Category: Politics

Blair Saldanah is a collector of all things Apple, and is selling off his collection, piece by piece:

Here’s the situation: my wife needs medical care; and we don’t have health insurance. As we all know, desperate times call for desperate measures. So… I’m forced to liquidate my absolutely amazing Collection of Apple Memorabilia! Take a look around, see what you like, and email me to discuss your needs. Many items have some bargaining room (maybe!) and we’ll do quantity discounts too, so find what you want and let’s talk. You might be surprised!

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The Wall Street Journal is reporting that President Obama will nominate Julius Genachowski to head the Federal Communications Commission:

If confirmed, Mr. Genachowski will take over an agency that has had rocky relations with Congress and major companies in the telecommunications industry under current FCC Chairman Kevin Martin. The agency may also still be coping with the U.S.’s transition to digital-only television, which is scheduled to take place Feb. 17 but could be pushed back to the summer.

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Macworld:

U.S. Senator John Cornyn and Representative Lamar Smith, both Republicans from Texas, held a press conference Thursday to announce separate bills in the Senate and House of Representatives, both called the Internet Safety Act. Along with sections stipulating stiffer penalties for activities related to accessing child pornography on the Internet, the law would require Internet and e-mail service providers to retain “all records or other information” about anyone using a network address temporarily assigned by the service. The provision about retention would apply to any provider of “an electronic communication service or remote computing service,” as well as someone who receives the content and recipient list of e-mail messages that it “transmits, receives, or stores,” according to the text of the Senate bill.

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New York Times:

The vote was 246 to 183, reflecting the Democrats’ considerable majority in the House and the Republicans’ deep dissatisfaction with the measure, whose estimated price tag has fluctuated daily and was finally placed at $787 billion on Friday. Not a single Republican voted in favor of the bill.

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The Consumerist has posted a great chart to help CEOs deal with the new $500k/year price cap put in place for companies receiving funds from the Obama administration:

Did you know anyone can drive a car? It’s true! All you need is a license.

Brilliant stuff.

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Washington Post:

Broadcasters now have until June 12 to turn off their analog signals, although they can do so anytime after Feb. 17 if they choose to. Many broadcasters already air a digital signal as well as an analog signal. Once analog signals cut off, consumers with older analog TV sets that receive over-the-air broadcasts with an antenna will need to buy a digital TV set or install a converter box to keep getting signals.

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The Washington Post:

One member of the White House new-media team came to work on Tuesday, right after the swearing-in ceremony, only to discover that it was impossible to know which programs could be updated, or even which computers could be used for which purposes. The team members, accustomed to working on Macintoshes, found computers outfitted with six-year-old versions of Microsoft software. Laptops were scarce, assigned to only a few people in the West Wing. The team was left struggling to put closed captions on online videos.

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In case you’ve been under a rock all day and missed it:

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Gizmodo:

Comparing the two makes it perfectly clear just how much has changed since 2001, and what we hope will come tomorrow: Flash, blogs, bigger monitors and broadband internet.

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The Times Online:

Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, according to new research.

While millions of people tap into Google without considering the environment, a typical search generates about 7g of CO2 Boiling a kettle generates about 15g. “Google operates huge data centres around the world that consume a great deal of power,” said Alex Wissner-Gross, a Harvard University physicist whose research on the environmental impact of computing is due out soon. “A Google search has a definite environmental impact.”

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CNN:

Obama’s press secretary said the presidents had a “very constructive conversation” and Obama appreciated “the spirit of bipartisanship they showed” in wishing him success.

“The president and the former presidents had helpful advice on managing the office, as well as thoughts on the critical issues facing the country right now. The president-elect is anxious to stay in touch with all of them in the coming years,” Robert Gibbs said.

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Wikipedia:

The holiday includes novel practices such as the “Airing of Grievances,” in which each person tells everyone else all the ways they have disappointed him or her over the past year. Also, after the Festivus meal, the “Feats of Strength” are performed, involving wrestling the head of the household to the floor, with the holiday ending only if the head of the household is actually pinned.

Most people- including me, until this morning- thought Festivus was fictional, created by Seinfeld writers. Wikipedia corrected the error in my ways:

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