From NYTimes.com: Palin: I'd Come Out Ahead in Run Against Obama

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says she'd come out ahead if she went one-on-one with fellow jogger President Barack Obama in a long run, according to an interview published online Tuesday.

''I betcha I'd have more endurance,'' she told Runner's World magazine. ''My one claim to fame in my own little internal running circle is a sub-four marathon. What I lacked in physical strength or skill, I made up for in determination and endurance.''

Ha ha.  NY Times, you made me click this article.

I actually doubt that Palin could beat Obama in a long run, but her chances are much better than trying to beat Obama in a Presidential run.

From NYTimes.com: A Green Way to Dump Low-Tech Electronics

Since 2004, 18 states and New York City have approved laws that make manufacturers responsible for recycling electronics, and similar statutes were introduced in 13 other states this year. The laws are intended to prevent a torrent of toxic and outdated electronic equipment -- television sets, computers, monitors, printers, fax machines -- from ending up in landfills where they can leach chemicals into groundwater and potentially pose a danger to public health.
...
"If you make it easy, they will recycle their stuff," said Barbara Kyle, national coordinator of the Electronics TakeBack Coalition, a nonprofit group based in San Francisco. If products are recycled rather then dumped, parts of the machines are refurbished for new use where possible; if not, they are disassembled, their glass and precious metals are recycled, and the plastics, which have no reuse market, are often shipped overseas to developing countries for disposal.

So, "green" means disposing the most toxic parts of the computer in overseas developing countries.  You know that they're just burning it or tossing it into a landfill over there.  We're stripping the electronics of all the valuable and easy to recycle parts and sending the most toxic parts off for others to deal with.  I guess it beats throwing it straight in the trash.

From NYTimes.com: Ex-Edwards Aide to Write Tell-All

A man who was one of former Senator John Edwards's closest aides has a deal to write a book claiming that Mr. Edwards said he "would be taken care of for life" in return for falsely claiming he was the father of the baby carried by Mr. Edwards's mistress, Rielle Hunter.

The aide, Andrew Young, sold his book proposal to St. Martin's Press for an undisclosed price late last week. In his proposal, Mr. Young quotes Mr. Edwards, a Democrat who was his party's vice-presidential nominee in 2004 and ran for president last year, as begging him to confess to fathering Ms. Hunter's baby.

Did anyone actually believe that Andrew Young was the father of the baby?  As soon as the story came out it seemed preposterous.  So, John Edwards was having an affair with a woman, but the father of the baby is actually one of his closest aides?  Pretty pathetic attempt at a cover-up.

CNN report on the prisoners in the Philippines creating their new tribute to Michael Jackson.  Look what you can do when you're "forced to dance four hours a day".


Philippines prisoners performing "We are the World".

Time.com: Oscars to Double Best-Picture Nominations for 2009

Are there really 10 movies worth a Best-Picture Nomination every year?  I think five was a pretty reasonable number and even then, it usually comes down to a couple films anyways.  This just serves to devalue what being nominated means.

From Infrastructurist.com: Demolished! 11 Beautiful Train Stations That Fell To The Wrecking Ball

Be thankful that we still have the Union Terminal in Cincinnati.  This article is about 11 train stations that weren't so lucky. 

Here's a video of former mayor of Cincinnati Jerry Springer in the 70's singing a song to save Union Terminal.

UPDATE: January 16, 2010.  It's time for my annual renewal of MobileMe.  Instead of renewing MobileMe for $99, I purchased MobileMe Individual (Updated 2009 Version) at Amazon for $72.49 with free shipping.

If you're interested in signing up for MobileMe to use the iPhone's new Find my iPhone feature, buy it from Amazon and save money. 

Apple charges $99 a year for a single user.  Instead, buy MobileMe from Amazon for $67.89!  What you get in the MobileMe package is a code for MobileMe as shown in the picture below.  This is for both new users AND renewals.  Buying MobileMe from Amazon is like getting a $31.11 coupon off MobileMe!
The family pack is also cheaper on Amazon the MobileMe Family Pack is only $119.99 vs. $149 when signing up with Apple.  The MobileMe Family Pack [OLD VERSION] is slightly cheaper- $116.50 and since it's just a code, it should work exactly the same.

Here are some quick impressions after using my iPhone 3GS this past weekend.

Speed
The iPhone 3GS is a lot faster than my first generation iPhone.  Surfing on WiFi is nearly as fast as surfing on my computer.  3G is definitely better than EDGE and I'm greatful for that, but it's still kind of slow.

