Heard of the new product called "iPad"? Interesting.  I've owned three IPADS for more than ten years.

In fact, when talking techie with my friends, they used to be amused by my occasionally transposing "iPod", "IPAD", and "iPhone".  I've owned 'em all.

Of course the new one is the Apple tablet computer announced today, to sell for something like $499.00 ... not the first tablet computer, to be sure, but this one does come with a few new bells and whistles.  It'll be interesting to see if it does much better than its many predecessors under other brand names.

But my IPADs far predate this one ... in fact going back to the early '90's when I was still running ISPs providing Internet access to subscribers. Created by a fellow named Phil Becker, who owned a company known as eSoft, the IPAD (Internet Protocol ADaptor) is a device which combines in one box all the various computer processes necessary to be an ISP.  It's an e-mail server, a domain name server, a T1 modem, an interface serving up to 56 dial-up modems, a web server, and much more.  A truly amazing invention, I once used two of them to run ZZAPP! Internet Services, just as other ISPs are still using them today.

The IPAD and its operating system are now supported by the IPAD Owners Association.

So ... got an iPad?  I've got three of 'em. Wanna buy one?

Just BTW ... this is what the gadget looks like ... it's a rack-mounted device measuring about 19 inches wide:

If I never ever hear another song by the Beatles, that'll be just fine.

I'm really "Beatled out".  Sick to death of them.

Just a few minutes ago I once again clicked on the "thumbs down" icon when Pandora began playing one of their songs.

Now don't get me wrong ... as a kid back in 1964 I watched their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show, and was just as nuts about them as anyone else ... well, as any other guy.  Their female fans were beyond sanity.

I've always thought their "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was their best album ever, but most of their other stuff has always struck me as kinda sappy and very much "of the moment" - certainly not the music of the ages their ardent fans seem to think it is.  Yet ever since, music programmers everywhere seem to somehow assume all their listeners enjoy enduring endless Beatles music over and over ... and over ... and over ... yet again ... ad infinitum.  Not so.  Take my word for it.

Nearly fifty years later, like Guy Lombardo and Kate Smith before them, their stuff is very much of a bygone era.  An interesting artifact of pop music to be sure, but worth hearing only in that context.  If my elevator plays a Beatles song, I'll get out at the next floor, thanks.

Jail doesn't work.  As a matter of fact, it never has.

Witness this AP story ... "Fla. woman just out of prison allegedly steals car".

Locking lawbreakers up in the vain hope that simply letting them stew in jail for a while will magically cure whatever antisocial mental condition they have is, indeed, an incredibly naive notion.  Jailbirds typically (not occasionally ... usually), return to doing whatever put them in the slammer in the first place, and often, while there, association with other criminals refines their techniques.  Contrary to popular impression, simple incarceration rarely inspires contemplation of their situation and mending of their ways.  Nor does the threat of getting caught and returning to jail offer the briefest pause.  They merely use a revolving door.

So, if we want to end this, it would appear that American society has only three options:

1. Provide inmates effective psychological counseling, retraining, and employment, or
2. Make jail time so horribly unpleasant (by routinely using chain gangs, hard labor, and other distasteful options), or
3. Keep them locked up forever.

Of the three, #1 seems like the most productive option, because temporarily caging them like animals has never worked and never will.

You might think that today's Supreme Court decision to allow mega-corporations to spend limitless money on political ads would be welcomed by over-the-air TV networks and their local affiliates.  On the face of it, this would seem to wonderfully line their pockets around election times, utterly blanketing TV with half a dozen political ads every ten minutes or so, and thus providing a much-needed financial rescue to the broadcasters' advertising woes.

As a matter of fact, though viewers of "free" TV will see exactly that from now on months prior to every local and national election, TV ad salesmen actually view this decision as a major headache.

Why?  Well, first of all, because for years prior to an election they've faced the tough choice of alienating their most loyal local and national advertisers by needing to say "no" to their ads in preference to policians.  So now that politicians who have Goldman Sachs and Pfizer bank accounts in their pockets see an unlimited stream of big bucks to yell and scream at us about their opponents' frequently mythical misdeeds, you can rely on the fact that politicians will now attempt to buy up every available second of TV advertising time, essentially locking out your local car dealer or matress store for months prior to an election.
   
Secondly, because those frequently over-repeated political ads turn off the average TV viewer, chances are that they'll quite effectively hasten the exodus of "free" TV viewers to the many available non-commercial alternatives, further eroding over-the-air television.

Now, while doutless this new political advertising free-for-all will be seen by loads of inner-city and trailer-park folks who can't afford to avoid them, the average American viewer will flock even faster to commercial-free programs on demand and movie services such as Netflix.  Many more of us will now discover the joys of movie streaming and really fine services like BBC World News via The Internet.

