A Serbian woman has been jailed for 18 months for marrying a dead man.
Turns out that she just wanted his money. But I think my headline was funnier.
RTO Gets Serious: October 1
2 years ago
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Wednesday, February 9, 2005
Thursday, February 3, 2005
State of the Union Speech
A-
It was much better than the speech he gave last year.
He had a lower number of points that he covered, which allowed him to go further in depth on each of them. Last years call for a ban on steroids in pro sports was just lame when you are still in the middle of a war.
He looked confident when he entered the chamber and started with a great reference to Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Ukraine. There was more speech and less applause than last year's, which I actually enjoyed.
He still pronounced it "nucular". But, what are you going to do?
At one point I think he was singing the "Social Security Boos". Buy his argument was a decent place for him to start selling his plan.
The call for more DNA evidence and better trained defense lawyers brought everyone back into the fold.
Was it me, or was he calling for a velvet revolution in Iran?
Obviously, the most powerful parts related to Safia Taleb al-Suhail. Bobby Jindal was there, purple
finger in the air. The hug that she and Byron Norwood's mother shared nearly brought me to tears.
I thought his ending was excellent. IT was powerful, direct, and inspiring.
It was much better than the speech he gave last year.
He had a lower number of points that he covered, which allowed him to go further in depth on each of them. Last years call for a ban on steroids in pro sports was just lame when you are still in the middle of a war.
He looked confident when he entered the chamber and started with a great reference to Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Ukraine. There was more speech and less applause than last year's, which I actually enjoyed.
He still pronounced it "nucular". But, what are you going to do?
At one point I think he was singing the "Social Security Boos". Buy his argument was a decent place for him to start selling his plan.
The call for more DNA evidence and better trained defense lawyers brought everyone back into the fold.
Was it me, or was he calling for a velvet revolution in Iran?
Obviously, the most powerful parts related to Safia Taleb al-Suhail. Bobby Jindal was there, purple
finger in the air. The hug that she and Byron Norwood's mother shared nearly brought me to tears.
I thought his ending was excellent. IT was powerful, direct, and inspiring.
Monday, January 31, 2005
Random thought of the day
When you're 8 years old, one of the worst things that can happen to you is to get cooties from a girl.
By the time your 80, you're probably pretty happy to get cooties for someone. At least it would mean
that you're still getting some.*
* By some I mean sex.
By the time your 80, you're probably pretty happy to get cooties for someone. At least it would mean
that you're still getting some.*
* By some I mean sex.
Friday, January 21, 2005
Global Warming My Ass
It's -11 in Burlington, VT today.
Any colder, and Al Gore would be holding a press conference berating the President on not signing the Kyoto Treaty.
Then again, I am suprised we haven't heard John Kerry demand that Bush "get tough" with Canada for sending us their cold air.
I invite any Global Warming activist to come up here and get me some Dunkin Donuts coffee in their underware. It's easy to be a hippy when you are warm and in your house.
Any colder, and Al Gore would be holding a press conference berating the President on not signing the Kyoto Treaty.
Then again, I am suprised we haven't heard John Kerry demand that Bush "get tough" with Canada for sending us their cold air.
I invite any Global Warming activist to come up here and get me some Dunkin Donuts coffee in their underware. It's easy to be a hippy when you are warm and in your house.
Monday, January 17, 2005
Why Apple is good for America
I'll be upfront. I don't own a MAC. Used them before, sure. But I don't own one and I don't plan to in the next 5 years (or how ever long before my Dell decided to die). I have never used an Ipod. Seen it. Heard lots about it. Even seen the commercials. But I've never used and Ipod.
But I think Apple is great for America, and here is why.
It's about capitalism, free markets, and competition.
If there has been one thing Apple has done poorly with over the last 20 years, it has been its ability to market itself to the population as a whole. The Mac OS is stable, easy to use, and visually attractive.
So attractive that Microsoft decided to rip much of it off and sell as its own invention.
Mac users are a strange, cult like bunch. Many tell me that they will never go back to the digital slavery that Bill Gates commands.
So, why would I ever switch from a PC to a Mac? That is the question that I ask. And I have found no answer. What is worse is that in all my years of television commercial watching, Apple has never given me an answer either.
The vast majority of Americans over the age of 30 first got to know computers from their work place.
Those of us under 30 may remember using the Apple IIE in the classroom. But wholesale everyday use of the desktop computer was mostly a business affair because of the prohibitive costs involved. It took about 10 years for that transition from work related PC use to home use take become a necessity. The evolution of the Internet to bring mindboggling amounts of pornography to your home computer had much to do with that. And in that time, a large portion of America became entrenched in MS product usage. There was no need for PC users to buy a home computer than wasn't compatible with what they were using at work and there was even less a desire to learn how to use a new operating system. Especially one whose major selling point was better visual graphics/visual editing.
And outside of the Mac OS, Apple had never been able to bring in newer technology/products that would give anyone the need to take more interest in the company's technological advances.
Until the IPod.
When marketing a product to a potential client base, the most important thing is to show the customer why they need to have your merchandise. The goal is to establish a beachhead in the customers' minds as the importance of your product to their everyday lives. And just as having 10 years of PC work related experience gave home users a reason to buy a PC for their home, by Apple making the IPod a personally important product to have, they will give people a reason to look at their Mac OS as a viable home computer option.
