Michael Scheuer

Reading...an article on independent.ie.com, where Michael Scheuer says he had 10 chances to kill bin laden and thus save "hundreds to thousands of lives and...1.3 trillion dollars". But in a archived story from Harpers Magazine he says that Al-Qeada is not just one man and the organize is able to usher in new people into leadership roles very well. Which begs the question: if bin laden was killed one of those 10 times before 911, wouldn't it still have happened? Or at least, another large scale terrorist attack would have occurred?

It still would have a taken a rather large scale operation to track, arrest, or kill al-Qaeda members...hopefully not $1.3 trillion worth of planning and operations, but then again, the CIA spends $56 billion/yr on its "on the books" ops; add that to cost of use of military assistance (and aid to Pakistan PLUS Afghanistan), yeah were looking still looking at about the same overall large number (even if ops only takes a few short years, compared to the 10yrs of GWOT)....

At the end of all this supposing, there are only 2 conclusions (however contradictory) to reach....

Boldly changing the political landscape...with no objective in mind

Curious to what U.S government's long term strategic goal is in/for Libya? Surely Obama is not wanting a regime change, because if so, this is a piss terrible way to go about it! Is this just a war of attrition? How long will the UN/US support the "rebels"? When will the rebels truly form a confederation or at least organize themselves into a ore coherent group? So far the as of June 16th 2011 the government has spent over $700 million on this excursion into Libya.

I predict whatever the outcome, that Libya will fall into the "failed state" category. It will mirror Algeria, its neighbor very similarly. There will be pockets of lawlessness across the nation, it will become a hot bed of fundamentalism; smelling blood in the water, jihading Muslims will seek to establish a theocracy in Libya; getting one step closer to dominating the political landscape of MENA. Obama may be a good basketball player but he sucks at risk...

More shame on our federal government...

The skinny: Under the order of then President Bush Jr, The Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) was granted veto authority, concerning disclosure decisions from the ISCAP, an appeal body who oversees FOIA requests that were denied initially.


How the hell can the DCI (or any public servant) veto a lawful order???? This is a representational democracy, not a dictatorship...plutocracy maybe, buy we are  above the rule of any ONE man! This subverts not only the will of the people but more importantly further establishes an environment of anti-democratic values and distrust in our political institution. It allows mad men (and women) to destroy our nation and world without recourse.

Finally, the chromebook is here!

Amazon and best buy will starting saling the chromebook on June 15th...However, I expect prices to drop considerably within the first 3 months...just to damn pricey.

First, I am a test pilot user and find the product refreshing and highly useful. But I just dont know why Google didnt go ahead and offer a tablet version and 2 or 3 netbook versions (a wifi and a 3g, which should be a 4g) instead of the 5 netbook versions? People want tablets! Besides, it would do what android tablets havent been able to do. Also, android and its marketplace are at a critical junction with the fragmentation that is occurring, sure to cause consternation both in the consumer and the developer world, as its lifespan continues.

Most important for Chrome OS survivability is the fact that web and software developers will have to tailor and support their programs for Chrome, which will take a while but undeniably will happen, once the popularity of the OS and cloud computing usage in general increases, but first a price drop for these devices; Google must get them into the hands of everyone with a couple of extra dollars in their pockets and the desire to find a new OS (which there are many of), even if it means doing it at a loss (see: the kindle). Eventually Google is going to run into the classic "guns versus butter" quandary with all its operating systems out there. Ill place my money on its ONLY TRUE OPEN OS, the Chrome OS (android is by invite only until Google decides to release version's source code). Chrome is more than just a browser, any browsing on goggle labs will convince you of that! So why not capitalize on its unified design/operating concept and install it as an OS? This is what many people dont "get about Chrome as an OS, the say "I have chrome on my computer already"...in a few years pretty much all of your operations will exist in/on the cloud.


SOME GOOD:

All of the chromebooks weigh in at about 3lbs, or twice the wight of the ipad2, which is still very light. Also, battery life is pretty identical to the advertised specs. Boot time is ridiculously fast, less than 10 secs from a dead sleep! Amazon's cloud player is integrated very, very nicely integrated. Most important Chrome OS function: you DONT have to pay for web applications as you do with iOS or Android OS (unless site owners wish to charge for content, that is).


