The NCAA Football Championship BS has already begun
No, that is not a typo in the title. I mean "BS," not "BCS," though some would argue they have become one and the same. I mention this because a few moments ago I flipped on the idiot box to channel surf while relaxing for a few minutes. The satellite receiver had been left on NBC, which is showing the AVP Nissan Manhattan Beach Open, the women's final, to be specific. They were just coming back from commercial, and noted that in attendance was a large portion of the USC Trojan football team. Then there was the magical BS moment: "It's hard enough for a team to win a national title, much less three, which no team has ever done before..." said spokesbabe to Trojan quarterback Matt Leinart. She was, of course, referring to the fact that USC is ranked #1 in the pre-season polls, and the Trojans will be the frontrunners for another national title in NCAA football. She is, of course, wrong, as is any other sports broadcaster, to suggest that USC may become the first team to win three in a row. USC did not win the national championship in 2003. Let me say that again, for the many Trojan worshippers out there, including those infesting sports broadcasting. USC did not win the national championship in 2003. That honor went to LSU, which defeated Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl to win the BCS National Championship. The whole point of the BCS, despite its myriad shortcomings, is to have a clear national champion at the end of the college football season. The whole point of the BCS is that there will no longer be a shared national title. One champion. One. LSU was the national championship team for 2003. USC was the national championship team for 2004. USC will not become the first team to win three national titles in a row, should they prevail in 2005. Was USC denied this opportunity, by virtue of Oklahoma being ranked higher in the standings at the end of the year, and getting the shot against LSU in the Sugar Bowl? Undoubtedly. Just as Auburn was denied the opportunity of a national title by virtue of Oklahoma being ranked higher at the end of the 2004 season. Chalk it up to a bias toward Oklahoma in the poll voters. (I note with amusement that now, having gotten it wrong two years in a row, Oklahoma doesn't even break the Top 5 in any of the preseason polls.) I've said it before and it bears repeating: If USC and its worshippers want LSU to share the national title with them for 2003, then USC must share the 2004 title with Auburn. Leinart and Co. will be going for their second title in a row this year, not their third.
You learn something new every day
John Gruber, via GUIdebook:
...[Y]ou can use Command-Tab switching when you’re in the middle of a drag. So you can start dragging something in one app, then use Command-Tab to switch to another app, and then complete the drop in the new app. I don’t even know when this happened – it might have been like this on Mac OS X all along, but I don’t think I noticed until sometime during the 10.2 era. This also works with things like Exposé and Dashboard.
It sounds obvious, but doing something like that was completely unheard of on the old Mac OS.
Strongspace™
Secure online storage and file sharing. Eight bucks a month gets you 4 gigs. No bandwidth charges, no contract. Nifty. [Via Todd Dominey.]
ChillyDog
I have a soft spot for working dogs; I've always told my wife that if I were in law enforcement, I'd want to be a K-9 cop. It's important for working dogs to keep cool, as it is much harder for dogs to cool down than it is for humans. Military working dogs in Afghanistan and Iraq are especially at risk, but the Space Coast War Dog Association is working with Glacier Tek to provide Glacier's ChillyDog cooling vest to dogs in those theaters of operation. Regardless of how you feel about the politics of our involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, remember these dogs have no say, and are just happy to do the job they were trained to do. If you can support the effort to get as many vests as possible to the dogs that need them, stop by the SCWDA web site and learn how to donate.
Buy your books like you buy your music
At least that's what VitalSource is hoping you'll do: buy eBooks from them in the same way people buy music from the iTunes Music Store. James Duncan Davidson just finished the new version of their client application, which looks pretty nice. I, for one, cannot get in to the whole eBook thing. I have a few PDF-based books that I use for reference material, and I've read Cory Doctorow's books in electronic format, but the latter is really because I'm unemployed and have to do what I can on the cheap. I much prefer the dead-tree edition of literature still.
GoogleRumors
Not content to rest on his laurels, Jon's decided to start GoogleRumors.com. I also can not believe there wasn't a site like this already.
