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The current financial crisis has sent a signal to all of us and it’s loud and clear. It is signaling the end of the American Dream. That sounds pretty radical doesn’t it? But think about it for a minute:

• Most of us have seen our 401K plans drop by anywhere from 24%-33%
• The prices of our homes have dropped by about the same amount
• Many facing retirement will have to work longer because they can’t afford to retire when they planned. For some that may be until they drop dead
• For those already on retirement, they have seen their hard earned savings dwidle drastically. Many are contemplating returning to work because they aren’t sure they can afford not to. But how many will hire a senior citizen?
• Foreclosures are at an all time high with many more to come
• Our banks have been seized and the government just took $810 billion dollars out of our pockets as it socializes the financial sector.
• The future of Social Security and Medicaire is in doubt
• Small business are failing, large ones are teetering on the edge

If this all sounds like something out of a horror movie, it’s not.

It’s the new reality.

It may well be the end of the American Dream as we once knew it.

OK…so we had the hoopla leading up to the announcement of the 3G IPhone. Then they announced it wouldn’t;’t be available until July 11th. Well after knocking the wind out of my sails that I would have to wait a whole month before I could get my hands on one, my sails are unfurled and the winds are at my back. Two days until the 3G phone is here! The reviews from the big papers (USAToday, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times) are in. Those lucky guys all have had their hands on the phone for the last 2 weeks and all have pronounced it better then its predecessor and still probably the best phone on the market.

Better audio, faster speeds and GPS. Let’s not forget the App Store which will make the phone a new device nearly every time you download a new one. And MobileMe! How could I forget that.

It’s still missing voice activated dialing, but I’m hoping some enterprising developer is about to solve that one.

I’ll have a better review of the phone once I lay my hands on it Friday, so stay tuned!

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We seem to be in one heck of a mess lately.

Today the stock market dropped 358 points.

Ouch!

Make that a double ouch!

Not only were my eyes glazed over as I watched the millions of panicked sellers dumping stocks like it was the end of the world, but I also watched my 401K continuing to erode like one of those levees in the Midwest.

It seems like we have nothing but bad news on the tube every single day.

Today it was $140 a barrel oil. That’s a new record. Come to think of it, everyday seems to be a new record for that one.

Sky-rocketing food.  Sky-rocketing gas. I wonder if I can convert my car to run on bananas? There seem to be plenty of those and they’re still cheap.

The only good news being talked about a lot was that North Korea finally released their nuclear declaration.

Hey, who cares if it was only 1 year late, or that it doesn’t include any information on nuclear transfers to Syria or that we still don’t know how many nuclear bombs they really have.

But hey, we’re taking them off the terror watch list and lifting a few sanctions.

Whew! We are in one big pile of…well you know what I mean.

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I’m going to miss Tim Russert. He was my friend.

I didn’t know him personally, but I can still say he was my friend.

Why? Because he was a welcome guest in my home on Sunday and on those days when my sense of politics took a keener interest then normal. And when he was in my home I trusted him like a friend, because he had that ability to make you feel comfortable in his presence.

He was one of the few journalists on television that made me smile every time he was on camera because of his childlike excitement whenever he was talking about something passionate (usually politics) and he always caught my attention whenever he had a thought or an insight about the subject he was speaking about.  When he spoke you knew here was someone who knew what they were talking about.

There are few televison journalists today that inspire confidence in their intentions and reporting.  Brian Williams is one of that rare breed.

But I always felt Tim Russert was one of those too.

Newspapers will rattle off his numerous degrees, the fact that he was an attorney, his political experience and the many awards he won. But one thing you can’t capture in an article or a soundbite is that Tim Russert was the real deal, the genuine article, an individual that cared about people and family and that cared about what was important to the American people.

That can’t be imitated with a little more makeup here, or better lighting there. It comes from the heart and the soul and Tim had that ability to convey his warmth and caring through the cold electrons of the television.

A rare gift from a one of a kind individual.

Tim, even though you are gone I will still hear your voice. At every major political event you will still be whispering in my ear silently, “This is Big!”

God Bless you Tim.

My sympathies to his wife Maureen, his dad Big Russ, and his son Luke.

