"ASIAN AMERICANS FIGHT LANGUAGE BARRIER IN U.S. ELECTIONS"
Of interest for you Asians or Asian Americans out there... I think I decent minority of my readership. I'm not so sure if the language barrier is the primary problem or apathy towards voting and participation in the U.S. political process. Asian Americans for having the highest average household income in many of the major cities and growing ranks in professional fields have a very small voice in political arenas. This has got to change.
Junto Boyz
Friday, October 29, 2004
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AL QAQAA EXPLOSIVES SCREW UP
Not sure if you've been following this comical mess up by NY Times and Kerry ("Kerry Blasts Bush on Missing Ammo"), but here are some wrap up posts on this:
It just keeps getting worse for Senator John Kerry (D-UN). There have been several huge developments on the story, none of them good for him, and leading me to suspect that by the time this is all over, we'll find that there are satellite photos of Kerry and Edwards in December 2002 personally hauling explosives out of Al Qaqaa while Mohamed El Baradei and Kofi Annan sit waiting in the trucks.
Some folks might be thinking "wow, this story is moving amazingly fast,", and I'll admit that was my first reaction. But the reason this story looks like it is moving quickly is because other news organizations are now doing the work that the NYT should have done in the first place. And it is going fast because, frankly, it wasn't all that damned hard.
...
But the confidential IAEA documents obtained by ABC News show that on Jan. 14, 2003, the agency's inspectors recorded that just over 3 tons of RDX was stored at the facility — a considerable discrepancy from what the Iraqis reported.
The IAEA documents could mean that 138 tons of explosives were removed from the facility long before the start of the United States launched "Operation Iraqi Freedom" in March 2003.
What the ABC News piece doesn't do is connect the dots. If the IAEA itself knew that the amount of RDX present in Jan 2003 was only 3 tons, why did Mohamed El Baradei, the head of the IAEA, repeat the claim of 141 tons in his memo to the Security Council? (full post at The Truth Laid Bear)
Power Line:
We'll have more on this tomorrow. One way or another, it appears clear that the 380 tons of explosives that are now "missing" were moved by Saddam prior to the start of the war. I suppose the point is too obvious to be worth making, but 380 tons is a lot of material--approximately 38 semi-truck loads. Yet it has, apparently, completely disappeared, probably because it was shipped to Syria before the war started. Do you suppose that, whereever the 380 tons are now, there might be a little extra room for some vials of anthrax, sarin, nerve gas, etc.?
DEACON adds: If Shaw's version, as reported by the Washington Times, holds up and (as importantly) gets heard, the consequences for Kerry could be serious. The Senator will have (a) jumped to a conclusion that wasn't supported by the facts, (b) assumed the incompetence of our troops, (c) confirmed President Bush's position that Iraq had weapons worth worrying about, and (d) unleashed evidence that, as Rocket Man notes, suggests that chemical and biological weapons could easily have been moved out of Iraq just before we invaded. One question that arises, though, is why, if the Defense Department has evidence that the Russians helped clean out Al Qaqaa, we haven't heard about this before. The answer, apparently is that Shaw recently obtained the information about the Russian arms-dispersal program from two European intelligence services. According to these sources, the Russians were in Iraq mainly to destroy evidence of their weapons collaboration with Saddam's regime. (full post)
"AT THE TIMES, THE LYING CONTINUES"
"THE LASTEST WORD ON AL QAQAA"
Emails from readers today have told us that New York Times reporters, responding to their questions about the Times' Al Qaqaa reporting, say that they interviewed an officer of the 3rd Infantry Division unit that first occupied Al Qaqaa early in April 2003, and he says that they did not search the facility for weapons. (Boy, would I like to see a transcript of that interview. But, of course, the Times isn't making it public--just their own spin.) Now, the Associated Press has made public at least a portion of their own interview with Col. David Perkins, who commanded the 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division. As reported by the AP, the interview is quite different from what the Times has represented... (full post)
MAJOR AUSTIN PEARSON'S PRESS CONFERENCE TODAY... Power Line's commentary.
Roger Simon chimes in on this issue.
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Not sure if you've been following this comical mess up by NY Times and Kerry ("Kerry Blasts Bush on Missing Ammo"), but here are some wrap up posts on this:
It just keeps getting worse for Senator John Kerry (D-UN). There have been several huge developments on the story, none of them good for him, and leading me to suspect that by the time this is all over, we'll find that there are satellite photos of Kerry and Edwards in December 2002 personally hauling explosives out of Al Qaqaa while Mohamed El Baradei and Kofi Annan sit waiting in the trucks.
Some folks might be thinking "wow, this story is moving amazingly fast,", and I'll admit that was my first reaction. But the reason this story looks like it is moving quickly is because other news organizations are now doing the work that the NYT should have done in the first place. And it is going fast because, frankly, it wasn't all that damned hard.
...
But the confidential IAEA documents obtained by ABC News show that on Jan. 14, 2003, the agency's inspectors recorded that just over 3 tons of RDX was stored at the facility — a considerable discrepancy from what the Iraqis reported.
The IAEA documents could mean that 138 tons of explosives were removed from the facility long before the start of the United States launched "Operation Iraqi Freedom" in March 2003.
What the ABC News piece doesn't do is connect the dots. If the IAEA itself knew that the amount of RDX present in Jan 2003 was only 3 tons, why did Mohamed El Baradei, the head of the IAEA, repeat the claim of 141 tons in his memo to the Security Council? (full post at The Truth Laid Bear)
Power Line:
We'll have more on this tomorrow. One way or another, it appears clear that the 380 tons of explosives that are now "missing" were moved by Saddam prior to the start of the war. I suppose the point is too obvious to be worth making, but 380 tons is a lot of material--approximately 38 semi-truck loads. Yet it has, apparently, completely disappeared, probably because it was shipped to Syria before the war started. Do you suppose that, whereever the 380 tons are now, there might be a little extra room for some vials of anthrax, sarin, nerve gas, etc.?
DEACON adds: If Shaw's version, as reported by the Washington Times, holds up and (as importantly) gets heard, the consequences for Kerry could be serious. The Senator will have (a) jumped to a conclusion that wasn't supported by the facts, (b) assumed the incompetence of our troops, (c) confirmed President Bush's position that Iraq had weapons worth worrying about, and (d) unleashed evidence that, as Rocket Man notes, suggests that chemical and biological weapons could easily have been moved out of Iraq just before we invaded. One question that arises, though, is why, if the Defense Department has evidence that the Russians helped clean out Al Qaqaa, we haven't heard about this before. The answer, apparently is that Shaw recently obtained the information about the Russian arms-dispersal program from two European intelligence services. According to these sources, the Russians were in Iraq mainly to destroy evidence of their weapons collaboration with Saddam's regime. (full post)
"AT THE TIMES, THE LYING CONTINUES"
"THE LASTEST WORD ON AL QAQAA"
Emails from readers today have told us that New York Times reporters, responding to their questions about the Times' Al Qaqaa reporting, say that they interviewed an officer of the 3rd Infantry Division unit that first occupied Al Qaqaa early in April 2003, and he says that they did not search the facility for weapons. (Boy, would I like to see a transcript of that interview. But, of course, the Times isn't making it public--just their own spin.) Now, the Associated Press has made public at least a portion of their own interview with Col. David Perkins, who commanded the 2nd Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division. As reported by the AP, the interview is quite different from what the Times has represented... (full post)
MAJOR AUSTIN PEARSON'S PRESS CONFERENCE TODAY... Power Line's commentary.
Roger Simon chimes in on this issue.
LINDEN LAB GETS $8 MILLION FROM BENCHMARK
Linden Lab's product, Second Life, reminds me of a company I ran into a couple years ago, There. I think There got a contract to create a virtual training world for the U.S. military. Linden Lab definitely has some solid backers in this round of financing. Watch and wait.
Second Life Boosted with $8 Million in New Financing; Linden Lab and Benchmark Capital Aim for the Metaverse
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 28, 2004--Linden Lab(R), creator of the acclaimed 3D digital world, Second Life(R), announced today it has closed a financing round of $8,000,000 led by Benchmark Capital and with participation from Omidyar Network, a new organization lead by eBay founder, Pierre Omidyar. Existing investors including software pioneer Mitch Kapor also participated in the round. (full article)
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Linden Lab's product, Second Life, reminds me of a company I ran into a couple years ago, There. I think There got a contract to create a virtual training world for the U.S. military. Linden Lab definitely has some solid backers in this round of financing. Watch and wait.
Second Life Boosted with $8 Million in New Financing; Linden Lab and Benchmark Capital Aim for the Metaverse
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 28, 2004--Linden Lab(R), creator of the acclaimed 3D digital world, Second Life(R), announced today it has closed a financing round of $8,000,000 led by Benchmark Capital and with participation from Omidyar Network, a new organization lead by eBay founder, Pierre Omidyar. Existing investors including software pioneer Mitch Kapor also participated in the round. (full article)
GOOGLE ACQUIRES KEYHOLE
I wonder what Keyhole exactly does and how it fits into Google's expanding strategic view:
Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) has acquired Keyhole Inc., a Mountain View, Calif.-based digital mapping company. No financial terms were disclosed. Keyhole had raised venture capital funding from 550 Digital Media Ventures, Intrinsic Graphics Inc. and In-Q-Tel, the venture capital affiliate of the CIA.
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I wonder what Keyhole exactly does and how it fits into Google's expanding strategic view:
Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) has acquired Keyhole Inc., a Mountain View, Calif.-based digital mapping company. No financial terms were disclosed. Keyhole had raised venture capital funding from 550 Digital Media Ventures, Intrinsic Graphics Inc. and In-Q-Tel, the venture capital affiliate of the CIA.
THREAT OF OUR FREEDOM OF SPEECH?
A webserver was taken down containing sensitive photos of undercover Swiss police officers:
Devin Theriot-Orr, a member a feisty group of reporter-activists called Indymedia, was surprised when two FBI (news - web sites) agents showed up at his Seattle law office, saying the visit was a "courtesy call" on behalf of Swiss authorities.
Theriot-Orr was even more surprised a week later when more than 20 Indymedia Web sites were knocked offline as the computer servers that hosted them were seized in Britain.
The Independent Media Center, more commonly known as Indymedia, says the seizure is tantamount to censorship, and civil libertarians agree. The Internet is a publishing medium just like a printing press, they argue, and governments have no right to remove Web sites.
The case, which involves an Internet company based in Texas, photos of undercover Swiss police officers and a request from an Italian prosecutor investigating anarchists, raises questions about the circumstances under which Internet companies can be compelled to turn over data.
"The implications are profound," said Barry Steinhardt of the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites), calling the Indymedia activists "classic dissenters" and likening the case to "seizing a printing press or shutting down a radio transmitter." (full article)
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A webserver was taken down containing sensitive photos of undercover Swiss police officers:
Devin Theriot-Orr, a member a feisty group of reporter-activists called Indymedia, was surprised when two FBI (news - web sites) agents showed up at his Seattle law office, saying the visit was a "courtesy call" on behalf of Swiss authorities.
Theriot-Orr was even more surprised a week later when more than 20 Indymedia Web sites were knocked offline as the computer servers that hosted them were seized in Britain.
The Independent Media Center, more commonly known as Indymedia, says the seizure is tantamount to censorship, and civil libertarians agree. The Internet is a publishing medium just like a printing press, they argue, and governments have no right to remove Web sites.
The case, which involves an Internet company based in Texas, photos of undercover Swiss police officers and a request from an Italian prosecutor investigating anarchists, raises questions about the circumstances under which Internet companies can be compelled to turn over data.
"The implications are profound," said Barry Steinhardt of the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites), calling the Indymedia activists "classic dissenters" and likening the case to "seizing a printing press or shutting down a radio transmitter." (full article)
Thursday, October 28, 2004
"STOLEN HONOR"... WATCH IT
The documentary that the Kerry Camp didn't want America to see:
"Stolen Honor: Wounds that Never Heal"
Background
When John Kerry appeared before the U. S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the spring of 1971, his testimony sent shock waves throughout America and the world. Here was a young, articulate Ivy-Leaguer, a highly decorated Naval officer who had seen combat in Vietnam. Now, driven by conscience and lofty ideals, Lt. Kerry said he felt compelled to break his silence and tell the unvarnished truth about the Vietnam War and those who fought it. The war, he said, was a criminal endeavor driven by a “policy of atrocities.” The 2.5 million men who served in Vietnam were akin to “Genghis Khan’s barbaric hordes,” thugs and psychopathic war criminals who wantonly plundered the Vietnam countryside, murdering, raping and bombing hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians – old men, women and children -- each and every day.
Lt. Kerry’s widely televised statements were dramatic and persuasive, made all the more credible by the fact he had been there, said he had witnessed many of these same atrocities. His testimony catapulted him to international prominence and the ranks of leadership in the American anti-war movement, launching his once failing political career. It also permanently branded in the American psyche the image of Vietnam veterans as murderous “baby killers” and “drugged out losers,” a perception that persists today, one deeply embedded in our history.
That single act earned for Kerry the lasting enmity of Vietnam veterans, especially those who had borne the brunt of his accusations, that small percentage of soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen who actually served on the frontlines. Many of these combat veterans would carry the scars of their service for life. Kerry’s repudiation of their sacrifice represented yet another war wound, one that would never heal. As compelling as Kerry’s Senate testimony was, these men knew it was lacking in one key element … truth. They knew from their own combat experiences virtually all his allegations were lies; the U.S. military would never countenance such brutality. And, they also knew his actions were a deliberate betrayal of all of them, especially the more than 58,000 who lost their lives in the Vietnam War.
But, perhaps, more than any living group of combat veterans, it was the America ’s POWs who suffered most, forced to endure the immediate consequences of Kerry’s treacherous falsehoods. In 1971, some 700 of these men were reported as captured or missing in action, most presumed held prisoner by the North Vietnamese Communists in such places as the notorious Hanoi Hilton. Already subjected to years of torture, solitary confinement and unspeakable psychological and physical abuse, their lives were literally hanging by a thread when Kerry issued his damning testimony. In mere moments, Kerry had willingly given the Vietnamese Communists what they had spent years of torture and blood-letting to drag out of their American hostages, an unqualified “confession” they were all war criminals.
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The documentary that the Kerry Camp didn't want America to see:
"Stolen Honor: Wounds that Never Heal"
Background
When John Kerry appeared before the U. S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the spring of 1971, his testimony sent shock waves throughout America and the world. Here was a young, articulate Ivy-Leaguer, a highly decorated Naval officer who had seen combat in Vietnam. Now, driven by conscience and lofty ideals, Lt. Kerry said he felt compelled to break his silence and tell the unvarnished truth about the Vietnam War and those who fought it. The war, he said, was a criminal endeavor driven by a “policy of atrocities.” The 2.5 million men who served in Vietnam were akin to “Genghis Khan’s barbaric hordes,” thugs and psychopathic war criminals who wantonly plundered the Vietnam countryside, murdering, raping and bombing hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians – old men, women and children -- each and every day.
Lt. Kerry’s widely televised statements were dramatic and persuasive, made all the more credible by the fact he had been there, said he had witnessed many of these same atrocities. His testimony catapulted him to international prominence and the ranks of leadership in the American anti-war movement, launching his once failing political career. It also permanently branded in the American psyche the image of Vietnam veterans as murderous “baby killers” and “drugged out losers,” a perception that persists today, one deeply embedded in our history.
That single act earned for Kerry the lasting enmity of Vietnam veterans, especially those who had borne the brunt of his accusations, that small percentage of soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen who actually served on the frontlines. Many of these combat veterans would carry the scars of their service for life. Kerry’s repudiation of their sacrifice represented yet another war wound, one that would never heal. As compelling as Kerry’s Senate testimony was, these men knew it was lacking in one key element … truth. They knew from their own combat experiences virtually all his allegations were lies; the U.S. military would never countenance such brutality. And, they also knew his actions were a deliberate betrayal of all of them, especially the more than 58,000 who lost their lives in the Vietnam War.
