Here and There

When, in late 2000, it started to become apparent that an entire nation was turning logic and decency on their heads and was about to install George W. Bush as its president, I trembled not for any short-term damage he would do to this nation and its standing in the world. Of course I never would’ve dared to predict the devastation of the World Trade Center/Pentagon attacks. I did have a hint of war with Iraq, when, in a presidential debate with Al Gore, candidate Bush cited Saddam Hussein as the first threat to the U.S. What?

But it’s the long-term damage that truly saddens me. There’s the possibly irreversible damage done to the environment by tree-huggers-be-damned business deals the administration has fostered, in secret, of course.

Then there are rulings handing down by the Supreme Court, which Bush has managed to solidly pack with right-wing judges bent on turning the clock back on history. One today effectively rides the Way Back Machine to a time before desegregated schools, making all sorts of legalish justifications for denying schools the right to racially balance themselves and provide minority children more of an equal opportunity to education.

I am further saddened to be an American today.

Why is it I can’t find a cellphone (yes, one word) that will continue to tell you the time while you’re talking on it?

Yes, that’s a question. Please, answer if you can.

And from the looks of it, I will be proven thusly.

The one and only.

Where I come from, soda is called Coke. Doesn’t matter if it’s Dr Pepper (all good copy editors know there’s no period after Dr), 7UP, Pepsi (god forbid), or whatever. If it fizzes, chances are you can refer to it generically as Coke.

Some call it pop. Some soda, some soft drinks.

More to the point of the post. I got into a discussion the other day with a friend about our respective favored delivery form/method for soda. I suggested that, given that the carbonation-to-syrup ratio was right, fountain is the best. She immediately interrupted to say, “But, how often is the mix perfect? You ask too much.” Touché. She went on to posit her preferences, and then it was my turn. In descending order:

1) fountain
2) can
3) glass bottle

We all have our preferences. Feel free to share yours or comment on mine.

* The lack of mention of plastic is intentional. That abomination lies in the same cess pool of consumer products as tropical Sweet Tarts and rainbow Nerds.

Why doesn’t the U.S. Postal Service’s website have a mailbox locator function? Wouldn’t that be nice?

I know I’m not telling too many people something they didn’t already know, but many (if not most) American newspaper mastheads were designed by one person. His name is Jim Parkinson. And his work is phenomenal.

I logged into MySpace today and noted the presence of Christopher Dodd as a “Cool New” person.

Chris Dodd?

Okay, seriously, the following is a list of people who need to clear the way for the big guns.

On the Republican side:
Sam Brownback
Jim Gilmore
Duncan Hunter
Ron Paul
Tom Tancredo
Tommy Thompson

and as for Democrats, the equally anonymous:
Joe Biden
Chris Dodd
Mike Gravel
Dennis Kucinich

Don’t get me wrong. The fact that there are so many in the running is healthy for democracy and all that crap. But let’s be realistic too. These people have ZERO chance of getting their party’s nomination. So do us and your future financial situations a favor and stop. Today.

UPDATE: several new features of iPhone announced (humor) …

Apple stock shot up close to 5 percent last week on the company’s announcement that their eagerly awaited cell phone/portable web browser’s battery will last for up to 8 hours of talk time. Upon hearing this news, it became somewhat apparent to me that the whole iPhone craze may be a lot of hot air.

I started thinking about things. Right away, at the first official announcement of the device back in January, I saw that, like most Apple products, the iPhone was expensive. Sure, you get a lot of bang for your buck, but still, if you want to establish yourself in a new market niche, entry should be easier.

I was also less-than-impressed by the limited storage capacity. The iPhone, at its public debut this Friday, will be sold in 4GB or 8GB models. Now, I know there are mechanical and technological limits to how big or small something can be and how much storage and power it can have, but I’m used to at least a 30GB iPod, and scaling back to even 8GB while also getting more features seems, well, odd. Maybe over time, iPhone will grow in its storage capacity.

