Life On the Wicked Stage: Act 2

Microsoft’s First Seinfeld Commercial: Huh?

Call me crazy. Maybe call me tired. I just don’t get this.

Technorati Tags: Jerry Seinfeld,Microsoft,Bill Gates

Apple Has Become Microsoft: Downgrading iTunes Supposedly Fixes Apps Crashing

Ok, this is getting a bit nuts, and of course who really knows what is true. Supposedly, If you do the Microsoft downgrade to XP routine with Apple’s iTunes and roll it back to version 7.7 it will fix the app crashing syndrome.

This after reports that the latest update is still causing some to have issues, and a promise of another update next month.I’m still having issues after the latest 2.0.2 update, including an echo with a BlueTooth headset that didn’t exist before.

via Ars Technica

Technorati Tags: iTunes,iPod 3G,Apple

Sunday Morning Reading

Some Sunday morning reading to share.

Is Jon Stewart the most trusted man in America?  The New York Times asks that question. What does that really say? Not sure. Maybe we've reached the point where we just don't take life too seriously anymore, or, we are just too aware of the big game not to laugh at the players.

Will Google’s Android end up on more than phones? I’m guessing yes.

Not sure Obama scored any points last night when answering the question about abortion and when a baby gets human rights by saying it was above his pay grade. Silly answer and too cute. He only offended his supporters and not his detractors with that kind of answer. 

A North Texas school district will allow teachers to carry guns. I’m guessing small remote controlled electrocution devices attached to desks will be next.

Frank Rich says we don’t really know McCain. Bull. We know him too well. It is McCain who doesn’t know who he is and his own confusion helps to obscure the facts.

Russia has exposed the US as a paper tiger with its efforts in Georgia and it is sad and a bit terrifying to watch us posture like we can actually do something about it. We’ve had our balls cut off here but are pretending we’ve still got some swagger.

There might actually be some charges against some Blackwater guards. They’ll probably get a slap on the wrist. Why isn’t this a bigger issue?

Bigfoot was all over the news this week. Is it a hoax? Is it an industry in the making? Is it the real deal? No one knows. Sure is fun though.

The gapingvoid takes on the three C’s: Changers, Contributors, and Coasters.

ComputerWorld says that Dell and Intel are bypassing Microsoft to give users what they want. Didn't Asus start this?

Sunday Morning Reading

Some Sunday morning reading to share.

Wired wonders, Has Apple bitten off more than it can chew? Methinks it might have, but only in the inevitable sense that getting bigger and attracting more users to more products has the same effect as gravity.

The New York Times wonders about the differences between reading online and reading a book. Declining reading scores? Linear attention in a non-linear world? Cognitive enrichment? Loss of print subscribers? Fascinating discussion. I’m reading this article on an iPod Touch.

Last week Scoble told us why tech blogging has failed us and promised to blog  more about things that are practical and useful and less about business.This week he’s offering condoms to protect against Silicon Valley Disease.

Steve Gillmor on what’s coming. He’s always writing about what’s coming, usually before anyone else knows it’s coming. Fake Steve Gillmor is trying hard but parodying himself more than the original.

Frank Rich on How Obama became acting president. He leaves out the part where our current lame duck forgot how to waddle, much less lead.

Islamist militants threaten the Olympics with suicide bombers and bio weapons. They’re pissed because suicide bombing was not allowed as a medal sport this year.

Michael Parekh on Art Like Twitter and history repeating. Watch the video. Yes.

Sunday Morning Reading

In the wake of the Microsoft-Yahoo no go, (at least at the moment) The NY Times says the computer industry comes with built-in term limits and it is tough for companies to survive the Single-Era Conjecture. The article says Microsoft is fighting among other things, Mother Nature on this. I don't think it has as much to do with Mother Nature as just human nature.

A Man with incredible memory. He can essentially remember everything that happened on every day in his life. It's called hyperthymestic syndrome.

Anyone else notice that the Clinton Campaign has dropped off the face of the map towards the end of the week?

The Republicans are falling all over themselves to try and find some answers to their problems before its too late. Unfortunately, this crew won't.

Is Everything a Fad? Loren Heiny has interesting thoughts on this.

Michael Medved should go back to film criticism. Actually, strike that. He's pretty lousy at that as well. His latest attempts at being cultural czar prove that he's a complete loon. Catch this. Since African Americans were brought here against their will they don't have the same risk-taking encoded in their DNA that those who arrived here as willful immigrants do.

A Montana teenager was the sole senior to graduate from his class. Did he have a prom?

Prince Charles gives us 18 months to fix climate change before a disaster strikes. Better stock up.

Some gas pumps can't turn over to $4.00 a gallon, forcing some dealers to either invest or close up shop.

Is The Copyright Royalty Board unconstitutional?

