The Millionaire

What's wrong with this photo?

I took a photo of myself post-haircut in the mirror using my iPhone
(in hand) because something caught my eye. Can you figure out what?

If this isn't McCain's low point...

At a rally today, McCain called on Joe the Plumber to stand up before a crowd of 6,000. Unfortunately, Joe wasn't there, and the crowd was composed almost entirely of high schoolers included about 4,000 bussed in from other districts. I don't know what's sadder: bussing in students for a partisan event, or with less than a week to election day, McCain is holding a rally for non-voters.

Homer lost his first tooth

Didn't even realize kittens lost baby teeth (our other two were older
than Homer when we got them).

Google Earth on the iPhone rocks

That's my house and car. This could be my new favorite map app.

How can people like McDonald's coffee?

Office out of coffee until next week. Woke up late and could not brew my own, so I opted in to a McDonald's coffee run. Figured those guys who like it can't all be wrong. As it turns out, YOU ARE ALL WRONG! Must brew my own tomorrow.

Here I Am: Not Too Shabby

I am at
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=38.820394,+-77.057569

Second hand antiques and consignments. Quality is slightly better than
their name implies.

Here I Am: abaca imports

I am at
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=38.817133,+-77.040403

Abaca appears to deal primarily in east Asian goods and furniture.

Here I Am: Hummer Alley

Here I Am: Ten Thousand Villages

I am at
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=38.805556,+-77.049587

Ten Thousand Villages is a non-profit retailer that sells fair trade
goods produced by small and independent merchants across the world.

Here I Am: on our way to commie country

I am at
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=38.914078,+-77.224252

Visiting some import stores this afternoon in Alexandria, the heart of
"fake" Virginia.

Homer meets Molly

We call her Molly

The office is out of coffee...

...but guess who brought his own made from freshly ground shade grown
Kona beans! Boo-yah!

Mid-day Ink 2008-10-23

Lucky rabbit feet

Here I Am: Maggie Moo's Leesburg

I am at
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=39.098561,+-77.526226
Maggie Moo's is the best f'n ice cream chain around for one absolutely
crucial reason: hot fudge. Other places claim to have fudge but what
they really have is chocolate sauce. For the real deal, Moo's is the
place to go.

Here I Am: Historic Leesburg

I am at
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=39.114751,+-77.564979

Here I Am: Robeks in Broadlands

I am at
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=39.026538,+-77.510004
Starting my day with a smoothie before venturing into the "real"
Virginia.

Mobile USB power set at Costco

Thought I'd share this deal I found at Costco. Only $19 for a two-pack USB hub and portable ac expander with surge protector and 2 USB charging ports. Normally around that price way more than that for each separately.

AVG say ZoneAlarm haz bad stuff

Something I'll need to check when I get home: AVG has been tagging some ZoneAlarm setup files as trojans. I run both, so this affects me, as well as other cheapskates who rely on free security software. I should probably blog about my security "suite" sometime.

Obama: good music, poor words

At a fundraising concert featuring Billy Joel (yeah!), Obama warned his supporters not to get overconfident: "Don't underestimate the capacity of Democrats to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Don't underestimate our ability to screw it up. I want everybody running scared." I totally agree the race is not over, but I don't think he should have recycled GOP talking points, ironically or not, to make his point. He'll get bitten by that later.

Unspoken fear no longer unspoken

That "unspoken fear" I blogged about a couple weeks ago has been caught on video. Guess I need to reclassify it as "spoken fear".

Trig has autism?

Bush confident nation not doomed

"Bush, in a meeting with his Cabinet, said he's confident that 'in the long run, that this economy will come back.'" -- As I recall, in the long run, the economy also recovered from The Great Depression. So basically Bush is confident we're not fatally screwed. Great prediction, Nostra-dumbass.

Analysts don't know tablets

"While it would be innovative to put [a touchscreen] in a notebook, it's not really likely from any major computer makers at this point, according to Charles Smulders, Gartner's managing vice president." -- Yeah, I mean, aside from Lenovo, Dell, and HP, no one is selling notebooks with touchscreens. Apparently Gartner does not keep their VPs well informed.