Not exactly thinking this through
OpinionJournal's Best of the Web today has one aspect of Sheehan's "protest" that I've found particularly amusing:
There's One for You, Nineteen for Me
In a speech last week to the self-styled Veterans for Peace, Cindy Sheehan issued the following declaration:Another thing that I'm doing is--my son was killed in 2004, so I'm not paying my taxes for 2004. If I get a letter from the IRS, I'm gonna say, you know what, this war is illegal; this is why this war is illegal. This war is immoral; this is why this war is immoral. You killed my son for this. I don't owe you anything. And if I live to be a million, I won't owe you a penny.
<p>And I want them to come after me, because unlike what you've been doing with the war resistance, I want to put this frickin' war on trial. And I want to say, "You give me my son, and I'll pay your taxes."</p>This has received less attention from Sheehan's critics than many of her other pronouncements, perhaps because in the land of the Boston Tea Party, all of us harbor a little secret sympathy for tax protesters. But Sheehan's gesture is even more empty than it appears, for you can't just "not pay" your federal taxes.
According to Time magazine, before losing her job for absenteeism, Mrs. Sheehan worked for a government agency in Napa County, Calif. Presumably local governments in California do not pay their employees in cash, which means that estimated taxes would have been withheld from her paycheck.
So how exactly is she carrying out this protest? Did she file a frivolous return claiming a refund on all taxes due for 2004? It's unlikely that the Internal Revenue Service would fall for such an obvious trick and issue a check. More likely, she simply is refusing to file a return--which is illegal, but which deprives the government only of taxes that were underpaid.
It is quite possible that Mrs. Sheehan overpaid her taxes. It's not clear when she stopped working, but if it was before the end of 2004, then taxes were withheld under the assumption that she would be working for the entire year. Because the income tax system is progressive, the average annual tax rate is lower if a taxpayer works only part of the year. Moreover, by failing to file, she would forgo any deductions to which she is entitled, such as for mortgage interest or state and local taxes (and California is a high-tax state).
It is possible to reduce one's withholdings by claiming nonexistent dependents on the IRS's W4 form. But if we take Mrs. Sheehan at her word that her tax protest came in reaction to her son's death rather than in anticipation of it, she would not have done this prior to earning the income in question.
The only way Mrs. Sheehan's protest would amount to anything significant in financial terms would be if she had a large amount of taxable income from investments (à la Teresa Heinz Kerry)--and even then, her husband would have paid half the taxes on any assets they owned jointly.
One final wrinkle: U.S. servicemen are subject to withholding but not taxation on their military pay while stationed in a combat zone. That means that Casey Sheehan is entitled to a refund, which his parents, as his next of kin, could claim. It's possible that the result of Mrs. Sheehan's protest is that her fallen son ends up paying taxes he didn't even owe on the money he earned helping bring freedom to Iraq. I really feel sorry for Mrs. Sheehan, sorry the loss of her son, Casey. I feel sorry for her, that she's allowing herself to be a tool of the anti-war mouth-foamers on the left, and that she has become one herself. War is a terrible, terrible thing, and I believe we did not enter in to this one lightly. There are clear, rational, logical reasons for the ousting of Saddam and reconstruction of Iraq in to a constitutional democracy. We may not see the fruit for decades. People in this country need to take a long-distance view of what we are trying to accomplish in the Middle East, and think of Germany and Japan after World War II, instead of how soon things get resolved on an episode of The West Wing.
Still getting it wrong on Social Security
Social Security is not a handout. Workers and employers contribute jointly through payroll taxes. Social Security had become part of the American economic fabric. And the Bush administration should stop treating Social Security as if it were just another government program. What exactly is Social Security, Ms. Thomas, if not a handout? That's exactly what it is. There are no "accounts". There is no "lockbox". The monies for Social Security go in to and come out of the general fund. The government robs Peter to pay Paul. It's a handout. Employers contribute nothing to Social Security. Just ask the millions of self-employed businesspeople in this country, who have to pay the full load. The "half" of Social Security employers "pay" is simply monies never seen by the employee. That's one reason why more people aren't up in arms over Social Security reform. They don't understand how much of their money is going to this increasingly wasteful handout, because they never see that money in the first place. And even if that money was going to the employee, it would be going to some person, either the business owner or shareholders. Businesses never pay taxes. People do. Finally, Social Security is "just another government program." Like many such programs, it had its time, when it was needed, but that time is past. There are so many options out there for investors to save money through, that will offer greater returns than Social Security ever will. (Not to mention that with the increasing reduction in benefits people have seen over the decades, it's not very secure, is it?) Some pols need to have the guts to grandfather Social Security and kill it. It's the only reasonable and sane thing to do so our great-grandchildren aren't having to deal with it.