Battery life
I hear that the iPhone 3GS has better battery life.  Maybe it's because I'm using the iPhone so much, I'm not really seeing it.  I'm pretty much looking for my battery charger by the early evening.

Speaker
The speakers are way louder than my first generation iPhone.  Finally, I can hear my ringtones.

GSM Interference
Maybe it's the 3G, but my first generation iPhone would cause my speakers to buzz if the phone was placed to closely to my computer.  The 3GS doesn't seem to have the same GSM interference problem.

Video Recording/Camera
The video camera was the feature that I used the most.  While the video quality isn't as great as my HD video camera, it's quite good.  And the fact that it's part of my phone means that I'll be able to capture more moments as I always have my phone with me.  Daylight video is very good, but low light video captured in a restaurant was pretty dark.  Image stabilization would be a useful feature as it's hard to keep the iPhone completely steady while shooting videos.  But, iMovie's image stabilization should be able to smooth it out.

I shot most of my video with the camera held in the upright position.  When imported into iMovie, the clips were shown sideways in the preview window.  I haven't figured out how to rotate the video without cropping it.  I think it's probably better to just shoot video with the iPhone turned on its side.

The camera's touch focusing worked really well.  Mostly, it improved the light balance of the photos by sampling the object that you're taking pictures of.  If you're taking a picture of a person with the sun behind them, normally the person's face will show up dark.  By using the touch focus and touching the face, the iPhone will adjust to the face.

GPS
This is my first experience with GPS in a phone.  Google Maps work great, but what intrigues me more are applications that use location services.  I tried using Loopt with a couple of my friends and I think it's really creepy.  The program allows you to see the location of your friends who sign up with Loopt.  I spent the whole day checking on my friends time to time seeing them go to the Original Pancake House to Ikea.  When my friend was in the Original Pancake House, it actually listed the restaurant as the location, not an intersection.  I think the only use for this is for keeping track of family members.

My iPhone 3GS arrived by FedEx and now I'm waiting for AT&T to activate my phone.  The screen says that it may take some time.  In the meantime in the tradition of Apple fans worldwide, here's the unboxing of my iPhone 3GS.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Update: My first impressions and miscellaneous notes

The screen of the iPhone 3GS is a lot warmer (more yellow) than my first generation iPhone.  I like the colder blue of the original better.  Surfing the web in Safari is a lot faster.  I've tested it on WIFI but not yet on 3G.

Setting up the phone with AT&T took only a few minutes in iTunes but took about 15 minutes for AT&T to recognize the iPhone 3GS.  The old iPhone still works completely but now shows "No Service" in the menu bar.  It's essentially now an 8 Gig iPod Touch.  You can still access the AppStore and download applications over WIFI.  Also, you don't have to worry about transferring your applications to the new iPhone.  You can re-download applications from the Apple Store for free.

The "Find my iPhone" function of MobileMe didn't work for me.  Got this error message saying that it couldn't find my phone.
I tried sending myself a message from MobileMe, but that didn't work either.  The funny thing is that about 15 minutes after I sent it, my OLD iPhone started pinging me with my old message.  We'll have to see if it eventually figures it out and sends messages to my new iPhone.

UPDATE: iTunes automatically set up my email addresses and servers but didn't transfer the password to my MobileMe account.  Once I entered the MobileMe password, the "Find my iPhone" function worked.  The iPhone in the picture above is actually the original iPhone.  Now, when I go to "Find my iPhone" it shows two iPhones, the original and the new 3GS.

Amazing high speed camera movie.  I think I can watch Jello bounce all day.

I-Movix Sprintcam v3 sample shots from David Coiffier on Vimeo.

A couple of weeks ago I walked by the Kenwood Apple Store and it was closed for remodeling, reopening on June 12.
Yesterday, I went to the Apple Store with my Mac Pro that needed some repairs.  Lucky for me there was still two months left on my 3 year Applecare warranty plan.

The Apple Store is still recognizably Apple, but the look is very different.  The whole center part of the store used to be shelves of software which have now been replaced by large tables and stools where laptops were being demonstrated.  Most of the non-computer product has been pushed into the corners in the back with only a small wall of software being displayed.
It was 3:00 Wednesday afternoon and the place was packed.  Lots of people waiting at the Genius Bar and people in every stool trying out the Macbooks.  In contrast, I walked by the Sony Style store and there were probably a total of 7 people inside.    

Great video of Shepard Fairey at work creating one of his fine art pieces

Shepard Fairey from Arkitip on Vimeo.

ESPN.com: Arrests number 18 in aftermath of title
There's more violence here than in Iran.  And for what?

Pictures of a rally for Moussavi in Tehran, Iran.  It is reported that hundreds of thousands of people have turned out.

