November 2009

From CNN.com: Palin slams ‘sexist’ Newsweek cover

Palin took aim at Newsweek’s eye-catching cover this week that shows the former vice presidential candidate in her running outfit – an image that was apparently lifted from a Runner’s World photo shoot months ago.  Writing on her Facebook page Monday night, Palin said the depiction is flat out “sexist, and oh-so-expected.”

“The choice of photo for the cover of this week’s Newsweek is unfortunate. When it comes to Sarah Palin, this ‘news’ magazine has relished focusing on the irrelevant rather than the relevant,” Palin wrote. “The out-of-context Newsweek approach is sexist, and oh-so-expected by now.”

From AppleInsider.com: Microsoft official admits Windows 7 design inspired by Mac OS X

One of the things that people say an awful lot about the Apple Mac is that the OS is fantastic, that it’s very graphical and easy to use,” Aldous said. “What we’ve tried to do with Windows 7 — whether it’s traditional format or in a touch format — is create a Mac look and feel in terms of graphics.

Microsoft is just pitiful.  A company with the resources that Microsoft has should be pushing the envelope of computer design.  Instead, compared to Apple and Google, Microsoft is like the old GM, old and slow and unable to innovate.  GM’s profits and market share masked the problems the company was having, but the lack of innovative design caught up.

UPDATE:
From AppleInsider.com: Microsoft denies Apple had influence on Windows 7 design

On the official Windows Blog, Brandon LeBlanc said that the widely circulated quote was “inaccurate.” He flatly stated that the style of Windows 7 was not inspired by Mac OS X.

“Unfortunately this came from a Microsoft employee who was not involved in any aspect of designing Windows 7,” LeBlanc said. “I hate to say this about one of our own, but his comments were inaccurate and uninformed.”

Anyone can see Microsoft copies from Apple, from retail stores to Windows 7.  It’s a surprise that they even have an R&D department.

thrfeed.com: Twitter user ‘Shit My Dad Says’ gets CBS deal

Twitter sensation Shit My Dad Says is headed to television.

CBS has picked up a comedy project based on the Twitter account, which has enlisted more than 700,000 followers since launching in August and has made its creator, Justin Halpern, an Internet star.

You know you’re officially bankrupt of ideas when you’re signing deals with people who Twitter.  I guess making TV shows staring GEICO cavemen wasn’t the bottom of the idea barrel.

Shitmydadsays on Twitter is kind of an amusing read, but trying to expand the concept into a 30 minute sitcom just doesn’t seem like a great idea.

ESPN.com: Woods’ influence crossing generations

“Tiger’s China trip changed my daughter’s life,” said Feng Delin, 54, Cindy’s father. “Lots of kids from her generation took the path of golf all because Tiger came to China and introduced the game to the Chinese people.”

Interesting article about Tiger’s influence on one particular girl in China who’s now a golf prodigy in the United States.  How many people have the ability to inspire like Tiger Woods?

UPDATE: Another Tiger Woods in China article
ESPN.com: Woods’ appeal hasn’t fully hit China

Nike, one of Tiger’s biggest partners elsewhere, largely limits the use of his image to in-store promotions, whereas Kobe Bryant, another high-profile Nike athlete, is nearly ubiquitous in China, with China-specific campaigns.

“This will definitely change,” Paull said. “Golf is going through the fastest change of any sport in China right now. There were more golf courses completed in the last three years than the previous thirty years.

The Journey is the Reward Banner Pictures

I recently added a script that allows me to rotate the banner pictures on my blog.  Here’s a little information about each picture.

Lake Manapouri, New Zealand

Champs-Élysées, walking towards the Arc de Triomphe, Paris

From the Age.com.au: President’s half-brother makes novel debut

MAYBE it is the easy smile. Or perhaps the eyes, at once self-assured and searching. When Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo walks into the room, the similarities with President Barack Obama, with whom he shares a father, are quite unmistakeable if hard to pinpoint.

You can definitely see the family resemblance.

NYTimes.com: Iraq Swears by Bomb Detector U.S. Sees as Useless

The small hand-held wand, with a telescopic antenna on a swivel, is being used at hundreds of checkpoints in Iraq. But the device works “on the same principle as a Ouija board” — the power of suggestion — said a retired United States Air Force officer, Lt. Col. Hal Bidlack, who described the wand as nothing more than an explosives divining rod.

Still, the Iraqi government has purchased more than 1,500 of the devices, known as the ADE 651, at costs from $16,500 to $60,000 each. Nearly every police checkpoint, and many Iraqi military checkpoints, have one of the devices, which are now normally used in place of physical inspections of vehicles.
….
The Iraqis, however, believe passionately in them. “Whether it’s magic or scientific, what I care about is it detects bombs,” said Maj. Gen. Jehad al-Jabiri, head of the Ministry of the Interior’s General Directorate for Combating Explosives.

This is insanity.  I’m definitely in the wrong business.  Thinking of crap to sell to the Iraqis is what I should be doing.