Shoving 25,000 people in a 16,000 capacity building

The McCain campaign claims to have drawn a crowd in Virginia Beach of 25,000 in a building that can only hold 16,000. Such an act, aside from being physically impossible, is both unsafe and illegal. So either they're lying or they violated the fire code. Take your pick.

And here's the "after"

Let's call this "before"

More technical difficulties

There seems to be Internet access troubles in Reston today. My access has been sporadic over both wifi and 3G. Hope it clears up soon.

'Phoning it in

As can be judged by my Rambles, I've been out and about this weekend. Managed to sneak in some work on the next Build 52 inbetween. Also sharing the sights via my iPhone. Nice thing about mobile computing is that I can fill in my downtime and occasionally phone in blog posts.

The view from Chrysalis Winery

The view from Swedenburg Vineyard

Coming down from a High (Street)

Art: raw hamburger on the floor

I'm blogging about Evernote too!

Rob and Warner are playing dueling Evernote blog entries at GBM. I agree with both, largely because I don't ink in Evernote (Rob's big point) and use it as a secondary tool. I shoot notes to it via email from work, use the Evernote app on my iPhone, and access via the web from my tablet. It's a great convenience for me, but if I was using it as my one-stop note tool, I'd be more particular about it.

About those iPhone power adapters...

When you return your defective iPhone power adapter, be sure to ask Apple to re-use that sturdy, over-sized box.

Pork Barrel Asking

Among the creative uses of language employed by the McCain campaign is the accusation that Obama has voted for nearly a billion dollars in earmarks. Actually, that's the total value of all of his requests, which haven't always made it to a vote. So, by McCain's logic, if I asked you for $100 each day for a week, I've asked you for $700, regardless of whether you gave me the money or whether I would have stopped asking after you first gave me $100.

Did I mention Homer is cute?

Why aren't there new McDonald's characters?

A Lifehacker reader going by "Mayor McRib" agreed with me on a comment today. Love the name, but it makes me wonder why there isn't a Mayor McRib. McDonald's keeps updating their menu. Why not their characters?

Technical difficulties

My home broadband connection is really erratic. Lot of loading problems. The Scribbles entry I posted last night somehow got unpublished. Looks like a server error but I had a lot of trouble logging in at the time. 3G on my iPhone is working fine though. Suspect a Comcast problem.

On the prowl

Cats get along better when it's cold

Biden is on fire!

Biden/Palin debate will be awesome or boring

The VP debate is on tonight between Palin and Biden, and I hope they go into it swinging. Biden talks like he knows everything about everything. Palin talks like she knows nothing about nothing. Both say way more than they should. Could be the most f'd-up, gaffe-filled debate in history. Or if they play it safe and keep tight-lipped, it could be boring as dirt. We'll see.

The long arm of Obama

During the first Obama/McCain debate, McCain questioned how Obama can reach across the aisle when he's so far to the left. Apparently he does so by walking, which he did last night to a cold reception from McCain.

Top Ten "Things Overheard At Palin Debate Camp"

Maybe I shouldn't have made a prediction about David Letterman going after McCain forever. It's been a week, and I'm already tired of it. Oh well, here's the latest salvo.

Caged!

New iPhone app NDA

Apple has announced a new non-disclosure agreement for iPhone app developers. I'm sure it will piss off no one this time. And I'm sure it's just coincidence that it's coming shortly after the Android SDK went public.

Is it nihilism?

I've been analyzing my personal disdain for the proposed bailout, wondering how much my nihilistic leanings are shaping my view. Apparently David Brooks of the NY Times is also seeing nihilism at work against the bailout. Nice to know I'm not alone in recognizing the influence.

Letterman v. McCain rages on

Hope Dave's grudge ends soon. Specifically after Nov. 5.

Adding cheese to a crap sandwich

Okay, I admit the revised Senate bill for the bailout is more enticing with renewable energy incentives and a higher FDIC limit, but that's cheese on a crap sandwich in my opinion. Cheese does make everything taste better but it's still crap. But then again, it might be enough to turn the bailout into a cheese sandwich with crap. We'll see.

A progressive bailout

Despite what John McCain says, I'm still calling it a bailout, but that doesn't mean I'm against it. I was definitely against the particular bailout proposed by Bush, but a more intelligent package, one that recognizes the flaws that led to the problem, such as Dean Baker's approach, would earn my support.