CNN Censoring Broadcasts

Its kind of funny how a news report tends to upset people. I was watching AC 360 today on CNNj, which is Japan's broadcast arm of CNN. During the 11:00am hour broad cast there was a news report on Baby Gap clothing being made by child slave labor. Then during the 12:00 noon broadcast of the report, they put up a blackout screen saying that the broadcast was being blocked due to copyright issues about 30 seconds into the report.

What gives? Has CNN begun allowing censorship whole scale? Is there Japanese Government interference into the broadcasts and are they blocking other things. Or is this CNN just trying to protect businesses in other countries where they dont have the consumer laws we have in the US.

Either way, it is blatant censorship and really needs to be brought to light. I guess this is just one more thing which adds fuel to the fire of the conspiracy theory folks!

Where's the beef?

That is the question that people were asking Steve Jobs during WWDC this past summer. As an attendee of the popular developers conference, myself and about 5000 other folks were extremely disappointed when Steve choose to say, "You dont need a developers kit for the iPhone!"

This statement by the CEO of Apple, Inc. not only gave the entire conference a start, but made the phrase, "you could hear a pin drop", come to fruition. It was one of the most disappointing announcements in a conference which cost over $1300 USD just to become an attendee not to mention the other $1200 for hotel and flight to San Francisco.

Maybe we have come to expect too much of Apple, but then again, that does not explain the flip flop where Steve is now saying "you do need an SDK". Apparently, Apple is releasing an SDK which will be available sometime around the 1 February 2008 time frame. While I am sure there are those in the Apple community who are jumping for joy, this is one developer who is still miffed at the fact that Steve totally dissed all of the 5000 plus people who paid the $1300 USD per person just to get into WWDC 2007.

All I can say at this point is, "Way to go Steve!" But dont expect my money next year or the year after. I will save it for a new iPod or iMac or something substantial, rather than paying to have my hopes quashed again in San Francisco. Its no wonder, I had to leave my hear there, it got broken!

Don Imus to get 2nd Chance

I saw a report on CNN this morning that Don Imus was close to completing contract negotiations with ABC radio. Too many people think that he doesn't deserve a 2nd chance. Well is that is the case, then 90% of the American population would probably be isolated.

Not only did Don Imus apologize, but then Rev. Sharpton took it upon himself to call for the ouster of the popular radio host. It just makes me wonder, who made Mr. Sharpton the judge for all situations. Also does he really believe that he is so perfect that every thing he says is law?

Don Imus will get his chance, and there will always be those who don't like it. But in my book, I say that there should always be those who dont like it. It keeps the program going and provides talking points.

Marion Jones -- Sprinter, Steroid Baby!

This week, after all of the years of denial, Marion Jones finally admitted that she had used steroids. While she had maintained that she had never used even though her ex-huspand, Shot putter C.J. Hunter had tested positive and been suspended.

Now there is the possibility that others besides her will have to surrender hard earned medals thanks to her selfishness. Who knows what all those poor girls who were on relay teams with her in 2000 are thinking now.

Not only had Marion sued anyone who even hinted at her having used steroids. The fact that she screamed loudly when people pointed fingers must seem prophetic now. Each time she barely escaped, she would almost disappear from sprinting. But now she is back and very likely will be suspended for the 2 years that is normally given to cheats. I just pray for those others who have become entrapped by her. May the committees that govern track and field not take away from their performances.

Family in Space

Back in the early 1970's, Owen Garriott was a member of the NASA astronaut core and was one of the few men to spend time on the Sky Lab Space Station. While this fact may not seem like it is that important, it is when it comes to the next Space Tourist to the International Space Station.

Unfortunately, we all know Richard Garriott at Lord British, the creator of the Ultima series of adventure games. But, according to Space Adventures, Inc., Richard is due to go up on the next Soyuz launch for staff replacement at the Space Station.

This will be the first time that two people from the same family have spent time in space. It is coming around full circle for the garriott's and hopefully it will come full circle for many families in the future. But for now, we have to be happy for these two who will share an uncommon bond.

Hypocrites in U.S. Soccer

Last week, Greg Ryan, the coach of the U.S. womens world cup team, made probably the biggest bone-headed mistake in the history of the game. He replaced his goalie, Hope Solo, who had won every game to date, with Brianna Scurry who had not played a single minute in the entire tournament.

This change led to a 4-0 drubbing of the U.S. women at the hands of a team that had never won the world cup, Brazil. The fact that Brianna Scurry allowed the U.S. team to take the worst beating in the 22 year history of women's world cup soccer lens nothing to her credibility and legacy which should have ended in 2004.

