Really? Palin? Really?

A Gallup poll reported recently that 71% of Republicans say they will likely vote for Sarah Palin if she runs for president in 2012. Her decision to quit as governor of Alaska actually boosted her popularity in the GOP.

What is wrong with this party? This is the woman who recently said the "department of law" would protect her from ethics investigations if she was president. Who didn't know Africa was a continent, not a country. Who said "Sitting here in these chairs that I’m going to be proposing but in working with these governors who again on the front lines are forced to and it’s our privileged obligation to find solutions to the challenges facing our own states every day being held accountable, not being just one of many just casting votes or voting present every once in a while, we don’t get away with that." Who likened her quitting the governorship to being a point guard in a basketball game, a fish who doesn't go with the flow (as dead fish do), and a maverick who resists "politics as usual."

Are you kidding me?

I believe in conservatism. I believe conservatism has ideas to bring to the table, to add to the national conversation on this country's needs, priorities, and ideals. But good grief what is this party doing to conservatism? If Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Anne Coulter, Mark Sanford, et. al are all it has to offer then so help me I don't want it.

Update 6/21/11: This image from this NYT article was removed.

Readability and Bugmenot Make Browsing Better

If you read a lot of online content (blogs, news, etc.) you may have been frustrated by websites which fill the screen with so many ads that the actual content incredibly hard to read - or bloggers who make their text color so close to their background color you have to strain your eyes to make out the words.

Readability is an incredibly useful bookmarklet (a bookmark which performs a function) which solves this problem by removing everything on a webpage but the content you want to read. Click this link - Readability - to check out how how it works on my blog. If you want to use it, drag the link to the bookmarks toolbar in your browser. Now whenever you're on a page you can't read very well, just click the link. If you want to customize it, you can do so on the Readability website.

Another extremely useful bookmarklet is Bugmenot. Bugmenot is a website which provides usernames and passwords for websites which require login information - preventing you from having to go through tedious registrations which many sites require in order to view their content. Just drag this link - Bugmenot - to your bookmarks toolbar and click it whenever you're asked to register for something.

These two simple apps have made browsing so much better for me. Hope you find them helpful!

The Blind Boys of Alabama - "I Shall Not Walk Alone"

The Google OS, Microsoft's Market Share, and the War for Information

In case you haven't heard, the rumors are true - Google is building an operating system.

We hear a lot from our users and their message is clear — computers need to get better. People want to get to their email instantly, without wasting time waiting for their computers to boot and browsers to start up. They want their computers to always run as fast as when they first bought them. They want their data to be accessible to them wherever they are and not have to worry about losing their computer or forgetting to back up files. Even more importantly, they don't want to spend hours configuring their computers to work with every new piece of hardware, or have to worry about constant software updates. And any time our users have a better computing experience, Google benefits as well by having happier users who are more likely to spend time on the Internet.

This is from the announcement of Google's Chrome OS, and the criticism of Microsoft/Windows is far from subtle, not to mention dead on.

However, I don't think Windows is going away any time soon - in my opinion the web community has overestimated the adoption of cloud computing (how many people do you know who use Google Docs?). Nevertheless, I do think a new future is coming - one in which very small, very inexpensive computers powered by Google OS will allow you to do almost everything you can do on a home desktop from anywhere - without the pain and agony of using Windows. I can't wait to own one.

Of course the implications are huge. Google can already read all of my email, my calendar, the websites I own and who visits them, my credit card information, what news sources and blogs I read, my blog, what I've searched for, who my friends are, videos I've created and watched, where I live - and the list goes on. Like so many others like me, I am very willing to trade my privacy (instead of money) for free, useful applications. Once I start using Google's OS, which assumedly will operate at least in part on Google's servers, the game will be completely over. They'll have whatever little information about me I haven't already given them. It's like Cosmo said, "There's a war out there, old friend. A world war. And it's not about who's got the most bullets. It's about who controls the information." Google may well win it.

Microsoft should be watching its market share nervously. Especially since their latest advertising includes blatantly lying about Internet Explorer's (IE) compatibility/speed/security issues, creating giveaway scavenger hunts with clues that can only be viewed in IE (see lies about compatibility), and giving away Nickleback songs with each download of IE (crappy, factory-produced music to go with your crappy, factory-produced software). At least their "PC Hunter" ads have got Apple on the run.

Image: Federico Fieni

Michael Giacchino - "Married Life" (Up Soundtrack)

I became a big fan of Michael Giacchino after hearing his Henry-Mancini inspired score for The Incredibles, which turns out was recorded using 1960's recording methods. No digital mulitrack recording, just the whole orchestra in a room with a few microphones. Pretty cool.

