This is a problem because. . . ?

This week’s “Keen Sense of the Obvious” Award: “The Bush administration often seems to be completely engrossed with the campaign against terrorism.” —Peter Jennings, ABC News (from The Federalist)

Ummmm. . .yeah. Could it be, Peter, because the primary responsibility of the federal government as set forth in the Constitution of the United States of America is defense of the nation from enemies foreign and domestic? That’s right, contrary to what the Left would have you believe, the federal government’s primary duty is not to provide free or discounted health care, prescription drug benefits, prop up the stock market, or finance late-night urban basketball leagues. Your tax dollars should be spent building the strongest military and finest intelligence services in the world. And can we please stop listening to whiny, leftist Canadians? (With apologies to the non-whiny, non-leftist Canadians I call friends. If only there were more of you.)

Think Geek wish list

Speaking of Think Geek, I have updated my Think Geek wish list, just in case anyone feels generous enough to buy me anything. My top picks include the Bounty Hunter t-shirt, the Megatokyo “Capture the b34r” t-shirt and poster, and the O’Reilly 2003 calendar. No pressure, though. Really.

MegaTokyo

Thanks to the overlords at Think Geek, I am now a fan of the online manga strip, MegaTokyo by Fred Gallagher. Computer geeks, especially gamers, and any manga/anime fans should check it out.

Happy Birthday to me. . .

Yes, yes, 32 today. Well, officially, 32 as of 11:03 am, about half an hour from now. Eh, just another birthday. Thirty-two doesn’t feel any different than 31 or 30 did. Phil, the department’s resident cook, made peach cobbler today for all of the December birthdays. YUM!

Switchers you won’t see on TV

More and more PC users are learning how easy it is to switch from Windoze to Macintosh, and OS X is a big reason. For Shoshana Berger of Business 2.0, the new PowerBook G4/1 GHz proved to be a big selling point in her move to Mac, helped along by Detto Technologies’ Move2Mac software.

Command-line developer Tom Yager made a voluntary switch as part of his research for an article in InfoWorld, shelving his ThinkPad for a PowerBook G4/800. After a two-week business trip with only the PowerBook, he’s realized that he switched without even really thinking about it, since most of the work he did under Linux or BSD can be accomplished under OS X.

Infoworld also has an interview with C.J. Rayhill, Chief Operating Office and Excecutive Vice-President of Technology for O’Reilly & Associates, wherein she reveals: “I will share with you that we’re currently in talks with Apple to possibly do a corporate switching program.” C.J. cites that many of O’Reilly’s “heavy technical folks” have moved from having two systems on their desks–some sort of Unix box plus a Windows PC for productivity apps–to using an iBook or PowerBook as their only system. (Anyone notice a trend here with regard to the popularity of the portable Mac?)

Ride the Shuttle

For the first time ever, NASA mounted a “RocketCam” on the external fuel tank utilized by the Space Shuttle. From a launch of the Atlantis earlier this year, you can watch the launch until the separation of the booster rockets, as the Atlantis hurls into space at a whopping 2,800 miles per hour. (QuickTime required)

Foam PC

Proving they have too much time on their hands, as well as what PCs are really good for, it’s the NeuHausPlatz 200NC. NC stands for “no case.” This is an oldie, but a goodie.

Daily bread

I love this:

“The LORD reigns; let the earth be glad; let the distance shores rejoice!
Clouds and thick darkness surround Him: righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
Fire goes before Him, and consumes His foes on every side.
His lightning lights up the world: the earth sees, and trembles.
The mountains melt like wax before the LORD; before the Lord of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim His righteousness, and all peoples will see His glory!”
—Psalms 97:1-6

Thank you for your service

And on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the Great War ended with an armistice. November 11th was officially honored as Armistice Day from 1926 to 1954 in the United States. In 1954, the holiday was changed to Veterans Day, and we honor all of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines who have served and sacrificed.

A special thank-you to my dad and my uncle for their service in the Navy and Army, respectively, during the Vietnam Conflict. Thankfully, neither had to serve in the Southeast Asia theater of operations.

So if you live next door to, work with, go to church with, or simply just know of, a veteran, take a moment today to shake their hand and thank them for serving their country.

“Greater love has no man than this, than to lay down his life for his friends.” –John 15:13

New Mac portables

I can’t believe I forgot to make mention of the new PowerBooks and iBooks that Apple released last week. The new PowerBooks go up to 1 GHz and contain a SuperDrive! Not to mention that with the 60 GB hard drive, it’s actually cheaper than the TiBook/500 I use when that machine was brand new.

And Apple has broken the one-grand barrier with a new entry-level iBook at $999.