SOME BAD:

No HDMI but a VGA instead (yeah, I know, its 2011). No bluetooth, NO GPS, webcam issues, cant use USB drives...most of the issues (I did not list several others) can be patched through updates. However some are hardware and will need to be addressed next production run or model design.


I recommend any of the SAMSUNG chromebooks w/the dual core Atom n570 cpu.
The cpu will cut down significantly on streaming video stuttering that the acer chromebook will see (only the acer wifi only version has the N570, but a smaller screen though, have to wait and see the cost to determine a proper cost/benefit ratio.

On a final note: I almost wish I hadnt bought my ipad2, but I got tired of waiting for the chromebook to release and needed a portable computing device(I dont use windows netbook/laptops or Mac's. I will however grudgingly settle for chrome on a netbook). I suppose now I can now wait for chrome OS to be released on a tablet before letting go of the ipad; hopefully a Chrome OS tablet will come before xmas.


Many are missing larger picture of Chrome OS: ..for organizations the cost of ownership will be GREATLY CHEAPER than using windows machine...also less of a headaches for IT-dept...and personally speaking, windows sucks to use (who doesnt agree, really?). Also, this isnt made for gamers, media encoding, etc...which is why its PRICE WILL HAVE TO DROP...but stuff is always more $$$ at start .

For posterity...

“Ten Android features IOS doesn’t have”

Lifehacker recently posted a list of features that are available on the Android platform only.

I agree with most of them and here is why:

1. Alternate Keyboard – Not really cool, I found the IOS keyboard pretty good and easy to use. I would say they both are good.
2. Automation – Totally cool. Switching on and off the Wifi or the GPS on the IPhone is annoying. I wish I could set it up to know which Wifi I want my IPhone to join like they do on Android.
3. Custom home launchers – Not that cool. Being able to change my dock icons on my IPhone does it for me.
4. Widgets – YES, IOS needs widgets! And a better notification system. How come I need to launch apps to see the weather forecast or twitter @ messages? Also when you have a lot of apps launched on IOS it’s annoying to scroll left to go back to the Ipod controls. There should be a widget for that too.
5. Removable Storage and Battery – We don’t need that. 32 Go is enough and removing an SD card from a phone to get its data is too old school. Makes me think about the fact that IOS needs Wifi updates and  Wifi sync (music and photo).
6. Wireless app installation – YES, that is indeed an awesome feature. Most of the time I found out about cool apps while surfing the web on my mac and I wish the installation of the app was just on click away.
7. Custom ROMs – Kind of nerdy and time consuming but it’s worth it. However I think that custom ROMs would go against the user friendliness that made Apple famous so I don’t expect it in future IOS releases.
8. Controlling your phone from your computer – HUGE WIN for Android here. I had my friend Christopher try LazyDroid on his HTC and it’s pretty amazing. Sending your SMS directly from a chrome tab, sounds like heaven no?
9. Flash – Don’t make me start on this one.
10. True app integration – That’s also an advantage for Android phones, especially if you are into VOIP apps.

original link: http://louisbelpaire.com/10-android-features-ios-doesnt-have/#

Guess what I found on International Turtle Day?

A turtle. Granted, I like in front of a lake but I have NEVER seen any of these turtles out of it. Did you know May 23rd 2011 was international turtle day? Me either, found out by happenstance and AFTER I snapped the photos of the turtle.

I dared not remove the wrapper and risk losing a finger!

    

Trackback?

Im trying to figure out what exactly is a "trackback" and how it will be beneficial to me...so if your reading this and your blog.username leads you here...not a big deal...just say hi then...http://devilschasinme.wordpress.com/2011/05/08/2011-race-reports-redemption-via-the-capital-city-classic-10k/ ...if you have any answers, dont hesitate to add!

