Chick-fil-A
I just found out that the cows favorite restaurant chain is building a location just a few miles down the road from me. This is simply too exciting! How did I ever go through life without knowing about Chick-fil-A for so many years?
I am not quite sure, but in any case, I am really glad they are coming to St. Charles.
Highest Fuel Efficiency
Getting Organized
After years of letting my digital photo collection get out of control, I've spent today organizing it. I have a ways to go, but I've managed to at least bring some order to my 60,000+ photos. It feels great to see them in some semblance of order.
Turning to Chapter 11 of BP's Story
Matt Simmons on the future of BP:
They have about a month before they declare Chapter 11. They're going to run out of cash from lawsuits, cleanup and other expenses. One really smart thing that Obama did was about three weeks ago he forced BP CEO Tony Hayward to put in writing that BP would pay for every dollar of the cleanup. But there isn't enough money in the world to clean up the Gulf of Mexico. Once BP realizes the extent of this my guess is that they'll panic and go into Chapter 11.
I suspect he is right. I am not sure how BP can weather this short of entering bankruptcy protection. Of course, how its liabilities will ever be meted out in an equitable fashion is hard to say. Perhaps an organization ought to be formed to represent all the individuals as a class and seek to obtain a large ownership stake in BP's assets.
Given how the Obama administration (unfairly in my estimation) forced GM and Chrysler into specially packaged bankruptcies and handed off a large chunk of each to the union pension funds instead of the rightful preferred stock holders, I am puzzled that they haven't already jumped in here where such a handoff appears more conscionable. When a company severely damages the economies of numerous states, I'm not sure it should still be setting its own course.
Fire and Ice
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
-Robert Frost
Deceptively simple.
Last Minute Prediction
I think Netflix will be supported by the Apple TV and that the mysterious trackpad device that has been floating around this morning will be a potential way to interact with an iPhone OS driven Apple TV (that makes more sense than offering it as a competitor to the Magic Mouse).
Predictions for Tomorrow
Update: I have a longer story about AT&T and the iPhone HD up at OFB.
With Apple's big WWDC keynote tomorrow, I'll go ahead and throw out some predictions as usual. I think it is virtually assured we will hear of the next generation iPhone tomorrow, and I'm putting my money on “iPhone HD” for the name.
I am all but assured by those in the know that it will not be available for Verizon tomorrow, just AT&T. On the other hand, I believe that AT&T is moving up eligibility for its users — even for some or all who bought the iPhone 3GS last year — to upgrade to the new iPhone because a Verizon launch is coming relatively soon. I believe a Verizon launch early this autumn is likely and Ma Bell wants to get people tied into a long term commitment before rumors around Big Red's upcoming iPhone begin to appear too genuine.
What does extending customers out two years do for AT&T? It buys the teleco time to finish its LTE buildout. While LTE is the designated 4G upgrade from AT&T's present GSM/UTMS network, and not Verizon's CDMA2000 one, Verizon is still way ahead on launching LTE as it joins most of the rest of the world in following 3GPP.
While AT&T's 3G network has more life remaining in it, with its various HSPA upgrades still available, LTE will win if only by a marketing fiat. Don't misunderstand me — LTE is better than AT&T's HSPA network over the long term, but AT&T is right from a technical standpoint not to rush into LTE; not only are devices still not ready for it, but the capabilities for advances in its current network have not been exhausted yet. Put another way: the maximum abilities of HSPA exceed the minimum abilities of 4G technologies like LTE and WiMax. The current iPhone 3GS, with its HSDPA 7.2 support, can offer real world performance that is better than the reported speeds of Sprint's HTC Evo 4G, for example. But, consumer perception is that 4G is automatically better than 3G. Hence, AT&T needs to get as many enthusiasts locked in as possible while it awaits its own LTE network to light up about a year behind Verizon's.
I also think we'll see something else announced, especially since Jobs has promised not to disappoint people who have already seen his crown jewel thanks to the sleazy antics of Gizmodo. The next generation, cloud friendly Apple TV seems like a reasonable choice and could open the door to a prediction I made earlier this year. Such a relaunch might also make sense amidst a larger revision of MobileMe as a partially free service that is more tightly woven into Apple's iPhone OS devices much as Google's services are with Android phones. I think a reworking of MobileMe is almost mandatory if Apple is at all serious about cloud computing, given that for all of MobileMe's advantages, free services from Google, and competitively priced services from companies like Dropbox, best MobileMe in numerous areas.
Updated Mac Pros and Mac minis would also make sense, but I doubt they will get stage time. I think the main Mac mention of note, other than the requisite sales figures, will be some acknowledgement of Mac OS X 10.7, presented as something that is shaping up in exciting ways, but that will not be previewed until some future time. The key goal here will be to assure people that Apple has not forgotten about the Mac.
Cashing Checks with a Smartphone
If BankSimple gets off the ground, it could be rather interesting. This is especially intriguing, I think:
How do I deposit checks?
Take a photo of the check with your smart phone and send it to us with our app. Pretty simple, right?
Spicy Chicken Sandwich
Chick-fil-A has introduced its first new sandwich in about 20 years, apparently.
While I'd say it does not surpass the original Chick-fil-A sandwich, the new Spicy Chicken sandwich really is an excellent twist on the original. I was able to get one of the reservations the chain offered to preview one this past week and it had just the right amount of spice to give the sandwich character without having the heat overwhelm the mild but delightful Chick-fil-A flavor. Unlike some spicy chicken sandwiches, the additional spices complemented rather than changing the overall taste of the sandwich — a good thing in my book!
If you enjoy a little kick in your food, next time you are by a Chick-Fil-A, it would be worth trying out their new creation.
How is it...
How is it that no matter how many ways I try to arrange to search through notes that I jot down, I can still never find the one I want when I need it?
Hmm.
