Not again...

Hoodwinked - Why is Florida's voting system is so corrupt?

Bush Urges Muting of Ads

As usual, Bush misses the point. Negative ads are not the problem -- it's called "free speech" and "debate." I'm sure Bush would much prefer a race in which his lousy record was off-limits. But that's not how the free market of ideas works.

The problem with the Swift Boat Liars Club ads is that they're plain, on-their-face false. They're a cheap smear, and Bush should condemn them. Do MoveOn and Micheal Moore take cheap shots against Bush? Of course they do -- and Kerry has criticized them when the situation called for it. Why can't Bush do the right thing?

That's right, folks, no connection

Bush Campaign Lawyer Is Advising Swift Boat Group, AP Reports

Freedom? Iraqi coach disputes Bush's claims

The president may want to reconsider that rumored Olypics photo-op.

Hardcore karaoke

Last weekend Andrea, I and some friends spent our evening here, singing cheesey songs to a live audience of about 30-or-so people and an Internet audience of about 12 people.

The cyber element was a weird twist to the whole karaoke experience -- you can read comments from a dedicated chat room as you're singing, and after you're done, can use the in-house terminal to defend your performance. Some of our friends were still there when I got home, so naturally, I hazed them online. After the bar closes, the Web site replays past performances, so we got to watch ourselves the next day.

Who would have imagined this 10 years ago?

Scumbags

Bush, his familyhave many ties to Swift Boat vets: "The veterans%27 group behind the controversial TV ads that question Sen. John Kerry's Vietnam war record has extensive ties to President Bush and his family, other high-profile Texas politicians and Bush's chief political aide -- ties that have raised questions about possible illegal coordination between Bush's re-election campaign and the group."

And I thought I was a Stars Wars freak

Welcome to H-Wing.Com!

Since you're here, I'll assume you're interested in checking out my 1995 Honda Civic del sol, the sporty roadster I've turned into an earth-bound version of a Star Wars starfighter.

Nobody Killed Kenny

I love it when people sign me up for conservative newsletters. It's so funny -- and original.

The Bush recovery continues!

Job Growth Meager, Markets Stunned

Another good point about SUVs

The law is rarely enforced, but most are illegal on California's residential streets.

Worse yet, the rest of us are subsidizing SUV drivers and the damage they do to the streets -- both in taxes and damage to our own vehicles.

Rumsfeld to be rebuked

But how can this be? Bush said he was doing a "superb" job.

Kerry's speech

I'm watching it now via the Internet, so I can't say how good it was yet. But NBC's news team seemed to like it.

And you gotta love that opening line.

Drudge posts fake photos

This is why the right-wind gossipmonger will never be the real journalist he so deperately wants to be.

His Photoshop retouching may seem a trivial thing, but it shows a couple of pretty big things about the Drudge-packer:

1) He steals other people's work without credit or payment. Yes, this from the same group that lambastes the poor for being lazy and dishonest.

2) He doesn't value truth, and is willing to post false photos as news. This is a big journalistic no-no. Concepts like bias, balance and fairness are subject to interpretation, but posting fake photos is a cut-and-dry issue. If he knowingly posts fake photos over trivial stories, how can we trust his so-called scoops? How many other fake photos has he posted?

3) He's stupid. If you're going to flip a photo and change the color of the traffic light, remember to also change the color of the cross-street light. That way, the photo doesn't show green lights in all directions. Also move around some of the other objects, or change the color of one of the cars.

What a chump.

UPDATE: Apparently he's taken the photo off the site. No correction. No apology.
DEVELOPING...

Why do Republicans hate America?

Sen. Shelby the subject of probe on 9/11 intelligence leak

Memo to Ann Coulter, and for that matter, Investor's Business Daily's editorial writers: of you're looking to call someone a traitor or accuse them of sedition, here's as example of something that actually fits the definition.

Birthday musings

A few milestones passed this week, and with a few big work deadlines past me, I can finally write about them.

July 15 was the second anniversary of my getting laid off from the Business Journal. As devastating as it was at the time, I’m happy to report that I’m better off financially and career-wise now than I was the day before the layoff.

As of this month, I’m free of long-term credit card debt, which was about $12,000 two years ago. And I have built up the recommended emergency savings of about four months worth of expenses vs. no savings at all two years ago. Now I can focus on saving for a home and retirement investing. I was laid off from a weekly, local newspaper with a sub-10,000 circulation. Now I work for a national daily with a circulation of almost 300,000. I’m making less money than I was — which kind of sucks in this housing market — but I’m better exposed and poised for bigger positions than I was before. And it’s nice to have tech firms scrambling to get MY attention for a change.

