Nordstrom's Iced Lattes
In my quest for an Apple iPod case that would provide decent protection, I wandered across town to the Apple Store West County today. They didn't really have anything very good, but I did happen to try an Iced Latte from Nordstrom on the way out. It was a bit cheaper than Starbucks and quite good — not maybe quite as good as Starbucks, but better than any other espresso drink I've found outside of Seattle.
OfB Choice Awards
Today marks Open for Business’s third year of informing you on the latest enterprise computing news. It seems very appropriate for this day to also mark the announcement of our third annual OfB Choice Awards. We have spent the last year testing and reporting on the very best open computing offerings and it finally comes down to this time when we must pick the very best of these best of breed products to report to you as our OfB Choices.
Not Much To Say Today...
…but there should be more tomorrow. For now, I'm still seeking iPod case stories; please go over and comment in the last post if you have tips.
I'm excited about SpaceShipOne wining the Ansari X Prize. It is especially nice to see considering that the X Prize is based in St. Louis and sponsored mostly by St. Louisians going under the name “The New Spirit of St. Louis.” I find it especially interesting that they are planning an “X Prize Cup” each year where the latest space craft can compete. I doubt that will have the draw of $10 million dollars, but perhaps some of those who didn't manage to get ready before SpaceShipOne will decide to show there wares there.
As aside, SpaceShipOne's $30 million dollar cost is yet another proof that government can't do things as well as the private sector. Of course, I'm sure asisaid readers already took notice of that.
iPodding Along and a Cookie Quest
Well, I finally am part of the digital music player revolution with an iPod (a very surprising gift I received). It is very nice — great sound, lots of storage and a beautifully simple interface (I love the click wheel design), plus it has a 12 hour battery life, which may not be the longest, but it is progress in the right direction. The iPod works out great since it integrates with iTunes, can play iTMS M4P (AAC) music and even synchronize with my .mac account (which syncs my desktop address book, calendar and bookmarks between my phone, laptop and desktop). I'd looked at the Dell DJ and some others, but the iPod seems to have the best set of features for my usage.
Most of all, it will prove useful for photography. I love taking pictures and the iPod offers far more storage than an equivalently priced memory card for when I'm not able to download photos for a few days on a trip. This will allow me to quit using anything other than the highest megapixel rating on my camera.
Problem: I need a case to protect this fine little machine. Anyone here have a recommendation? I'm looking for something that will keep it safe from scratches, etc., and probably clip on my belt at times.
A question for Christopher: Did you ever get to try your fried Oreo (part I, part II)? I went down to the St. Charles Oktoberfest today, and I was surprised when I saw a booth serving fried Oreos. I decided to sacrifice myself as a test subject for the cause of finding out about what they are like. It was a terrible sacrifice.
I like Oreos and I like fried stuff from festivals. So for $1, I got two fried Oreo cookies (apparently of the Double Stuf variety). The cookies were dipped into batter (the same kind, I think, as they were using for funnel cakes) and then deep fried for a minute or so. Ample powered sugar was placed on top. The result was very good. The cookies had almost melted inside the batter, leaving a gooey chocolate and cream center inside and a sweet, crispy airy funnel cake shell outside. The best description I can come up with is a “chocolate funnel cake” (yes, that is a really creative description). If you like chocolate and funnel cakes, you will like fried Oreos. I'll be looking forward to running into another fried Oreo booth myself.
Bon appetite!
Princess Bride
A friend at church lent me a DVD of the Princess Bride (1987) to watch. It is hard to describe it, but it had a lot of really good laughs in it. Billy Crystal made a great magician in it and everyone did a good job of fitting into their often ridiculous roles. If you haven't managed to see it in the seventeen years it has been out, you should rent a copy. Not the best movie I've seen, but it was quite enjoyable and offered an interesting mix of genres.
Why George Bush Should Win
He refuses to realize that it was the law of the land since 1996, as signed into effect by President Clinton, that Saddam Hussein was to be ousted. He refuses to recall his 1997 Crossfire position that unilateral removal of of the Baathist regime was acceptable if the world wouldn't join the cause. He refuses to admit he has had nine distinct opinions on the war in Iraq since announcing his run in the presidential race. He feels he can say it was the “wrong war, at the wrong time, in the wrong place,” but at the same time there have been numerous points since the fall of Baghdad that he has supported the war, just like many of the other top Democrats that now oppose it.
He talks about bringing in allies while he attempts to ruin John Howard. He trivializes the contributions of Poland, Australia, Britain and 27 other nations as the coalition of the coerced and the bribed. Not perhaps completely out of character for one who once spent his time testifying to the Congress that Vietnam vets were “war criminals.” Kerry loves to glory in things as he attacks and demeans them (he sure loved playing up his part in “war crimes” at the Democratic Convention).
