Goodbye Bill Gates....Or so he says....

Over the years, we have all come to either love or hate Bill Gates. Much of the hate was based on the fact that he had managed to become the richest man in the universe in the life span of many of those around him. And now that he has come to the end of his time with Microsoft, the company the he and Paul Allen started in 1976, many are beginning to ask "What Next"?

Well, for starters, we will all have to put up with Steve Ballmer from now on. Not only is he more hated or loved by those around him, he doesn't seem to care about whether people love or hate him. The only person he really cares about is Steve Jobs, the man he most likely loathes more than the devil himself.

Then again, the love-hate relationship between Cupertino and Redmond has always been at the forefront of the technology world. Just look at the way in which Office Mac 2008 has been released. No fanfare, no applause, not even hardly a press release. Most of the mass media didn't even pick up on the release and unless you dug into Apple's web site, you wouldn't have even noticed it.

We did however, dig around and did find the new office product. And in true Apple-Microsoft tradition, there will be the lovers of the product and the haters because it is a Microsoft product running on the Apple. Oh but wait, Microsoft always has had a product that ran on Apple's ever since SoftCard CP/M and The Language Card for the Apple II series computers. Yet people still hate Microsoft and still for some unknown reason hate their products. But is it really Just Bill Gates that they hate? I am not sure but since Bill Gates says he is leaving, there might be hope for a truce. But then again with Steve Ballmer in the wings, probably not.

Do we say goodbye for good, or will he likely appear in almost every talk show on technology or become some goodwill ambassador in the way that Bono has done? Or will the two of them appear together almost everywhere you go? You can almost bet on it as they both are involved in philanthropy to the extreme and don't seem to be slowing down.

And if you don't believe that he is gone, just check out the following video and let me know if you still think he will have his hands in Microsoft after this one.

Is the tech bubble coming to an end?

Over the past few years, we have seen once again the rise of the enormous beast that is the Technology Stock Bubble. But as in 2001, we are beginning to see signs that all is not well in wonderland.

Over the past week, Google has lost two high profile executives. Not because they went somewhere else, but because they got out, got their money and ran. Now they dont have to work another day in their lives really.

Before that several other companies lost people to one thing or another. It seems that Google, Amazon, and Yahoo are no longer must have jobs. The job listings seem to get longer and the wait to get hired longer, so many people on the outside are looking elsewhere. But if the people on the inside are also looking elsewhere, it means that something must be coming that none of us can really fore see.

A downturn in the market one might ask? Well, the bubble has run 7 years from the last downturn when all of the stocks hit rock bottom. And with technology companies being worth as much or more than traditional manufacturing companies, it is time to look at the possibility that within the next year or so, we could be looking at 2000/2001 all over again.

While I am no expert in financial matters, I do know that when the rats start to leave the ship it must be sinking.

The Power of the pen (and the blog)

Over the years that I have written, I have never underestimated the power that the pen (and the computer) had over our lives and the lives of those around us. Once in a while, we need a reminder of that power and today I got one that I was rather surprised at.

Many have protested the war, many more have fought war and many more of us have sat on the sidelines not outwardly expressing our opinions. Having been a Marine Corps contractor, I have known many who have served our country, known at least one who gave his life for the country. They all served with the pride and the candor that made them marines. Not once, did I hear one of them complain that the war was a dis-service to them or hear them disrespect any part of the country.

It probably never occurs to the ordinary man what I am talking about when I say they served with candor. After reading Andy Olmsted's posthumous blog post, it became even clearer. For those who would like, you can find it at:

http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2008/01/andy-olmsted.html

The one common theme in hist blog post which brings it all home is his thought that he fought for his own reasons. Not someone elses. For those who don't understand that, well it would take me far too long to try and explain it, not that I would ever pretend I could but it just brings me back to my original point.

Remember what you write. And in remembering, be sure not to write that which might be construed as flame or hate. But always write in the true spirit of journalism of telling and exposing the truth to the world. (And if you cant tell the truth, lie humourously and make people happy.)

Longevity in Sports and the Toll

I reached my 43rd birthday this last August, 1 week into my 2007 football season. Not as a coach but as a player. Most of the guys I played against in the 1990's are gone. There is only one player in the league that even remembers the 1991 JPFF Spring Tournament who is still playing besides myself.

One might ask, how does one keep playing or better yet, why? and why do I mention myself and those who I played against or with. For starters, I have been blessed enough with the longevity and health with which I continue to play. As to the issues associated with such longevity, I only started thinking about this them when I was feeling bothered by the fact that I was out of the game I loved from 2001 to 2005. It was a game and a sport that I had given my heart and soul to (don't take this bit the wrong way. The man upstairs still has control over my soul). While we play because we love the game, the professionals do not. They are paid entertainers. Notice that I did not say highly paid entertainers, in spite of the fact that many are. Most players do not have the high multi-million dollar contracts. they play for the league minimums or less if they are on the practice squads.