But, perhaps, more than any living group of combat veterans, it was the America ’s POWs who suffered most, forced to endure the immediate consequences of Kerry’s treacherous falsehoods. In 1971, some 700 of these men were reported as captured or missing in action, most presumed held prisoner by the North Vietnamese Communists in such places as the notorious Hanoi Hilton. Already subjected to years of torture, solitary confinement and unspeakable psychological and physical abuse, their lives were literally hanging by a thread when Kerry issued his damning testimony. In mere moments, Kerry had willingly given the Vietnamese Communists what they had spent years of torture and blood-letting to drag out of their American hostages, an unqualified “confession” they were all war criminals.
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
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JEFF HAWKINS OTHER ACTIVITIES
The inventor of the Palm Pilot is busy with other stuff:
There's no mistaking what they study at the Redwood Neuroscience Institute. There are brains all over the place.
From the colorful pictures of brain coral that hang on the walls to the promotional key chains sporting little plastic cerebral cortices, you'd have to be gray-matterless not to notice the decorative theme at this nonprofit scientific research organization. Though it may all seem a little over the top to the average visitor, such brain mania seems excusable for someone who's spent about 25 years studying the workings of this most thoughtful of organs.
The institute's director, Jeff Hawkins, was interested in the brain even before he helped spawn an industry with his most famous invention, the PalmPilot. In his spare time, he learned the sciences behind brain research, and after becoming versed in them he developed his own theory, which is contrary to some of the established ideas. In his first book, "On Intelligence," Hawkins explains his theory and how it can be used to build truly smart machines--a question others have tackled, through the study of artificial intelligence and neural networks, but haven't resolved. (full article)
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The inventor of the Palm Pilot is busy with other stuff:
There's no mistaking what they study at the Redwood Neuroscience Institute. There are brains all over the place.
From the colorful pictures of brain coral that hang on the walls to the promotional key chains sporting little plastic cerebral cortices, you'd have to be gray-matterless not to notice the decorative theme at this nonprofit scientific research organization. Though it may all seem a little over the top to the average visitor, such brain mania seems excusable for someone who's spent about 25 years studying the workings of this most thoughtful of organs.
The institute's director, Jeff Hawkins, was interested in the brain even before he helped spawn an industry with his most famous invention, the PalmPilot. In his spare time, he learned the sciences behind brain research, and after becoming versed in them he developed his own theory, which is contrary to some of the established ideas. In his first book, "On Intelligence," Hawkins explains his theory and how it can be used to build truly smart machines--a question others have tackled, through the study of artificial intelligence and neural networks, but haven't resolved. (full article)
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
BACK ONLINE... JIM ROME'S RADIO RUBBISH
Curt Schilling Espouses On His Christian Faith
I didn't have online access until today. I just moved into my new apartment in San Francisco yesterday. Only one day without broadband and I feel a little out of touch. The cable guy came in this morning, hooked up me, and I found over 300 emails (half newswires) and over 1000 pieces of spam in my Yahoo! account. So I have a lot of junk and no substance in my mailboxes.
Anyway, I was stuck in traffic today sitting on the 101 highway and starting listening to Jim Rome's radio show. I only heard him a few times before, but this was the first time I wanted to call in. The topic was on Curt Schilling using baseball and this World Series as a platform for his Christian faith. Jim Rome and many of the callers were basically criticizing Schilling for mentioning his faith during the press conferences.
Rome said such things as, "I think God has better things to do than to heal the ankle of some $10 million pitcher while some kid is starving in Ethopia... Does this mean that if God helps Schilling that He doesn't like helping people on the St. Louis Cardinals?... So if God helps you get a touchdown or win a game in the World Series and on other days you drop a pass or make an error, is He responsible for those things too?..."
Busy signal... dropped call... busy signal... not connecting... I was trying to call in because I was annoyed at such simplistic thinking. Not being a good example of a Christian, I wanted to get through and bring up some points for these idiots to think about. Do they complain about the Grammys when a fair amount of music artists "praise God" or "thank the Lord!" for their awards and talents? What is the big deal if Schilling says God helped him through his injury, which people are calling the "stuff of legends?"
Rome said that if all Schilling wanted to do was to give credit to God for helping him through his painful injury, then it is great and fine with him. If there was another intent, then Rome said that he had some issues with it (paraphrased above). Really, Jim? Why does Schilling need to check in with you or anyone else if he had some additional intent? Why is it when God or Christ is invoked in some speech people have problems with it? When people give credit to their parents or moms, it's cool but you can't mentioned God or Christ. I think if Schilling mentioned Buddha or Vishnu there wouldn't be any uproar.
"I think God has better things to do than to heal the ankle of some $10 million pitcher while some kid is starving in Ethopia..."
Jim, why confine God to your small brain? If you believed in God, I would assume he wouldn't be a weakass being but someone that is all-powerful and all-knowing. For this omnipotent and omniscient being, is it any problem for him to care about Schilling's ankle AND some boy's hunger in Ethopia? God isn't like Santa from your childhood where he is confined by space and time. He can deal the problems of billions at the same time... great or small.
And of course Schilling would praise and thank God for his success AND failures. That's what a Christian should do. That's what Barry Sanders did for years while on those lousy Detroit Lions teams. That's what David Robinson did for his entire career in the NBA. A joyful and grateful attitude in all situations is what these great role models in sports did throughout their careers.
Lastly, it's not about whose side God is on. Faith and religion is not a game, so get out of that context. If God helps heal Schilling, he's not rooting for the Bosox. He's helping a person He loves... and He loves everyone. He wasn't implying that God is on their side versus the Cardinals. Curt Schilling is just paying his respects. Not a big deal. Get over it, Rome.
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Curt Schilling Espouses On His Christian Faith
I didn't have online access until today. I just moved into my new apartment in San Francisco yesterday. Only one day without broadband and I feel a little out of touch. The cable guy came in this morning, hooked up me, and I found over 300 emails (half newswires) and over 1000 pieces of spam in my Yahoo! account. So I have a lot of junk and no substance in my mailboxes.
Anyway, I was stuck in traffic today sitting on the 101 highway and starting listening to Jim Rome's radio show. I only heard him a few times before, but this was the first time I wanted to call in. The topic was on Curt Schilling using baseball and this World Series as a platform for his Christian faith. Jim Rome and many of the callers were basically criticizing Schilling for mentioning his faith during the press conferences.
Rome said such things as, "I think God has better things to do than to heal the ankle of some $10 million pitcher while some kid is starving in Ethopia... Does this mean that if God helps Schilling that He doesn't like helping people on the St. Louis Cardinals?... So if God helps you get a touchdown or win a game in the World Series and on other days you drop a pass or make an error, is He responsible for those things too?..."
Busy signal... dropped call... busy signal... not connecting... I was trying to call in because I was annoyed at such simplistic thinking. Not being a good example of a Christian, I wanted to get through and bring up some points for these idiots to think about. Do they complain about the Grammys when a fair amount of music artists "praise God" or "thank the Lord!" for their awards and talents? What is the big deal if Schilling says God helped him through his injury, which people are calling the "stuff of legends?"
Rome said that if all Schilling wanted to do was to give credit to God for helping him through his painful injury, then it is great and fine with him. If there was another intent, then Rome said that he had some issues with it (paraphrased above). Really, Jim? Why does Schilling need to check in with you or anyone else if he had some additional intent? Why is it when God or Christ is invoked in some speech people have problems with it? When people give credit to their parents or moms, it's cool but you can't mentioned God or Christ. I think if Schilling mentioned Buddha or Vishnu there wouldn't be any uproar.
"I think God has better things to do than to heal the ankle of some $10 million pitcher while some kid is starving in Ethopia..."
Jim, why confine God to your small brain? If you believed in God, I would assume he wouldn't be a weakass being but someone that is all-powerful and all-knowing. For this omnipotent and omniscient being, is it any problem for him to care about Schilling's ankle AND some boy's hunger in Ethopia? God isn't like Santa from your childhood where he is confined by space and time. He can deal the problems of billions at the same time... great or small.
And of course Schilling would praise and thank God for his success AND failures. That's what a Christian should do. That's what Barry Sanders did for years while on those lousy Detroit Lions teams. That's what David Robinson did for his entire career in the NBA. A joyful and grateful attitude in all situations is what these great role models in sports did throughout their careers.
Lastly, it's not about whose side God is on. Faith and religion is not a game, so get out of that context. If God helps heal Schilling, he's not rooting for the Bosox. He's helping a person He loves... and He loves everyone. He wasn't implying that God is on their side versus the Cardinals. Curt Schilling is just paying his respects. Not a big deal. Get over it, Rome.
Friday, October 22, 2004
YAHOO! FIRES BACK
Check out Yahoo's copycat version of Google's search page. It has an improved image search engine and check out the "products" tab.
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Check out Yahoo's copycat version of Google's search page. It has an improved image search engine and check out the "products" tab.
CEO FOR A DAY AT YAHOO!
Jerry Michalski gives his two-cents on Yahoo! He is the former Managing Editor of Release 1.0, Esther Dyson's monthly newsletter, and co-host of the annual PC Forum.
CEO for a day: Yahoo
If I got to run Yahoo for a day, here's what I'd do.
I'd rip out the stovepiped, competitive, product-aligned management and P/L structure that has existed forever there and install structures and measures that would reward cross-product integration. That way,
- Yahoo's many services would share more than a common login. Yahoo Groups would know the same people who are in my Yahoo Mail address book (and in all other Yahoo services that use people's names, such as Games, Clubs, Calendar, Photos, Auctions, Classifieds, Small Business, PayDirect, the now-defunct Invites...).
- I could know what I'm doing with each person in different contexts and services, which would let me easily create groups and give them rights and resources as needed.
- Yahoo could build power tools that integrate its many services. We could see private media guides, souped-up personal financial assistants, neighborhood tech support and more.
Then I'd build an interface layer "above" the newly integrated platform, a set of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) that would allow third parties to build applications atop Yahoo's many services. Then I'd steal a page from the playbooks that helped build huge developer and value-added communities around the DEC VAX, IBM AS/400, Lotus Notes and that Microsoft operating system. Make Yahoo the hosting service of choice for small and medium sized businesses worldwide.
Of course, this might take more than one day.
I wish I had posted this when it first came to mind, back when Terry Semel took over from Tim Koogle in May 2001. Semel's done a notable job turning Yahoo around, but in the process he has turned it into a... well, a bit of a tart. Now ads eat up a quarter of your screen on Yahoo properties, all the marketing feels increasingly intrusive and whatever goodwill Yahoo had earned with its users must be pretty much shot. (full post)
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Jerry Michalski gives his two-cents on Yahoo! He is the former Managing Editor of Release 1.0, Esther Dyson's monthly newsletter, and co-host of the annual PC Forum.
CEO for a day: Yahoo
If I got to run Yahoo for a day, here's what I'd do.
I'd rip out the stovepiped, competitive, product-aligned management and P/L structure that has existed forever there and install structures and measures that would reward cross-product integration. That way,
- Yahoo's many services would share more than a common login. Yahoo Groups would know the same people who are in my Yahoo Mail address book (and in all other Yahoo services that use people's names, such as Games, Clubs, Calendar, Photos, Auctions, Classifieds, Small Business, PayDirect, the now-defunct Invites...).
- I could know what I'm doing with each person in different contexts and services, which would let me easily create groups and give them rights and resources as needed.
- Yahoo could build power tools that integrate its many services. We could see private media guides, souped-up personal financial assistants, neighborhood tech support and more.
Then I'd build an interface layer "above" the newly integrated platform, a set of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) that would allow third parties to build applications atop Yahoo's many services. Then I'd steal a page from the playbooks that helped build huge developer and value-added communities around the DEC VAX, IBM AS/400, Lotus Notes and that Microsoft operating system. Make Yahoo the hosting service of choice for small and medium sized businesses worldwide.
Of course, this might take more than one day.
I wish I had posted this when it first came to mind, back when Terry Semel took over from Tim Koogle in May 2001. Semel's done a notable job turning Yahoo around, but in the process he has turned it into a... well, a bit of a tart. Now ads eat up a quarter of your screen on Yahoo properties, all the marketing feels increasingly intrusive and whatever goodwill Yahoo had earned with its users must be pretty much shot. (full post)
WIDERTHAN EXPANDS INTO U.S. THROUGH ZTANGO ACQUISITION
WiderThan was born through a consulting project by AT Kearney for SK Telecom in Korea. Now they are making a move into the U.S. by acquiring Ztango.
It will be interesting to watch how WiderThan (definitely needs a name change as it goes global) does as it expands outside of Korea. Most of its success has been tied to the fact that it's the primary service provider for SK Telecom's customers, and its parent company is the 800-pound gorilla in the Korean wireless market. Wait and watch.
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WiderThan was born through a consulting project by AT Kearney for SK Telecom in Korea. Now they are making a move into the U.S. by acquiring Ztango.
It will be interesting to watch how WiderThan (definitely needs a name change as it goes global) does as it expands outside of Korea. Most of its success has been tied to the fact that it's the primary service provider for SK Telecom's customers, and its parent company is the 800-pound gorilla in the Korean wireless market. Wait and watch.
FROM THE OTHER SIDE... "WHY I CAN'T VOTE FOR BUSH"
At the request of my Dem friend...
Conscientious Objector
by Robert A. George
The New Republic
October 25, 2004
Sixteen years ago, just out of college, I volunteered at the Republican National Convention as a man named George Bush prepared to begin a fall campaign that would see him defeat a Democrat from Massachusetts. The sparkling words of an acceptance speech crafted by Peggy Noonan--and delivered almost flawlessly--helped him inspire his party and a country that saw him as an extension of Ronald Reagan. It fell to that George Bush to "close out" the cold war and launch a different one in the Persian Gulf.
Now, sixteen years later, after tenures working for the party and a couple of Republican members on Capitol Hill (including a speaker named Newt Gingrich) and becoming an earnest fellow traveler of the conservative movement, I find it impossible to support the current George Bush--whom his party sees as the ideological extension of Ronald Reagan--as he faces his own showdown with a Democrat from Massachusetts and oversees a war centered in the Middle East.
At the Republican National Convention, George W. Bush mocked John Kerry's claim of having "conservative values." But what are conservative values? Two of the core principles at the heart of modern conservatism are a belief in the virtue of smaller government and a conviction that government must be accountable to the public. Those principles were enunciated ten years ago in the Contract with America, which helped Republicans take full control of Congress for the first time in four decades. That document sought "the end of government that is too big, too intrusive, and too easy with the public's money." In this context, Bush's first term has represented a betrayal of conservative values. (full article/registration required)
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At the request of my Dem friend...
Conscientious Objector
by Robert A. George
The New Republic
October 25, 2004
Sixteen years ago, just out of college, I volunteered at the Republican National Convention as a man named George Bush prepared to begin a fall campaign that would see him defeat a Democrat from Massachusetts. The sparkling words of an acceptance speech crafted by Peggy Noonan--and delivered almost flawlessly--helped him inspire his party and a country that saw him as an extension of Ronald Reagan. It fell to that George Bush to "close out" the cold war and launch a different one in the Persian Gulf.
Now, sixteen years later, after tenures working for the party and a couple of Republican members on Capitol Hill (including a speaker named Newt Gingrich) and becoming an earnest fellow traveler of the conservative movement, I find it impossible to support the current George Bush--whom his party sees as the ideological extension of Ronald Reagan--as he faces his own showdown with a Democrat from Massachusetts and oversees a war centered in the Middle East.
At the Republican National Convention, George W. Bush mocked John Kerry's claim of having "conservative values." But what are conservative values? Two of the core principles at the heart of modern conservatism are a belief in the virtue of smaller government and a conviction that government must be accountable to the public. Those principles were enunciated ten years ago in the Contract with America, which helped Republicans take full control of Congress for the first time in four decades. That document sought "the end of government that is too big, too intrusive, and too easy with the public's money." In this context, Bush's first term has represented a betrayal of conservative values. (full article/registration required)
GAMBLING'S DEVASTATING EFFECTS... BROKEN LIFE OF CECIL FIELDER
HatTip to Kevin at Wizbang! and SportsBlog for this article. The sad story of Cecil Fielder is a repeated one that is growing with the rapid development of casinos throughout the U.S. I am not blameless since I gamble once in a while and visit casinos about twice a year, but I recognize the adverse effects of casinos on our landscape.