Taking nothing away from Brazil's play, it is the decision of Greg Ryan which created one of the biggest maelstroms in sporting history. After the match, Hope Solo spoke with the media, criticizing both Ryan and Scurry's play. While this might seem out of place and according to some, unacceptable, people are quick to forget that Scurry did the same thing in 2004. However the reaction was very different.

Now the U.S. team has isolated Hope Solo and doesnt even want to ride home in the same airplane with her. This type of reaction shows the type of team mates she has. People who are not only pompous asses, but also very vindictive little witches. Instead of accepting Hope Solo's apology a day later, they choose to cast her out and treat her exactly like they would in Communist China.

It is embarrassing that the team from the country which exposes free speech and freedom of press, is more akin to a pack of out of control witch hunters and Stalinist types. Maybe she should have been taken out and executed. Maybe that would have placated these sniveling little girls.

I for one will not be watching the U.S. womens soccer team until the wrongs done in China are corrected. Yes, Hope threw her coach and her team mate under the bus. But they definitely deserved it. And the way her team mates reacted is nothing more than mob law and wholely unacceptable.

The Tasering of Free Speech

Today, Free Speech was once and for all killed in America. No longer can you question the leaders without actually being arrested and possibly being held down and tasered. But this is not something out of an Orwellian dream. It is real life.

A University of Florida journalism student, Andrew Meyer, asked former presidential candidate, John Kerry several questions before the mele began. When he asked Mr. Kerry a question that was a bit edgy, the forum staff cut the microphone and police tried to remove him.

In spite of there being four police involved in the arrest, they still had to hold him down and taser Mr. Meyer, inspite of the fact that the whole time, he was asking for help and asking on what grounds he was being removed. (Can you say Rodney King Beating all over again?).

While most people expected him to be simply handcuffed and removed, no one in the world was prepared for the scream that this man let out while being tasered and you can hear people in the video screaming to stop. All the while, Mr. Kerry is continuing on as if nothing is happening.

Several reports I have read on the incident have said that Mr. Meyer started a riot, but the only thing that I saw starting a riot was the over zealousness of four university police who will now have to answer for the actions. Obviously, the university will clear them of all wrong doing, but I am sure that when the ACLU gets their hands on this one, those police will no longer have jobs. And I am sure the University of Florida will be a few million dollars lighter in the budget for their programs.

If these ridiculous charges against Mr. Meyer are not dropped outright, expect a long drawn out lawsuit to pop up someday soon. I am sure the students who were there will also be protesting the squashing of a muslim student's first admendment rights in such a public way.

Disney Upset About Study at the UW

Robert Iger, CEO of Disney actually took the time to call the UW according to a report in the Seattle Times http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003835606_webdisney14.html to complain about a recent announcement about a study that the Baby DVD's such as Baby Einstein may not be all that they claim.

While this may be news to some, there have been studies that looked at child development among those kids under the age of 2 who watched TV. What the studies have found is that children who watch TV under age 2 tend to more likely to have problems with ADD at a later age.

Many news organizations have reported on current science events such as this, and doctors including the well respected Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN have looked into it. Dr. Gupta's report on the fact that the Baby DVD's dont help went into detail about what constitutes the problem associated with the TV watching. Many things happening on the screen at once tends to make childrens focus run all over the place so the learn to focus in short spurts. (classic ADD symptoms).

I guess Iger is afraid that the truth is finally going to come out and that he will loose all that money from the Baby Einstein DVD's. (Maybe he is just afraid of the truth or he is afraid of loosing his multi-hundred million dollar bonuses each year).

Irregardless of what Iger thinks, we should all be alarmed if we have small children watching these things. Get them outside and away from the TV!

Adventures in Driving -- Washington State

Over the past two months, I have made many trips in the Seattle area, racking up 9000 miles on my truck. While this may not seem like much, you can imagine with all of the craziness that occurs on a daily basis, this was quite frankly enough to actually make me not want to drive anymore.

During traffic jams, most people know that just staying in your lane and going straight will get you there much faster. However, with the influx of Californians over the past 20 years into the Seattle area, the driving habits have also come with them. Now you see people automatically start weaving from lane to lane and tail gating, not only endangering them selves but everyone around them.

You can also forget about merging. The other day, I was merging with a 12 foot trailer on the back of the truck and in most realms, people would let you in. Not these guys. Three cars passed me at as high of speed as they could must in 10 feet, with the last one even using the shoulder to actually stay ahead of me. He then made a universal sign of peeve. I thought to myself, what happened to all those driving school lectures which said, take a deep breath, take your time, and merge.

