Possible Cheney Resignation

From This Is London

He is a driving force in both the war in Iraq and the ‘war on terror’ and his resignation would be a huge loss to George Bush.

Would it? It definitely wouldn’t be a loss for the Republican party politically. Having Rice step up as Vice President would take a lot of wind out of the sails of both Hillary and Obama. It would also set her up nicely for a presidential run.

USA Today is Catching On

They changed their look and feel today–very Web 2.0.
Look for more big media outlets to do the same, adding “digg” style recommendations for readers and giving them the opportunity to participate, not just read. They even have a “shutter speed” feature where “you can be part of covering the story.”

Can’t Wait to See Gore’s Graph for Mars

National Geographic’s article on Martian Warming

“The long-term increase in solar irradiance is heating both Earth and Mars,” he said.

By no means does this suggest we shouldn’t be reducing our energy consumption.  I do what I can to reduce…I love the idea of reducing my con$umption.  My definition of “green power” is spending as little as I have to on electricity and fuel…thus empowering my green.

Preview of Firefox 3.0

It’s amazing to me how Mozilla is able to stay so far ahead of Microsoft. As soon as MS came out with a version of IE that implemented what Firefox had in version 1.0, Mozilla released v2.0. Most people aren’t yet using Firefox to the degree it is capable of, and it looks like 3.0 is going to take things to a whole new level.

Mozilla would like to create a function where bookmarks could be automatically sorted based on popularity and frequency rather than the static presentation now.

I’d like to see an extension that allows links up my del.icio.us, reddit, digg accounts and makes them my bookmarks, also suggesting other sites based on my tags. Bookmarks on the local machine are a thing of the past. Any extension developers out there interested?

I Called This One a Looooong Time Ago

Google entering the corporate software market.  Actually this is a step toward what I’ve predicted will happen.  Currently, Google’s model is to host all of the information on their site.  Some companies will have an issue with this, which is reasonable. 

I’ve predicted Google’s ultimate objective will be to sell an appliance that runs inside the corporate intranet.  The hardware will be bought/leased from Google, and no corporate information will get past the company’s firewall.  Google will maintain and patch the appliance from Mountain View, so users will always have the most up to date versions with the latest patches.  This will free up IT departments to deal with other issues, like keeping Microsoft patched and secure.

The big gotcha here is that all the users need to run the software is a browser.  Enter simplified versions of opensource OS’s that do nothing but run a browser.  Google can take a big bite out of Microsoft, not necessarily by stealing market share, but by eliminating a large part of the office suite and operating system markets entirely.

A Very Sad Day

Just got news that a co-worker was fatally injured in a motorcycle accident this morning on Alcoa Highway. This hasn’t been confirmed by a news source yet, and a name has not been released.

It is quite a shock to us here, and horrible news. He was a really great guy, and I’m not just saying that. Always smiling, always friendly, always cracking jokes and making our job more enjoyable. In addition to working with him, I was lucky enough to get to share a few meals and laughs with him. I can honestly say I’ve never heard one negative thing about him from anyone. He will be sorely missed here.

It is sad when anyone passes, but it is even worse when that person is young and full of life.

Condolences to his family.

UPDATE

News sources aren’t reporting it, but it has been announced at work. A truly sad day.

Possible Sunshine Law Violations in Knox County

Why freedom of the press works.

Basically, the Knoxville News Sentinel is sueing the Knox County Commission over the (aleged) backroom deals that occurred during the appointment of several replacements for term-limited commissioners.

The proposed agreement will force the Commission to hold the meeting again.  All appointments would be void and have to be repeated.

With the outcry against what happened here causing the commotion it did, the results should be very interesting.  Stay tuned!

A New School…Hooray?

The News Sentinel has an article about the new Gibbs Elementary School today–citing it as a great thing for our community.  Uh…okay.

Don’t get me wrong…I’m aware that the people in my community, state, and nation can benefit infinitely by being educated.  I definitely see the social and economic benefits I can personally reap from living in an environment where everyone is educated.  I’ll even go so far to commit my own resources towards the education of the masses.

And because I believe strongly in these things…

I don’t like being FORCED to contribute an education system wraught with inefficiencies.

I don’t like being FORCED to contribute to an education system that is already failing. (See the State published results of its own test–Cs aren’t good enough, especially when you are in control of the test).

I don’t like being FORCED to contribute to an education system that does not allow parents to choose for their children which school/curriculum is best for their child.

I don’t like being FORCED to contribute to a system that is being held hostage by unions.

I don’t like being FORCED to contribute to a system that caters to the meaty part of the bell curve, pushing those who are either gifted or challenged to the middle.

It’s a nice story that fourth graders think their new school is cool, but all the new gyms and big cafeterias in the world do not fix the problems I’ve enumerated.