I read a study several years ago, when casinos on American Indian reservations were becoming popular, which discussed some of the negative effects they were having on local communities. From a state or local government perspective, this new source of revenue was suppose to help support education systems, build local infrastructure, create jobs, or whatever other benefits for the citizens of those states and cities. While this might have been the its purpose, the negative costs were rapid increases of personal loan defaults, especially among the lower-income residents who live nearby, bankruptcy rates, and crime. These social costs of gambling have been widely debated (other side funded by casinos?), but in the end there is a conclusion that at least a small percentage of the population is damaged. These are the complusive gamblers.
This is a common dilemma in public policy. In crafting laws and regulations, where do you find the equilibrium between the "good" for one group versus the "bad" for another? And the problem is typically divided between a greater segment of the population versus a small segment that is getting screwed... maybe the middle-class versus the lower-class or maybe white versus black. Here you can look at the gambling issue as a few bad apples spoiling the lot. Why let their problems effect the greater good casinos are doing for the local communities by providing jobs and tax revenues?
Of course opponents cite the problems go beyond a few bad apples, which I agree with, but is the solution to simply eliminate the casinos? What preventive measures can be added to decrease or remove gambling's adverse effects? What checks or procedures can casinos put in place to deal with complusive gamblers? Do casinos actually want to do away with these types of gamblers? What compromises can be reached between the gaming industry and local communities against the growth of gambling? More questions can be generated, but I'll stop here. I don't have the answers now, but this is definitely an issue to keep on eye on in the U.S. and globally. Here some information from a recent study I found online by Ping Wang (Vanderbilt University and NBER), Juin-Jen Chang (Academia Sinica), and Ching-Chong Lai (Academia Sinica):
In the last decade in the United States, commercial casino gaming revenues increased 141%, from $11.2 billion in 1993 to $27.0 billion in 2003. Today in the U.S., there are casinos in approximately 200 counties in 33 states, and gambling is legalized in 48 of the 50 states, among which there are 443 commerical casinos in 11 states. According to the 2004 American Gaming Association Survey, more than one quarter of the U.S. adult population (53.4 million) visited a casino in 2003, making a total of 310 million trips (averaging 5.8 trips per gambler).
...
Casino gambling generates substantial attendant externalities including compulsive addictions, increased drug and alcohol abuse, and the committing of crimes... Grinols of Mustard (2001) find that about 0.77% of the national sample could be classified as compulsive gamblers. Goodman (1995) estimates that each problem gambler costs the government and the private economy $13,200 a year. Similarly, Thompson, Gazel, and Rickman (1995) impute the associated social costs as ranging from between $12,000 and $50,000 per problem gambler. These findings suggest that the social costs associated with casino gambling are substantial.
I can't cite anything now, but I will assume there is a greater rate of complusive gambling among lower-income people. The danger with gambling is that it creates hope. It's a dangerous hope makes people want to risk what little they have to attain dreams that are nearly impossible. Of course this isn't just limited to lower-income brackets, and it sometimes it's just about "winning big" for others. I'm just stating this because it's unfortunate that most casinos are located in lower-income communities.
I know a person in my friend's church that is suffering from this addiction. He has gambled himself into a huge debt, borrowed large sums from friends, lost many relationships, and is trying to dig himself out of this hole. My good friend and his pastor is now trying to help him out and keeps him accountable. I know another pastor who suffered from this problem and became so desparate he tried to borrow money from his youth group kids. Messed up. Lastly, there is a private equity professional I know that has had a gambling problem since his college days. I know a couple people that he's never paid back since their school days. Now he's making a few hundred thousand a year, but his problem has just gotten worse. Now he swings losses in the tens of thousand instead of thousands, but even with his salary he won't be able to cover it. I know one time last year he lost $70,000 in one night. A big problem waiting to unfold.
To my knowledge, none of my friends suffer from a gambling addiction. Some are casual gamblers that go once in a while to a casino, play friendly poker games, or bet in their office March Madness pool. From one perspective, I can take the route of not caring about this issue since it doesn't directly affect me. But it just isn't about my small world. If all we cared about was our small worlds, how can we make this world better? This is a problem that affects the world we live in and will be a growing problem, so at least we should be aware of it.
There is a Korean proverb that states gambling is the only thing that can make a man sell his wife and children. There is a strong truth within these words.
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HatTip to Kevin at Wizbang! and SportsBlog for this article. The sad story of Cecil Fielder is a repeated one that is growing with the rapid development of casinos throughout the U.S. I am not blameless since I gamble once in a while and visit casinos about twice a year, but I recognize the adverse effects of casinos on our landscape.
I read a study several years ago, when casinos on American Indian reservations were becoming popular, which discussed some of the negative effects they were having on local communities. From a state or local government perspective, this new source of revenue was suppose to help support education systems, build local infrastructure, create jobs, or whatever other benefits for the citizens of those states and cities. While this might have been the its purpose, the negative costs were rapid increases of personal loan defaults, especially among the lower-income residents who live nearby, bankruptcy rates, and crime. These social costs of gambling have been widely debated (other side funded by casinos?), but in the end there is a conclusion that at least a small percentage of the population is damaged. These are the complusive gamblers.
This is a common dilemma in public policy. In crafting laws and regulations, where do you find the equilibrium between the "good" for one group versus the "bad" for another? And the problem is typically divided between a greater segment of the population versus a small segment that is getting screwed... maybe the middle-class versus the lower-class or maybe white versus black. Here you can look at the gambling issue as a few bad apples spoiling the lot. Why let their problems effect the greater good casinos are doing for the local communities by providing jobs and tax revenues?
Of course opponents cite the problems go beyond a few bad apples, which I agree with, but is the solution to simply eliminate the casinos? What preventive measures can be added to decrease or remove gambling's adverse effects? What checks or procedures can casinos put in place to deal with complusive gamblers? Do casinos actually want to do away with these types of gamblers? What compromises can be reached between the gaming industry and local communities against the growth of gambling? More questions can be generated, but I'll stop here. I don't have the answers now, but this is definitely an issue to keep on eye on in the U.S. and globally. Here some information from a recent study I found online by Ping Wang (Vanderbilt University and NBER), Juin-Jen Chang (Academia Sinica), and Ching-Chong Lai (Academia Sinica):
In the last decade in the United States, commercial casino gaming revenues increased 141%, from $11.2 billion in 1993 to $27.0 billion in 2003. Today in the U.S., there are casinos in approximately 200 counties in 33 states, and gambling is legalized in 48 of the 50 states, among which there are 443 commerical casinos in 11 states. According to the 2004 American Gaming Association Survey, more than one quarter of the U.S. adult population (53.4 million) visited a casino in 2003, making a total of 310 million trips (averaging 5.8 trips per gambler).
...
Casino gambling generates substantial attendant externalities including compulsive addictions, increased drug and alcohol abuse, and the committing of crimes... Grinols of Mustard (2001) find that about 0.77% of the national sample could be classified as compulsive gamblers. Goodman (1995) estimates that each problem gambler costs the government and the private economy $13,200 a year. Similarly, Thompson, Gazel, and Rickman (1995) impute the associated social costs as ranging from between $12,000 and $50,000 per problem gambler. These findings suggest that the social costs associated with casino gambling are substantial.
I can't cite anything now, but I will assume there is a greater rate of complusive gambling among lower-income people. The danger with gambling is that it creates hope. It's a dangerous hope makes people want to risk what little they have to attain dreams that are nearly impossible. Of course this isn't just limited to lower-income brackets, and it sometimes it's just about "winning big" for others. I'm just stating this because it's unfortunate that most casinos are located in lower-income communities.
I know a person in my friend's church that is suffering from this addiction. He has gambled himself into a huge debt, borrowed large sums from friends, lost many relationships, and is trying to dig himself out of this hole. My good friend and his pastor is now trying to help him out and keeps him accountable. I know another pastor who suffered from this problem and became so desparate he tried to borrow money from his youth group kids. Messed up. Lastly, there is a private equity professional I know that has had a gambling problem since his college days. I know a couple people that he's never paid back since their school days. Now he's making a few hundred thousand a year, but his problem has just gotten worse. Now he swings losses in the tens of thousand instead of thousands, but even with his salary he won't be able to cover it. I know one time last year he lost $70,000 in one night. A big problem waiting to unfold.
To my knowledge, none of my friends suffer from a gambling addiction. Some are casual gamblers that go once in a while to a casino, play friendly poker games, or bet in their office March Madness pool. From one perspective, I can take the route of not caring about this issue since it doesn't directly affect me. But it just isn't about my small world. If all we cared about was our small worlds, how can we make this world better? This is a problem that affects the world we live in and will be a growing problem, so at least we should be aware of it.
There is a Korean proverb that states gambling is the only thing that can make a man sell his wife and children. There is a strong truth within these words.
Thursday, October 21, 2004
SWIFT BOAT VETERANS FOR TRUTH MAKE $4.7 MILLION AD BUY
Glad to see my dollars put to good use. Come on Florida! Ohio for Bush! Go Michigan! If Michigan goes for Bush, watch this election to be over.
"The group, a 527 organization representing more than 250 Swift Boat veterans who served in Vietnam... purchased $3.2 million in TV time in Florida and $1.5 million in Ohio for ads that will run beginning Friday."
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Glad to see my dollars put to good use. Come on Florida! Ohio for Bush! Go Michigan! If Michigan goes for Bush, watch this election to be over.
"The group, a 527 organization representing more than 250 Swift Boat veterans who served in Vietnam... purchased $3.2 million in TV time in Florida and $1.5 million in Ohio for ads that will run beginning Friday."
SINCLAIR BOWS TO PRESSURE... STOCK HITS 52-WEEK LOW
David Smith's business sense might have been partially blinded by his political leanings. Maybe not, but they are now airing only part of the controversial "Stolen Honor" film, where former U.S. prisoners of war blamed their years of captivity on activists such as John Kerry.
Broadcaster backs off anti-Kerry film
BALTIMORE, Oct 20, 2004 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- A 62-station U.S. television group has backed down on plans to air a film attacking Sen. John Kerry's military record. The Sinclair Broadcast Group, based in the Baltimore area, made the announcement Tuesday, saying it would instead air only extracts from the film "Stolen Honor" as part of a news special. Democrats had complained to three federal agencies about the Sinclair special, noting chief executive David Smith and his three brothers have contributed heavily to President Bush and the Republican Party. Smith said the flare-up of opposition had been "trying" for the company. "The company and many of its executives have endured personal attacks of the vilest nature, as well as calls on our advertisers and our viewers to boycott our stations and on our shareholders to sell their stock," Smith said in a statement. Andrew Jay Schwartzman, president of the nonprofit Media Access Project, called the Sinclair move "a surprising cave-in" and said the 62-station television company "clearly felt a lot of pressure and this is an attempt to find a face-saving way out," the Washington Post reported Wednesday Copyright 2004 by United Press International.
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David Smith's business sense might have been partially blinded by his political leanings. Maybe not, but they are now airing only part of the controversial "Stolen Honor" film, where former U.S. prisoners of war blamed their years of captivity on activists such as John Kerry.
Broadcaster backs off anti-Kerry film
BALTIMORE, Oct 20, 2004 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- A 62-station U.S. television group has backed down on plans to air a film attacking Sen. John Kerry's military record. The Sinclair Broadcast Group, based in the Baltimore area, made the announcement Tuesday, saying it would instead air only extracts from the film "Stolen Honor" as part of a news special. Democrats had complained to three federal agencies about the Sinclair special, noting chief executive David Smith and his three brothers have contributed heavily to President Bush and the Republican Party. Smith said the flare-up of opposition had been "trying" for the company. "The company and many of its executives have endured personal attacks of the vilest nature, as well as calls on our advertisers and our viewers to boycott our stations and on our shareholders to sell their stock," Smith said in a statement. Andrew Jay Schwartzman, president of the nonprofit Media Access Project, called the Sinclair move "a surprising cave-in" and said the 62-station television company "clearly felt a lot of pressure and this is an attempt to find a face-saving way out," the Washington Post reported Wednesday Copyright 2004 by United Press International.
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
ROH ADMINISTRATION GOING SOUTH AGAIN... SOFT ON NORTH KOREAN SPIES
Figures. Some of you might not know, even Korean Americans, that South Korean President Roh's wife is the daughter of a famous North Korean spy. Someone please explain to me why the younger generation of South Korean are so pro-North Korea and so anti-American? More commentary by my friend, Mingi:
South Koreans voted the Uri Party into power out of irrational emotional outbursts resulting from Roh's temporary impeachment. Now they pay the price as their country sinks into a quicksand headed towards Kim Jong Il's grasp. The true colors of the South Korean left-wing are surfacing more clearly and their grip on power is tighter than ever. America should decide whether Koreans deserve the lucrative military alliance with the Pentagon. My verdict is, pull out and let the Koreans pay heavily under Kim Jong Il's regime. It's only fair South Koreans experience what they're supporting.
Without a Security Law, Who Can Arrest Spies?
THE CHOSUN ILBO
EDITORIAL
The ruling Uri Party has decided to abolish the National Security Law (NSL) and instead legislate a clause under the criminal law against individuals and organizations committing treason. The party has omitted provisions related to anti-state groups, crimes against acclaiming North Korea, crimes against visiting the North and crimes against receiving money from the North.
The ruling party insists that the clause concerning treason and other clauses in the criminal law will sufficiently replace the NSL in punishing North Korea-related crimes. The ruling party's unilateral decision to repeal the NSL, however, is sending shockwaves throughout the national security sector. National security experts say that they feel frustrated and resigned over security issues involving North Korea.
Under the ruling party's revised criminal law, it would be hard to punish North Korean agents operating in South Korea, because only spying for the benefit of a foreign country or organization would be illegal. The ruling party claims that the revised criminal law will be sufficient in punishing spies, citing a 1959 judicial case that defined China as an enemy and North Korea as a quasi-enemy to punish spies from the two countries. But the party's legal interpretation is anachronistic.
According to the ruling party's proposed bill, the Socialist Workers' League or Hanchongryon, a student activist group, will be able to escape punishment, even if they propagate North Korea's Juche ideology and receive money from the North, as long as they do not plot a riot. The government has failed to nail a ring of North Korean spies operating in this country, despite reports that there are 80,000 communications between the North and its spies in the South every year. Amid these realities, the government's persistence on abolishing the NSL could be seen as a determination to disarm the nation.
The Constitutional Court ruled that the NSL has a distinct purpose, separate from the criminal law's clause concerning treason. The Justice Ministry has also stated that the application of the clause concerning treason goes against the principle of banning excessive punishment. Moreover, 85 percent of the public are opposed to the
repeal of the NSL.
Why is the ruling party hurrying to abolish the NSL? When the ruling party takes the lead in weakening homeland security, who then will arrest spies or more aptly, who then will be able to arrest spies when the need arises?
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Figures. Some of you might not know, even Korean Americans, that South Korean President Roh's wife is the daughter of a famous North Korean spy. Someone please explain to me why the younger generation of South Korean are so pro-North Korea and so anti-American? More commentary by my friend, Mingi:
South Koreans voted the Uri Party into power out of irrational emotional outbursts resulting from Roh's temporary impeachment. Now they pay the price as their country sinks into a quicksand headed towards Kim Jong Il's grasp. The true colors of the South Korean left-wing are surfacing more clearly and their grip on power is tighter than ever. America should decide whether Koreans deserve the lucrative military alliance with the Pentagon. My verdict is, pull out and let the Koreans pay heavily under Kim Jong Il's regime. It's only fair South Koreans experience what they're supporting.
Without a Security Law, Who Can Arrest Spies?
THE CHOSUN ILBO
EDITORIAL
The ruling Uri Party has decided to abolish the National Security Law (NSL) and instead legislate a clause under the criminal law against individuals and organizations committing treason. The party has omitted provisions related to anti-state groups, crimes against acclaiming North Korea, crimes against visiting the North and crimes against receiving money from the North.