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So Steve Jobs had the big announcement today. While not everything I wanted was in there, this is gonna be one helluva phone. Let’s see how I did against my expectations list versus the real feature list:

I said:

• the all new IPhone software (so I can give Apple even more money). Yeppers – coming July 11th
• the new APP store where you can download cool new apps to run on the phone (no one else has this). Yeppers again – also coming July 11th
• a dedicated GPS chip that will scare Garmin and all the other GPS makers (and so I can look smart while getting lost) Yeppers again…its even better then I hoped. We’re talking A-GPS (that’s assisted GPS which means it does better then standard GPS. Rumor has it that Tom-Tom already has an app prepped for the App Store. Hey if you can’t beat em why not join em?
• 3G network with rocking speeds of broadband quality (700k per second downloads at least) Yeppers one more time! Actually it will get speeds of 1.2mbps. We’re talkign T1 speeds baby!
• 16GB or 32GB memory versions. Well I got this one half right. It’s gonna be 8GB and 16B. I would have liked to see storage equivalent to the Ipod Touch but I’m still liking the 16GB.

Here is where I put on my wizards cap and tried my hand at techno punditry…how did I do…hmmmm

Some potential surprises we might see:

• Rumor has it that it may also have capability for video conferencing so maybe we will hear of a new version of IChat (for Windows)? Nope. No videoconferencing capabilities. Missed that one.
  
• improvements to the software that will make it more responsive then it already is (hard to believe but I’ll take it) Better power management will keep the battery life up to par. We’ll call this one a draw.
• Price reductions from AT&T as long as you mortgage your soul for another 2 years. Yes! Score one for me!
• Nano or IPod Touch sized phones (slimmed down versions of the IPhone with less features and lower prices). A total strikeout on this idea. How could I have missed that one so badly?
• No carrier requirement (use it with any carrier you like). I doubt this one because of the exclusivity deal with AT&T (although that may only apply to model 1.0). Another blow to my fragile ego. Not going to shake the AT&T grip for the near future.
• A new app that has never been mentioned before (maybe something that leverages the GPS chip?). Well I got this right..a lot of new apps, some free and some for pay..but definitely new (e.g. the scientific calculator and a whole bunch of new games. Woot!
• Running the new version of OSX? I’m calling this one a draw because it is possible that still may happen when released. No details have been given.
• The Beatles deal!!! Maybe they can finally announce that the Beatles catalog is available on ITunes! Well I missed this one too. I keep scanning the crowds at the Moscone waiting for Steve to get up there with Paul McCartney but all I saw was Walt Mossberg and Al Gore. Allrighty then.

Oh well, I guess this proves my I am not ready to lay claim to the title of successful techno pundit yet.

So the IPhone 3G sounds awesome but dissapointingly it won’t be ready until July 11th. I’m an impatient kinda guy when it comes to technology. If you are going to announce something, make it available.

I want it NOW!!

Ahhh. I feel better now. So here’s some of the really cool things it’s gonna have on July 11th:

• “A-GPS” (better then the regular GPS you can get in your car because it works in buildings and more rural areas
• up to 16GB of storage
• 5 hours of 3G talk time
• 10 hours talk time on 2G (current IPhone cellular protocol)
• 24 hour audio playback
• 300 hours of standby time
• black or white (only 16GB models) case. And yes it is plastic but so is the current case on the IPhone even though you think it’s aluminum (it’s hard plastic painted silver to look like metal)
• New Me.com which brings enterprise level push email, contacts, photos and calendar technology of MS Exchange and Blackberry to the common folks for only $99 per year
• New scientific calculator
• Geotagging of photos
• tri-band 3G (works on all the worlds 3G networks)
• wifi
• bluetooth
• GMS
• the App store with a host of free and pay apps
• IPhone 2.0 software – free to IPhone users and $10 for IPod Touch

Additional information:

• You will not be able to to activate your new 3G phone via ITunes. Only in store at AT&T or Apple (this process reportedly takes 10-12 minutes according to AT&T).
• Free upgrades for some recent buyers of IPhone 1 (post May 27th)
• AT&T will require a new 2 year contract but won’t tack it on to an existing one you might have, just replace it with a maximum 2 year one
• 3G iPhone – 8GB – $199  3G iPhone – 16GB – $299

So come July 11th you will find me standing in line as Apple opens its doors and permits us blessed folk to buy the best damn phone on the planet. So, don’t trip over my sleeping bag and no cuts in line!!!!