Rush Limbaugh had a great goof up this week. He used a 10th grader's essay that he found on Google to attack the liberal view of the Great Depression. Didn't realize it was by a 10th grader. Didn't matter.

Ballmer as Hamlet?

Kara Swisher sounds like she's loving the classics in her post about the ongoing sturm and drang between Microsoft and Yahoo. She pulls out references to Hamlet, (Steve Ballmer as Hamlet? The zaniness fits.), Scylia, Charybdis, and Odysseus.

She may be right, but even with her explanation I'm thinking this more Damon Runyon like with a chorus of gangsters singing Luck Be  A Lady Tonight, and Ballmer as Big Jule.

Latest reports have some sort of decision happening today after the market's close.

Sunday Morning Reading

Some Sunday morning reading to share.

The Presidential Follies keep getting sillier with all of this talk about elitism and calls for Obama to apologize. If he does, he loses my support. I like it when a politician speaks the truth, even if it will cost him votes, and even if he could have phrased it better. This is a non-issue that the media is using to justify their own importance. Nothing more, nothing less. Oh, and the elitists on all sides are happy to help.

Why China is the Real Master of the Universe. Ah, history.

Simplicity Sells to the older set when it comes to gadgets and high-tech. Heck Simplicity sells to every set.

Gartner analysts prove they can summarize a gazillion blog posts about Vista and claim it is collapsing in on itself. Wow. I guess when you're an analyst you can do that. Yeah, it is bloated and no where near what anyone hoped it would be. But that is such old news I'm amazed it is still getting headlines.

Reducing Back to Art. Ethan Kaplan looks at piracy and value in the era of digital insanity.

Alberto Gonzales can't get a law firm to give him a name on the letterhead. Anyone surprised?

Death by Oboe. How acoustic instruments torment their players.

Eric Rice on "How can I stop being called a 'blogger.'" Everything eventually loses its meaning.

Twitter is Like Sex. No wonder it is so messy.

Nvidia CEO Brings Out The 'Whoop Ass'

If this wasn't about serious issues and serious money it would be hysterical. Wait a minute. Never mind. It is hysterical. In ongoing war between Nvidia and Intel over the Integrated Graphics market, Nvidia's CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang decided to get down and dirty and said, "We're going to open a can of whoop ass" before proceeding to jump all over many of Intel's claims. You have to also love this line that apparently came later in the diatribe: "How much faster can you render the blue screen of death?"

Oh, my.

Via DailyTech

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Intel,Nvidia,Whoop Ass

Sunday Morning Reading

Some Sunday morning reading to share.

The New York Times is talking about the class action suit against Microsoft for the Vista Capable designation.

A Blog House not a BlogHaus in Washington DC. The New York Times reports on a group of bloggers sharing diggs. What's next, Twitter dens?

Bill Maher says politicians should stop saying "Americans are smarter than that." Go, read the rest of the quote. I couldn't agree more. Via Crooks and Liars.

Michael Parekh On The State of Online Video. As usual, Michael is spot on.

Cringely on Antisocial. From CB radios to Social Networking. Destined to crash and burn?

Steve Gillmor on The Power of Choice.

Bernard Lunn on Local 2.0. So is re-localization a trend?

The next war. Chinese Hackers brag about cracking the Pentagon.

Building new theatres is a trend. DC certainly has been seeing this recently. But it takes boosters, a community, and dollars. Trust me I know. Without those things, it is an uphill battle. Even so there are trade offs. Good article in The New York Times.

Loren Heiny on The MID Wars. Coming on the heels of Apple's announcements this week, there's some interesting discussion going on. I weighed in here.

Dave Winer thinks Obama should name his VP now and that it should be Jim Webb. I still say Sam Nunn.

You know the economy is in the crapper when Vegas is seeing a slide.

Sunday Morning Reading

Some Sunday morning reading to share.

I'm enjoying the Presidential Follies quite a bit. I've been saying that Hillary Clinton could never win the White House long before things heated up for one simple reason. She doesn't connect with many voters. David Broder in the Washington Post is now saying the same thing in Clinton's Flaw: A Failure to Connect.

Meanwhile, Obama looks like he's pulling out all the stops for the primaries on Tuesday. According to the NY Times he's upped his spending in Texas and Ohio to try and throw the knock out punch.

Frank Rich on looking at the fine print on John McCain. The Republicans already have and are waiting for 2012.

Nick Carr (and others) are saying Microsoft is going to finally unveil its web strategy this week. TechCrunch thinks we might see an offline version of Silverlight. I just hope we see something other than announcements.

The cost of everything is going up. Now it is pizza and beer.

New Jersey joins the club of states with a law forbidding text messaging and phone calling while driving. I still ask this question. Why does their need to be a new law for this? Isn't it considered simply reckless driving?

The New York Times on denouncing and rejection.

Doc Searls on No Country for Old Men.

Colin Walker's thoughts on the role of Bloggers.