So have The Supremes done away with a long-standing censorship by even further diminishing "people power" in favor of big business?    Yes, indeed they have.  But the fallout from that decision will be far more damaging than they might ever have imagined.

Did you know that you can get 25 Gigabytes of free on-line storage, simply by asking for it?  No strings attached, and you can store any kind of file there that you wish, for as long as you wish.  No need to e-mail files to yourself anymore ... just upload from one computer, and download from another.  Works with any operating system, including Linux and Mac.

It's called Windows Live SkyDrive.  Check it out.

Google recently announced their own version of free data file storage as part of Google Docs, their extensive free on-line document sharing suite, but it limits free storage to only 1 Gigabyte, a paltry pittance by comparison (but you can rent more for $0.25/GB per year).

Microsoft also offers another totally free service of a similar nature called Windows Live Sync.  You download and load a small software utility to each computer you'd like to keep in sync with others, then tell it which folders on each machine it should monitor.  After that, each time you log one into The Net, it synchronizes those files with your other machines.  Live Sync stores nothing on its own servers, so the amount of data you can sync is limitless.  Another nifty feature of this service is that you can browse any computer in your sync list from the desktop of any other ... running programs on it, copying files, essentially anything that you could do if sitting at its own desktop ... very much like VNC and other remote desktop tools.

A variation on Live Sync is another service Microsoft offers free called Live Mesh.  The difference here is that Live Mesh actually does store your data.  You create folders on-line, upload your data, and you can then manually synchronize between machines only those parts of your data you choose.  Live Mesh also supports remote desktop access between computers, with no apparent limits on data storage.

Microsoft's Office Live Workspace provides a suite of on-line collaboration tools to facilitate sharing your workspace with your co-workers such things as documents, schedules, to-do lists, etc.  It operates very much like Google Docs, but its advantage is that it integrates perfectly with Microsoft Office, right within the office suite itself.

Finally, we all know about Google Earth, but did you know that Microsoft offers their own version called Bing Maps 3D (previously called "Virtual Earth)? Once you've downloaded and installed the application, it provides 3D views similar to Google Earth, with which you can search, browse, and organize local information viewed in three dimensions.

Seems that guys are sexually harassing guys at the workplace more than ever in an apparently increasing abuse of power.

According to a Newsweek article ... By exposing the men to taunts about their genitalia, sexually suggestive simulations, and lewd comments, the men perpetrating the harassment are seeking to embarrass and target the male victims—not sexually stimulate or "flirt" with them. "Sexual harassment is about using power in a way to hurt somebody."

It's just amazing how some people who claim to speak for the best instincts and most compassionate values God can inspire reveal themselves to be hatefully ugly and utterly reprehensible.

By blaming the people of Haiti for yesterday's catastrophic earthquake there, such a man is Pat Robertson.

Watch him utter words which simply boggle the mind, and confirm beyond a doubt that this guy is a raving nut case:

"The quality of a parent is not measured by gender but the content of the heart." - Attorney Theodore Olson, in his opening statement for the California Proposition 8 trial, January 11, 2010

The little town of Baden Pennsylvania seems to be having a wee bit of an issue regarding their newly proposed charter school.

Seems Pennsylvania state law is about as 19th Century hidebound as here in my current state of Virginia.

Sister Almah Mahter apparently agrees ...

Read the humorous story here.

"Sure, I'm all for taxes, so long as you tax other people, but not me."

Sound familiar?

Associated Press reports that labor unions are now echoing this time-worn phrase in response to the Obama administration's concept of taxing their unusually high-value health benefits in order to help pay for our new national health-care plan.

Personally, I'm a lifetime supporter of labor unions ... I saw their value up close and personal when I worked for a Pittsburgh steel company during a labor strike. Unions protect their members in a way nothing else can from the abuses of bottom-line-oriented employers interested only in profits.

But in this instance, they fail to face up to the fact that their hard-won "Cadillac health plans" are essentially income, much like their paychecks, just in a different form, and thus should be subject to taxation like any other income.

We all need to pony up our fair share in support of this never-before opportunity at health care for everyone.

This year's Consumer Electronics Show produced some clever new products - some currently available, some merely conceptual, and some just plain dumb.

But here is one truly nifty gadget we're sure to see soon ...

P.S. ... click on those "Prev" and "Next" buttons to see some of the other stuff ...

This is a VERY "Oldie But Goodie" dating back to at least 1990, when it first appeared on my BBS.