The ruling party insists that the clause concerning treason and other clauses in the criminal law will sufficiently replace the NSL in punishing North Korea-related crimes. The ruling party's unilateral decision to repeal the NSL, however, is sending shockwaves throughout the national security sector. National security experts say that they feel frustrated and resigned over security issues involving North Korea.
Under the ruling party's revised criminal law, it would be hard to punish North Korean agents operating in South Korea, because only spying for the benefit of a foreign country or organization would be illegal. The ruling party claims that the revised criminal law will be sufficient in punishing spies, citing a 1959 judicial case that defined China as an enemy and North Korea as a quasi-enemy to punish spies from the two countries. But the party's legal interpretation is anachronistic.
According to the ruling party's proposed bill, the Socialist Workers' League or Hanchongryon, a student activist group, will be able to escape punishment, even if they propagate North Korea's Juche ideology and receive money from the North, as long as they do not plot a riot. The government has failed to nail a ring of North Korean spies operating in this country, despite reports that there are 80,000 communications between the North and its spies in the South every year. Amid these realities, the government's persistence on abolishing the NSL could be seen as a determination to disarm the nation.
The Constitutional Court ruled that the NSL has a distinct purpose, separate from the criminal law's clause concerning treason. The Justice Ministry has also stated that the application of the clause concerning treason goes against the principle of banning excessive punishment. Moreover, 85 percent of the public are opposed to the
repeal of the NSL.
Why is the ruling party hurrying to abolish the NSL? When the ruling party takes the lead in weakening homeland security, who then will arrest spies or more aptly, who then will be able to arrest spies when the need arises?
CARLYLE AND KKR WITH RECORD PAY-OUTS... SMALL PLUS FOR THE ECONOMY
The Carlyle Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, two of the largest U.S. private equity firms, "have made record cash distributions to their investors over the last 18 months worth a combined $15.6bn. Carlyle accounts for $6.6bn and KKR some $9bn, according to the Financial Times." (full article)
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The Carlyle Group and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, two of the largest U.S. private equity firms, "have made record cash distributions to their investors over the last 18 months worth a combined $15.6bn. Carlyle accounts for $6.6bn and KKR some $9bn, according to the Financial Times." (full article)
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
JON STEWART IS KERRY'S BITCH
Doesn't really count as a post, but Max finally sent something of value to this blog. This almost makes me sound like I have an imaginary friend and I'm pretending that he's contributing to this blog. The reality is that he's a lazy-ass that's shortchanged me on his commitment to blogging... it's okay since he's a close friend and he keeps using work as his excuse.
Anyway, check out Jon Stewart as a guest on CNN's Crossfire. Tucker Carlson rips him for throwing softballs at John Kerry when he was a guest on The Daily Show. So true. I saw that segment and Stewart didn't even rip on Kerry once, and kept handing him questions on a silver platter.
Carlson jabs Stewart during the show and you can tell Stewart is getting annoyed. You can feel the tension. Stewart doesn't come off cleanly and shows more of his partisan leanings here. Watch it if you have time.
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Doesn't really count as a post, but Max finally sent something of value to this blog. This almost makes me sound like I have an imaginary friend and I'm pretending that he's contributing to this blog. The reality is that he's a lazy-ass that's shortchanged me on his commitment to blogging... it's okay since he's a close friend and he keeps using work as his excuse.
Anyway, check out Jon Stewart as a guest on CNN's Crossfire. Tucker Carlson rips him for throwing softballs at John Kerry when he was a guest on The Daily Show. So true. I saw that segment and Stewart didn't even rip on Kerry once, and kept handing him questions on a silver platter.
Carlson jabs Stewart during the show and you can tell Stewart is getting annoyed. You can feel the tension. Stewart doesn't come off cleanly and shows more of his partisan leanings here. Watch it if you have time.
FLU VACCINE SHORTAGE? KERRY BLAMES BUSH
Bawwhahahaha.... Did you hear the latest radio ad by the Kerry campaign? They actually blame the Bush administration for the shortage and bring up the question, "How can they fight the war against bioterror if they can't fight the flu?"
Nice twist of deception and lies. Nice scare tactic. Reaching for straws if you ask me. Using the flu vaccine shortage as a political issue? You know internally they are worried when they take this as a major issue for the last weeks before election day.
British regulators unexpectedly shut down a major flu-shot supplier Tuesday, citing manufacturing problems at the Chiron Corp. factory in England where roughly 46 million doses destined for the United States had been made.
That means only about 54 million flu shots will be available this year from a competing firm, and the U.S. government decided quickly that most healthy adults should delay or skip them to leave enough vaccine for the elderly and other high-risk patients. (full article)
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Bawwhahahaha.... Did you hear the latest radio ad by the Kerry campaign? They actually blame the Bush administration for the shortage and bring up the question, "How can they fight the war against bioterror if they can't fight the flu?"
Nice twist of deception and lies. Nice scare tactic. Reaching for straws if you ask me. Using the flu vaccine shortage as a political issue? You know internally they are worried when they take this as a major issue for the last weeks before election day.
British regulators unexpectedly shut down a major flu-shot supplier Tuesday, citing manufacturing problems at the Chiron Corp. factory in England where roughly 46 million doses destined for the United States had been made.
That means only about 54 million flu shots will be available this year from a competing firm, and the U.S. government decided quickly that most healthy adults should delay or skip them to leave enough vaccine for the elderly and other high-risk patients. (full article)
REALFIGHTING ARTICLE BY SGT. JEFF GUTHERY
An article mentioning my friend, Henry, who helps train soldiers at the United States Army Special Forces Detachment-Korea:
Our choice for a grappling instructor was not a difficult one. Henry Jung is a Korean-American submission grappling instructor who studied Brazilian jiu-jitsu with Carlson Gracie Junior in Chicago and with Takamasa Watanabe in Tokyo, and is a longtime friend of the Special Forces crew in Korea. Henry grew up in the hapkido gym his father operates in Chicago, giving him an exposure to that art from an early age.
Henry had won the first Mixed Martial Arts championship in Korea, and had made it to the semi-finals in the second, much larger competition. Ironically, he lost in the semi-finals to a former Korean Special Forces soldier following a nasty kick to the head. That kick, in another twist of irony, had broken his opponent's foot. Henry has been privately training Special Forces Detachment members in submission grappling as a friend for several years, and had actively participated in the 2001 and 2002 seminars. Henry also speaks English and Korean fluently, making him the obvious instructor of choice for 2003. (full article)
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An article mentioning my friend, Henry, who helps train soldiers at the United States Army Special Forces Detachment-Korea:
Our choice for a grappling instructor was not a difficult one. Henry Jung is a Korean-American submission grappling instructor who studied Brazilian jiu-jitsu with Carlson Gracie Junior in Chicago and with Takamasa Watanabe in Tokyo, and is a longtime friend of the Special Forces crew in Korea. Henry grew up in the hapkido gym his father operates in Chicago, giving him an exposure to that art from an early age.
Henry had won the first Mixed Martial Arts championship in Korea, and had made it to the semi-finals in the second, much larger competition. Ironically, he lost in the semi-finals to a former Korean Special Forces soldier following a nasty kick to the head. That kick, in another twist of irony, had broken his opponent's foot. Henry has been privately training Special Forces Detachment members in submission grappling as a friend for several years, and had actively participated in the 2001 and 2002 seminars. Henry also speaks English and Korean fluently, making him the obvious instructor of choice for 2003. (full article)
ON WISCONSIN! GO BADGERS!!
This past weekend Wisconsin beat Purdue to rise to #7 in the ESPN/USA Today poll and #6 in the AP poll and BCS standings. Awesome!
Definitely miss my old college campus. If you have never visited Madison, WI, it is the most beautiful campus in the Midwest and maybe the U.S. If you go, walk down Bascom Hill, visit State Street, and grab a drink on Memorial Union Terrace, which is right on the lakefront.
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This past weekend Wisconsin beat Purdue to rise to #7 in the ESPN/USA Today poll and #6 in the AP poll and BCS standings. Awesome!
Definitely miss my old college campus. If you have never visited Madison, WI, it is the most beautiful campus in the Midwest and maybe the U.S. If you go, walk down Bascom Hill, visit State Street, and grab a drink on Memorial Union Terrace, which is right on the lakefront.
Monday, October 18, 2004
"WHY AMERICAN JEWS MUST VOTE FOR BUSH"
Good article from The American Thinker. Dems are scared. Party lines are crossing and leaning towards the right and they are losing more of their base. Jewish Americans, African Americans, Latino Americans... Even someone like Jeb Bush will eventually sway Latinos to the right. Maybe in 2012? And if Colin Powell changes his mind that would disrupt American politics forever.
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Good article from The American Thinker. Dems are scared. Party lines are crossing and leaning towards the right and they are losing more of their base. Jewish Americans, African Americans, Latino Americans... Even someone like Jeb Bush will eventually sway Latinos to the right. Maybe in 2012? And if Colin Powell changes his mind that would disrupt American politics forever.
MORE ON THE MARY CHENEY ISSUE
Last week I received a few emails stating that the Republicans are overblowing the issue surrounding Kerry using Mary Cheney as a sticking point on the topic of homosexuality and gay marriage during the last debate. Some also stated that it was hypocritical since Republicans bashed Teresa Heinz during campaign trail.
I don't believe these points are relevant since we are talking about debate etiquette, and President Bush or major figures from his campaign staff have never criticized Teresa Heinz. Even last Friday on CNBC, Hal Bruno, who is the retired political director of ABC News and was a moderator for the 1992 vice-presidential debate, stated that it was inappropriate for Kerry to bring any family member into the discussion. Bruno has covered every presidential debate since 1960 and is known to be a neutral commentator on this topic.
Obvious some Dems reading this blog are biased and towing the party line to the degree of even ignoring such revealing comments as Mary Beth Cahill referring to Mary Cheney as "fair game." What does "fair game" mean? It means it wasn't a thoughtful comment by Kerry, but a strategic statement or stab at Bush, Cheney, and those that have similar views. "Fair game" means that this is war and everything is fair and the Kerry camp is going to be nastier.
"Whatever Kerry's intent, there can be no doubt about the reaction. Democrats at debate-watching parties gasped in surprise. Wired focus group members across the country displayed an instant negative reaction. Old Democratic political hands, in disbelief, tried to convey their unhappiness to Kerry. Even Kerry's Republican friend, Sen. John McCain, publicly criticized the Democratic nominee." (more from Robert Novak)
Also "The Lowest Blow" by William Safire from The New York Times.
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Last week I received a few emails stating that the Republicans are overblowing the issue surrounding Kerry using Mary Cheney as a sticking point on the topic of homosexuality and gay marriage during the last debate. Some also stated that it was hypocritical since Republicans bashed Teresa Heinz during campaign trail.
I don't believe these points are relevant since we are talking about debate etiquette, and President Bush or major figures from his campaign staff have never criticized Teresa Heinz. Even last Friday on CNBC, Hal Bruno, who is the retired political director of ABC News and was a moderator for the 1992 vice-presidential debate, stated that it was inappropriate for Kerry to bring any family member into the discussion. Bruno has covered every presidential debate since 1960 and is known to be a neutral commentator on this topic.
Obvious some Dems reading this blog are biased and towing the party line to the degree of even ignoring such revealing comments as Mary Beth Cahill referring to Mary Cheney as "fair game." What does "fair game" mean? It means it wasn't a thoughtful comment by Kerry, but a strategic statement or stab at Bush, Cheney, and those that have similar views. "Fair game" means that this is war and everything is fair and the Kerry camp is going to be nastier.
"Whatever Kerry's intent, there can be no doubt about the reaction. Democrats at debate-watching parties gasped in surprise. Wired focus group members across the country displayed an instant negative reaction. Old Democratic political hands, in disbelief, tried to convey their unhappiness to Kerry. Even Kerry's Republican friend, Sen. John McCain, publicly criticized the Democratic nominee." (more from Robert Novak)
Also "The Lowest Blow" by William Safire from The New York Times.
Friday, October 15, 2004
MORE JUN CHOI FUNDRAISING EVENTS
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
6:30pm to 9:00pm
Jun Choi for New Jersey State Assembly
Third Floor Cafe
315 Fifth Ave (At 32nd Street)
New York, NY
(212) 481-3669
Suggested Contribution: $100 per person
Maximum Contribution: $2,200 per person
Open Bar – Beer and Wine
RSVP to info@junchoi.org or (908) 217-6233
For more information or to make an online contribution, please visit: www.junchoi.org
Paid for by Jun Choi for Assembly Richard E. Hamilton, Esq., Treasurer
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Tuesday, October 19, 2004
6:30pm to 9:00pm
Jun Choi for New Jersey State Assembly
Third Floor Cafe
315 Fifth Ave (At 32nd Street)
New York, NY
(212) 481-3669
Suggested Contribution: $100 per person
Maximum Contribution: $2,200 per person
Open Bar – Beer and Wine
RSVP to info@junchoi.org or (908) 217-6233
For more information or to make an online contribution, please visit: www.junchoi.org
Paid for by Jun Choi for Assembly Richard E. Hamilton, Esq., Treasurer
Thursday, October 14, 2004
GOOGLE FIRES THE FIRST SHOT ACROSS THE VALLEY
Microsoft, Yahoo!, and AOL are hearing, "Who's your daddy?" from Mountain View, California:
Google on Thursday unveiled its first-generation desktop application for searching through personal files and Web history stored locally on a PC, a move that could shake up the landscape of Internet search and raise privacy hackles.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based company, which will report earnings for the first time as a public company next week, has created Google Desktop Search, a thin-client application that lets people retrieve e-mail, Microsoft Office documents, AOL chat logs and a history of Web pages previously viewed, all via a Web browser.
"It's like photographic memory for your computer--if you've seen it before, you should be able to find it," said Marissa Mayer, director of consumer Web products at Google. (full article)
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Microsoft, Yahoo!, and AOL are hearing, "Who's your daddy?" from Mountain View, California:
Google on Thursday unveiled its first-generation desktop application for searching through personal files and Web history stored locally on a PC, a move that could shake up the landscape of Internet search and raise privacy hackles.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based company, which will report earnings for the first time as a public company next week, has created Google Desktop Search, a thin-client application that lets people retrieve e-mail, Microsoft Office documents, AOL chat logs and a history of Web pages previously viewed, all via a Web browser.
"It's like photographic memory for your computer--if you've seen it before, you should be able to find it," said Marissa Mayer, director of consumer Web products at Google. (full article)
LINKEDIN GETS $10 MILLION FOR THEIR SECOND ROUND
For those of you who haven't tried LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com), go ahead and sign up. After trying various professional online networking sites, it is by far the best service. I have received a fair amount of potential business deals and solid leads from this network, and what initially attracted me was the quality of their membership base. There are many top-tier professionals from every industry on this site.
For their Series B round, they received $10 million from Greylock, Sequoia Capital (i.e. Apple, Yahoo!, Cisco, Google), and 14 angel investors, including Marc Andreessen (co-founder of Netscape and chairman of Opsware), Joe Kraus (co-founder of Excite), Josh Kopelman (founder of Half.com), and Peter Thiel (co-founder of PayPal).
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For those of you who haven't tried LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com), go ahead and sign up. After trying various professional online networking sites, it is by far the best service. I have received a fair amount of potential business deals and solid leads from this network, and what initially attracted me was the quality of their membership base. There are many top-tier professionals from every industry on this site.
For their Series B round, they received $10 million from Greylock, Sequoia Capital (i.e. Apple, Yahoo!, Cisco, Google), and 14 angel investors, including Marc Andreessen (co-founder of Netscape and chairman of Opsware), Joe Kraus (co-founder of Excite), Josh Kopelman (founder of Half.com), and Peter Thiel (co-founder of PayPal).
THIRD PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE REVIEWS... CLOSE RESULTS
Lynne Cheney Says Kerry "Is Not A Good Man"... I Agree
I watched about half the debate last night and thought it was pretty close. Nothing great from either candidate.
Also Lynne Cheney goes off on Kerry for using her daughter's sexuality during the debate. I agree. Total cheapshot by Kerry. He's probably the type of guy on the basketball court that will elbow and use dirty tricks just to win a pick-up game. And do you believe Elizabeth Edward's comment? Do you want these people to run the White House?