July 19 was my birthday, and I’m officially kicked out of the 18-34 age group. Which is probably appropriate, since I don’t watch much TV anymore or throw around money. I can see why advertisers don’t like old people. One of Andrea’s gifts was a computer game, if you can believe that. It’s the first PC-related gift she’s ever bought me.

And July 20 is the 35th anniversary of the moon landing. Still no rocket car. Sigh.

How to stop this page from popping out IE's sidebar

Select Internet Explorer's "Options" menu and click the security tab. Click "resticted sites," and add "http://*.tripod.com" to the list. Disable Javascript in the restricted zone if it's not already.

The other option, of course, is to switch to FireFox, which is quite good these days.

Sorry it's come to this, but I figured Tripod would disable the "feature" once they realized how annoying and useless it is.

We make pasta! Here's a picture of our homemade pasta-making adventure, as I test Blogger's new photo-posting tool. 

Free Gmail accounts

I have a few invites I can dole out to the first takers. E-mail me here. (This is a temporary address I'll delete once I've given out all my invites. So if your e-mail bounces, they're all gone.)

Yahoo Buys Web E-Mail Firm

Good news for Yahoo mail users. It's about to get a lot cooler, in an obvious counterswipe at Google's Gmail.

This is why competition is a good thing.

Surprise, surprise

Pentagon: Some Bush records destroyed

If this were about the Clintons, the wingnuts would be all over this.

And he's supposed to be one of the party's moderates

California education chief calls preschooler 'stupid dirty girl'

State Education Secretary Richard Riordan jokingly told a child her name, Isis, meant "stupid dirty girl," prompting the head of the California NAACP on Thursday to call for his resignation.

Riordan, the wealthy former Los Angeles mayor known for his support of public schools, startled even friends last week with the comments at a promotional event for summer reading at the Santa Barbara library.

Godspeed, little package!

My new computer is finally on its way, having just left FedEx's Phoenix sorting facility en route from New Mexico.

One would think that since Hewlett-Packard and I are both located in the Bay Area, the route would be a little more direct. This crazy global economy of ours.

Nonetheless, I am days away from having a reasonably speedy computer, just in time for Star Wars: Battlefront and Tribes:Vengence!

Oh, and work-related stuff, of course.

SATAN Causes High Memory Utilization in WUSER32

A funny collection of Microsoft Knowledge Base articles.

And then he told the crowd to go F- themselves

Yahoo! News - Cheney Fires Back in Debate Over Values: "Firing back in the debate over American values, Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) used his first campaign bus tour Saturday to label Democrat John Kerry (news - web sites) 'on the left, out of the mainstream and out of touch with the conservative values of the heartland.' "

Bush salutes patriotism in West Virginia visit

MSNBC - Bush salutes patriotism in West Virginia visit: "the war in Iraq, President Bush said on Independence Day that America is safer because Saddam Hussein is in a prison cell."

Needless to say, 863 dead Americans would beg to differ -- especially considering that the number of Americans killed by Sadam or any other Iraqi since the Gulf War was exactly zero.

Pet Lovers Howl, So Governor Rolls Over

Pet Lovers Howl, So Governor Rolls Over: "The hectoring barks of animal lovers convinced Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to reverse himself Friday and keep California's law protecting stray dogs and cats at shelters."

Lesson for Schwarzenegger: no matter how much it makes sense on paper, never push a policy that involves killing puppies and kittens.

Cheney Defends Use Of Four-Letter Word (washingtonpost.com)

Nice to know he can admit when he's wrong. But as we all know, this administration is never wrong.

MIKE WENDLAND: SUV's Wi-Fi system lets drivers leave CDs at home

This sounds very cool.

Those Christian Republicans

Cheney curses Leahy on Senate floor

Vice President Cheney cursed at Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy during a confrontation on the Senate floor while members were having their annual group picture taken earlier this week, Leahy and Senate sources said Thursday.
...
Cheney then responded, “f--- off” or “f--- you,” two aides said, both speaking on condition of anonymity.

Keep in ming that these are the same people who want to tell us what we can listen to onmt he radio.

Failing to Draw Big Players, Computer Show Is Canceled

The New York Times has a good piece on he demise of Comdex, with lots of perspective and historical info.

I wonder how Anthony Scalia voted

Court rebuffs bid to open Cheney's records

Another era passes

Organizer cancels Comdex 2004

Bummer. I really enjoyed going to these when I could. But like the reast of the industry in the post-.com era, they had lost much of their excitement and appeal in recent years.

Safer and safer

South Korean hostage executed

Why don't those Republicans have any morals?

Ex-wife of GOP Senate candidate alleged sex club forays - Jun 22, 2004

The ex-wife of Jack Ryan, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Illinois, alleged in court papers filed in 2000 that he took her to sex clubs and asked her to engage in sexual activity in front of other patrons.

