Returning from Hibernation
After a couple months off (unexpected absence) I have returned to blogging, and hopefully it will be for awhile. Recently started college in September, and its been quite a huge adjustment. Living independent of my parents, had led me to make my own decisions which is always a nice feeling, yet their are plenty of times when I feel there advice could be helpful. Lots of work has come in just a couple months, but I’ve managed to hand in there.
With this change my blogging pattern was affected, and I was not able to blog as much, thereby missing out on archiving important links and showing my opinion on various issues. Today, I felt would be a perfect time to come back, seeing as the Senate has passed their version of the Health Care Plan. I would just like to chime in, and say I’m very happy that both the House and the Senate were able to pass their respective bills, thereby allowing us to move towards bringing true reform to the current system. The passing of both bills, finally allows for debate, and could also accomplish Obama’s largest domestic priority. Very exciting. I hope this happens.
In case there are people out there who don’t want to read the 2074 page document (not that I read it), and would like a quick comparison of the two bills being proposed by the House and the Senate, the NY Times has got a fantastic comparison of the two.
Comparison of the House and Senate Health Care Bill
Another hot item that occurred in the past week, which I found exciting was Google’s release and announcement of ChromeOS. Taking there own view on what an OS should be like, the ambitious company revealed their version of the free, open source OS. I have gone ahead and downloaded it, and run it virtually on my Macbook Pro, and it’s decent. The build available online is unfortunately dated and does not provide the same functionality and stability that Google demoed. I’m hoping for this to improve over time, and can’t see myself using this over Mac OS 10.6 or Windows 7.
and as I typed out Google, one last thing hit my head. Internet Explorer 9. Microsoft unveiled some bits and pieces of IE9, and I am VERY excited if everything they set out with is accomplished. I don’t seem them underwhelming. Steven Sinofsky is running the team, and he’s a boss. If you don’t think so, see what he did with Windows 7. Taking a mess of a project (Windows Vista) and making it into Windows 7 takes some skill, which Sinofsky embodies.
More on IE9 here:
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Opera + iPhone = Opera Next?
I was just reading the headlines on Techmeme, and came across on an interesting article mentioning that Opera’s got something under their sleeve. Now thats not unusual. Opera tends to want to be like Apple and raise huge interests in what they’ve got up their sleeves. Anyhow let me link everyone to the post I was reading: http://www.intomobile.com/2009/09/11/opera-whats-next-a-whole-bunch-of-shiny.html
If you read the article, the best tidbit hands-down has to be “if snooping around source code is your sort of thing, there are supposedly some little nuggets of info there.” I like snooping around in the source code, and I couldn’t really find much aside from the picture. The picture can be found at this link: http://www.opera.com/bitmaps/next/puzzle.jpg
There’s not much going on, but if you look at the picture, and see the edge of that phone, in my eyes (I have a 20/20 vision) that looks like the edge of an iPhone with the metal finish. Does this mean that Opera might be headed to the iPhone? Maybe. Apple’s been under some pressure lately from all sorts of Government agencies, which might have made Apple change their opinion on letting other browsers into the App Store.
If anyone has any opinions to share, I would be greatly interested.
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Mac OS 10.6 “Snow Leopard”
I’ve been helping people recently answer there questions on Macs and Apple in general, and now with the release of Mac OS 10.6 “Snow Leopard” imminent it would only be fair to publish some prominent reviews of the Operating System. It seems like the upgrade is like anything else from Apple at the moment, meaning it’s slick, does all the things it’s supposed to do correctly, and has compatibility with old software. However, there are some bugs and kinks so I would wait a couple weeks to install the new OS. At the same time, I would advice many to buy it now, since Apple is offering it for $9.95 to all those who buy Macs after June 8th, 2009, and that deal only lasts until December 26th, 2009, but many of us are likely to forget, so purchase your copy now for $9.95 and install it later.
WSJ: Apple Changes Leopard’s Spots
NY Times: Apple’s Sleek Upgrade
Speed Tests: Gauging Snow Leopard’s speed boosts
Mac OS X Upgrade for $9.95: Mac OS X Snow Leopard Up-to-Date Program
“Apple already had the best computer operating system in Leopard, and Snow Leopard makes it a little better.” That sums it up for me.
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Daily Reads
Edward Kennedy, Senate Stalwart, Dies
“He led the Congressional effort to impose sanctions on South Africa over apartheid, pushed for peace in Northern Ireland, won a ban on arms sales to the dictatorship in Chile and denounced the Vietnam War. In 2002, he voted against authorizing the Iraq war; later, he called that opposition “the best vote I’ve made in my 44 years in the United States Senate.” I’d say that’s a lot of accomplishments. Nonetheless, it’s time to see how we move on from his death, and achieve healthcare, which was Ted Kennedy’s goal as Senator.