Lynne Cheney accused Sen. John Kerry of pulling a "cheap and tawdry political trick" after he discussed her daughter's sexuality in his debate with President Bush. In response, Elizabeth Edwards suggested Mrs. Cheney might feel "a certain degree of shame" because her daughter is a lesbian. (full article)
ABC Poll states it's a draw. More views on the debate from Instapundit. Mickey Kaus thinks it was a draw and has some good points here. Deacon from Power Line is in-between while Hindrocket had a different view. And of course we have CNN's Carlos Watson from the way left... who I admired.
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Lynne Cheney Says Kerry "Is Not A Good Man"... I Agree
I watched about half the debate last night and thought it was pretty close. Nothing great from either candidate.
Also Lynne Cheney goes off on Kerry for using her daughter's sexuality during the debate. I agree. Total cheapshot by Kerry. He's probably the type of guy on the basketball court that will elbow and use dirty tricks just to win a pick-up game. And do you believe Elizabeth Edward's comment? Do you want these people to run the White House?
Lynne Cheney accused Sen. John Kerry of pulling a "cheap and tawdry political trick" after he discussed her daughter's sexuality in his debate with President Bush. In response, Elizabeth Edwards suggested Mrs. Cheney might feel "a certain degree of shame" because her daughter is a lesbian. (full article)
ABC Poll states it's a draw. More views on the debate from Instapundit. Mickey Kaus thinks it was a draw and has some good points here. Deacon from Power Line is in-between while Hindrocket had a different view. And of course we have CNN's Carlos Watson from the way left... who I admired.
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
"THE APPRENTICE" COMMENTARY... WARPED SELF-VIEWS
Other Stories About People Who Just Don't Get It... Heh? Wha??
I'm not big on this reality TV craze, but "The Apprentice" has captured my attention. Since I was in Asia, I missed last year's run, but this year I've seen almost every show. The past two episodes where Jennifer C. and Pamela got fired showed me how some people lack the power of self-reflection and have a failure to see how others see them.
Jennifer C. was a classic example of a leader that commands without action, so respect and admiration is never built up. It seemed that she didn't want to get her hands dirty. During the show, she was a poor leader who didn't listen to her team, failed to take responsibility, and sought out excuses besides herself. I was cracking me up when she actually blamed "those two old Jewish bat ladies" for the poor reviews instead of reflecting on what her team could have done better. Jennifer narrowing her vision instead of widening her lense revealed to me that she would never be a solid leader destinied for bigger and better things. She should definitely stick with selling real estate in New York.
During the board meeting, Trump told her that everyone on her team hates her but I don't think she believed him or accepted it. Even during the taxi ride out, she still blamed others besides herself. Unbelievable. At least take some blame or see your weaknesses. Maybe she has a fragile level of self-confidence, so she couldn't admit her faults? Maybe she grew up with a fair amount of people not liking her, so to protect her ego she has always blocked out criticisms against her to prevent nervous breakdowns? I really don't know, but I do know that she is destined for mediocrity.
Pamela seemed to be a very capable person, but lacked the interpersonal skills to succeed outside of the finance community. She is tough, intelligent, abrasive, and lacked tact. Great qualities for investment banking, but bad for almost everything else. My friends in investment banking generally say one in five managers (e.g. VPs, Directors, Managing Directors) are asshole types (e.g. highly critical, like to blame someone in all situations even if lightening strikes a tree, likes to take all the credit on deals and doesn't recognize other people's effort, makes a big deal over minor situations and then paints him or herself as the savior, etc.), and I believe Pamela was one of those. She probably executes well and gets the job done, but leaves at least half her team pissed off at her and maybe some clients as well.
She was okay as a manager in Episode 5, but as a leader she was horrible. Pamela should have learned somewhere in her career not to talk down to people and cut them off in mid-sentence. Her arrogance was her undoing. In the board room, she didn't admit to defeat which I'm sure was an immediate turn off for people and she couldn't take any responsibility for the loss. Horrible self-reflection and attitude towards people. Telltale sign is her biography where she states she has an "off the wall sense of humor helps keep things light when the need arises." What? Off the wall humor like her comment on "who cut that kid's hair?" in Episode 1?? Whatever. I'm guessing she is a person with only a couple close friends, who she will soon get together with and talk about how she was a victim of backroom political activity. I'm sure she will do well financially, but not so well in the happiness department.
OTHER STORIES
A couple weekends ago my friend was visiting his hometown and saw a person he grew up with at church. This guy had become a successful professional in the finance industry and I always knew he would do well. His only limitations were his lack of social grace and skills. He has the intellect and drive, but is very awkward.
He was chatting with my friend after Sunday service and asked how teaching was going. My friend told him that he left teaching and was acting on Broadway. After receiving more details on my friend's success, he emphatically asked my friend to keep in touch. My friend told me that he was totally turned off by this shallow gesture.
"What was that? When he thought I was a lowly high school teacher, he didn't want to keep in touch but after he found out I was a Broadway actor he does? Whatever..."
A few years ago in Korea, my good friend met this media executive from the U.S. and he told me that he totally brushed him off during an initial meeting. After the guy found out my friend was related to a chaebol (Korean conglomerate) he was potentially doing business with, he changed his attitude and was basically kissing my friend's ass. My friend was completely annoyed and rightfully questioned his character and integrity.
I guess the lesson learned from these situations is to be genuinely nice to all people without judgment, and to show interest in them beyond your selfish needs. Makes me wonder though if you are like the people stated above, how possible is change and how can they change? Once selfish always selfish? Once a bastard always a bastard?
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Other Stories About People Who Just Don't Get It... Heh? Wha??
I'm not big on this reality TV craze, but "The Apprentice" has captured my attention. Since I was in Asia, I missed last year's run, but this year I've seen almost every show. The past two episodes where Jennifer C. and Pamela got fired showed me how some people lack the power of self-reflection and have a failure to see how others see them.
Jennifer C. was a classic example of a leader that commands without action, so respect and admiration is never built up. It seemed that she didn't want to get her hands dirty. During the show, she was a poor leader who didn't listen to her team, failed to take responsibility, and sought out excuses besides herself. I was cracking me up when she actually blamed "those two old Jewish bat ladies" for the poor reviews instead of reflecting on what her team could have done better. Jennifer narrowing her vision instead of widening her lense revealed to me that she would never be a solid leader destinied for bigger and better things. She should definitely stick with selling real estate in New York.
During the board meeting, Trump told her that everyone on her team hates her but I don't think she believed him or accepted it. Even during the taxi ride out, she still blamed others besides herself. Unbelievable. At least take some blame or see your weaknesses. Maybe she has a fragile level of self-confidence, so she couldn't admit her faults? Maybe she grew up with a fair amount of people not liking her, so to protect her ego she has always blocked out criticisms against her to prevent nervous breakdowns? I really don't know, but I do know that she is destined for mediocrity.
Pamela seemed to be a very capable person, but lacked the interpersonal skills to succeed outside of the finance community. She is tough, intelligent, abrasive, and lacked tact. Great qualities for investment banking, but bad for almost everything else. My friends in investment banking generally say one in five managers (e.g. VPs, Directors, Managing Directors) are asshole types (e.g. highly critical, like to blame someone in all situations even if lightening strikes a tree, likes to take all the credit on deals and doesn't recognize other people's effort, makes a big deal over minor situations and then paints him or herself as the savior, etc.), and I believe Pamela was one of those. She probably executes well and gets the job done, but leaves at least half her team pissed off at her and maybe some clients as well.
She was okay as a manager in Episode 5, but as a leader she was horrible. Pamela should have learned somewhere in her career not to talk down to people and cut them off in mid-sentence. Her arrogance was her undoing. In the board room, she didn't admit to defeat which I'm sure was an immediate turn off for people and she couldn't take any responsibility for the loss. Horrible self-reflection and attitude towards people. Telltale sign is her biography where she states she has an "off the wall sense of humor helps keep things light when the need arises." What? Off the wall humor like her comment on "who cut that kid's hair?" in Episode 1?? Whatever. I'm guessing she is a person with only a couple close friends, who she will soon get together with and talk about how she was a victim of backroom political activity. I'm sure she will do well financially, but not so well in the happiness department.
OTHER STORIES
A couple weekends ago my friend was visiting his hometown and saw a person he grew up with at church. This guy had become a successful professional in the finance industry and I always knew he would do well. His only limitations were his lack of social grace and skills. He has the intellect and drive, but is very awkward.
He was chatting with my friend after Sunday service and asked how teaching was going. My friend told him that he left teaching and was acting on Broadway. After receiving more details on my friend's success, he emphatically asked my friend to keep in touch. My friend told me that he was totally turned off by this shallow gesture.
"What was that? When he thought I was a lowly high school teacher, he didn't want to keep in touch but after he found out I was a Broadway actor he does? Whatever..."
A few years ago in Korea, my good friend met this media executive from the U.S. and he told me that he totally brushed him off during an initial meeting. After the guy found out my friend was related to a chaebol (Korean conglomerate) he was potentially doing business with, he changed his attitude and was basically kissing my friend's ass. My friend was completely annoyed and rightfully questioned his character and integrity.
I guess the lesson learned from these situations is to be genuinely nice to all people without judgment, and to show interest in them beyond your selfish needs. Makes me wonder though if you are like the people stated above, how possible is change and how can they change? Once selfish always selfish? Once a bastard always a bastard?
POWER OF PLAY... FROM IDEO
HatTip to Steve Jurvetson. Stanford Engineering hosted "EDAY 2004: The Power of Play" this past weekend. Some pretty cool ideas and information.
The day was led by David Kelley, founder of IDEO and Stanford professor of engineering. If you're not familar IDEO, it is the top design firm in the world. Look at their brochures and website and you'll see why.
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HatTip to Steve Jurvetson. Stanford Engineering hosted "EDAY 2004: The Power of Play" this past weekend. Some pretty cool ideas and information.
The day was led by David Kelley, founder of IDEO and Stanford professor of engineering. If you're not familar IDEO, it is the top design firm in the world. Look at their brochures and website and you'll see why.
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
WEB BROWSER WARS... AGAIN?
News.com had a good grouping of articles on the increasing browser wars and Microsoft's lack of attention in developing IE.
Another article below has Marc Andreessen discussing this topic:
This time, it's not Andreessen's former company, Netscape Communications, that's taking on Microsoft's Internet Explorer. It's the increasingly popular smaller products such as Apple Computer's Safari and the open-source Firefox, Andreessen said.
"It may turn out that there's a one-two punch with Firefox and Safari," Andreessen said Wednesday at the Web 2.0 conference here. "Microsoft is certainly going to respond competitively."
Firefox owes more than a debt of gratitude to Netscape. The company created and funded the open-source Mozilla project that created it, although Mozilla was later spun off as an independent group.
Claiming browser development has been at a standstill since 1998, Andreessen said the recent emergence of competitive software will force Microsoft to pay more attention to developing new features in IE. (full article)
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News.com had a good grouping of articles on the increasing browser wars and Microsoft's lack of attention in developing IE.
Another article below has Marc Andreessen discussing this topic:
This time, it's not Andreessen's former company, Netscape Communications, that's taking on Microsoft's Internet Explorer. It's the increasingly popular smaller products such as Apple Computer's Safari and the open-source Firefox, Andreessen said.
"It may turn out that there's a one-two punch with Firefox and Safari," Andreessen said Wednesday at the Web 2.0 conference here. "Microsoft is certainly going to respond competitively."
Firefox owes more than a debt of gratitude to Netscape. The company created and funded the open-source Mozilla project that created it, although Mozilla was later spun off as an independent group.
Claiming browser development has been at a standstill since 1998, Andreessen said the recent emergence of competitive software will force Microsoft to pay more attention to developing new features in IE. (full article)
MARK CUBAN BETTING ON HDTV
One of his side projects is HDNet, a television station carried on cable and satellite networks offering programs in high definition. Cuban is betting that HDNet will be on the leading edge of programming to serve the growing numbers of households buying high-definition TV sets.
Cuban may have a point. HDTV prices are dropping, more cable networks, such as HBO and Discovery Channel, offer programs in high definition, and the federal government is pushing broadcast TV networks to shift analog signals to digital.
In fact, Cuban believes that the HDTV market is at an inflection point similar to PCs in the 1990s and DVD players at the turn of the century. As prices continue to fall, adoption will continue to rise. (full article)
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One of his side projects is HDNet, a television station carried on cable and satellite networks offering programs in high definition. Cuban is betting that HDNet will be on the leading edge of programming to serve the growing numbers of households buying high-definition TV sets.
Cuban may have a point. HDTV prices are dropping, more cable networks, such as HBO and Discovery Channel, offer programs in high definition, and the federal government is pushing broadcast TV networks to shift analog signals to digital.
In fact, Cuban believes that the HDTV market is at an inflection point similar to PCs in the 1990s and DVD players at the turn of the century. As prices continue to fall, adoption will continue to rise. (full article)
GOING OLD SCHOOL... GREAT CONSUMER CHAINS
Potbelly's Has The Best Damn Subs In the World... In-N-Out Burger Kicks Ass
Since I've been back from Asia, one great surprise was the rapid growth of my favorite sandwich shop, Potbelly Sandwich Works. Potbelly has been a Chicago favorite for years and the best damn submarine sandwich you will ever eat... best sandwich period. I discovered Potbelly during my high school years, which is over 15 years ago, and by the time I left for Korea four years ago there were only two locations in the city to my knowledge. About two years ago, I found out from friends that Potbelly shops where multiplying throughout Chicagoland and by this summer they were everywhere. I went to the Lincolnshire location by my parents' home and briefly talked to the manager. He told me that a few years ago the owners received outside investment and now they have over 50 locations throughout the Midwest... states nearby Illinois, such as Indiana and Wisconsin, for those illiterate in U.S. geography. Hmmm... most native Californians and New Yorkers... Californians think anything east of the Rockies is "East Coast" and most New Yorkers don't know anything outside of the five boroughs and the only "national park" they know is Central Park :)
Anyway, I did a Google search and found out that Howard Schultz's investment fund, Maveron, invested into Potbelly. This is a great investment. The sandwich chain has awesome potential like Starbucks did. People who eat their sandwiches crave it and the quality is superb, so a loyal following is developed. I assume Maveron and the Potbelly management will want to grow this nationally and take it public within a few years. Watch for Potbelly if you already haven't tried it, or fly out to Chicago and eat a few. I recommend the "Roast Beef" with everything including hot peppers and the "Italian" with the same.
Another food chain I love that hasn't gone national, but I wish it would is In-N-Out Burger. A west coast chain, primarily in California, has the best burgers out of the fast food burger joints I love. They have over 150 locations, but have gone the slow growth model... founded in 1948. To my knowledge they haven't taken outside investors and probably won't to keep it within the founding family's control.
Switching industries, Fry's Electronics is another consumer chain that is great. It's a competitor to Best Buy and Circuit City, but more geekier. More high-tech gadgets and playthings on their shelves that allow serious geeks to upgrade their computers, audio equipment, etc.
Even a non-techy like me loves this store, but they just need to keep every store consistent in terms of image, interior design, and service before they make a nationwide push. Sometimes their stores look like warehouses with boxes cluttered in the aisles. Many of their salepeople are excellent in their knowledge of hardware and software products, so they definitely should keep this quality as they grow.
Fry's would definitely be a great investment for a private equity firm and a great opportunity for the founders to take outside money to rapidly grow. Definitely a company to watch for in the coming decade.