Evangelical Leaders Reexamine Principles

It's been a long time in coming, but this is a very positive sign:

The National Assn. of Evangelicals is circulating a draft of a groundbreaking framework for political action that strongly endorses social and economic justice and warns against close alignment with any political party.

Steeped in biblical morality and evangelical scholarship, the framework for public engagement could change how the estimated 30 million evangelicals in this country are viewed by liberals and conservatives alike.

...

In the midst of a presidential election year, war and terrorism, the framework says Christians in their devotion to country "must be careful to avoid the excesses of nationalism." In domestic politics, evangelicals "must guard against over-identifying Christian social goals with a single political party, lest nonbelievers think that Christian faith is essentially political in nature."

Bush still winning the war on terror

American hostage's body found, Saudis say

Here's a tidbit on why the Abu prison scadal matters. No, it didn't give birth to terrorism -- they were killing longer before we invaded Iraq. But ordinary middle-of-the-road Saudis, which could have helped find the kidnappers, refuse to cooperate because they're so enraged. Having to choose sides between domestic thugs and foriegn thugs, who are they going to side with?

"How can we inform on our brothers when we see all these pictures coming from Abu and Rajah," Mukluks NOF, a resident of Dhahran al-Boudoir, said at a restaurant called Jihad, or holy war in Arabic. He was referring to the pictures of Iraqis abused by U.S. soldiers at the Abu prison in Baghdad and the Israeli military's killing of Palestinians and the destruction of their homes in the Gaza refugee camp of Rajah.

The weirdest WWII story you've never heard

Slate writes about the only fatal Japaese attack on the mainland U.S. and its implications for wartime censorship.

Improbable though it may sound, from late 1944 through the spring of 1945, the Japanese launched more than 9,000 balloons from their nation's eastern shores. Filled not with mild-mannered hot air but extremely flammable hydrogen and armed with incendiary and antipersonnel bombs, the balloons rode the jet stream across the Pacific Ocean for several days before landing throughout North America.

Impeach

Pentagon coordinated Halliburton deal

A Pentagon e-mail said Vice President Dick Cheney’s office “coordinated” a multibillion-dollar Iraq reconstruction contract awarded to his former employer Halliburton, Time magazine reported on Sunday.

Just when you thought this administration couldn't get any more corrupt. But, hey, at least it's not a lie about sex, right?

Ready or not, Iraq, get ready for June 30!

Bleak outlook

MSNBC - Pessimism grows about Iraq's future: "Inside the Green Zone, the heavily fortified U.S. administration compound that Salim was about to enter when the suicide bomber struck, expectations are grim. 'It will take a lot of doing for this not to end in a debacle,' a senior occupation official said. 'There is no confidence in the coalition. Why should there be?'"

So next time Bush tries to laud his boldness, resolve and leadership, try not to laugh too hard in his face.

WMD found?

Not quite. If this "Traces of sarin in bomb story" turns out to be true, it isn't even remotely proof that Dear Leader was right. Before the right-wing bloggers start citing this as vindication, remember that chemical weapons were a specialty of Abu Musab Zarqawi, the Al Queda leader who operated in U.S.- and Kurd-controlled Iraqi territory before the Gulf War II.
From a Slate article I've cited before:

As far back as June 2002, U.S. intelligence reported that Zarqawi had set up a weapons lab at Kirma in northern Iraq that was capable of producing ricin and cyanide.

This is the same guy who could have been killed long before the invasion had the White House just given its OK. But that, of course, would have undermined the need for our invasion.

More superb work

Car bomb kills head of Governing Council

We're getting ready to hand over power, and we can't even guard the Iraqi head of state?

Of course, maybe that's my media bias talking. I mean, why can't they report on all the Iraqi officials who weren't killed by a suicide bomber?

Powell criticizes Arab governments

MSNBC - Powell criticizes Arab governments: "Powell said he has made clear, specifically to Arab leaders, that systematic torture of prisoners is unacceptable anywhere. Yet, he said, their denunciation of the killing of Nicholas Berg, kidnapped while in Iraq seeking business for his Pennsylvania communication company, fell far short of their attacks on the United States for the treatment of detainees at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison."

Good point. One of the main differences between our prison scandal and those of these Middle East dictatorships is that here, it's actually a scandal. You'll rarely -- if ever -- see the governments of Syria, Iran or even Saudi Arabia launching investigations into their own behavior. It was our own military and our own press that brought this scandal to light. That's more than you can say about any Middle East country, except maybe Israel.

Forget Rumsfeld; fire Bush.