Still wanting it both ways
Meanwhile, Democrat leaders want to have it both ways. Some say we should withdraw from Iraq. Others demand that we add many more troops, while simultaneously complaining about the enormity of the federal deficit (despite the recent good news on this front, by the way).
Democrats condemn the president for "nation building" and intermeddling, yet insist we micromanage the Iraqi constitutional drafting process to ensure American-type civil rights for women (which, of course, is laudable). Along with the press they shamelessly prop up and exploit a grieving mother to serve as a sympathetic vehicle to carry their inane conspiratorial charges against the president with total disregard for how that demoralizes our troops and undermines our cause.
EasyBusiness
I have a hard time calling the son of a Greek shipping magnate "scrappy," but I guess Stelios Haji-Ioannou can afford to be:
...[I]n 1998, when British Airways launched a budget airline called Go to compete with EasyJet. Not only was Stelios on Go's inaugural flight, but he and nine of his executives put on bright-orange jumpsuits and handed out free EasyJet tickets to all of the passengers. "The BA people didn't know what to do, so they just watched us," Stelios recalls with a satisfied smile. "We looked like clowns," recalls James Rothnie, EasyGroup's corporate communications chief. Halfway into the Rome-bound flight, Stelios was conducting interviews onboard with a bemused British press. The stunt moved the media to begin portraying little EasyJet as an intrepid challenger to the giant BA, invaluable publicity for Stelios. More important, Go struggled from the outset to compete with the hustling EasyJet and surrendered in 2002, when Stelios bought it and doubled the size of EasyJet in one stroke. [Link on Business 2.0 may be for subscribers only. --R]
Pod Squad
On my way to a doctor's appointment this morning, I was listening to WBAP; the morning news crew is hysterical. During a commercial break, the station plugged it's "On Demand" services, MP3 and WMA audio files of show broadcasts, nationally syndicated ones excluded, of course. The on-air advertisement for the service had a line about joining the WBAP "Pod Squad," a reference to dumping the audio on to your iPod. Everyone's favorite digital audio player is the only such device referenced on the On Demand page, though it is misspelled as "iPOD." iPod, podcast, Pod Squad. Is it any wonder Gates and Ballmer have the willies over Apple's digital music strategy? [Leftist mouth-foamers beware: WBAP showcases those evil, twisted, right-wing neanderthals known as "conservatives". Don't say I didn't warn you, though I'm sure they'd appreciate any ratings bump they can get.]
What should they do with the company, Michael?
The company Michael Dell said should be sold off and the money given to its shareholders is kicking his butt:
Overall customer satisfaction with the PC industry is unchanged from a year ago at 74, but changes within the industry give Apple a commanding lead. The PC maker maintains big improvements from 2003 and 2004, holding at 81 for a second year. Apple’s sales are up 33%, net income has grown 300% and its stock price has nearly tripled over the past year. A slew of product innovations and an emphasis on digital technologies and customer service have been very successful for Apple with a high degree of customer loyalty as a result.
Dell is a different story. Based on a strategy of mass customization, the #1 PC maker worldwide has been a leader in customer satisfaction for several years. This quarter, it suffers a sharp drop in ACSI, down 6% to 74. Customer service in particular has become a problem, and service quality lags not only Apple but also the rest of the industry. Customer complaints are up significantly with long wait-times and difficulties with Dell’s call-center abound. Still, competitive pricing as a result of Dell’s direct-sales business model keeps overall customer satisfaction slightly above other competitors, with the exception of Apple. Whether Dell’s declining satisfaction will have a negative impact on the company’s stock performance remains to be seen; however, ACSI history has shown that changes in customer satisfaction often signal similar changes in future financial performance. Apple’s stock price is up 35% for the year-to-date, whereas Dell’s is flat. [Via MacInTouch, emphasis in quoted text added. --R]
Responsibilities of the states vs the federal government
"[T]he States can best govern our home concerns and the general government our foreign ones. I wish, therefore...never to see all offices transferred to Washington, where, further withdrawn from the eyes of the people, they may more secretly be bought and sold at market." --Thomas Jefferson The term you're looking for here is "rolling over in his grave."