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Potbelly's Has The Best Damn Subs In the World... In-N-Out Burger Kicks Ass
Since I've been back from Asia, one great surprise was the rapid growth of my favorite sandwich shop, Potbelly Sandwich Works. Potbelly has been a Chicago favorite for years and the best damn submarine sandwich you will ever eat... best sandwich period. I discovered Potbelly during my high school years, which is over 15 years ago, and by the time I left for Korea four years ago there were only two locations in the city to my knowledge. About two years ago, I found out from friends that Potbelly shops where multiplying throughout Chicagoland and by this summer they were everywhere. I went to the Lincolnshire location by my parents' home and briefly talked to the manager. He told me that a few years ago the owners received outside investment and now they have over 50 locations throughout the Midwest... states nearby Illinois, such as Indiana and Wisconsin, for those illiterate in U.S. geography. Hmmm... most native Californians and New Yorkers... Californians think anything east of the Rockies is "East Coast" and most New Yorkers don't know anything outside of the five boroughs and the only "national park" they know is Central Park :)
Anyway, I did a Google search and found out that Howard Schultz's investment fund, Maveron, invested into Potbelly. This is a great investment. The sandwich chain has awesome potential like Starbucks did. People who eat their sandwiches crave it and the quality is superb, so a loyal following is developed. I assume Maveron and the Potbelly management will want to grow this nationally and take it public within a few years. Watch for Potbelly if you already haven't tried it, or fly out to Chicago and eat a few. I recommend the "Roast Beef" with everything including hot peppers and the "Italian" with the same.
Another food chain I love that hasn't gone national, but I wish it would is In-N-Out Burger. A west coast chain, primarily in California, has the best burgers out of the fast food burger joints I love. They have over 150 locations, but have gone the slow growth model... founded in 1948. To my knowledge they haven't taken outside investors and probably won't to keep it within the founding family's control.
Switching industries, Fry's Electronics is another consumer chain that is great. It's a competitor to Best Buy and Circuit City, but more geekier. More high-tech gadgets and playthings on their shelves that allow serious geeks to upgrade their computers, audio equipment, etc.
Even a non-techy like me loves this store, but they just need to keep every store consistent in terms of image, interior design, and service before they make a nationwide push. Sometimes their stores look like warehouses with boxes cluttered in the aisles. Many of their salepeople are excellent in their knowledge of hardware and software products, so they definitely should keep this quality as they grow.
Fry's would definitely be a great investment for a private equity firm and a great opportunity for the founders to take outside money to rapidly grow. Definitely a company to watch for in the coming decade.
Monday, October 11, 2004
NOBEL PRIZE WINNER SAYS BUSH ISN'T CUTTING TAXES ENOUGH
Just saw CNBC's Street Signs and today's guest was Edward Prescott, 2004's Nobel economics prize winner. Prescott won the award along with Norway's Finn E. Kydland.
Anyways, he stated that Bush's tax cuts do not go far enough and further cuts are needed to stimulate the economy. I didn't catch the whole interview, so I'll post it up if I get the transcript. You don't get much better than a Nobel prize laureate to back your economic policy.
Also a shoutout to my old professor for science and technology policy from Columbia University, Dr. Michael Crow. Prescott is a professor at Arizona State University where Dr. Crow serves as its current president. Dr. Crow was very helpful to this entrepreneur and was an advisor to a couple of my ventures. He was a great teacher and a brilliant person to learn from. I was inspired to write this post a while back from what I learned from him.
Funny coincidence in all this is that the last round of the presidential debates will be held at ASU. GO BUSH!
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Just saw CNBC's Street Signs and today's guest was Edward Prescott, 2004's Nobel economics prize winner. Prescott won the award along with Norway's Finn E. Kydland.
Anyways, he stated that Bush's tax cuts do not go far enough and further cuts are needed to stimulate the economy. I didn't catch the whole interview, so I'll post it up if I get the transcript. You don't get much better than a Nobel prize laureate to back your economic policy.
Also a shoutout to my old professor for science and technology policy from Columbia University, Dr. Michael Crow. Prescott is a professor at Arizona State University where Dr. Crow serves as its current president. Dr. Crow was very helpful to this entrepreneur and was an advisor to a couple of my ventures. He was a great teacher and a brilliant person to learn from. I was inspired to write this post a while back from what I learned from him.
Funny coincidence in all this is that the last round of the presidential debates will be held at ASU. GO BUSH!
VENTURE CAPITALIST GOES HOLLYWOOD
Interesting story on Todd Dagres, a former partner from Battery Ventures, who left the venture capital industry to produce movies in Hollywood.
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Interesting story on Todd Dagres, a former partner from Battery Ventures, who left the venture capital industry to produce movies in Hollywood.
AUSSIES SHOW BACKBONE UNLIKE SPANISH
Great editorial and reminder that not all have to bow down to the fear and threat of terrorists. Many Spanish who voted in their new government in the past election should go watch "Gladiator" as a lesson in courage and having a backbone.
Two Wins Against Terror
Elections in Afghanistan and Australia turn out to be nothing like Spain.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Monday, October 11, 2004
Democracy is a force terrorists dread. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has warned his al Qaeda associates that democracy in Iraq would "suffocate" the terror campaign he is orchestrating from his base in Fallujah. Voters Saturday in two very different parts of the world proved his point. Australians enthusiastically re-elected John Howard, a staunch U.S. anti-terror ally, and the Afghans pulled off, against tremendous odds, the country's first national election for a president. (full article)
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Great editorial and reminder that not all have to bow down to the fear and threat of terrorists. Many Spanish who voted in their new government in the past election should go watch "Gladiator" as a lesson in courage and having a backbone.
Two Wins Against Terror
Elections in Afghanistan and Australia turn out to be nothing like Spain.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Monday, October 11, 2004
Democracy is a force terrorists dread. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has warned his al Qaeda associates that democracy in Iraq would "suffocate" the terror campaign he is orchestrating from his base in Fallujah. Voters Saturday in two very different parts of the world proved his point. Australians enthusiastically re-elected John Howard, a staunch U.S. anti-terror ally, and the Afghans pulled off, against tremendous odds, the country's first national election for a president. (full article)
Friday, October 08, 2004
BRIEF RESPONSE TO ROUND 2... HILARIOUS MOMENTS
Okay, I couldn't get the transcript, but did I hear Kerry correctly? He referred to the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 and then said we didn't receive the next one until five or six years later. I was watching the debate with two anti-Bushies and one other Bush supporter and all of us did a double-take and started to laugh. What did he say? We were cracking up and Kerry's math error. 1993 plus five or six equals 1998 and 1999. Hmmm... 9/11 was 2001. What event or events was John Kerry referring to? We were missing something?
President Bush could have had fun with this and said:
"John, one plus one equals two and 1993 plus six does not equal 2001..."
Second hilarious moment was President Bush joking around about his "scowl" from the prior debate. After listening to Kerry flip-flop again, Bush said Kerry's response made him scowl.
Last one was the President's response to Kerry stating he owned a timber company, "I own a timber company?... Want some wood?"
I'm not sure if the audience laughed, but our group was laughing. I thought Bush was funny and did a good plug for time. The anti-Bushies were laughing and thought he degraded the level of professionalism of the debate.
Anyway, I enjoyed watching tonight's debate and I definitely believe the President took this one. I thought he lost the first one, but he took this one to Kerry and came out on top.
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Okay, I couldn't get the transcript, but did I hear Kerry correctly? He referred to the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 and then said we didn't receive the next one until five or six years later. I was watching the debate with two anti-Bushies and one other Bush supporter and all of us did a double-take and started to laugh. What did he say? We were cracking up and Kerry's math error. 1993 plus five or six equals 1998 and 1999. Hmmm... 9/11 was 2001. What event or events was John Kerry referring to? We were missing something?
President Bush could have had fun with this and said:
"John, one plus one equals two and 1993 plus six does not equal 2001..."
Second hilarious moment was President Bush joking around about his "scowl" from the prior debate. After listening to Kerry flip-flop again, Bush said Kerry's response made him scowl.
Last one was the President's response to Kerry stating he owned a timber company, "I own a timber company?... Want some wood?"
I'm not sure if the audience laughed, but our group was laughing. I thought Bush was funny and did a good plug for time. The anti-Bushies were laughing and thought he degraded the level of professionalism of the debate.
Anyway, I enjoyed watching tonight's debate and I definitely believe the President took this one. I thought he lost the first one, but he took this one to Kerry and came out on top.
Thursday, October 07, 2004
REMINDER FOR SOME ON WHY WE INVADED IRAQI
Great post by James Taranto at The Wall Street Journal:
Duelfer Damns U.N.
With a presidential election less than a month away and the press and the Democrats eager to discredit the Bush administration, most of what we've been hearing about the final report of Charles Duelfer's Iraq Survey Group, issued yesterday, has centered on the question of whether Saddam Hussein's regime possessed stockpiles of mass-destruction weapons. The U.S. and most other world intelligence services believed it did, and this was among the justifications for Iraq's liberation last year. The absence of such stockpiles is supposed to prove that the U.S.-led coalition was wrong to liberate Iraq--that Saddam Hussein did not deserve to be toppled and George W. Bush does not deserve to be re-elected.
It won't surprise anyone to learn that we disagree. This column has long supported the liberation of Iraq, and weapons of mass destruction were in our view at most a secondary part of the case (see here and here). To our mind, the main lesson to be drawn from the ISG report is that the United Nations is ill suited to manage international crises.
Consider where things stood preliberation. As we noted in January 2003, Saddam Hussein had been technically at war with the U.S. and "the world" for more than a decade. There was never a peace agreement to end the Gulf War, only a cease-fire conditional upon Saddam Hussein's compliance with 17 U.N. resolutions. These resolutions required not only that Saddam not possess weapons of mass destruction, but also that he prove to the world that he had destroyed all such weapons programs. Resolution 1441 enumerated his other obligations:
The Government of Iraq has failed to comply with its commitments pursuant to resolution 687 (1991) with regard to terrorism, pursuant to resolution 688 (1991) to end repression of its civilian population and to provide access by international humanitarian organizations to all those in need of assistance in Iraq, and pursuant to resolutions 686 (1991), 687 (1991), and 1284 (1999) to return or cooperate in accounting for Kuwaiti and third country nationals wrongfully detained by Iraq, or to return Kuwaiti property wrongfully seized by Iraq.
The alternatives to military intervention were continuing the 12-year status quo, in which the U.N. applied sanctions designed to force compliance, or lifting the sanctions. In either case, the U.N.--and the U.S., had it continued to cooperate--would have been complicit in keeping this vicious dictator in power.
Twelve years of sanctions should have been enough to prove that they were ineffective in forcing Saddam to comply with his obligations--except, it now seems, for his obligation not to possess weapons of mass destruction. And of course because Saddam failed to verify the destruction of those weapons, he could not be trusted even on that score.
According to the Duelfer report (at page 63 of this PDF document), Saddam "used to say privately that the 'better part of war was deceiving,' according to Ali Hasan Al Majid," the Saddam henchman known as "Chemical Ali." The report says that al-Majid, in coalition custody since August 2003, "stated that Saddam wanted to avoid appearing weak and did not reveal he was deceiving the world about the presence of WMD."
The sanctions regime had the effect of punishing the Iraqi people while allowing Saddam to remain in power. Saddam was able to circumvent the sanctions by misusing the Oil for Food program. At the same time, he sought to end the sanctions by offering material inducements to sympathetic countries with permanent U.N. Security Council seats.
According to the report (pages 68-69 of the above PDF, which we've reproduced here), Saddam's regime "sought a relationship with Russia to engage in extensive arms purchases and to gain support for lifting the sanctions," and "in order to induce France to aid in getting sanctions lifted, [Baghdad] targeted friendly companies and foreign political parties that possessed either extensive business ties to Iraq or held pro-Iraqi positions."
Had sanctions been lifted, the report makes clear, Saddam was preparing to rebuild his weapons capabilities. "According to Abd Hamid Mahmud [his private secretary], Saddam privately told him that Iraq would reacquire WMD post-sanctions" (page 76). "Saddam asked in 1999 how long it would take to build a production line for CW [chemical weapons] agents, according to the former Minister of Military Industrialization. . . . An Iraqi CW expert separately estimated Iraq would require only a few days to start producing mustard--if it was prepared to sacrifice the production equipment" (page 88).
The end of sanctions might have meant a nuclear-armed Iraq. "Saddam would have restarted WMD programs, beginning with the nuclear program, after sanctions, according to [Deputy Prime Minister] Tariq Aziz. Saddam never formally stated this intention, according to Aziz, but he did not believe other countries in the region should be able to have WMD when Iraq could not. Aziz assessed that Iraq could have a WMD capability within two years of the end of sanctions" (page 80).
If President Bush had decided not to liberate Iraq without yet another U.N. resolution, it seems clear that Saddam's coalition of the bribed would have continued to balk. The Iraqi people would have continued suffering under dictatorship or sanctions, while Saddam bluffed the world by pretending to have weapons of mass destruction.
Had the sanctions been lifted, Saddam likely would have acquired such weapons for real. Given that he had used them in the past, against both Iranians and Iraqi Kurds, there's no assurance he would have employed them only as a "deterrent"--or that he would not have given them to terrorists.
As it is, Saddam is in prison, and Iraq is disarmed and moving toward democracy. Can there be any doubt that America is safer--or that it would imperil both America and the world if a president were to subject U.S. national security to a "global test"?
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Great post by James Taranto at The Wall Street Journal:
Duelfer Damns U.N.
With a presidential election less than a month away and the press and the Democrats eager to discredit the Bush administration, most of what we've been hearing about the final report of Charles Duelfer's Iraq Survey Group, issued yesterday, has centered on the question of whether Saddam Hussein's regime possessed stockpiles of mass-destruction weapons. The U.S. and most other world intelligence services believed it did, and this was among the justifications for Iraq's liberation last year. The absence of such stockpiles is supposed to prove that the U.S.-led coalition was wrong to liberate Iraq--that Saddam Hussein did not deserve to be toppled and George W. Bush does not deserve to be re-elected.
It won't surprise anyone to learn that we disagree. This column has long supported the liberation of Iraq, and weapons of mass destruction were in our view at most a secondary part of the case (see here and here). To our mind, the main lesson to be drawn from the ISG report is that the United Nations is ill suited to manage international crises.
Consider where things stood preliberation. As we noted in January 2003, Saddam Hussein had been technically at war with the U.S. and "the world" for more than a decade. There was never a peace agreement to end the Gulf War, only a cease-fire conditional upon Saddam Hussein's compliance with 17 U.N. resolutions. These resolutions required not only that Saddam not possess weapons of mass destruction, but also that he prove to the world that he had destroyed all such weapons programs. Resolution 1441 enumerated his other obligations:
The Government of Iraq has failed to comply with its commitments pursuant to resolution 687 (1991) with regard to terrorism, pursuant to resolution 688 (1991) to end repression of its civilian population and to provide access by international humanitarian organizations to all those in need of assistance in Iraq, and pursuant to resolutions 686 (1991), 687 (1991), and 1284 (1999) to return or cooperate in accounting for Kuwaiti and third country nationals wrongfully detained by Iraq, or to return Kuwaiti property wrongfully seized by Iraq.
The alternatives to military intervention were continuing the 12-year status quo, in which the U.N. applied sanctions designed to force compliance, or lifting the sanctions. In either case, the U.N.--and the U.S., had it continued to cooperate--would have been complicit in keeping this vicious dictator in power.
Twelve years of sanctions should have been enough to prove that they were ineffective in forcing Saddam to comply with his obligations--except, it now seems, for his obligation not to possess weapons of mass destruction. And of course because Saddam failed to verify the destruction of those weapons, he could not be trusted even on that score.
According to the Duelfer report (at page 63 of this PDF document), Saddam "used to say privately that the 'better part of war was deceiving,' according to Ali Hasan Al Majid," the Saddam henchman known as "Chemical Ali." The report says that al-Majid, in coalition custody since August 2003, "stated that Saddam wanted to avoid appearing weak and did not reveal he was deceiving the world about the presence of WMD."
The sanctions regime had the effect of punishing the Iraqi people while allowing Saddam to remain in power. Saddam was able to circumvent the sanctions by misusing the Oil for Food program. At the same time, he sought to end the sanctions by offering material inducements to sympathetic countries with permanent U.N. Security Council seats.
According to the report (pages 68-69 of the above PDF, which we've reproduced here), Saddam's regime "sought a relationship with Russia to engage in extensive arms purchases and to gain support for lifting the sanctions," and "in order to induce France to aid in getting sanctions lifted, [Baghdad] targeted friendly companies and foreign political parties that possessed either extensive business ties to Iraq or held pro-Iraqi positions."