White House memo shifts abuse inquiry’s focus

A story in the latest edition of Newsweek has shifted the focus of the Iraq prisoner abuse scandal to the question of whether the Bush administration established a legal basis that opened the door for the mistreatment.
...
And the Newsweek story reports that U.S. soldiers and CIA operatives “could be accused of war crimes. Among the possible charges: homicide involving deaths during interrogations.

Now, I don't believe Al Queda qualify as soldiers (they're not uniformed, they target civilians, etc.), and I actually don't have too big a problem with high-value subjects getting a little roughed up, assuming it doesn't taint the info we get or chances of prosecution. But to simply throw away the Geneva convention for ordinary, secured prisoners -- 90% of which the Red Cross says are mistaken detentions -- is a grave, grave mistake.

The Geneva convention isn't a straightjacket so much as a protection for our soldiers. When enemy forces know they may face war crime trials after a war is over, it makes them think twice about mistreating our soldiers. And throwing them out makes us just another warring party, not a force of good in the world. Of course, the whole Iraq War II kind of did the same thing.

More on the Bush/Zarqawi connection

I'm probably quoting more than I'm allowed to, but this article on Slate is worth a read:

The implications of this are more shocking, in their way, than the news from Abu Ghraib. Bush promoted the invasion of Iraq as a vital battle in the war on terrorism, a continuation of our response to 9/11. Here was a chance to wipe out a high-ranking terrorist. And Bush didn't take advantage of it because doing so might also wipe out a rationale for invasion.

The story gets worse in its details. As far back as June 2002, U.S. intelligence reported that Zarqawi had set up a weapons lab at Kirma in northern Iraq that was capable of producing ricin and cyanide. The Pentagon drew up an attack plan involving cruise missiles and smart bombs. The White House turned it down. In October 2002, intelligence reported that Zarqawi was preparing to use his bio-weapons in Europe. The Pentagon drew up another attack plan. The White House again demurred. In January 2003, police in London arrested terrorist suspects connected to the camp. The Pentagon devised another attack plan. Again, the White House killed the plan, not Zarqawi.

When the war finally started in March, the camp was attacked early on. But by that time, Zarqawi and his followers had departed.

Undeterred by McCain Denials, Some See Him as Kerry's No. 2

As unlikely as this scenario is, I think it would be a dynamite move, in the good sense of the word.

Regime change

Pollsters: Kerry aside, Bush is in trouble

Is Bush responsible?

If this is true, the Bushies are far worse scumbags than even I imagined:

"Military officials insist their case for attacking Zarqawi's operation was airtight, but the administration feared destroying the terrorist camp in Iraq could undercut its case for war against Saddam."

Zarqawi is the guy probably responsible for beheading Nic Berg.

Superb job, Rumsfeld.

Islamic Web site claims revenge killing

"A video posted Tuesday on an Islamic militant Web site showed the beheading of an American civilian in Iraq, and said the execution was carried out by an al-Qaida affiliated group to avenge the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers."

Nic Berg truly owes you a debt of gratitude.

Saddam to be handed over to Iraqis in June

Good idea. Because, clearly, he will not be able to escape -- seeing as how all of Iraq is united against him, and all.

Hybrid Mileage Comes Up Short

From Wired News:

Data from independent product-testing organization Consumer Reports indicates that hybrid cars get less than 60 percent of EPA estimates while navigating city streets. In Consumer Reports' real-world driving test, the Civic Hybrid averaged 26 mpg in the city, while the Toyota Prius averaged 35 mpg, much less than their respective EPA estimates of 47 and 60 mpg. Hybrid cars performed much closer to EPA estimates in Consumer Reports' highway tests.

Well, this is disappointing. But the story should have compared real-world milage between traditonal and hybrid cars.

Missions accomplished!

Bush says Rumsfeld doing a 'superb job'

Yes, apparently, we've:
1) Caught Osama
2) Freed Afghanistan from the clutches of opressive Islamists
3) found the weapons of mass destruction
4) Established a pro-U.S. democracy in the Middle East
5) Given the Middle East a fine example of respect for human rights
6) Secured cheap oil for low, low gas prices
7) And, of course, ended a regime of torture, murder and rape.

With a record like that, what's not to praise about Rumsfeld's performance? No wonder the military loves him so much!

New comments

Blogger added a commenting system in a big upgrade, so I switched. One nice thing about this one is you can put the comments right on the page itself, not a separate pop-up window. (This may have been possible before on YACCS, but I didn't take the time to figure it out.)

So, feel free to comment away...

