in the end, it was just appearance, and little of consequence was said. The one sailor they followed that I had any problem with was airman Garzone who is a bit of an amateur documentarian (in his bid to join the Navy's Journalist cadre). The show follows him for a bit in what felt like one filmmaker gravitating to another. A moment I found impressive was the Disciplinary Review Board (DRB), where the chief's mess was dressing down an airman for having alcohol on board the ship. I would have liked to have seen the subsequent Executive Officer's Inquiry (XOI) and the Captain's Mast (that typically follow the DRB). But I certainly understand why we can't. But later we learn the results, and the viewers learn about the concept of non-judicial punishment. I'm hopeful that there are more such surprises later-on in the series.
Finally, I found the program to be well produced, and clearly the labor of love. Big props go for not contriving drama in the editing room (at least not detectably) and somehow getting what would normally be a closed-off group of people (and I'm referring to the entire crew of the carrier) to almost pretend the camera isn't being stuffed in their faces, and that deserves your attention.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
I Am Not A Character
This week on iTunes there is a free preview to the PBS documentary Carrier. Maybe I'm jaded, but I'm not a fan of making a spectacle of sailor's lives. On more than one occasion, I witnessed the director of the series mention sailors as "Characters".
This implies to me that they didn't see "5000 stories". This implies to me that they saw "5000 opportunities".
We see time after time, a sailor crying (and not just women). We see them making off-the-cuff remarks about family life and home. I've seen it all before. I've lived the at-sea life. It can be very dramatic. And I very easily understand why the producers thought this would be a great project.
But my brothers and sisters are not characters. The Navy is not a Jerry Springer episode. These men and women have to perform amazingly difficult and dangerous tasks. Allot of them are leaders that have junior sailors who look up to them.
It's hard to respect a Chief's character when he's being treated like one on national television.
This implies to me that they didn't see "5000 stories". This implies to me that they saw "5000 opportunities".
We see time after time, a sailor crying (and not just women). We see them making off-the-cuff remarks about family life and home. I've seen it all before. I've lived the at-sea life. It can be very dramatic. And I very easily understand why the producers thought this would be a great project.
But my brothers and sisters are not characters. The Navy is not a Jerry Springer episode. These men and women have to perform amazingly difficult and dangerous tasks. Allot of them are leaders that have junior sailors who look up to them.
It's hard to respect a Chief's character when he's being treated like one on national television.
Friday, April 11, 2008
New Member
The blog found here, is to be placed on your favorites/bookmarks from now on.
This isn't a request. Nobody asked you if you wanted it. But it's critical none-the-less that you have it.
Go there now and read it. Become familiar and capable of speaking intelligently about posts made there, then do so in the comments section.
And for the love of things holy and pure and right in this world, respect his ahh-thor-ahh--tay.
This isn't a request. Nobody asked you if you wanted it. But it's critical none-the-less that you have it.
Go there now and read it. Become familiar and capable of speaking intelligently about posts made there, then do so in the comments section.
And for the love of things holy and pure and right in this world, respect his ahh-thor-ahh--tay.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Grand Central
My apologies for not posting lately, I've been away on business and I've had my nose firmly pressed against the grindstone.
About two posts ago, I mentioned that I had Grand Central invitations for the wanting. But sadly, just about as soon as people began noticing and asking for them, GrandCentral.com removed the invitations in order to stabilize the database and allow them to get some bug fixing done.
As soon as they turn the invitations back on, I will be sure and hook-up those that asked.
Sorry about that gang.
About two posts ago, I mentioned that I had Grand Central invitations for the wanting. But sadly, just about as soon as people began noticing and asking for them, GrandCentral.com removed the invitations in order to stabilize the database and allow them to get some bug fixing done.
As soon as they turn the invitations back on, I will be sure and hook-up those that asked.
Sorry about that gang.
Commodity
Over at Rolling Stone is an article about how the Music industry is under attack from iTunes and Wall-Mart. Odd how an industry would consider big customers like Apple and Wall-Mart hostile.
Anyway the quote that really raised my dander was this one...
"Wal-Mart has no long-term care for an individual artist or marketing plan, unlike the specialty stores, which were a real business partner. At Wal-Mart, we're a commodity and have to fight for shelf space like Colgate fights for shelf space."
To whit I respond. You reap what you sow.
The big music production companies have been in the habit of commoditizing everything about music. The sound, artists, production, packaging (back before digital), marketing, all of it, has been made as predictable as they knew how to make it. As a result, music is just one more commodity in this world. It belongs in the grocery store right next to the Pop-Tarts.
So why, after all the efforts of the music industry to make their product as common and easily accessible would they then bemoan the fact that their product is just as disposable to Wall-Mmart as razor blades or children's clothing?
Anyway the quote that really raised my dander was this one...
"Wal-Mart has no long-term care for an individual artist or marketing plan, unlike the specialty stores, which were a real business partner. At Wal-Mart, we're a commodity and have to fight for shelf space like Colgate fights for shelf space."
To whit I respond. You reap what you sow.
The big music production companies have been in the habit of commoditizing everything about music. The sound, artists, production, packaging (back before digital), marketing, all of it, has been made as predictable as they knew how to make it. As a result, music is just one more commodity in this world. It belongs in the grocery store right next to the Pop-Tarts.
So why, after all the efforts of the music industry to make their product as common and easily accessible would they then bemoan the fact that their product is just as disposable to Wall-Mmart as razor blades or children's clothing?
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