Anyway besides The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Lost, and others, Giacchino also scored Pixar's latest film, Up. I am having a hard time deciding if Up will beat out The Incredibles as my favorite Pixar film, but suffice to say it was one of the most wonderful films I've ever seen. I've heard it said that at Pixar "story is king," and it never was more true than in Up. The story was so emotional, so relatable, so well-crafted. I walked in griping about how expensive movies have become and walked out feeling it was worth every penny.

The score was a big part of it. The melody was so simple and beautiful I found myself picking it out on my keyboard when I got home - something I've never done before. The following is a track from a particularly beautiful but tragic section of the film and it contains tons of variations on the main theme, which is just great. Give it a listen. And if you haven't already, go see this film!

The Sound of Inevitability

"You hear that? That is the sound of inevitability."

That is a quote from a movie which premiered ten years ago and quickly became one of the most sermon-referenced films of all time. It is spoken by the film's antagonist to its protagonist, forecasting the antagonist's unstoppable triumph.

It is spoken everywhere. From the demagogues to the pundits to the prison wardens to the journalists to the extremists to the terrorists to the bankers to the televangelists to the politicians - the world is prophesying pain. Evil is coming with vengeance and cruel, unstoppable certainty. Anton Sugar is leering ahead while white lies and small compromises allow fear, anguish, and corruption to creep into every unsuspecting crevice and corner of our lives. Evil is too powerful, it is too pervasive, it has too great a hold and it wields too great an influence to be stopped. You may separate yourself from the world, but the constant, universal decay marches on. It is taking us down - step by step and inch by inch.

But it's a lie. There is a deeper, more mysterious, more permanent inevitability that began before time and will last for eternity - the kingdom of God, at hand. With power to heal bodies and relationships, to bring peace to minds and countries, to end war and poverty, to bring charity and justice, to feed the hungry - heal the sick - comfort those in misery. A transcendent revolution.

Even more mysterious than its power is the fact that you and I may give ourselves to it. Through faith and belief in something infinitely bigger than ourselves we may be of service in the redemption of the world. In the destruction of the first inevitability through peace, justice, mercy and love. We band together in small groups, we meet often and love deeply, and set about doing - giving, helping, serving, offering what we have.

Could it be? Could thy kingdom come... today? Could you and I and our community of truth-seekers have a hand in the redemption of the world? Could a new day be coming? Could it be possible that the death and fear and destruction that we have been promised in short order isn't on its way? That in its place the crafter of the universe could be molding something more beautiful than our small attempts at social justice could ever dream?

Do you hear that? That is the sound of inevitability. The inevitable march of God's kingdom, on earth as it is in heaven. Despite all this ugliness we have reason for hope. Yes, despite all this ugliness, we have reason for hope - though I struggle to believe it. For joy despite sorrow, for peace despite pain. The true light which gives light to every man has come into the world and the darkness has not understood it. It is inevitable, it is immeasurable, and our present sufferings will not stand.

Do you hear it?

Palling Around with Terrorists

And without preconditions, I'm sure.

Brandi Carlile - "Fall Apart Again"

Saw Brandi Carlile open for Jamie Cullum a few years ago. It was a weird mix of styles but Erin and I fell in love immediately after her cover of "Hallelujah." Her best-known song is "Throw It All Away" but I love this one just as much.

The Onion: Twitter Creator On Iran: 'I Never Intended For Twitter To Be Useful'

Twitter Creator On Iran: 'I Never Intended For Twitter To Be Useful'

SAN FRANCISCO—Creator Jack Dorsey was shocked and saddened this week after learning that his social networking device, Twitter, was being used to disseminate pertinent and timely information during the recent civil unrest in Iran. "Twitter was intended to be a way for vacant, self-absorbed egotists to share their most banal and idiotic thoughts with anyone pathetic enough to read them," said a visibly confused Dorsey, claiming that Twitter is at its most powerful when it makes an already attention-starved populace even more needy for constant affirmation. "When I heard how Iranians were using my beloved creation for their own means—such as organizing a political movement and informing the outside world of the actions of a repressive regime—I couldn't believe they'd ruined something so beautiful, simple, and absolutely pointless." Dorsey said he is already working on a new website that will be so mind-numbingly useless that Iranians will not even be able to figure out how to operate it.

The most interesting thing about Twitter to me is the unintended ways it is being used. All joking aside, I do believe personal, mobile broadcasting is changing the world. In the very near future nearly everyone on the planet will be carrying a device capable of broadcasting and text, images, audio, and video with them everywhere they go. One day soon these devices will all be connected on a high-speed, worldwide data network. There is no question in my mind that this 21st century phenomenon will shape the future in big ways.