an apple world

I remember 15 years ago when Apple ran some playful ads 'welcoming' Microsoft to concepts like the recycle bin and file names with more than 8 characters related to the release of Windows 95. For the Windows world, 95 was an impressive event, ('Start Me Up') and I think it's one of the core steps along the path to one central mechanism for interfacing with electronics, in the phrasing of today, of convergence.

These are a couple of my favorite Apple ads




Apple executives certainly made the 1990s an interesting time to be a Mac user, but I've never quite related to the 'Mac vs. PC' debate for two main reasons. First, it's a matter of personal preference. If you like Windows, fabulous. Computers should be a source of help and fun, not stress and disappointment. Second, it's a little like 'boxers vs. briefs' or 'Republicans vs. Democrats' - it's an artificial dichotomy that restricts the picture rather than providing insightful answers. 'Computers' are more than a big box that sits under your desk, and Apple gets that as much as any company on the planet.

I've been an Apple user since before Macs and Wintel machines. Companies like IBM, Microsoft, and Intel have been business competitors of Apple, but they've also been business partners of Apple. And if you want to know about me, don't ask about rock bands from the 80s or TV shows from the 90s or politics in the 00s. The single biggest influence, or connection, you might say, would be with Apple. It means to me what 'muscle cars' meant to prior generations of Americans, and I'm very grateful to have grown up in the 'interesting times' of the PC wars and the browser wars and the smartphone wars and whatnot.

I've spent the past two months of my life basically getting my work ready for rolling out a major upgrade investing in our IT infrastructure. I would love of course to simply buy everyone iMacs and run Mac OS X server, but I don't have any moral qualms about that not being an option. I've sold plenty of Apple gear over the years; enthusiastic customers are far better marketers than the paid staff of an organization. I know Microsoft gives lots of IT peeps job security. Heck, my brother is a well-compensated Microsoftie. Unless I go run Apple one day, he is by far going to pursue the most financially lucrative career of all of us.

But the comment I find myself coming back to today, as we're nearing the end of this upgrade, is the invocation of another song, a classic from the opening of Independence Day, itself a classic product placement before companies were quite so direct about that.

I think with Windows 7, It's the End of the World As We Know It. It took a decade and a half, with fits and starts along the way, but I think the convergence between Mac OS and Windows is complete. There's not much more to do. Everyone today is buying a Mac. Apple produced superior products and has had what I think is a permanent impact on how we interact with technology.

I feel fine. I wonder how Windows folks feel. Deep down, are they a little embarrassed that the eye candy and user interface won out over complexity and features and customization? Sure, Windows still has that stuff underneath the hood. But most Microsoft customers these days aren't even interested in learning how to change the oil.

if you're an insecure nerd

you may like this. I found it searching a Target wedding registry. It's classic.


Also, this is a good test of Facebook's importing of blog posts. The 'ole book o' faces seems to be taking longer and longer to actually capture these suckers, kind of undermining the handiness of the automatic nature of the process. This is being posted at 11:30am on Saturday, May 1, 2010. I put the over/under on FB's bots at about Monday afternoon.

surprisingly nostalgic

There was somethin' funny in the water tonight. It's not like I haven't been around campus since graduation; I'm one of the weirdoes that likes their college so much they continue living near it long after graduating.

But tonight there was a bit of a twinge of something or other. My girlfriend's out of town, my roommate's out of town, finished up a couple projects at work, haven't seen a couple of my friends around here in a while...and wandering across campus this evening just felt kinda odd.

And then I get home, and of course the cat's not even excited to see me!

I don't get the Iraq shooting video

(P) I had been debating whether I wanted to see the video posted at Wikileaks of the shooting of some Iraqis a few years ago from Apache helicopters. There was so much hype around it, I really wasn't sure what might be on it.

But I went and watched it last night, and I don't get it. The soldiers in the video were quite professional. They maintained aerial surveillance of the ground, stayed in contact with each other, sought permission from their commanders before taking action, used short controlled bursts of rounds, and were otherwise quite calm and focused. I was particularly impressed by their restraint after one of them thought he saw an RPG. I'm sorry, but if I'm in a helicopter in a war zone, and my colleague is saying there's an RPG, I just might pull that trigger and ask permission to engage later. After wetting my pants, of course.

This. Is. War.

What the bleeping bleepity bleep bleep did you think was going on over there? We're handing out flowers? Baking cookies? Singing Kum ba yah?

If Iraqis (and Afghans and Iranians and Saudis and Pakistanis and everybody else) are our enemies, then we should celebrate the efficient, professional conduct captured in this engagement. If those people aren't our enemies, well, get the heck out of there. Until the President, Secretary of Defense, and Centcom commanders give the orders to leave, this is precisely what will continue in our name.

The story of this video is that there's no story. That's why the government fought Reuters' FOIA request. The Reuters employees, and the other Iraqis too, are dead because of the choice to occupy the country. These events are expected consequences of sending military troops to patrol foreign places.

woah, the royals put up 10 runs

Spread the love around guys. We need some runs the rest of the week, too.

oh, book of faces

aren't you fabulous

liberal mud wrestling cage match extroardinaire

I have become slightly fascinated by a particular bout of personality-run-amok circulating around the intertubes recently regarding Glenn Greenwald, Jane Hamsher, Rogers Cadenhead, et al. If you know what I'm talking about, no need to rehash anything; you've already spent too much time reading about this.

If you don't, just picture scantily clad women mud wrestling (apparently, a lot of people do, as a quick Google Search turns up 766,000 links) and then replace scantily clad women with liberal activist blogger nerds.

Much fun.

P.S. Holy cow. I clicked on the Google Search link, and it said 808,000 links. That's 42,000 new web pages in like a day. Either I accidentally started some massive new trend, or there's going to be 15 million pages on mud wrestling come my birthday next year. Or, perhaps, mathematics isn't quite so simple as extrapolating linear trends forever. But then what would Wall Street hotshots do to claim they should make gobs 'o money?

And dude, check it out. All you have to do is come up with long phrases not usually found together, and presto, Google gold. Search mud wrestling liberal activist blogger nerds and guess who's number 1?

Really, you would never guess.

I even out-Malkined Michelle, whose post wasn't even number 2.

Just don't make me update this again when someone else steals the top spot that clearly and rightfully belongs to moi.

ha, just kidding

(P) I clearly can't read an invitation. The Obama/McCaskill event is obviously next week...

quick reminder - Obama's in town tonight

(P) I'm helping out with my Clayton kiddies tonight, but if you've got nothing else to do, Obama and McCaskill are scheduled to put on a fundraiser at the Renaissance Grand at 6:30. You can get SRO tickets for just $25. I assume many of the local politicians will be there.

Alderwoman Triplett's link-through page at Act Blue is here.

Proceeds go to the Show Me State Victory Fund, which I believe is basically McCaskill's 2012 re-election fund.

the SF Fed exists in another dimension

I have decided that aliens abducted the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and replaced it with a drab building that could be anything but an illegal secret conspiracy aimed at controlling the world.

I find this the only possible conclusion after being thoroughly disappointed. The location is perfect; you hop off the BART and you are in the heart of the financial district, literally at the gates of the SF Fed. You just don't know it. There's no gleaming white marble and stone structure. No statue ideal for the casual picture. I have generally thought San Francisco to be a far superior city to Atlanta. But I may have to reorient my whole worldview now. They've got the western kingdom of the rulers of the free world holed up in a bunker.

You almost feel sorry for the suckers.