A friend just sent it once again, and I must admit that it's truly a classic worthy of a repeat performance.  So here's an encore:

On her radio show, Dr Laura Schlesinger said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 8:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following response is an open letter to Dr. Laura, penned by a US resident, which was posted on the Internet. It's funny, as well as informative:

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can.

When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination... End of debate.

Its in the Bible - end of argument!

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Laws and how best to follow them.

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9.  The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?  Are there 'degrees' of abomination?

7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wriggle room here?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them?  Lev. 24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help.

Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Your adoring fan
James M. Kauffman, Ed.D. Professor Emeritus,
Dept. Of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education
University of Virginia

A hilarious review of the movie "Avatar":

http://www.bigempire.com/filthy/avatar.html

Geat news indeed.
    
I've lost count of the restaurants I've vowed to never again visit because of the incredibly high salt levels in their food.

One of them is a cute little Italian restaurant here in Arlington.  Nice ambience, good service, but their tomato sauce is so salty it's almost inedible.  Complaints to the management didn't help, so I simply don't go there anymore.

A friend in the food service industry told me that one of the "gotcha's" in being a restaurant chef is the well-known fact that one's body develops increasing tolerance for salt.  Thus when the cook tastes his own preparations, they can seem under-salted when, in fact, the opposite is true.

Several years ago, when diagnosed with mild hypertension, I personally cut way back on salt over a period of months (hardly ever use the salt shaker anymore), and I don't miss it at all.  But I sure to recoil when presented with over-salted restaurant food.

From TIME Magazine: When Iceland installed Johanna Sigurdardottir as Prime Minister last February, newspapers around the globe printed variations of the same headline: ICELAND APPOINTS WORLD'S FIRST GAY LEADER. Everywhere, that is, except Iceland. The Icelandic media didn't mention Sigurdardottir's sexuality for days ... "Being gay is a nonissue here. It's considered unremarkable."

Eleven openly gay men and women now serve in the British Parliament ... In France, Nicolas Sarkozy appointed Frédéric Mitterrand, a gay television presenter, to the post of Minister of Culture. Paris' Mayor Bertrand Delanoë, tipped by some to contest the 2012 presidential race, is gay. And Guido Westerwelle, chairman of Germany's Free Democratic Party, has just become his country's Foreign Minister, joining a gay élite that includes the mayors of Berlin and Hamburg ...

That's a far cry from the climate in most of the U.S., where — despite the recent election of Annise Parker, a gay woman, as mayor of Houston, America's fourth largest city — honesty can still end a gay politician's career.

Read the entire TIME story here.

Cartoonist Mark Fiore has received death threats over this funny 90-second cartoon: "How To Speak Tea Bag".

Apparently not only are those at whom this cartoon pokes fun dumb as a sack of hammers, they have no sense of humor either.

Our recent overly generous snowfall here in the Mid-Atlantic reminded me of my childhood in Pennsylvania and this poem by Emily Dickinson:

"The Snow"

It sifts from leaden sieves,
It powders all the wood,
It fills with alabaster wool
The wrinkles of the road.

It makes an even face
Of mountain and of plain, --
Unbroken forehead from the east
Unto the east again.

It reaches to the fence,
It wraps it, rail by rail,
Till it is lost in fleeces;
It flings a crystal veil

On stump and stack and stem, --
The summer's empty room,
Acres of seams where harvests were,
Recordless, but for them.

It ruffles wrists of posts,
As ankles of a queen, --
Then stills its artisans like ghosts,
Denying they have been.

TrueCompanion.com ... home of "The World's First Sex Robot - Always Turned On And Ready ..."

This one, "Roxxxy" is apparently available now at an as yet undisclosed price.  Their male version, "Rocky", is reportedly in R&D.

More info here.

New York Times:  LOS ANGELES — From San Diego to Mount Shasta, voters are expressing mounting disgust over California’s fiscal meltdown and deteriorating services, and they are offering scores of voter initiatives that seek to change the way the state does business.

Over 30 such initiatives — among over 60 total initiatives so far — are now wending their way toward the ballot box. Every day, it seems another vexed voter adds a proposal to the fray.

Obviously, considering that their uniquely weird recipe for state government is primarily what got them into their current fiscal pickle, California voters fail to recognize the hilarious irony in yet more ballot initiatives.

As a California friend says: "The solution to Californication government?  More Californication!"

Read the entire New York Times article here.

The FBI would like to find out more about your information technology expertise if you are part of InfraGard.  It's a private, non-profit organization run as a public-private partnership with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Interesting information here.

And an Interesting video here.

Are you a member?  If not, and you're an IT professional, you might want to consider free membership.

Sign up here.

"If those in charge of our society - politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television - can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves." ~ Howard Zinn, historian and author