Apple to Ship Mac OS X Snow Leopard on August 28
“Apple® today announced that Mac OS® X v10.6 Snow Leopard™ will go on sale Friday, August 28″. This is clearly a couple days old now, and I didn’t get around to talking about it one here. However, I am once more very excited to see how this operating system turns out from Apple, seeing as it isn’t about features, but cleaning up some of the internal messes.
Snow Leopard warning: Your apps may crash
“Most of the major productivity apps — Microsoft Office 2008, Adobe CS4 Suite and QuarkXPress — are OK. But there are some big exceptions, including Adobe Photoshop Elements and Google Gears, a Web browser extension that allows offline access to a number of popular online applications.” It’s always safe to not upgrade over to the newest operating system immediately, and wait for some reviews and press, to see if everything is fine. However, if you can’t resist the urge, do make sure the Applications you use most work fine.
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I’ve been rather busy today, and didn’t think I’d get around to blogging. However, it has just broke out here on the West Coast that Ted Kennedy has passed away.
Daily Reads
Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy dead at 77
“Senator Kennedy has dedicated his career to fighting for equal opportunity, fairness and justice for all Americans. He has worked tirelessly to ensure that every American has access to quality and affordable health care, and has succeeded in doing so for countless children, seniors, and Americans with disabilities. He has called health care reform the “cause of his life.”
Extremely sad to hear of his passing. He was extremely important in my mind on the current issue at hand, Healthcare. More important than anything related to healthcare, and it being his “cause of life”, Kennedy was an important legislator. He would have been the one, the Democrats could have looked at for legislating and coming to terms with the Republican Party. Sadly, he is no longer here to provide for that. Most importantly, it’s ironic to see that he passes right when our nation is closest to getting any sort of Reform and healthcare for all Americans.
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Daily Reads
Jobs Liver Transplant Lets Memphis Cancer Doctor Be Like Apple
“James Eason, head of transplantation at Methodist University Hospital and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, said in his first interview since Jobs’s surgery that he has replaced the livers of about 10 people with the cancer, called neuroendocrine tumor.” Some more details, and a better understanding of what Steve Jobs is exactly facing. There is still some information naturally missing, due to privacy and so on.
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Daily Reads
Google-AT&T-Apple fight over Net calls draws FCC interest
“Google “is in an awkward spot. On the one hand, their application is being blocked on the Apple App Store. But on the other hand, they engaged in similar behavior”.” I was not aware of this move by Google. Last I heard, Android’s App Market was completely open and anyone could develop for it (basically everything Google says has to have the word “open” in it) and I found that to be good, because as consumers Google could put some pressure on Apple to open up, however it seems like there both playing the same old games.
What Wolfram Alpha Really Did This Summer: Struck A Deal With Bing.
“Perhaps Bing’s deal with Wolfram is to license some of its data to create a specific science category search or a Q&A portion of the site.” I’ve already switched to Bing as my default search engine at the moment, as I find a majority of the results to be as sharp as Google’s, while it presents data in a very nice method. I particularly like the Bing Image and Video results, as they both separate from Google’s searches entirely. The image search is just one page, that keeps infinitely growing, so you don’t have to click yourself all the way to Page 20. Similarly, the video search finds videos and allows users to play the video within the search results. Interesting features in my opinion, and if they were to add Wolfram Alpha’s data, I think it would only be better. Calculating derivatives and integrals from the search bar… Tasty.
Poll: Americans losing confidence in Obama
“The poll published Friday says Obama’s overall approval is 57 percent, 12 points lower than it was at its peak in April.” Seriously? That’s damn good for a President who’s trying to fight off some bullshit from an artard in Alaska, and others who hate a non-existent “death panel”. The economic recovery isn’t going to happen in his first six months, and will likely take a year or more to start moving in the right direction (read: up). So, if you don’t like Obama at this time because of Healthcare and the Economy, stop pissing in your pants, and hold it in.