Microsoftie clarifies Longhorn requirements

Looks like Mary Jo was wrong. From the blog of a MS developer:

First of all, let's go to MSN Search (Google brings up the same result, actually), shall we, and see if there's any official information from Microsoft. So, search for "What hardware does Longhorn need?" and you find video of Joe Beda talking about this issue over on Channel9. Now, he's one of the guys who works on Avalon. A key piece of Longhorn. I believe him before I believe any unnamed source.

Second, I go around and meet lots of people working on Longhorn. Most of us have standard Dell machines. 3GHz or so. One gig of RAM. 80GB hard drives. 128MB video card (ATI or Nvidia). Some of us are lucky and have 64 bit processors from AMD or Intel. Some of us are lucky and have high res screens. Lots of us have multiple monitors.

Here's a hint. Longhorn runs on my one-year-old machine. So, obviously the rumored requirement isn't a minimum one. At least I don't think I have a 8GHz processor yet.

Also, remember, there will be different scenarios supported. Will a business user need the same capabilities that a gamer will need? Will a Tablet PC offer the same hardware capabilities that a Dell desktop will supply?

Come on people, think!

And I thought Battlefield 1942 needed the horsepower

Longhorn to Steal Limelight at WinHEC

"Microsoft is expected to recommend that the "average" Longhorn PC feature a dual-core CPU running at 4 to 6GHz; a minimum of 2 gigs of RAM; up to a terabyte of storage; a 1 Gbit, built-in, Ethernet-wired port and an 802.11g wireless link; and a graphics processor that runs three times faster than those on the market today."

This can't be right. First of all, who has machines beefy enough to even beta test this thing? Second, Microsoft wants to sell this to as many people as it can. If they're going to require this kind of hardware, they may as well be writing an OS for the Mac.

Front-page princess

Congratulate Andrea, everyone, for having two front-page infographics in as many days in the Mercury news.

     
(Click for larger view)

Worth checking out

A beta version of Yahoo Messenger 6.0 is out. It offers a couple of neat additions, including better integration with mobile devices. It automatically forwards IMs to your phone when you're offline, and text messaging to phones is much easier. It also integrates with Launchcast, which is nice if you use the service. And you can make yourself invisible to specific contacts.

In other beta news, I've been testing the new Google Mail service, which should be more widely available soon. This one could be a category killer. It gives you a gigabyte of storage on the theory that you should never have to delete your messages. Searching is a breeze, and it automatically groups related messages while viewing. It's fast, too. Common tasks that take two or three clicks on other Web mail sites take on Google single-click or less -- choosing from a pull-down menu takes no clicks at all.

Some have raised privacy concerns because the service displays ads targeted according to the e-mail's contents (they show up only on e-mail you receive). It does feel a little weird, but the fact is, most e-mail is "read" by a series of computers on its way from the sender to the recipient. Triggering ads based on certain keywords in the e-mail doesn't mean the computer is actually comprehending it, or judging you. And for those who worry that certain keywords might attract government scrutiny, well, guess what -- that's already a reality with nearly all e-mail systems.

One minor caveat: Google says a gigabyte of storage means you never have to delete anything. Well, based on my mail over the last two days, my inbox will be full in about 4-5 years.

Looks like another GOP tactic backfired

Kerry's Vietnam record draws praise, questions

An examination of his record, supplemented by interviews with the candidate, his crewmates and some skeptics, found little to undermine Kerry's portrayal of his service.

Veterans of various wars greet him at the airport on his campaign stops, and John Hurley, national director of Veterans for Kerry, said 11,000 have signed up to support Kerry. With few exceptions, those who fought by his side, and the other veterans who support him today, are startled that anyone would question his valor.

Kerry's service evaluations, many of which were posted on his Web site this week, effusively cite his gallantry, his commitment to his service and the admiration of his men. In the coming weeks, his campaign will launch a series of ads promoting his military record -- an indication that he will continue to run on his military résumé.

Kerry campaign provides some military records

From Kerry MSNBC: "Conservative commentators, talk radio hosts and some newspapers editorials have questioned whether Kerry was deserving of his three Purple Hearts, fueling questions about his Navy service from 1966 to 1970 and the seriousness of his injuries."

In other words, chickenhawks who haven't served a single day of wartime duty.

Did Saudis assure Bush on oil prices?

From MSNBC: "The White House Monday declined to comment on a report in a new book by journalist Bob Woodward that a Saudi Arabian ambassador had promised the Bush administration that it would lower oil prices to help boost the U.S. economy in time for the November presidential election."

Did not comment, folks. As is, "did not deny."

As long as he was't lying about sex...

From Sunday's 60 Minutes:

Gets to a point where in July, the end of July 2002, they need $700 million, a large amount of money for all these tasks. And the president approves it. But Congress doesn't know and it is done. They get the money from a supplemental appropriation for the Afghan War, which Congress has approved. …Some people are gonna look at a document called the Constitution which says that no money will be drawn from the Treasury unless appropriated by Congress. Congress was totally in the dark on this.