The introduction of the MiniMac is another step forward for Apple in breaching the wall Microsoft has built for itself around the consumers?buying habits. By making a computer that already fits all of the peripherals (monitor, keyboard, mouse) that the consumer already has, it makes it easier for people to just try the Mac platform. And being just $499, it is priced at such a point that some people will buy it just to give it a chance.
All of this goes back to one of the main pillars of capitalism and open markets: competition.
Competition leads to innovation. But when the MS platform is run on over 75% of all of the computers in the world, there isn't much need to make better and more stable products. By combining humans' love for music (IPod) with a viable and competitively priced product for home/work usage (Mac), Apple is finally looking to give people a viable alternative to Microsoft based products. If Apple can continue to incorporate their products with open standards technology (tech that is OS platform neutral) it should be able to continue its slow erosion of the MS Empire on our daily lives. And in the end, if that happens, MS will be forced to make better and more stable products. Everyone wins.
Who knows, maybe someday I'll own a Mac. But until that happens, I will continue to root for the underdog. It can only make the PC better, and that is great for America.
Update: I was just rereading the MiniMac page. I want one. Bad. IPod too. Accepting
donations...
But I think Apple is great for America, and here is why.
It's about capitalism, free markets, and competition.
If there has been one thing Apple has done poorly with over the last 20 years, it has been its ability to market itself to the population as a whole. The Mac OS is stable, easy to use, and visually attractive.
So attractive that Microsoft decided to rip much of it off and sell as its own invention.
Mac users are a strange, cult like bunch. Many tell me that they will never go back to the digital slavery that Bill Gates commands.
So, why would I ever switch from a PC to a Mac? That is the question that I ask. And I have found no answer. What is worse is that in all my years of television commercial watching, Apple has never given me an answer either.
The vast majority of Americans over the age of 30 first got to know computers from their work place.
Those of us under 30 may remember using the Apple IIE in the classroom. But wholesale everyday use of the desktop computer was mostly a business affair because of the prohibitive costs involved. It took about 10 years for that transition from work related PC use to home use take become a necessity. The evolution of the Internet to bring mindboggling amounts of pornography to your home computer had much to do with that. And in that time, a large portion of America became entrenched in MS product usage. There was no need for PC users to buy a home computer than wasn't compatible with what they were using at work and there was even less a desire to learn how to use a new operating system. Especially one whose major selling point was better visual graphics/visual editing.
And outside of the Mac OS, Apple had never been able to bring in newer technology/products that would give anyone the need to take more interest in the company's technological advances.
Until the IPod.
When marketing a product to a potential client base, the most important thing is to show the customer why they need to have your merchandise. The goal is to establish a beachhead in the customers' minds as the importance of your product to their everyday lives. And just as having 10 years of PC work related experience gave home users a reason to buy a PC for their home, by Apple making the IPod a personally important product to have, they will give people a reason to look at their Mac OS as a viable home computer option.
The introduction of the MiniMac is another step forward for Apple in breaching the wall Microsoft has built for itself around the consumers?buying habits. By making a computer that already fits all of the peripherals (monitor, keyboard, mouse) that the consumer already has, it makes it easier for people to just try the Mac platform. And being just $499, it is priced at such a point that some people will buy it just to give it a chance.
All of this goes back to one of the main pillars of capitalism and open markets: competition.
Competition leads to innovation. But when the MS platform is run on over 75% of all of the computers in the world, there isn't much need to make better and more stable products. By combining humans' love for music (IPod) with a viable and competitively priced product for home/work usage (Mac), Apple is finally looking to give people a viable alternative to Microsoft based products. If Apple can continue to incorporate their products with open standards technology (tech that is OS platform neutral) it should be able to continue its slow erosion of the MS Empire on our daily lives. And in the end, if that happens, MS will be forced to make better and more stable products. Everyone wins.
Who knows, maybe someday I'll own a Mac. But until that happens, I will continue to root for the underdog. It can only make the PC better, and that is great for America.
Update: I was just rereading the MiniMac page. I want one. Bad. IPod too. Accepting
donations...
Friday, December 24, 2004
I Still Love You Mr. K.
Do you know which letter of the alphabet is the bastard step child of them all?
The Letter K.
Do you love America? How about when you spell it AmeriKa?
How about Korn for dinner?
How about OutKast?
For some reason, taking a perfectly good word and spelling it with a k instead of a c makes you seem like some counter culture hipster.
I think it all started with those dumb bastards in the Klu Klux Klan. Hey, dipshits, the first step in gaining a popular following is the ability to spell. Dan Quayle learned that the hard way...
So, be brave Little Letter K. I still love you.
The Letter K.
Do you love America? How about when you spell it AmeriKa?
How about Korn for dinner?
How about OutKast?
For some reason, taking a perfectly good word and spelling it with a k instead of a c makes you seem like some counter culture hipster.
I think it all started with those dumb bastards in the Klu Klux Klan. Hey, dipshits, the first step in gaining a popular following is the ability to spell. Dan Quayle learned that the hard way...
So, be brave Little Letter K. I still love you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