Had sanctions been lifted, the report makes clear, Saddam was preparing to rebuild his weapons capabilities. "According to Abd Hamid Mahmud [his private secretary], Saddam privately told him that Iraq would reacquire WMD post-sanctions" (page 76). "Saddam asked in 1999 how long it would take to build a production line for CW [chemical weapons] agents, according to the former Minister of Military Industrialization. . . . An Iraqi CW expert separately estimated Iraq would require only a few days to start producing mustard--if it was prepared to sacrifice the production equipment" (page 88).
The end of sanctions might have meant a nuclear-armed Iraq. "Saddam would have restarted WMD programs, beginning with the nuclear program, after sanctions, according to [Deputy Prime Minister] Tariq Aziz. Saddam never formally stated this intention, according to Aziz, but he did not believe other countries in the region should be able to have WMD when Iraq could not. Aziz assessed that Iraq could have a WMD capability within two years of the end of sanctions" (page 80).
If President Bush had decided not to liberate Iraq without yet another U.N. resolution, it seems clear that Saddam's coalition of the bribed would have continued to balk. The Iraqi people would have continued suffering under dictatorship or sanctions, while Saddam bluffed the world by pretending to have weapons of mass destruction.
Had the sanctions been lifted, Saddam likely would have acquired such weapons for real. Given that he had used them in the past, against both Iranians and Iraqi Kurds, there's no assurance he would have employed them only as a "deterrent"--or that he would not have given them to terrorists.
As it is, Saddam is in prison, and Iraq is disarmed and moving toward democracy. Can there be any doubt that America is safer--or that it would imperil both America and the world if a president were to subject U.S. national security to a "global test"?
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE... MORE DATA AND QUOTES
ABC News' poll shows 43 percent think Vice President Cheney won debate, only 35 percent think Edwards won. (ABC's "Special Coverage," 10/5/04)
NBC's Tom Brokaw: "Dick Cheney reminded me of George Foreman, kind of a slow gait, but a powerful right-hand when he unleashed it in a number of areas as he went after the Kerry-Edwards ticket." (NBC's "Special Coverage," 10/5/04)
MSNBC's Ron Reagan: "This time, I think the chattering classes, and I include all of us among them, will come out on the side of there was a stature gap there, and it was to cheney's advantage." (MSNBC's "Hardball," 10/5/04)
MSNBC's Chris Matthews calls the debate between Vice President Cheney the "Howitzer" and Senator John Edwards the "Water Pistol." (MSNBC's "Hardball," 10/05/04)
MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell: "I think Dick Cheney did awfully well, at, first of all, putting John Edwards in his place. Saying that I have been presiding over the Senate, and I didn't meet you until tonight. Talking about his not having been on the job was pretty devastating." (MSNBC's "Hardball," 10/5/04)
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough: "I tell you tonight, no doubt about it. Edwards got obliterated by Dick Cheney. This is the most surprising part. This debate actually turned in Cheney's direction when they started talking about domestic issues. I thought Cheney handled the foreign policy issues very well." (MSNBC's "Hardball," 10/5/04)
NBC'S Tim Russert: "I think, Chris, Dick Cheney could audition for the lead role in "The Apprentice," if Donald Trump ever gets tired. I'm sorry, Senator, you're fired. You just don't measure up." (MSNBC's "Hardball," 10/5/04)
The National Review's Jim Geraghty calls Vice President Cheney's performance "The single most devastating one-sided drubbing since Lloyd Bentsen smacked Dan Quayle all around the stage in 1988." (Jim Geraghty, "Kerry Spot," National Review Online, 10/5/04)
The Village Voice's James Ridgeway: "Time after time, Cheney trapped Edwards into explaining Kerry's positions, forcing him to waste time and transform himself into an often embarrassing P.R. guy." (James Ridgeway, "The Real President Stands Up," The Village Voice, 10/5/04)
Newseek's Howard Fineman: "On foreign policy and defense, [John Edwards] got outclassed by Dick Cheney. The reason is, agree with it or not, Dick Cheney clearly has a comprehensive theory and philosophy that he shares with the President about how to fight the war." (MSNBC's "After Hours," 10/6/04)
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ABC News' poll shows 43 percent think Vice President Cheney won debate, only 35 percent think Edwards won. (ABC's "Special Coverage," 10/5/04)
NBC's Tom Brokaw: "Dick Cheney reminded me of George Foreman, kind of a slow gait, but a powerful right-hand when he unleashed it in a number of areas as he went after the Kerry-Edwards ticket." (NBC's "Special Coverage," 10/5/04)
MSNBC's Ron Reagan: "This time, I think the chattering classes, and I include all of us among them, will come out on the side of there was a stature gap there, and it was to cheney's advantage." (MSNBC's "Hardball," 10/5/04)
MSNBC's Chris Matthews calls the debate between Vice President Cheney the "Howitzer" and Senator John Edwards the "Water Pistol." (MSNBC's "Hardball," 10/05/04)
MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell: "I think Dick Cheney did awfully well, at, first of all, putting John Edwards in his place. Saying that I have been presiding over the Senate, and I didn't meet you until tonight. Talking about his not having been on the job was pretty devastating." (MSNBC's "Hardball," 10/5/04)
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough: "I tell you tonight, no doubt about it. Edwards got obliterated by Dick Cheney. This is the most surprising part. This debate actually turned in Cheney's direction when they started talking about domestic issues. I thought Cheney handled the foreign policy issues very well." (MSNBC's "Hardball," 10/5/04)
NBC'S Tim Russert: "I think, Chris, Dick Cheney could audition for the lead role in "The Apprentice," if Donald Trump ever gets tired. I'm sorry, Senator, you're fired. You just don't measure up." (MSNBC's "Hardball," 10/5/04)
The National Review's Jim Geraghty calls Vice President Cheney's performance "The single most devastating one-sided drubbing since Lloyd Bentsen smacked Dan Quayle all around the stage in 1988." (Jim Geraghty, "Kerry Spot," National Review Online, 10/5/04)
The Village Voice's James Ridgeway: "Time after time, Cheney trapped Edwards into explaining Kerry's positions, forcing him to waste time and transform himself into an often embarrassing P.R. guy." (James Ridgeway, "The Real President Stands Up," The Village Voice, 10/5/04)
Newseek's Howard Fineman: "On foreign policy and defense, [John Edwards] got outclassed by Dick Cheney. The reason is, agree with it or not, Dick Cheney clearly has a comprehensive theory and philosophy that he shares with the President about how to fight the war." (MSNBC's "After Hours," 10/6/04)
VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE... REVIEWS
KWOW! BAMM!! WHOOP!!! I felt like I was watching the old Batman and Robin series with Adam West and Burt Ward, and Dick Cheney was giving John "Robin" Edwards a little sparring lesson in politics. The senior crime-fighter that Cheney is just had to teach the young boy in tights some lessons and a reminder that Edwards has a long way to go towards political maturity.
In terms of overall public perception, I'm guessing Cheney only gets a small nod after this debate because of his lack of charisma. He can look like a grumpy old man or the old high school gym teacher everyone is afraid of, so he loses a lot during his delivery. Edwards is like the beauty queen compared to Cheney, but sounds like one too... the stereotypical ones.
Anyway, here are some more reviews from Hugh Hewitt and Power Line...
But the most devastating blow was struck when Edwards still wouldn't give up, and came back with the 90% casualty figure. That was when Cheney, addressing Edwards as an adult admonishing a foolish child, pointed out that our most important ally in Iraq is the Iraqis, and that by refusing to include the Iraqis' many casualties in his numbers--so as to be able to claim that almost all the casualties are American--Edwards denigrates the sacrifice of our Iraqi friends.
Edwards knew that Cheney was right, and it took him a while to regain his composure.
The second knockdown was when Cheney criticized Edwards' lackluster record as a Senator, noting that he had missed 70% of the meetings of the Intelligence Committee, of which he was a member, and that his home-town paper had labeled him "Senator Gone." That was good. But the devastating conclusion was Cheney's observation that despite the fact that as Vice-President he regularly presides over the Senate, he had never met Edwards until he walked onto the stage tonight. This fact blew me away; I wouldn't have thought it possible. It blew Edwards away, too. (full post)
More here from Power Line and Andrew Sullivan here and here...
"Here's a fuller explanation of why I thought Edwards triumphed over Cheney - especially among undecideds, with quotes and chapters and verses."
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KWOW! BAMM!! WHOOP!!! I felt like I was watching the old Batman and Robin series with Adam West and Burt Ward, and Dick Cheney was giving John "Robin" Edwards a little sparring lesson in politics. The senior crime-fighter that Cheney is just had to teach the young boy in tights some lessons and a reminder that Edwards has a long way to go towards political maturity.
In terms of overall public perception, I'm guessing Cheney only gets a small nod after this debate because of his lack of charisma. He can look like a grumpy old man or the old high school gym teacher everyone is afraid of, so he loses a lot during his delivery. Edwards is like the beauty queen compared to Cheney, but sounds like one too... the stereotypical ones.
Anyway, here are some more reviews from Hugh Hewitt and Power Line...
But the most devastating blow was struck when Edwards still wouldn't give up, and came back with the 90% casualty figure. That was when Cheney, addressing Edwards as an adult admonishing a foolish child, pointed out that our most important ally in Iraq is the Iraqis, and that by refusing to include the Iraqis' many casualties in his numbers--so as to be able to claim that almost all the casualties are American--Edwards denigrates the sacrifice of our Iraqi friends.
Edwards knew that Cheney was right, and it took him a while to regain his composure.
The second knockdown was when Cheney criticized Edwards' lackluster record as a Senator, noting that he had missed 70% of the meetings of the Intelligence Committee, of which he was a member, and that his home-town paper had labeled him "Senator Gone." That was good. But the devastating conclusion was Cheney's observation that despite the fact that as Vice-President he regularly presides over the Senate, he had never met Edwards until he walked onto the stage tonight. This fact blew me away; I wouldn't have thought it possible. It blew Edwards away, too. (full post)
More here from Power Line and Andrew Sullivan here and here...
"Here's a fuller explanation of why I thought Edwards triumphed over Cheney - especially among undecideds, with quotes and chapters and verses."
DAUM ACQUIRES LYCOS... KOREAN PORTAL ENTRY INTO U.S. MARKET
This is interesting. The leading Internet portal in Korea bought Lycos for an entry into the U.S. market. I was wondering what was going to happen to Lycos. This was probably Dave Kim's idea. He's an advisor to Jae-woong Lee, Daum's CEO, former CFO at Chinadotcom, and now CEO of Lycos U.S. I've known Dave since our high school years in Chicago, but haven't crossed paths much. Anyway, good luck guys on your new venture.
Korean Daum Acquires Lycos U.S.
Two Internet Leaders Team to Propel Lycos Brand
Daum #1 Internet Site in Korea, leader throughout Asia, enters U.S. Market via Lycos acquisition
WALTHAM, Mass., Oct. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Daum Communications Corp., the Korean Internet leader, today announced it has completed the acquisition of Lycos, Inc. The transaction, first announced in July of this year, closed today, and includes the Lycos.com site as well as Lycos' popular specialty sites, wired.com, tripod.com, angelfire.com, matchmaker.com, quote.com, and hotbot.com. The sale also includes ownership of the Lycos brand globally excluding Europe. Lycos will continue to operate as a stand alone business entity with its U.S. headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Daum is the number one Internet site in Korea, and a leader throughout the Asian markets, focusing on community, e-commerce and on-line transaction. Daum brings to the union expertise and successes from its Korean business. With 75% broadband penetration, Korea tops the list of broadband and wireless markets. The new combination will focus on the areas of greatest strengths of the two companies: search, community and web publishing.
In February of this year, Lycos unveiled a new corporate strategy centered on personal connectivity. The strategy was specifically designed to enhance the continuation of its successful subscription services and performance based advertising model. Lycos U.S. achieved EBITDA profitability last year, as the company launched new products and controlled expenses. This summer Lycos launched two new connectivity products, People and Discussion Search, and plans call for more product introductions later this fall.
"The Lycos brand is well known and respected around the world. Acquiring Lycos is a natural next step for us as we venture beyond the Asian market into the leading Internet markets of the world. We are excited about the synergies and opportunities that exist and look forward to together strengthening the Lycos brand in the U.S.," stated Jae-woong Lee, President and CEO of Daum.
"We are enthusiastic about this new union and the synergies it brings for a stronger Lycos. Lycos has a network of diverse and highly rated Internet brands and our successes in the area of Internet community position us well to build a comprehensive and compelling offering in the U.S. market," stated David Kim, CEO of Lycos U.S.
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This is interesting. The leading Internet portal in Korea bought Lycos for an entry into the U.S. market. I was wondering what was going to happen to Lycos. This was probably Dave Kim's idea. He's an advisor to Jae-woong Lee, Daum's CEO, former CFO at Chinadotcom, and now CEO of Lycos U.S. I've known Dave since our high school years in Chicago, but haven't crossed paths much. Anyway, good luck guys on your new venture.
Korean Daum Acquires Lycos U.S.
Two Internet Leaders Team to Propel Lycos Brand
Daum #1 Internet Site in Korea, leader throughout Asia, enters U.S. Market via Lycos acquisition
WALTHAM, Mass., Oct. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Daum Communications Corp., the Korean Internet leader, today announced it has completed the acquisition of Lycos, Inc. The transaction, first announced in July of this year, closed today, and includes the Lycos.com site as well as Lycos' popular specialty sites, wired.com, tripod.com, angelfire.com, matchmaker.com, quote.com, and hotbot.com. The sale also includes ownership of the Lycos brand globally excluding Europe. Lycos will continue to operate as a stand alone business entity with its U.S. headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Daum is the number one Internet site in Korea, and a leader throughout the Asian markets, focusing on community, e-commerce and on-line transaction. Daum brings to the union expertise and successes from its Korean business. With 75% broadband penetration, Korea tops the list of broadband and wireless markets. The new combination will focus on the areas of greatest strengths of the two companies: search, community and web publishing.
In February of this year, Lycos unveiled a new corporate strategy centered on personal connectivity. The strategy was specifically designed to enhance the continuation of its successful subscription services and performance based advertising model. Lycos U.S. achieved EBITDA profitability last year, as the company launched new products and controlled expenses. This summer Lycos launched two new connectivity products, People and Discussion Search, and plans call for more product introductions later this fall.
"The Lycos brand is well known and respected around the world. Acquiring Lycos is a natural next step for us as we venture beyond the Asian market into the leading Internet markets of the world. We are excited about the synergies and opportunities that exist and look forward to together strengthening the Lycos brand in the U.S.," stated Jae-woong Lee, President and CEO of Daum.
"We are enthusiastic about this new union and the synergies it brings for a stronger Lycos. Lycos has a network of diverse and highly rated Internet brands and our successes in the area of Internet community position us well to build a comprehensive and compelling offering in the U.S. market," stated David Kim, CEO of Lycos U.S.
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
OPEN SOURCE STARTUP
Former Microsoft executive, Brad Silverberg, has invested in SourceLabs. I honestly don't know much about the open-source software trend, but you can check out Marc Canter's blog who's a big advocate.
A team of computer industry veterans, including a former Microsoft executive, are launching an open-source company that aims to be the Dell of the software industry.
The company, called SourceLabs, will provide certification, testing and ongoing support services for open-source software components. On Tuesday, the company announced that it has received $3.5 million in initial funding from Ignition Partners and Index Ventures.
The idea behind SourceLabs is that corporate customers need a reliable partner to procure and maintain open-source products... (full article)
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Former Microsoft executive, Brad Silverberg, has invested in SourceLabs. I honestly don't know much about the open-source software trend, but you can check out Marc Canter's blog who's a big advocate.
A team of computer industry veterans, including a former Microsoft executive, are launching an open-source company that aims to be the Dell of the software industry.
The company, called SourceLabs, will provide certification, testing and ongoing support services for open-source software components. On Tuesday, the company announced that it has received $3.5 million in initial funding from Ignition Partners and Index Ventures.