Why is no one calling for special hearings on this, or better yet, impeachment? Woodward goes on to reveal how the Bushies told the foreign, terrorism-funding, non-democratic government of Saudi Arabia about our war plans before we briefed Secretary of State Colin Powell. Where's Ann Coulter and her shrill accusations of treason?

I wasn't the only one who noticed the inconsistency...

So did Slate's William Saletan.

Depends on What the Meaning of "Polls" Is
Bush says he doesn't use polls. An adviser says he did.

For the record, I posted mine first.

Bush Takes Strategic No-Remorse Stance

From the NY Times: "One adviser said the White House had examined polling and focus group studies in determining that it would be a mistake for Mr. Bush to appear to yield."

This from the same president who said on Monday: "And as to whether or not I made decisions based upon polls, I don’t. I just don’t make decisions that way."

Man, what a bald-faced liar.

And now, a word from our Dear Leader...

Quagmire

Shiite rebels in control

"The battle for this Sunni Muslim stronghold continued for a fourth day Thursday, and five more U.S. troops were reported killed. In Iraq's south, militiamen loyal to an anti-U.S. Shiite cleric controlled large swaths of three cities."

That's 40 U.S. soldiers killed this week. Let's express that as a ratio of U.S. deaths per weapon of mass destruction confiscated. Oh yeah, you can't divide by zero.

Yay!

Verizon to offer the Treo 600 From Engadget

They haven't said anything official yet, and there's nothing more than a "Coming Soon" on their homepage, but we have some good news that we think is going to make a lot of people happy: Verizon Wireless is finally going to carry the Treo 600. And it sure took them long enough, too. Sprint was offering the phone nearly six months ago, and we'd almost thought that Verizon was going to skip the Treo 600 altogether and just wait for the 610 to come out.

Anti-U.S. Uprising Widens in Iraq; Marines Push Deeper Into Fallujah

I can't wait until Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Fox News and all their acolytes start blaming Demoncrats bad attittude for this miserable failure. In other words, we didn't clap our hands hard enough, so Tinkerbell died.

Audio Codec Quality Shootout

This taste test by Extreme Tech makes me feel a little better about my hard-thought decision a few months ago to encode and store all of my CDs in WMA format instead of MP3. Everything I'd read said WMA (Series 9) was better, but I worried about compatibility issues: a lot of devices support WMA, but nearly everything supports MP3. What if I ever wanted to buy an iPod?

The clincher for me was Windows Media Player's automatic song-organizing and downsampling abilities. It fetches album art in the background and integrates that info into Windows native file system -- unlike Apple's iTunes, win which you have to open an application to get all the relevant info. The downsampling feature means it can shrink files on the fly while transferring them to a portable audio device.

Well as it turns out, the Media Player can do that with MP3s, too. And that made me wonder if I made the right choice going with WMA. Apparently, I did. Now, if only Apple would back down and let the iPod play WMA files.

(I expected a deluge of angry comments from Mac fans on the article, but several posters make some valid criticism of the article's methodology.)

Maybe Bush is a uniter after all...

Muslim rivals unite in Baghdad uprising

More flowers of welcome from the Iraqis

12 Marines killed in new fighting

I'm guessing the Bush campaign will be trotting out those "Mission Accomplished" photos anytime soon. It's time to fire Don Rumsfield and send in more troops. There's no realistic way to pull out of Bush's mistake now, so we need to suck it up and do the job right.

And of course, fire Bush in November.

What if...

I'm doing research for a story I'm doing on the 40th anniversary of the mainframe computer and came across an interesting tidbit: IBM in the late 1970s was toying with the idea of rebranding Atari computers to create a PC line -- it's attempt to take on these crazy Apple IIs and TRS 80s that were so popular at the time.

IBM's executive council rejected the idea, and as we all know, IBM built its own PC line, albeit using off-the-shelf components. The rest is history. (In a last gasp, Atari would eventually develop its own line of IBM-compatible PCs.)

I can't help thinking whether the Atari platform would have become standard had IBM had gone ahead with the idea. Would the platform, which would presumably be harder to clone, have become so dominant? Would Motorola (which made the chip) be the dominant CPU maker rather than Intel? Given my experience with Atari, would I have become a programmer instead of a journalist?

Did someone say 'quagmire?'

Rioting sweeps Iraqi cities; 8 U.S. soldiers killed

Now that the Shia hate us along with the Sunni, the only group left to alienate are the Kurds.

Not to beat a dead horse, but...