YouTube - Shakira Featuring Danzig "Hips Don't Lie"

YouTube - Shakira Featuring Danzig "Hips Don't Lie"

I dunno, its just cool and funny as hell....

I hate Jackie Robinson day, aka repressed guilt day

and heres why: HE WAS NOT THE 1ST AFRICAN AMERICAN MLB PLAYER!!!! MLB is trying erase and hide its own and society's ugly history with racial relations. If anything we should be honoring the real 1st African American MLB player, Fleetwood Walker, whose story is a wretched one and after his abolishment, created apartheid in MLB until Jackie Robinson.... Fleetwood's story should remind us to be more tolerate people. Jackie's story  is about $$$ (although it did take courage for him to enter a hostile environment); the white MLB owners were tired of losing millions of dollars to the Negro League. Jackie was a protected commodity, MLB had a lot riding on his success. 

 Fleetwood Walker, circa 1884

A very cool music podcast/radio station

Amplify’d from stitcher.com

The Noise Pop Podcast Station

The Noise Pop Podcast Read more at stitcher.com

 

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/bz4wg

Barry Bonds: MLB's scapegoat

I feel almost feel sorry for Barry Bonds (I cant feel sorry for people who live their dreams, ya know?)....the jury felt like they HAD to find bonds guilty of something. Hence the obstruction of justice count (in which giving evading answers is not an obstruction, after all congress was investigating BALCO, not him in2003, and they did convict BALCO)...the jury thinks they reinforced morality and proved that "cheaters never win", instead they only proved the vindictive nature of the system...millions of dollars to prosecute victimless crimes, by ppl who play a game for a living... shame on you America.... if I were bonds, after the "sentencing" is handed and then get to speak as is customary, I would give a bitter cynical oration on the nature of our corrupt stupid legal, civil system...ROMAN STYLE...but that’s just me.

MLB exploits its workers (which is fine as long as the worker gets to exploit themselves as well) but I dont see management, the owners and its league offices offering compensation or answering to congress when they KNEW steroid had become rampant in the 90’s..but oh yeah, they were too busy selling their product for billions to the networks because of the awesome feats of the players, who all are now to blame.  

If he can do it, so can I...

85-Year-Old British Sailor, Crosses Atlantic On A Homemade Raft ~ Cool Pictures

Tales of the iPad2

First things first..the white ipad2 is in fact silver non it's backside. Maybe common knowledge for many, but I did not know. Also, the typical apple sync cable does not charge the ipad2 (although some say it does, just very very, very slowly and the unit must be in sleep mode.

Now that's all done for this thing is pretty nice, my only gripe is the non-support for flash on the web. Yes, I'm aware of the workarounds, however they either don't work as smoothly as one would like and/or the additional steps take away from the web browsing experience. So hopefully if web designers won't go ahead and embrace the future (HTML5) than ate least hope app writers will. I'll pay for the experience with o qualms.

Unfortunately I don't know of the first iPad so I can't compare and contrast the 2 units...I am tempted to though to purchase the first model, I am curious if the weaker CPU will make that much owf a differ nave on the iPad.

Well, gotta go still looking for a good RSS reading app that will take advantage of the iPad's screen real-estate...


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Macbook shopping...what a pain in the ass!!!!!!

So ive stayed up all night shopping for a used macbook (used, because even if I won the lotto I dont think I would shell out $1000 plus for a laptop, especially considering Apple's include hardware that isn't exactly cutting edge)...but because Apple doesnt believe in easy identification and differentiation in the macbook line it has been a mind-numbing experience in researching the model #'s and their technical specifications...instead of giving macbook's their individuals names (e.g. Dell Inspiron 14R, Inspiron mini 1012, Inspiron mini 1018,etc), Apple has decided that MB402LL/A, MB404LL/A,etc is good enough...if it wasn't for the internet I wouldnt be interested in devoting the time to flush out the specs and learn the product line. But then again, if it wasn't for the internet I probably wouldn't be buying a computer!

Geocaching

My first! Technically my 2nd...the first was unlocatable! Promise, someone must have not put it back. This will be nice side-bar during my runs.