Part of last Monday’s announcement was that, in addition to 8 hours of talk time battery life, the devices would give users up to 24 hours of music play time. That’s really awesome. How about carrying that capacity over to the iPod?

Okay, back to iPhone “bashing.”

Another thing that struck me personally was the fact that I don’t need the damned thing. I know, not exactly a factor of whether I will get one or not, and even less an issue for most consumers. But, yeah.

Then there’s the fact that Apple has limited service for the phone to AT&T. For the millions of us not already signed up with Ma Bell, a switch (in addition to not knowing what plans will be offered) could be a hindrance. Again, time may bear out more providers, which would be smart for all parties. But I don’t want to switch providers for the newest fetish object.

The last thing I want to mention is the interface. When I watched the iPhone demo at MacWorld back in January, I was impressed with and curious about the touch-screen functionality of the product. I thought the touch keys may be a little clunky and take getting used to, but then I realized, what revolutionary products (or ideas for that matter) doesn’t take a little bit of “owning”?

Then a good friend told me something that still makes me laugh. “What do you think of the iPhone?” I asked. “It looks like a microwave,” she said. Ha ha.

I would love to be proved wrong. After all, according to a recent New York Times article, “Most analysts believe that Apple will easily exceed its initial goal of selling 10 million phones by the end of next year.”

I do wish the iPhone well. I’m just skeptical it will do quite as well as many are anticipating. And I guess I just wanted to go on record as being not a naysayer, but a skeptic. Healthy skepticism, methinks.

I respectfully disagree with a new study that reportedly shows that first-born children tend to be smarter than their younger siblings.

Well, not yet. Not officially. But New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg today announced he is leaving the Republican Party, the expected first step toward a run for president. He is now a registered independent. Now there’s a party I can trust.

I seriously had to do a double take when I read this story today, about the Vatican’s new rules for how God wants us to drive our cars.

I’ve watched it being built, and drooled with envy. I’ve been one of those San Francisco residents who, upon the structure’s completion, wondered whether the construction was still under way. I’ve got into jocular spats about the beauty/shortcomings/simplicity/god-awfulness of the building. I’ve come to see it as one potential iteration of the future of architecture, based solely on its aesthetics.

But after visiting the structure just other day and taking some photos of the exterior (the building won’t be open to the public until July 7). I needed more. Also, I was deployed by a friend (yes, a nay-sayer) to find out why the federal building is what it is. She was faux indignant.

So I started poking around. The architect’s website … not too helpful.

From the Pritzker Prize website:

the project has developed around three primary objectives: to create a new urban touchstone for San Francisco that serves and enhances the community; to radically redefine the culture of the workplace and provide a model environment with respect to health, productivity and creativity; and to establish a new benchmark for building design through the intelligent use of natural resources.

And this:

Following from a critical reinvention of traditional office planning, open work areas are located at the building perimeter and private offices and conference spaces at the center cores. Corner offices have been eliminated, radically inverting traditional hierarchies and democratizing access to operable windows, natural lighting and ventilation. Views to the city are afforded from 90% of the workstations.

So there you have it. There is rhyme to the reason. I’ll have to report back once I am able to view the interior, and do hope to get more information on why the outside looks exactly like it does, other than mere frivolity.

I’m still news-shocked about this. The Bay Area’s CBS 5 confirmed reports that the U.S. military sought a non-lethal bomb that would turn enemy troops into homosexuals who would be so consumed with desire for one another, they’d put down their guns and pick up their missiles, so to speak.

I’d just like to know why, in 2007, as the sixth busiest website in the world, MySpace is still giving people trouble uploading jpgs from Mac computers.

Today, I tried to upload an image from home on my new, Intel-based MacBook, to no avail. MySpace told me the file was not supported. So I emailed the photo to myself, and when I got in to work, tried uploading the same file using my Windows XP machine. Worked just fine. I call bullshit.

Anyone care to explain why this is so?