Powell no longer sure that Iraqi trailers were weapons labs

My career has peaked

Slashdot linked to a story of mine. I'm afraid to read the comments, though. The /. crowd can be pretty harsh.

Mystery solved

Police: Evidence doesn't support abduction claim

For example, the honor student told police that after taking her at knifepoint, her captor used duct tape, rope, cold medicine, a gun and a knife to keep her under his control.

Although those items were found in the marsh where she was located, buttressing her account, police obtained videotape Thursday that showed Seiler entering a Madison store and buying those items, he said.

Also, during the time she said she was held captive, two witnesses reported having seen her apparently "walking freely" in different areas of the city, he said.

Someone used her computer during the time she was missing. Also, he said, the computer had been used to look up a five-day weather forecast and search wooded areas in and around Madison.

As I suspected...

Police: Wisconsin Student Changes Story

"She initially told police she was abducted at knifepoint from outside her apartment early Saturday. Assistant Police Chief Noble Wray said Friday she changed her story when investigators confronted her with inconsistencies in her account. "

Good thing to keep in mind for Friday's jobs report

From Eschaton.

So, let's choose our criteria in advance. Anything under 140K is seriously bad. A number between 140K and 240K isn't particularly good, but at least a sign that things could be picking up. And, anything under 306K is proof that the tax cuts are not working as promised.

Top Focus Before 9/11 Wasn't on Terrorism

Top Focus Before 9/11 Wasn't on Terrorism (washingtonpost.com)

The address was designed to promote missile defense as the cornerstone of a new national security strategy, and contained no mention of al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden or Islamic extremist groups, according to former U.S. officials who have seen the text.

Is there anyone who still believes Bush and Cheney weren't asleep -- or more fittingly, drunk -- at the wheel?

And the Iraqis continue to welcome us with flowers

3 U.S. soldiers hurt in ambush near Fallujah

The Bush recovery continues

Forecasters scale back job hopes

Police to interview student about her disappearance

Good. There's something fishy about this girl's abduction story. What makes me really suspicious is that she was the "victim" in another weird attack in February.

Newsmap

Here's an interesting way to look at the news. This flash front-end takes Google news feeds and presents the information in a visual way. Big, popular stories are given bigger chunks of the map. A clever solution to an old problem with online news -- namely, how to prioritize the stories without the layout and headline cues printed newspapers offer. Not a perfect solution, mind you, but an innovative one.

CNN Report Puts Letterman In a Tizzy, Temporarily

Here's a White House that can't even tell the truth aboutmeaningless, easily verifiable things. The Bushies lie so often, they just do it reflexively.

White House warns OPEC

CNN.com - White House warns OPEC - Mar 31, 2004: "McClellan did not directly respond to questions about why that strategy has not worked, but said the administration remains in constant contact with oil producers. 'We believe oil prices should be set by market forces in order to make sure that we have adequate supplies available. That's always been our view."

Memo to the Bushies: an industry cartel isn't what most people would call "natural market forces." That's why we have antitrust laws.

So much for Harvard credentials

BostonHerald.com - Local/ Regional News: Scientist nabbed for SARS scam: Cops: Suspect bilked pals

This professor scammed collegues and students out of $600,000, only to fall for the Nigerian classic. Nice.

We got pictures!

Here are some we took with the digital camera. We still have developed anything from the (flim-based!) disposable cameras, which have all the pics from Sao Paulo. We were afraid the digital camera would get stolen in Sao Paulo. Had we known all the Japanese tourists had much better models to steal, we would have brought the digital cam.

I highly recommend the slideshow mode.

So much for our "war president"

Government "failed you," Clarke testifies

For anyone not paying attention, this is pretty devastating for the Bushies. Clarke's testimony -- which by all accounts was brilliant in the face of sharp questioning by GOP lawmakers -- kicks out what was presumably the strongest leg of Bush's election platform. Everyone was willing to overlook his total incompetence on the economy, slavish submissiveness to big business and, of course, utter stupidity. He was a bold, decisive leader, after all. Well, so much for that myth. Watch the testimony -- the Bushies are floundering.

Highlights include:

"You urge policymakers to imagine a day after hundreds of Americans lay dead at home and abroad after a terrorist attack and ask themselves what else they could have done," Roemer said to Clarke. "You write this on Sept. 4, seven days before Sept. 11."

In response, Clarke simply replied, "That's right."
(From the LA Times story)

And, my favorite:

Then he admitted there was a difference between his earlier testimony and his book. "There's a very good reason for that," he went on. "In the 15 hours of testimony, nobody asked me what I thought of the president's invasion of Iraq." The heart of his book's attacks surrounds the war. "By invading Iraq," he said, taking full advantage of Lehman's opening, "the president of the United States has greatly undermined the war on terror." End of response. Lehman said nothing.