]]> http://fragmentsofthought.wordpress.com/2008/06/09/iphone-3g-its-herewell-kinda/feed/ 3 Fragments IPod touch http://fragmentsofthought.wordpress.com/2008/06/08/itablet-10-to-be-announced-tomorrow/ http://fragmentsofthought.wordpress.com/2008/06/08/itablet-10-to-be-announced-tomorrow/#comments Sun, 08 Jun 2008 22:40:24 +0000 Politico http://fragmentsofthought.wordpress.com/?p=18 ]]>

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Is Apple planning to announce a new device tomorrow at the Apple WWDC (World Wide Developer Conference)? According to Engadget and a number of other technology reporting sites, some mystery packages have been seen, secretive commercials filmed (at the Manhattan and Los Angeles stores) and rumors of a mysterious device have been circulating recently.

Wouldn’t it would be devilishly clever of Steve Jobs to pull something magical out of his PowePoint that would shock and awe everyone when they least expected it?

Heaven knows Steve has never done that before.

“Just one more thing”….

With all eyes temporarily distracted by the impending IPhone 2 (the most closely watched but least secret product launch ever), what better way to make headlines then to pull a new product out of his hat.

I’m willing to predict that Steve has something else up his sleeve to surprise us with tomorrow besides phones and Mac‘s.

Stay Tuned.

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Tomorrow’s the big day!!! Woo hoo!!

What the heck am I so excited about?

The Steve Jobs show is starting tomorrow at around 1pm Eastern Daylight Time and I will be watching via the Internet broadcast.

That’s right, it’s the Apple WWDC (World Wide Developers Conference) for those of you uninitiated and its happening over at the Moscone Center in San Francisco land.

Steve is going to spill the beans on the new IPhone and I can’t wait.

I have the IPhone 1.0 version and I love it, despite its not having a real GPS chip or that its slow downloading my email on the AT&T Edge system.

Notwithstanding that – it’s the best phone I have ever owned.

But that’s all going to change tomorrow!

Steve should be announcing the latest version (no doubt available for sale on June 16th and just in time for Father’s Day) which is going to have:

• the all new IPhone software (so I can give Apple even more money)
• the new APP store where you can download cool new apps to run on the phone (no one else has this)
• a dedicated GPS chip that will scare Garmin and all the other GPS makers (and so I can look smart while getting lost)
• 3G network with rocking speeds of broadband quality (700k per second downloads at least)
• 16GB or 32GB memory versions

Some potential suprises we might see:

• Rumor has it that it may also have capability for video conferencing so maybe we will hear of a new version of IChat (for Windows)?
  
• improvements to the software that will make it more responsive then it already is (hard to believe but I’ll take it)
• Price reductions from AT&T as long as you mortgage your soul for another 2 years
• Nano or IPod Touch sized phones (slimmed down versions of the IPhone with less features and lower prices)
• No carrier requirement (use it with any carrier you like). I doubt this one because of the exclusivity deal with AT&T (although that may only apply to model 1.0)
• A new app that has never been mentioned before (maybe something that leverages the GPS chip?)
• Running the new version of OSX?
• The Beatles deal!!! Maybe they can finally announce that the Beatles catalog is available on ITunes!

When I first got the phone I was worried about AT&T. I had heard really bad things about the quality of the service from users and other bloggers and initially my experience with the IPhone wasn’t the greatest (dropped calls happened a lot). But then things got better, reception improved and a couple of software upgrades later, life with AT&T wasn’t so bad. I can’t recall when I’ve had a dropped call since. Matter of fact, its pretty darned good now so I can’t wait to try out the new 3G network they just finished upgrading. And the data and voice plan pricing can’t be beat.

Yes I am excited about a phone…but it is the best phone around bar none….and it’s about to get better!

It’s true that these fallen heroes did not lose their lives in defense of our country but it is also true that they sacrificed their lives protecting our freedoms – the freedom to live our lives in safety.

I for one will think of them as I observe Memorial Day.

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Ever notice how when 3 or more people enter an empty elevator two of them always end up going to the back and positioning themselves at opposite sides?

This leaves the remaining people to enter standing either in front of one of those two or becoming the meat part in a three way sandwich.

Here’s the video:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=168561&title=indecision-2008-west-virginia

When are we going to mature as a people and accept everyone for who they are, not what they look like??