And while there have been several NFL players have been in their forties when they retired, most have been in their twenties and thirties. Unfortunately the toll the older players paid has been great. Reggie white retired at age 42 and was dead at age 43. Lyle Alzado tried to come back at age 41 but was dead at age 42 from brain cancer. There have been others who died in their forties including the great Walter Payton at age 45. Kenny Easly of the Seattle Seahawks had to retire because of a sudden onset of a kidney ailment at the prime of his career. And it does not seem to get any better.

Is their a reason for this and the other debilitating injuries suffered by those who play the game of football or other hard physical sports? One might say that the constant banging would do it, but then how do you explain those who live out their lives to a ripe old age and die of natural causes? And the problems are not limited to Football but are certainly much more in the limelight due to the high profile of football in the U.S..

There could be several explanations for the problems including depression when the player retires, dementia caused by brain damage from the pounding, or even the possibility that the players were more debilitated by the issue of drugs in sport, particularly HGH and Steroids. Also if each hit is the equivalent to a 60 MPH car crash, well, it has been proven that high speed car crashes can take years off a person's life span.

But while we want to blame something, the sports which benefit greatly from the contributions of these players, give little to nothing to the research and care of those players issues. Finally in 2007, in an effort led by the Chicago Bear's great coach of the 1980's, Mike Ditka, there is some money flowing to the care of former players. But this is just a drop in the barrel when it is compared to the billions in profits that the teams and team owner have made from these players.

If more is not done to research why these players from all hard physical sports are having the issues and dying as young as many of them are, we will wind up with hundreds and thousands of these players in the future who will be no better off than the disabled veterans who live on the street. We are only remembering them in the past few years with the aid they need and we need to start taking a more serious approach towards this issue.

Perfection in the world of sports

The title Perfect only comes along every so often so when it happens, you have to savor the moment, and congratulate the group that has accomplished that perfection. And then we come to the NFL.

The 2007 version of the New England Patriots has accomplished what only one other team has done. They have gone through the entire regular season without losing. Of course, the 1972 Miami Dolphins went on to win the Super Bowl. What will this group do has yet to have been seen. Will they go on and will the hallowed Lombardi Trophy or will they falter in their quest to become the ultimate in perfection. Only the next month in time will tell us the answer to this question.

At 16-0, the Patriots have more than become the best of the regular season. They are the only team to win every game since its expansion of teams and games. But did they do it legitimately or was there something in their bag of tricks which was not legal according to the rules of the game?

Who knows for sure, but of course, this season will not be without those will will say that they have been spying on all the other teams. The Spy Gate scandal which started the season off in a negative effect will have lingering words to be written about what really happened. Was it real or was it just a ploy to rowl up people and the rhetoric that surrounds NFL games and teams on a weekly basis.

Who knows but for the sake of the New Englad Patriots, I sincerely hope they do win it all because if they dont, they will become the best team that never won the Super Bowl.

Burger King Returns To japan

I guess I missed the memo or something because I just discovered that Burger King, the company that was nearly bankrupted by their venture in Japan, have once again returned to Japan but in a much smaller capacity.

Their new web site at http://www.burgerkingjapan.co.jp shows 5 locations instead of the 190 some that they opened back in the 1990's here. The one great thing about them was there actually was a location at my local station but the thing that killed them in the first go around besides over extending themselves was their prices. In a country where the Big Mac is 260 yen, no one is willing to pay 380 yen for a whopper, much less 390 yen for the new version. Prices are everything here and it appears that they just cant get them down.

But now with the smaller operation, hopefully they will last longer than the eight to ten months that they lasted the first time. I know that I will head into Ikebukuro tomorrow to test them out and get my beloved double whopper.

A time for everything

I recently found out that a long time friend is dying of cancer. Unfortunately, this struck close to home as my own father died of cancer 3 years ago and his girlfriend died the year before that and his sister the year before that. This is something that strikes so many people that you would think that more efforts would be made to find a way to cure cancer.

Unfortunately, the common theme among cancer patients is that the doctors all recommend radical radiation therapy. However, the side effects of this sometimes can be even more devastating than the disease itself. In my father's case, he would be down and out for three to five days after each session. It was enough to make him not want to do it any more.

There has to be a better way than radiating oneself to the point of being dead. One friend of mine had decent results with herbal remedies and is still living after 9 years with the disease. But I am sure that this is not a catch all for cancer curing. But there needs to be more research into the herbal and the chemical cures. One can only hope that it is in time to save more families loved ones and friends.

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.