The French and the Germans have said even a shift to Kerry will not get them to enter the fray in Iraq. Look, they don't want to get involved, that's their prerogative and it is not likely they will flip-flop just because a guy who says he opposed the war while he supported it gets elected. What about other allies? As President Bush noted, “So what's the message going to be: 'Please join us in Iraq. We're a grand diversion. Join us for a war that is the wrong war at the wrong place at the wrong time?'”
Without veering too far off my point, consider this: do we want a president who advocates potentially disastrous treaties like Kyoto and the International Criminal Court merely to increase the respect of the world? Kerry's argument for Kyoto was not its merits but how it made us look in the world community — what is this nation sized peer pressure? Or is it better to have a president like President Bush who can strongly disagree with leaders such as President Putin of Russia while maintaining a good rapport with him (the warm relationship between the two presidents is no secret)? President Bush wisely pointed out this last night — a president should get along with the world without compromising to the world.
But back to my main points. In this debate, as John Kerry fired off baseless attacks on the very policies he advocated, I became even more convinced that John Kerry is the wrong leader at the wrong time and the wrong place. President Bush may not be right on everything, he might not be able to beat Kerry on an IQ test either… but his sincerity is clear and he isn't a dummy that should be misunderestimated either. Every bit of sincerity and truthfulness that was apparent in him last night was doubly apparent when I saw him in person in July. President Bush is the “real deal.”
If John Kerry came out and said, “I made a mistake on the intelligence, the president made a mistake, now lets move on. I have a plan and this is what it is…,” I could respect him. Instead, he is doing quite the opposite — he places all the blame, including that entitled to him, on the president. Someone who lies and misleads (even, I would note, on the claim he made that he had never called the President a liar using that word) to try to present an anti-war facade over his support of the war, even before Bush was president, is hardly praise worthy.
That is why George Bush should win.
Debate
Well, tonight was the first debate. I love debates, as anyone who knows me would guess. Tonight's debate was mostly uneventful. As David Gergen noted to Larry King afterward, “there were no memorable lines, at least that I can remember.” I do not think there was a clear victor, although both candidates did a good job of holding their ground.
I do think that President Bush clearly communicated his views and effectively highlighted John Kerry's flip-flopping. He also highlighted the critical issue of Sen. Kerry's undermining of our allies (which includes a present, tragic process by which the Kerry campaign is trying to undermine Prime Minister John Howard of Australia in their upcoming elections).
The president also clearly continued his laudable rejection of the International Criminal Court that would, essentially, impair our sovereignty. I honestly do not understand how Mr. Kerry can possibly support a system that would allow our citizens to be brought under a court that does not have to adhere to our standards and is not under our laws and selection of judges.
On the other hand, John Kerry did a good job of spreading mistruths about President Bush. For example, that accusation that the President mislead us into the war. While President Bush correctly countered with the fact that Sen. Kerry also supported the actions toward Iraq until it became politically preferable not to, a presidential candidate should not be attacking their opponent for the very thing they supported and promoted for years before it finally happened.
President Bush's main failing in this debate with the fact that he appeared overly aggressive and somewhat nervous in responses for the first few questions for no particular reason that I can think of (other than the fact that millions of people were watching — but that's nothing new for either of the candidates). On the other hand, I think Kerry started doing the same thing somewhat during the last part. Odd.
So, I'm voting for President Bush as the winner — both in truthfulness and overall substance, but it would appear John Kerry's mistruths might help him with this debate.
Crazy Week.
Sorry, you'll have to wait another day to hear anything from me. Aren't you disappointed?
Gone Fish'n
Well, not really, I have just been away from the computer a lot this weekend. Thanks to everyone who wished me happy birthday. With y'all it was even happier.
And to answer the big question Ed asked, do I feel wiser or just older, you will just have to go read my comment in that post.. Yeah, I know that's mean.
Moving to other topics, has anyone had their printer stop to let the ink dry before? My HP PSC 2210 told me on its little status screen that it was doing just that tonight. Bizarre? At any rate, I think my ink is getting pretty low in it, leaving me with two printers almost out of ink — I guess it is time to make a trip to OfficeMax tomorrow…
Happy Birthday to Me
Well, today was my birthday. It was a nice, mostly peaceful day, interrupted only by a literature test. Right now I am stuffed from pizza and cake. Woohoo!
(As a side note, check out my latest OfB article here if you have a laptop and you want to protect that investment with a low-cost, high quality case — the RadTech ones I reviewed are excellent.)