In the second round of questioning, Thompson returned to the August 2002 press briefing. "You intended to mislead the press?" he asked, perhaps hoping to pound a wedge between the media and their new superstar.

"There's a very fine line that anyone who's been in the White House, in any administration, can tell you about," Clarke replied. Someone in his position had three choices. He could have resigned, but he had important work yet to do. He could have lied, but nobody told him to do that, and he wouldn't have in any case. "The third choice," he said, "is to put the best face you can for the administration on the facts. That's what I did."

Well, Thompson asked in a bruised tone, is there one set of moral rules for special assistants to the White House and another set for everybody else?

"It's not a question of morality at all," Clarke replied. "It's a question of politics." The crowd applauded fiercely. (From Slate.)

By the way, I'm back from Brazil.

In Brasil!

As expected, I haven´t had much Internet access, but finally found a little cafe that charges in 15-minute increments. So in other words, this will have to be quick. It´s strange how different some things are -- take this Portuguese keyboard, for instance, with a super-short shift key and common characters in weird places -- and how much other things are the same.

Anyway, I´ll write more later...

The Bush recovery continues

Jobs growth remains weak

U.S. to launch 24/7 hunt for bin Laden

CNN.com - High-tech snooping for bin Laden: "U.S. forces searching for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden along the mountainous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan will soon implement high-tech surveillance tactics in the region, enabling them to monitor the area 24 hours a day, seven days a week, CNN has learned. "

Hey, I've got a question: why weren't we doing this already?

Saturday Samba

Andrea picked up my passport from San Francisco this morning, newly stamped with a Brazilian visa. We fly out Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, our cheap tickets take us through Chicago, so there's a lot of flying involved.

I'm excited to go, but I have two concerns: 1) Getting kidnapped. 2) Not having Internet access for two weeks. Andrea's sister has DSL, but it's an hour or so away from her parents' house, where we'll be staying.

I've downloaded a Portuguese-English dictionary for my Palm phone, stocked up on Claritan and sunscreen, so I'm all set. We'll take lot of pictures.

Enough said...

New U.S. Effort Steps Up Hunt for bin Laden: "Much of the timing now is driven by the weather: as winter snows melt, troops can navigate in the high mountain passes and trails where many Qaeda and Taliban members are believed to be hiding. When that moment arrived last year, many of the forces and American intelligence operatives now engaged in Afghanistan were tied up in the Iraq."

Scalia defends involvement in Cheney case

Scalia defends involvement in Cheney case

Scalia told a gathering at Amherst College on Tuesday night there was nothing improper about his accompanying Cheney to Louisiana last month to hunt ducks. The trip came three weeks after the Supreme Court agreed to hear the Bush administration?s appeal in a case involving private meetings of Cheney?s energy task force.

?It did not involve a lawsuit against Dick Cheney as a private individual,? Scalia said in response to a question from the audience of about 600 people. ?This was a government issue. It?s acceptable practice to socialize with executive branch officials when there are not personal claims against them. That?s all I?m going to say for now. Quack, quack.?

Well, if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck...

If only this fad had died along with him

MSNBC - Diet doctor had heart disease

Diet guru Dr. Robert Atkins, who died last year after a fall in New York, had a history of heart disease and weighed 258 pounds at the time of his death, a newspaper reported Tuesday. Atkins' popular diet stresses people should eat high-protein meats and cheese over carbohydrates in order to lose weight.

He who makes the rules wins the game

What a surprise. It looks like George Bush's Iraqi intellegence commission will be a total whitewash.

More on the oh-so impartial Antonin Scalia

Scalia Was Cheney Hunt Trip Guest; Ethics Concern Grows

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia traveled as an official guest of Vice President Dick Cheney on a small government jet that served as Air Force Two when the pair came here last month to hunt ducks.

The revelation cast further doubts about whether Scalia can be an impartial judge in Cheney's upcoming case before the Supreme Court, legal ethics experts said. The hunting trip took place just weeks after the high court agreed to take up Cheney's bid to keep secret the details of his energy policy task force.

Not good.

MSNBC - Mad cow's 'downer' status disputed

This could be a problem for Kerry in the general election

Green light for gay marriages in Mass.

At the least, it puts him in a tough spot. Edwards' "state's rights" approach might be a little easier for moderates to tolerate.

Nice, he even gets to pick the panel members

Bush to pick panel for WMD inquiry

A senior administration official said Monday that Bush will name the members of the commission. The official said the president had consulted some "appropriate" members of Congress about the appointments.

That way, he can make sure there won't be any conflicts of interest.

In other news, Richard Nixon will create a panel to investigate Watergate.