The idea behind SourceLabs is that corporate customers need a reliable partner to procure and maintain open-source products... (full article)
CONWAY LIED... TURMOIL AT PEOPLESOFT
Conway was fired a couple days ago by the PeopleSoft board. More info here.
Now they are singing a different tune and say they are ready for a deal with Oracle.
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Conway was fired a couple days ago by the PeopleSoft board. More info here.
Now they are singing a different tune and say they are ready for a deal with Oracle.
THE UGLY SIDE OF BARRY BONDS
Earlier this year I was disappointed when I read about the darkside of Kobe in ESPN Magazine... about his arrogance, attitude, and narrow view of the world. Now it's this article on Barry Bonds. Maybe because I never lived in the Bay Area I never read or heard about how much of an ego-maniac and awkward Bonds is socially, but the following article and words from Gary Sheffield placed a disappointing light on Bonds for me.
Severing Bonds
In a universe of limos, personal chefs and performance-enhancers, two stars clashed
By TOM VERDUCCI
Sports Illustrated
October 4, 2004
Gary Sheffield was testifying before a federal grand jury in San Francisco in 2003 when a prosecutor held up the testoterone-based steroid known as "the cream," supplied by the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative.
"Do you know what this is?" Sheffield was asked.
"Yeah, I do," Sheffield said.
"What did they tell you it was for?"
"My wounds," said Sheffield, who then rolled up his right pants leg to show a surgical scar on the outside of his knee. "It was like a cortisone to heal these wounds. I rubbed it on every night and it helped me."
Sheffield says he was not told that the cream, which he used before and during the 2002 season when he played for the Atlanta Braves, was an illegal steroid. "It was like you could go to a store and find something like that. That's what was in my thoughts," he says. "I put it on my legs and thought nothing of it. I kept it in my locker. The trainer saw my cream."
Sheffield says it shocked him when news broke that "the cream" and "the clear," another balm supplied by BALCO, were designer steroids. "That's why I was mad," he says. "I want everybody to be on an even playing field."
Sheffield was introduced to BALCO by someone he now describes as a former friend: Barry Bonds. Sheffield says he has no knowledge of what, if any, enhancers Bonds may have used, but he did provide SI with a harsh firsthand look at the inner circle of Bonds's trainers. (Bonds, through a spokesperson, declined to address Sheffield's comments, saying only, "I wish nothing but the best for Gary. I want him to win the MVP. He deserves it.")
Sheffield says he and Bonds enjoyed a casual friendship when the Giants leftfielder invited Sheffield to live and train with him in San Francisco for a few weeks before the 2002 season. "He said, 'I got guys here, they can get your urine and blood and prescribe a vitamin specifically for your blood type and what your body needs,' " Sheffield says. "And that's what I did."
...
"The only thing Greg Anderson does is what Barry tells him to do," Sheffield says. "Barry ran everything. If I'm training and if he sees Greg making me do one curl too many, it's an argument: 'I told you, don't have him do no more than he needs!' So I knew Greg was a puppet. All these guys around (Bonds) were puppets.
"They used to confide in me about how they hated it. I told them, 'You knew what you were getting into. You accept his money. You accept the status when you're around him. But you don't want to deal with the backlash of what comes out of his mouth, and you want to complain to me.'" (full article)
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Earlier this year I was disappointed when I read about the darkside of Kobe in ESPN Magazine... about his arrogance, attitude, and narrow view of the world. Now it's this article on Barry Bonds. Maybe because I never lived in the Bay Area I never read or heard about how much of an ego-maniac and awkward Bonds is socially, but the following article and words from Gary Sheffield placed a disappointing light on Bonds for me.
Severing Bonds
In a universe of limos, personal chefs and performance-enhancers, two stars clashed
By TOM VERDUCCI
Sports Illustrated
October 4, 2004
Gary Sheffield was testifying before a federal grand jury in San Francisco in 2003 when a prosecutor held up the testoterone-based steroid known as "the cream," supplied by the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative.
"Do you know what this is?" Sheffield was asked.
"Yeah, I do," Sheffield said.
"What did they tell you it was for?"
"My wounds," said Sheffield, who then rolled up his right pants leg to show a surgical scar on the outside of his knee. "It was like a cortisone to heal these wounds. I rubbed it on every night and it helped me."
Sheffield says he was not told that the cream, which he used before and during the 2002 season when he played for the Atlanta Braves, was an illegal steroid. "It was like you could go to a store and find something like that. That's what was in my thoughts," he says. "I put it on my legs and thought nothing of it. I kept it in my locker. The trainer saw my cream."
Sheffield says it shocked him when news broke that "the cream" and "the clear," another balm supplied by BALCO, were designer steroids. "That's why I was mad," he says. "I want everybody to be on an even playing field."
Sheffield was introduced to BALCO by someone he now describes as a former friend: Barry Bonds. Sheffield says he has no knowledge of what, if any, enhancers Bonds may have used, but he did provide SI with a harsh firsthand look at the inner circle of Bonds's trainers. (Bonds, through a spokesperson, declined to address Sheffield's comments, saying only, "I wish nothing but the best for Gary. I want him to win the MVP. He deserves it.")
Sheffield says he and Bonds enjoyed a casual friendship when the Giants leftfielder invited Sheffield to live and train with him in San Francisco for a few weeks before the 2002 season. "He said, 'I got guys here, they can get your urine and blood and prescribe a vitamin specifically for your blood type and what your body needs,' " Sheffield says. "And that's what I did."
...
"The only thing Greg Anderson does is what Barry tells him to do," Sheffield says. "Barry ran everything. If I'm training and if he sees Greg making me do one curl too many, it's an argument: 'I told you, don't have him do no more than he needs!' So I knew Greg was a puppet. All these guys around (Bonds) were puppets.
"They used to confide in me about how they hated it. I told them, 'You knew what you were getting into. You accept his money. You accept the status when you're around him. But you don't want to deal with the backlash of what comes out of his mouth, and you want to complain to me.'" (full article)
FINAL TRANSITION TO THE BAY AREA
Didn't post anything yesterday since we're busy with our final move to the Bay Area. Packing, shopping, planning, spending time with my mom, etc. It's been a little surreal since I still don't feel settled even though I've been in the U.S. for almost five months. I took it easy until my girlfriend finalized her move to the U.S. at the end of July, and then we were deciding between NYC and SF. Now since we decided on SF a few weeks ago I feel a bit more at ease.
Now I have to finalize my job search. At least she is settled in that department. My girlfriend is starting at a search engine company next week. I'm still interviewing with a enterprise software company, an Internet company, and some other tech firms. I'll see where God leads me.
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Didn't post anything yesterday since we're busy with our final move to the Bay Area. Packing, shopping, planning, spending time with my mom, etc. It's been a little surreal since I still don't feel settled even though I've been in the U.S. for almost five months. I took it easy until my girlfriend finalized her move to the U.S. at the end of July, and then we were deciding between NYC and SF. Now since we decided on SF a few weeks ago I feel a bit more at ease.
Now I have to finalize my job search. At least she is settled in that department. My girlfriend is starting at a search engine company next week. I'm still interviewing with a enterprise software company, an Internet company, and some other tech firms. I'll see where God leads me.
Sunday, October 03, 2004
DIGGING DEEPER INTO THE NEWSWEEK POLLS... WHY WERE MAJORS FOCUSING ONLY ON THIS?
HatTip to Hugh Hewitt. Charles at LGF takes a deeper view of the Newsweek poll. More importantly take a look all the polls after the first round of debates. Simplified here:
Newsweek (Bush 45% Kerry 47%, Kerry +2)
LA Times (Bush 51% Kerry 45%, Bush +6)
CNN/USAT/Gallup (Bush 52% Kerry 44%, Bush +8)
IBD/TIPP (Bush 45% Kerry 45%, TIE)
ABC News/WP (Bush 51% Kerry 45%, Bush +6)
Pew Research (Bush 48% Kerry 40%, Bush +8)
Looking at all these polls, it paints a very different picture to some of the news articles I read over the past few days. Why did the major media outlets and wires only focus on the Newsweek polls? Hmm...
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HatTip to Hugh Hewitt. Charles at LGF takes a deeper view of the Newsweek poll. More importantly take a look all the polls after the first round of debates. Simplified here:
Newsweek (Bush 45% Kerry 47%, Kerry +2)
LA Times (Bush 51% Kerry 45%, Bush +6)
CNN/USAT/Gallup (Bush 52% Kerry 44%, Bush +8)
IBD/TIPP (Bush 45% Kerry 45%, TIE)
ABC News/WP (Bush 51% Kerry 45%, Bush +6)
Pew Research (Bush 48% Kerry 40%, Bush +8)
Looking at all these polls, it paints a very different picture to some of the news articles I read over the past few days. Why did the major media outlets and wires only focus on the Newsweek polls? Hmm...
Saturday, October 02, 2004
CUBS LOSE... THIS REALLY SUCKS
Unbelievable... really... this sucks. How could the Cubs lose the last 6 of 7 games?! Today was also another blown lead. This really sucks.
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Unbelievable... really... this sucks. How could the Cubs lose the last 6 of 7 games?! Today was also another blown lead. This really sucks.
Friday, October 01, 2004
STRANGEBERRY... TIVO'S SECRET WEAPON?
With Tivo and Netflix's recent action that "formalized a partnership rumored a few weeks ago to deliver movies to the home via broadband Internet connection," it will be interesting to see how TiVo's other moves, such as its acquisition of Strangeberry, will fit into this picture.
Here are a few comments about this acquisition... at PVRblog ("Saving TiVo through Strangeberry"), Technocapitalist's blog, and Engadget ("TiVo's Secret Weapon: Strangeberry").
Back in 1999, when Jimmy, Peter, and I did a video-on-demand startup, we saw TiVo and Replay and thought they had a short life span. We knew that the major set-up box companies, such as Scientific-Atlanta and General Instruments, were also coming out with boxes with harddrives. Microsoft was also making a push with its Ultimate TV, so we thought the advantage of providing a better service would be short-lived.
To TiVo's credit, they did create a strong following and a new verb in the English language. Since they were quicker and more nimble, they stayed ahead of the giants but now they see the impending wave that will soon crash onto their shores. It will be interesting to see how they react and if they can survive. Maybe Strangeberry will be their rescue device. I'm very interested in seeing their user interface and functionality after reading about them and talking with my friends. Anyone see it?
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With Tivo and Netflix's recent action that "formalized a partnership rumored a few weeks ago to deliver movies to the home via broadband Internet connection," it will be interesting to see how TiVo's other moves, such as its acquisition of Strangeberry, will fit into this picture.
Here are a few comments about this acquisition... at PVRblog ("Saving TiVo through Strangeberry"), Technocapitalist's blog, and Engadget ("TiVo's Secret Weapon: Strangeberry").
Back in 1999, when Jimmy, Peter, and I did a video-on-demand startup, we saw TiVo and Replay and thought they had a short life span. We knew that the major set-up box companies, such as Scientific-Atlanta and General Instruments, were also coming out with boxes with harddrives. Microsoft was also making a push with its Ultimate TV, so we thought the advantage of providing a better service would be short-lived.
To TiVo's credit, they did create a strong following and a new verb in the English language. Since they were quicker and more nimble, they stayed ahead of the giants but now they see the impending wave that will soon crash onto their shores. It will be interesting to see how they react and if they can survive. Maybe Strangeberry will be their rescue device. I'm very interested in seeing their user interface and functionality after reading about them and talking with my friends. Anyone see it?
INTERVIEW WITH MASAYOSHI SON... BROADBAND IN JAPAN
AlwaysOn interviewed Softbank's Masayoshi Son about his latest efforts to bring Japan's broadband services up to speed with the leaders in the world. Second part here. And my prior post about an experience while working at a Softbank funded venture.
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AlwaysOn interviewed Softbank's Masayoshi Son about his latest efforts to bring Japan's broadband services up to speed with the leaders in the world. Second part here. And my prior post about an experience while working at a Softbank funded venture.
PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES... ROUND 1
Kerry wins. General consensus was that Kerry won. MSNBC's online poll soon afterwards had 70% believing that Kerry won. I missed most of the debate, but a couple of my friends who are independents said Kerry clearly won. They both agreed he came off well and looked more "presidential."
Dick Morris, whose commentary I generally like, said Bush had an opportunity to shut the door on this election but didn't. He believed Bush won on substance, but Kerry won on style.
Hugh Hewitt believes Bush won and here's his analysis. Power Line has another view here. Instapundit here.
For me, even if Bush lost I believe he has to be crushed by Kerry to lose the lead he has. If it's even or a minor loss, then Kerry still has an uphill battle to climb.
UPDATES: Dick Morris's commentary, "One Winner On Substance, Another On Style."
From Power Line:
Gallup's polling shows that "winning" a debate doesn't inexorably lead to a win on Election Day. Except for Clinton in 1996, in the past five elections, the winner of the first debate went on to lose in November.
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Kerry wins. General consensus was that Kerry won. MSNBC's online poll soon afterwards had 70% believing that Kerry won. I missed most of the debate, but a couple of my friends who are independents said Kerry clearly won. They both agreed he came off well and looked more "presidential."
Dick Morris, whose commentary I generally like, said Bush had an opportunity to shut the door on this election but didn't. He believed Bush won on substance, but Kerry won on style.
Hugh Hewitt believes Bush won and here's his analysis. Power Line has another view here. Instapundit here.
For me, even if Bush lost I believe he has to be crushed by Kerry to lose the lead he has. If it's even or a minor loss, then Kerry still has an uphill battle to climb.
UPDATES: Dick Morris's commentary, "One Winner On Substance, Another On Style."
From Power Line:
Gallup's polling shows that "winning" a debate doesn't inexorably lead to a win on Election Day. Except for Clinton in 1996, in the past five elections, the winner of the first debate went on to lose in November.
Business & Technology, Politics, and Random Posts from the Left, Right, and Elsewhere
Place of Birth: Seoul, Korea
Hometown: Northbrook, IL USA
Lived in: Seoul, Chicago (Villa Park & Northbrook), Madison, WI, Springfield, IL, St. Louis, New York City, Chicago (Glenview), Seoul, San Francisco
Also blogs at: AlwaysOn, Coro Blog, SportsBlog
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Sports: combative sports, sports you play with a ball, sports with no swimming, sports you can play while drinking and smoking (pool, darts, bowling, video games).
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"You cannot go on explaining away things over forever or you will find that you have explained even explanation itself away. You cannot go on seeing through things forever because the whole point of seeing through something is to see something else through it." - C.S Lewis
December 11, 2005
"This telephone has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." - Western Union internal memo, 1876
December 4, 2005
"You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individual. To that end each of us must work for his own improvement, and at the same time share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful." - Marie Curie
November 27, 2005
"One cannot step into the same river twice." - Heratidus
November 20, 2005
"The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference and undernourishment." - Robert Maynard Hutchins
November 13, 2005
"We are moving away from the old idea of leadership -- leadership has less to do (now) with heroism. We don’t look for... unblemished omnipotent heroes, but leaders who are complex, dependent, changeable... We do not need one dominant authority structure telling all our inner voices to shut up..." - Walter Truett Anderson
November 6, 2005
"To know oneself is to know one’s [country]. It is also... paradoxically a form of exile from that world... to know oneself is, above all, to know what one lacks. It is to measure oneself against Truth, and not the other way around. The first product of self-knowledge is humility, and that virtue is not conspicuous in any national character." - Flannery O’Connor
October 30, 2005
"Men content themselves with the same words as other people use, as if the very sound necessarily carried the same meaning." - John Locke
October 23, 2005
"In order to thrive in a world of change and chaos, we will need to accept 'chaos' as an essential process by which natural systems, including organizations, renew and revitalize themselves." - Margaret Wheatley
October 16, 2004
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October 9, 2004
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October 2, 2004
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September 25, 2004
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September 18, 2004
"In commanding us to glorify him, God is inviting us to enjoy him." - C.S. Lewis
September 11, 2004
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September 4, 2004
"This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no "brief candle" to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to the future generations." - George Bernard Shaw
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