Apple Answers the FCC’s Questions
“In addition, the iPhone user’s entire Contacts database is transferred to Google’s servers, and we have yet to obtain any assurances from Google that this data will only be used in appropriate ways.” I’ve used Google Voice on the computer a couple times, and its an interesting idea, but I wasn’t one who was disappointed in Apple’s decision to not allow it. I wasn’t one like Michael Arrington to switch to Android just to get this application, because Google Voice is not worth it, and neither is the freedom of choosing the Apps I want. Seeing as Apple has been the “founder” essentially of the whole App Store trend (followers including Microsoft, Google, Nokia, and Verizon among others) I think Apple knows what there doing best. Either way, it’s great to read the answers from Google, and at&t as well, because it’s full of good details that people don’t know (since Apple is very secretive). The only REAL problem the iPhone has is the network it runs on. Apple and at&t should work to fixing this.
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Daily Reads
Palm’s Colligan Said to Snub Jobs’s Recruiting Offer
“Jobs said Apple had patents and more money than Palm if the companies ended up in a legal fight, according to the communications.” On one side I love how powerful that statement makes Jobs and Apple look, but it’s also very intriguing to notice the amount of attention Apple is getting from the Government. I would be looking at Google even harder.
Heat on SRK was because of scanner on Bollywood shows
“The US CBP’s extra scrutiny of megastar Shah Rukh Khan was triggered by Bollywood’s showbiz having come under the scanner of law enforcement authorities and intelligence agencies for dodgy financial transactions and alleged underworld links.” Beautiful. As much as I like Shah Rukh Khan, and being proud of my Indian heritage, I knew there must have been something that caused him to be flagged. Feels good to know I wasn’t one of those many Indians outraged by the whole affair. Not to mention, I’ve always felt strongly that India should look into having similar security measures as a method of preventing terror attacks, seeing as we have many, many more.
Apple Continues To Right App Store Wrongs. Obama “Hope” App Is Go.
“Specifically, it was Shepard Fairey’s famous “HOPE” image of Obama that Apple found inappropriate stating that it “ridicules public figures”.”
Wow. I saw this earlier and I was really disappointed with this move. For a company that has Al Gore on it’s Board of Directors, a prominent picture like this should not have been considered ridiculing. Hell I have a t-shirt with this picture on it, just for the purposes of telling people how much I like Obama. A more offending picture of Obama can be found here. I actually don’t find that picture insulting or humiliating Obama, rather I think he’s even more badass.
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Still having some inconsistencies with blogging on a daily basis, but I’ve managed to get around to it today.
Daily Reads
Steve Jobs: The man who polished Apple
“But vengeance is his and he will repay. Pixar went into partnership with Disney to produce Toy Story, and Apple, crippled and loss-making, took over NeXT and brought Jobs back into the fold. Within months he was God again. Pixar grossed millions, then billions, and Apple brushed the dirt off its face and leapt out of the grave.” Excellent piece which Apple attempted to stop from being published.
iPhone passes Canon Rebel XTi as most popular camera on Flickr
“IPhone users are notoriously heavy consumers of mobile Internet — in some cases, surpassing the amount of time they spend surfing the Web on their computers”. It’s true. We do love browsing the web, because the experience tends to be an amazing one, hence Flickr is enjoying a nice boom.
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Daily Reads
Business Owner Fires on 4 Robbers, Killing 2
“Four would-be robbers entered the business and announced that they were robbing it. One of them took out a Glock 9-mm pistol and started to pistol-whip a 33-year-old employee inside the store. The owner then took out a shotgun and opened fire, striking the four men.” Bad Ass. This story just reminds me of The Dark Knight, in particular the opening scene.
Air Force Training More Pilots for Drones Than for Manned Planes
“The Air Force will train more pilots to fly unmanned aerial systems from ground operations centers this year than pilots to fly fighter or bomber aircraft.” Incredible. Both the two wars we are currently fighting in, provide treacherous terrain for our soldiers to work through, and with manned aircraft costing $150 million a piece like the F-22, I think this is an excellent move on the Air Force’s part.
I was unable to blog yesterday after going to Band Camp, and staying there almost all afternoon and into the evening as well. I enjoyed myself, and I’m planning on going back there today as well, to help assist the newcomers transition into their lives.
“the next version of Office for Mac which will launch in time for the 2010 Holiday season. This next version includes a new application– Outlook for Mac. Outlook for Mac is being built from the ground up as a Mac OS X application using Cocoa. It will have a new database that delivers a reliable, high performance, and integrated experience with Mac OS X.” Excellent. As predicted, I didn’t think Microsoft would announce Office for the iPhone, because MobileSafari can likely get the job done. And Outlook for Mac seems exciting, though at the time I am satisfied with Apple Mail. Equally exciting is that both the Windows and Mac side of Microsoft are releasing Office in 2010. Hopefully the time schedule lines up as it did back in 1997.
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