Now we not only have to put up with three accidents in two miles due to this type of overly aggressive behavior from drivers, but we also have to have people yelling obscenities and making obscene gestures in front of our children. And without the police cracking down on these behaviors, we will continue to have more and more accidents and definitely more grid lock.

Car Chases In America

Once again, the media has become enamored with the police high speed chase. Then there was the O.J. Simpson low speed chase. Now, once again, the chase is on in California. A woman is being chased at 45 miles per hour. And the police just follow. But what is the point? People get killed in these chases, yet CNN will broadcast 30 minutes of the chase.

Where will it end. After 30 minutes of stupidity on the part of CNN, I am sure there is something else that is making news today. But still the chase is going on and still CNN is repeating the same stupid questions to the supposed "Experts"

---Just a follow up here. The chase ended after 1 hour plus and without incident. Apparently the driver just ran out of gas.

The Apple iPhone -- Hype or Savior?

Over the past 6 months, everyone has been debating whether or not the iPhone will be the product which takes Apple into the next decade in profits. While Apple has been short on details, they have definitely been one of the down sides of the iPhone.

When Steve Jobs failed to announce a SDK for the iPhone, the silence in the auditorium definitely showed the extreme disappointment of the developers. While Apple may think that their announcement that developers could create applications for the iPhone through the browser, this was not enough for anyone in the room.

The iPhone is the leading edge in design and with that, most developers I know expected to be able to produce applications that could run on the same level as the base applications. This is particularly true for the game developers such as ID and EA, who Apple seems to be in bed with on the computer platforms but failed to give them anything that they can hold onto for a future with the iPhone.

But under the wraps is apparently the ability to produce Cocoa based applications for the iPhone. Although this was let out of the bag by a developer at Apple, Inc., nothing official has been seen and is likely not to be let loose until at least October with the release of their next OS release, code named Leopard.

So while every news organization has been following in the hype mode of Apple, little has been done to really put it out there beyond the fact that it is another cell phone. If that changes, the potential for the iPhone to actually take over the market of the PSP and other hand held game consoles.

Are we short changing our military

I was talking to my Sr. Partner the other day about what it was with the military and the fact that a Marine SGT with 2 kids qualifies for food stamps. How was this possible? But then there was an article on the internet about the fact that the water at Lejuene, North Carolina was contaminated, causing several ailments include cancer and birth defects among the children born at the base.

How was this possible that something like this contamination went undiscovered for many years affecting some 75,000 families? How is it possibile that many of our military bases have become dumping grounds for all sorts of chemical waste over the past 50 years without someone standing up and crying "Foul"?

We must first look at the fact that the military is a beurocracy all to its own. The only people allowed on the bases other than the families of the military men are the beurocrats themselves.

Is it possible that we also dont care enough about these young men and women who put their lives on the line voluntarily and perform heroic tasks everyday? We have abandoned our troops in a manner not unseen since Vietnam. To make it worse we sweep the lack of support under the carpet due to the popular lack of support for a war.

We have to support our troops with the money and the proper living situation otherwise, it wont be long when another country just attacks us and takes over, forcing us into their way of life rather than the way of life that our fore-fathers wanted for us.

A ride on the Washington State Ferry

One of the best kept secrets of Washington State has been its ferry systems. Going between points that are too far to drive or that cant be reached by any method other than boat or plane, the ferry is one of the best ways to get there.

Of course, there is the perverbial get in line and wait bit going on with it. I got in line going against the morning traffic and was on in about 15-20 minutes. It is then an hour to Bremerton. But the ferry ride cuts off about a half tank of gas in my truck and I can go all the way from Seattle to Shelton and back on a quarter tank of gas.

I decided that since I had my laptop with me that I would sign up for the Wi-Fi access on the ferry. While everything seemed ok at first, once I got about a quarter of the way into the trip, the access died. Iam not sure that this is normal but the cost also will be a thing that will deter people from using it.

*Monthly Unlimited Access Plan - $29.95 (1st month $14.95)
*Daily Access Plan - $6.95/day (24 hours)
*One Time Use Plan - $2.95/per 15 min ($.25 per min after)

Unless you are a daily traveler who has to be in contact at all times, I would not recommend this.

Once the connection died, I used my trusty bluetooth connection on my cell phone which got me through the rest of the trip. I am sure that while most people will not need this level of connection during the ferry ride, it was nice to know that it is there.

But the one thing that makes it all worth while is the view of the Olympic Mountains as you get closer to Bremerton. The view is breathtaking on a clear day and definately worth the trip.