More crowd pictures.

From Time.com: On the Streets of China, Electric Bikes Are Swarming

An interesting article about how electric bike sales are booming in China.  This boom has led to tremendous competition between manufacturers in developing new battery technology.

The U.S. risks losing out in the green economy if we don't start developing and using green technology here.

NYTimes.com: China Requires Censorship Software on New PCs

China has issued a sweeping directive requiring all personal computers sold in the country to include sophisticated software that can filter out pornography and other "unhealthy information" from the Internet.
...
"This is a very bad thing," said Charles Mok, chairman of the Hong Kong chapter of the Internet Society, an international advisory group on Internet standards. "It's like downloading spyware onto your computer, but the government is the spy."

Called Green Dam -- a reference to slogans that describe a smut-free Internet as "green" -- the software is designed to filter out sexually explicit images and words, according to the company that designed it. Computer experts, however, warn that once installed, the software could be directed to block all manner of content or allow the government to monitor Internet use and collect personal information.

China has been blocking and filtering information for a long time, but not like this.  The ability for the government to monitor, block, and capture personal information on an individual's PC is frightening.  The Chinese government in the attempt to control information might unwittingly be creating a bigger issue and battle than democracy- the right to privacy.
 

It's pretty crazy how easily a fan could get out on the court and how nonchalant Roger Federer was about it.  Maybe he's already forgotten about the Monica Seles stabbing.  It's an unfortunate incident that thankfully did not affect the final result.  It's a tremendous accomplishment for Roger Federer to win all four slams, something that I didn't think would be possible seeing how dominant Rafael Nadal has been.

From THR.com: Fox reality gets 'Stranger'

Fox is developing a matrimonial reality series where brides-to-be don't meet their husbands until they exchange vows.

In A. Smith & Co.'s "I Married a Stranger," a woman frustrated by the dating scene agrees to wed a man she's never met. While she prepares for her blind wedding, friends and family are shown selecting a spouse from a pool of six eligible suitors offered by producers. The men are eliminated one by one until only two candidates remain. Both finalists walk down the aisle, but only one makes it to the altar to reveal himself to his new wife.

"She never meets him until the actual moment when they say 'I do,' " a source close to the project said. "It's like the big scene that comes after an entire season of 'The Bachelor,' only this is in every episode."

So marriage is sacred?

NYTimes.com: Budget Airline to Charge for Toilet Use

Faced with an annual loss for the first time in two decades, Ryanair, the European budget airline, confirmed on Tuesday that it plans to start charging passengers for the luxury of using the toilet on its jets.

My initial reaction was that this was pretty ridiculous.  How can you charge for using the toilet?  It seems the bad feelings generated would outweigh the revenue.

But, what if that meant lower fares for those of us who don't need the toilet during a one hour flight?  I use the bathroom on an airplane as an absolute last resort so the only time I use it is on very long flights which Ryanair doesn't fly.  I believe that the majority of the people who fly Ryanair don't use the bathroom on the plane, so these passengers are subsidizing it for those who do.

So, it kind of makes sense in a way, but I am bothered by it.  Having a snack on the plane is a choice, but going to the bathroom really isn't.

NYTimes.com: The Lord Justice Hath Ruled: Pringles Are Potato Chips

Britain's Supreme Court of Judicature has answered a question that has long puzzled late-night dorm-room snackers: What, exactly, is a Pringle? With citations ranging from Baroness Hale of Richmond to Oliver Wendell Holmes, Lord Justice Robin Jacob concluded that, legally, it is a potato chip.

Procter & Gamble's lawyers argued that Pringles were not potato chips to get out of paying $160 million in taxes.

In Britain, most foods are exempt from the value-added tax, but potato chips -- known as crisps -- and "similar products made from the potato, or from potato flour," are taxable. Procter & Gamble, in what could be considered a plea for strict construction, argued that Pringles -- which are about 40 percent potato flour, but also contain corn, rice and wheat -- should not be considered potato chips or "similar products." Rather, they are "savory snacks."

Getting out of paying the tax put P&G in the awkward position of arguing that Pringles lack "Potatoness".  I wonder what marketing things about that.

I don't really have an interest in the Star Wars the Old Republic Online RPG game, but the trailer is a must see.  Why can't the movies have been more like this?

Maybe it's time for a Star Wars reboot.

NYTimes.com: Bankrupt G.M. Says It Owes $172 Billion

Robert Lutz, G.M.'s vice chairman, said that "for the first time in our history, the American auto industry has the ear of the administration. Their number one goal is to make us successful."

What a way to get the "ear" of the administration.