FedEx follies
I am attempting to return a product to a manufacturer. I have reviewed the product for publication, and the company would like it back. The company in question has graciously allowed me to ship the product back to them using their FedEx account. They asked I ship it ground, to minimize the expense. I have no problem with that. Then things got interesting. I can't simply ask FedEx for a pickup at my residence, because it seems they require the pickup to be from the account holder's address, which in this case is in California. I'm in Texas. So you can see problem #1. So I looked up the nearest FedEx Ground shipping locations from my home. Look at that, there's about half a dozen in the Town of Flower Mound. After hitting about three of them, I learned this little tidbit: FedEx does not provide these third-party providers with airbills (ground bills?) for Ground shipping. To ship Ground from these third-party shippers, it has to be on their assigned FedEx account, for which they already have plenty of pre-printed bar-coded stickers, courtesy of FedEx. These shippers are not equipped to ship in the method I require, from me to the company, on the company's dime. Now you can see problem #2. This morning I had a doctor's appointment on the other side of the city. No problemo, I pondered, I'll bring the box with me, and I'll stop by the main FedEx site on the grounds of DFW International. It's on the way home. I arrived at 10:19 AM. Problem #3: The customer service desk doesn't open until noon. In the past, I've always been quite pleased with the level of customer service I've gotten from FedEx, but it is ridiculous how hard they're making it to ship this product back to its manufacturer. My wife is looking into getting a bill of lading for FedEx Ground from her company's mail room. Should that fail, it means another drive out to the airport for me tomorrow. After noon, of course.
Debunking the "chickenhawk" argument
Ben Shapiro takes aim at the anti-war mouth-foamers on the left.
Multiculturalism is still a bad idea
Tolerating intolerance, goodhearted people are beginning to see, does not necessarily produce tolerance in turn.
[...]
Multiculturalism is based on the lie that all cultures are morally equal. In practice, that soon degenerates to: All cultures are morally equal, except ours, which is worse. But all cultures are not equal in respecting representative government, guaranteed liberties and the rule of law. And those things arose not simultaneously and in all cultures, but in certain specific times and places -- mostly in Britain and America, but also in various parts of Europe.
In America, as in Britain, multiculturalism has become the fashion in large swathes of our society. So the Founding Fathers are presented only as slaveholders, World War II is limited to the internment of Japanese-Americans and the bombing of Hiroshima. Slavery is identified with America, though it has existed in every society and the antislavery movement arose first among English-speaking evangelical Christians.
But most Americans know there is something special about our cultural heritage. While Harvard and Brown are replacing scholars of the founding period with those studying other things, book-buyers are snapping up first-rate histories of the Founders by David McCullough, Joseph Ellis and Ron Chernow.
Mutilculturalist intellectuals do not think our kind of society is worth defending. But millions here and increasing numbers in Britain and other countries know better.
DropDMG 2.7
Michael has released a new version of his disk image creation utility, DropDMG. The big, new features are disc burning and improved progress windows. Very groovy. I may have to revise my own backup procedures in light of this new release.
Rabbi Aryeh Spero is <i>mad</i>
The good rabbi isn't afraid--like so many in our nation, including the President, I'm disappointed to say--to call a spade a spade:
We were victorious during WW II because daily we were fighting a concrete, named enemy: Germany, Hitler, Nazism, and the German people supportive of the above. In contrast, today, those who show the face of the enemy are called racists. Consequently, we have chosen to call it not what it is -- a war against radical Islam -- but a war against terrorism, a raceless entity.
Though in all other investigations, evidence, history, and “most-likely” are the tools used to stop the next likely perpetrator, today’s political correctness labels such common sense detective work as “profiling” -- the latest concoction of racism. Better to remain less protected and maybe die than to be a profiler or be called a racist. That is how silly we’ve become. Silly people do not, over the long run, win wars.