Temporary marriages....but only in Iran

Check out this article about the latest idea in Iran:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070603/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_temporary_marriage

Its almost as if we have this already in America with the way the divorce rate has gone through the roof. Imagine if we had this kind of law here. Maybe then we could do away with Divorce almost totally.

Google offers Street er...streak views

Googles new "Street Views" apparently is offering users much more than they are bargaining for. The new zoom and street level view combination allows users to put themselves almost into peoples living rooms.

But the view apparently does not stop there. Between a street corner nose picker and the wild girls of summer at Stanford university, people are getting views that they could never have imagined.

Is this the beginning of the loss of privacy and the true "Enemy of the state" syndrome? Or is this just innocent fun for everyone? Only time will tell, but obviously it does need more research if people are showing their goodies to the world on a system open to everyone. (I can see the decency police on this one real fast).

Spam King Arrested

Todays news that the spam king of Seattle has been arrested, also brought hope that the level of spam in our mailboxes would be less. However, I would not get your hopes up too high yet. He is only one of the top ten.

Many of the spams on the Internet today originate in places outside the control of the US Government. So what makes them think that with all of the spam originating in China and Russia and other Eastern European countries, that the level of spam will decrease significantly with the arrest of just one operator. In a 12 hour period my spam box had over 2000 spams and it does not seem to be decreasing. Instead it is just the opposite.

So what can you do? Make sure that your ISP has spam blocking software. If they dont, insist that they get it. Most of them these days do implement some type of blocking software.

Turn on your junk email box. In Microsoft Entourage, this has the effect of catching some things that still get through but keep an eye on this as well as sometimes there are false positives.

If you are completely overwhelmed, you can do a White List, which will allow only those on the list to email you. Although a bit draconian in nature, it does work and is completely controllable.

Hammer Man on Google Maps

Google today announced that they will be having street level views of the google maps. So I thought I would check it out. But I found that my location in Seattle was not available with the new features. But what I did find is that the shadow of the famous "Hammer Man" at the Seattle Art Museum is viewable in the satellite photo of the corner of University and First Avenue in downtown Seattle.

There is even a bus turning on that corner in the satellite photo so you cant miss it when you are looking, but be sure to go down to the lowest viewable level in google maps.

Apple to produce sub-notebook

Apple Insider has reported that Apple, Inc. will produce a sub notebook much in the same style as the old 2400 series. Is this a return to the smaller laptop or is this jsut a ruse for Apple finally doing a real Tablet style laptop. Only time will tell but in the interim, you can check out the article and draw your own conclusion.

http://appleinsider.com/article.php?id=2500

Has Microsoft Finally Seen The Writing on The Wall?

Today, Microsoft stock got slammed after Steve Balmer said that original forecasts for Vista sales were outside reality. The article in the Seattle Times (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003574610_microsoft16.html) says that he doesnt think consumers are going to buy many PC's. But of course, for those of us who have been watching the long time Apple versus Microsoft battle, we already know that Microsoft has been playing catch up ever since Apple came out with OS X 10.4 And the Mac Intel machines.

I guess only time will tell is this is Microsoft's last hurrah or if this is just a temporary glitch in the software and PC markets.

URL's

Article: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003574610_microsoft16.html
Apple: http://www.apple.com
Microsoft: http://www.microsoft.com

Passenger Bill Of Rights

Once again, this topic has poked its head above the horizon. For too long now, passengers have had absolutely no rights once they are on an airliner. This has led to abuses in 1997 where passengers sat on the tarmac at minneapolis-st.paul for more than 12 hours and now once again at JFK and at Austin for more than eight hours.

Is this the way we wish to be treated as air travelers? I know from my own experiences, that once an airline staff says something, their word is taken over any one else as gospel whether they are in the wrong or not. And in situations where passengers are stuck in an airplane going nowhere, being told nothing, having no food, overflowing toilets, no medical care and in general, staff who are about as uncaring about the situation as anything, it is time to have change.

Here is a link to a much further reaction to this type of thing:
http://blogs.chron.com/lorensteffy/2007/02/passenger_bill.html

American Airlines has said that this type of thing is "an Overreaction" according to a report on CNN. But is it? If someone had died in this situation, I wonder what they would be saying then. And Jet Blue who was at the center of the controversy in these cases, have said that they want to "Serve their customers in their own way". Northwest, who was at the center of the 1997 controversy basically said the same thing and nothing was done. Now we have the situation happening again.

When is the government going to wake up and do something about the lousy way passengers are being treated? I say the time is now and if you care about this, call you legislator or senator and let them know to vote for the bill that is being introduced in both the House and the Senate.