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Veterans Day

On the 11 month, on the 11 day, at the 11th hour. A time to remember that freedom is not free. A time to remember those who gave that last full measure that we may be free. May we not forget them, nor dishonor their sacrifice by giving away what they so bravely fought for.

Cow Flatulance

As the PC bubble popped, and prices for bottom-of-the-line PCs dropped to $199USD (see this article here on the Wal*Mart Microtel Sysmar 710) manufacturers and PC stores have tried to diversify into other lines to keep the cash coming in.

If you've walked into your local CompUSA recently, you've probably seen more floor space alloted to home electronics than PCs for the coming Christmas season.

Even Gateway Computer is diversifying and getting into the plasma TV market (see their first here). The 42-inch (~1.1m) screen is four inches (~10.2cm) thick and uses the 16:9 wide-screen aspect ratio.

In the short-term, expect this trend to continue as the lines blur between PC and electronics stores.

Speaking of Blurring Lines

Palm recently introduced its latest PDA the Tungsten-T (see it here). For $499 you get a 320X320 TFT color screen with 65k colors. The W-T (perhaps they should have called it the titanium-t, that way it could be the Ti-T. But I digress.) runs the Texas Instruments OMAP1510 processor (see the specs from TI here).

Aloha!

Double Talk

As in wars, the winners of political campaigns write the version of history that will be told. For example, during the recent local campaign, the spokesman for the City and County Fire Department, wearing a shirt with the Fire Department seal on it, did an advertisement for the now governor-elect. At that time, the Republican candidate for governor called the Fire Captain "courageous" for his stand and decried the department's pulling him from his official spokesman position and reassigning him to other duties.

Conversely, when the University of Hawai'i president, a former Democratic Party official, did an ad for the Democratic candidate for governor, the Republican said it was highly inappropriate and hung up him when he called her to explain why he did it. To this day, she is still in a snit and seems to be showing a very mean spirited and vindictive side of her that she so carefully hid during the campaign.

How was it "courageous" for the Fire Captain, wearing his shirt festooned with the official City and County Fire Department seal, but inappropriate for the University President, wearing a simple dress shirt, to do the same thing? Yes, a case could be made that there should be academic independence. But if that case is made, shouldn't there also be Fire Department independence?

I think there should independence for both organizations, but I guess if you are the winner, then if someone inappropriately supports you, then it's okay. Isn't there a phrase that describes this? Why yes, I think it's called situational ethics. You be the judge.

Aloha!

Double Talk II

Oh boy, the next four years are indeed going to be a terrific time for me. All I have to do is open the morning paper to see what our governor-elect has said and I have my post for the day.

For this morning's example, when is a double-deck freeway not a double-deck freeway? When the governor-elect calls it an "elevated parallel" addition. Having stepped into a steaming pile of excrement before she has even taken office, she is using the well honed skills of spin doctoring and trying to say what she proposes is not a double-deck freeway at all.

Yes, it may be elevated. Yes, it would be a toll freeway (the first in Hawai'i and thus an imaginative way to take money out of our pockets raise needed taxes revenues), built above the existing freeway, but don't call it double-decked because that sounds bad. That kind of talk brings up disastrous, concrete-lined visions of blocked scenic views of the ocean and mountains. So don't you dare call it a double-decked freeway, because it's not. Or maybe it is, but don't call it that because if you do you are just a negative Democrat who needs to get out of the way of change and she'll hang up on you when you call.

In other Lolo Lingle news, the governor-elect wants to build a prison on the Big Island that would serve low-fat vegetarian foods because that would rehabilitate the prisoners. What? Is she daft? Has she been taking lessons from Governor Moonbeam? She says it's a "fascinating proposal" to deal with rehabilitation.

Oh. My. God.

Not that it matters to her, but the land she wants to build the prison on are royal lands belonging to Hawaiians. So of course she feels the best use of the land is to build a prison on it. Forget about the thousands of Hawaiian families who will not be able to live on their own land. Forget about what that would do to land values for the families already there. In fact, just forget about the Hawaiians.

In national Republican news, now that they control Congress, the new "Homeland Security" department bill will probably be passed and be signed by President Bush. I'm sure the terrorists are shaking in there boots (do terrorists wear boots? - ed.) over this. And I'm sure the loss of our freedom will be worth the small measure of safety. Not.

Aloha!

Down, But Not Out

The Pournelle(r) critical need detector went off this morning so Internet access is spotty at best right now. That's probably just as well since in my rush to get out of the house this morning I forgot to bring the newspaper with me. I guess I'll have to think of something to talk about then.

For example, electricians. Right now, there is a two week waiting list to get one to do any work. Most of this is related to low interest rates. "What?"; you say. That's right, low interest rates. The low rates have enabled a lot of people to qualify for home loans and therefore to buy/build said new homes. Homes that need electrical work to be done.

Hence, there are fewer available electricians then there would otherwise be. But whatever the case, we needed one because the wiring from our sump pump shorted out. Silly us, we thought we could just call an electrician and they would come figure out the problem and fix it. Wrong. They do the work up to the outlet. Anything after that, like the plug that fits into the outlet, is not their job. For that, you need to call the sump pump service person. Who, in this case, would need to be an electrician.

Said electricians are in short supply because of the building boom. Wait, didn't I just say that above?

In better news, the cable guy came out early to finish the installation that he didn't have time to do two weeks ago. At this point, I was just happy he decided to begin working rather than leaving a note on the door saying he came but nobody was home. As noted, nobody was home because he came earlier than he was scheduled and I was still at work. In either case, he finished running the line and we now have cable service to our kitchen/dining room.

Have a Great Weekend Everyone - Aloha!

Copyright 2002 Daniel K. Seto. All rights reserved. Disclaimer