Haseman's Wanderings

A new project for me!

2009-08-13T13:27:00.000-07:00

I've started a Mobile Software specific blog called *drum rolllll*

Haseman on Mobile

Check it out, leave some comments, tell all your friends! \:-D/

A simple iPod trick

2009-05-03T16:20:00.000-07:00

I got tired of schlepping all my new music onto my iPhone.
Solution? A "Recently Added" smart playlist.

Click the image for a full sized picture

Since I listen to a lot of LOG podcasts I limit the playlist size to 2 GB so I don't blast my poor 8gb iPhone.

Set up one of these, add it to your list of synced playlists, and you'll always have access to your latest podcasts and music with your phone.

Meghan's Page is up!

2009-04-17T09:28:00.000-07:00

Just finished putting the final touches on Meghan's quick and dirty website!
Check it out here.
Check out her blog here.

Uh Oh

2009-03-29T13:16:00.000-07:00

I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords and wish them the best of luck on their hostile takeover of our planet...

Kevin Warwick’s new robot behaves like a child. “Sometimes it does what you want it to, and sometimes it doesn’t,” he says. And while it may seem strange for a professor of cybernetics to be concerning himself with such an unreliable machine, Warwick’s creation has something that even today’s most sophisticated robots lack: a living brain.
Life for Warwick’s robot began when his team at the University of Reading spread rat neurons onto an array of electrodes.....
Link

San Francisco is a strange place...

2009-03-14T10:21:00.001-07:00

I'm sitting in a cafe on a cloudy day, listening to a guy badly
repeating an explination from "This American Life" for the cause of the
economic crisis. This is more than a little surreal.
Here's a link to their podcast.

It's been a long road

2009-02-13T18:45:00.000-08:00

But in the end, it was worth it.

This is my baby.

getting above it all

2009-01-31T09:45:00.000-08:00

Another night walk. Link here

happy sigh

2009-01-20T13:59:00.000-08:00

Goodbye to all that.

Do not buy Fallout 3

2009-01-19T20:44:00.000-08:00

Do not purchase the PC version of Fallout 3. When I first brought it home and started it up, it crashed 3 seconds into the opening movie.
I installed a patch. Same problem.
I installed another patch, I was able to play the game.
Now, however, 5 minutes into the game the keyboard and mouse simply stop responding. The only thing I can do at that point is force quit the game and re-start it....for another 5 min before they stop responding again. I've sent emails to their support network who's auto-responding-bot told me I'd be contacted in 48 hours. That was 4 days ago and I haven't heard a word.

I'm left with a powerless rage I haven't felt since I was 14 years old and my modem stopped working. I really want to play this game, and yet, I can't. All I can do is vent my frustration to you, poor reader. So unless you want to go on a mountain dew fueled killing spree, I'd suggest staying away from anything made by Bethesda Software.

I'm finished now.

Hope...

2009-01-17T09:32:00.001-08:00

2009-01-16T16:47:00.001-08:00

If company logos adapted to the recession what might they look like?

What tha?!?

2009-01-14T22:46:00.001-08:00

A single water drop into very fine sand.

Amazing

2009-01-06T12:14:00.001-08:00

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

What?!?

2008-12-31T08:47:00.000-08:00

File this under are you F*UC*ING KIDDING ME?!?
We give them 4 billion dollars, and what do they do with the first 200,000$ of it?!?
This:

Epic...

2008-12-31T07:19:00.001-08:00

Epic Microsoft Fail
Every single 30 gb Zune crashed, all at the same time.

XKCD is inspired

2008-12-19T11:33:00.001-08:00

The Difference....

2008-12-16T10:15:00.001-08:00

I had this thought the other day:
The difference between skepticism and paranoia is self centeredness.
Skeptics are prepared for the world at large to screw them over.
Paranoid people assume someone cares enough to try.

Santa's Little Secret Service

2008-12-16T09:24:00.001-08:00

Photos are still trickling in. Check the flickr group: here

Strangers are...strange

2008-12-12T18:55:00.001-08:00

Having a debate with a stranger on a the internet is....strange.

Bailout Fail..

2008-12-12T10:15:00.000-08:00

Senate fails to bail out the auto industry....so....the white house pulls a 180 and offers to bail them out anyway.

Republicans? What Republicans? I see no Republican's here.

Thanks Doug

2008-12-09T12:35:00.001-08:00

What do I do on the weekends....sometimes

2008-12-08T23:07:00.001-08:00

A picture of me geting my DJ on.
More here.

2008-12-07T17:40:00.001-08:00

New night PhotoSet from Treasure Island

Happy Turkey Day!

2008-11-27T13:35:00.001-08:00

In Thanksgiving Tradition, Bush Pardons Scooter Libby In Giant Turkey Costume

You know you're not in SF anymore when...

2008-11-25T11:27:00.000-08:00

Those are my feet under the green blanket

How you know you're not in SF anymore...

2008-11-23T17:21:00.001-08:00

Damnit...

2008-11-20T13:34:00.001-08:00

Thanks Tom

Is it just me....

2008-11-16T08:40:00.001-08:00

Or are we all keeping more and more of our brains in our laptops?

I know I get a little uncomfortable when someone uses my machine and is logged in to my account. It's not a physical problem with the computer itself, if they're logged into a guest account on my machine it's fine.

But hey, at least I'm not as bad as this guy.

"When it was all over, police had to get Saucedo stitched up before
charging him with armed robbery and kidnapping, while Botsios only
suffered some scrapes and a bruised knuckle."

uhhhh....

2008-11-06T11:21:00.001-08:00

Yea...uh....enjoy this one there's absolutely no good reason for me to posting this...other than its awesomeness:

Sarah Palin

2008-11-05T20:57:00.001-08:00

Africa is a Continent.

Tomorrow

2008-11-04T21:20:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow will still suck.

But it will be a new day.

God bless this insane country.

Here we go!

2008-11-04T18:35:00.000-08:00

Fox, CNN, and CBS calls Ohio for Obama!

Vote!

2008-11-03T17:11:00.001-08:00

Don't struggle....

2008-11-02T21:14:00.001-08:00

Wow..

2008-11-02T18:05:00.001-08:00

An amazing story of a 55 year old swing voter and his day of canvasing.

So you can imagine my surprise when my wife suggested we spend a Saturday morning canvassing for Obama. I have never canvassed for any candidate. But I did, of course, what most middle-aged married men do: what I was told.

Link

We got conned out of 700 billion dollars.

2008-10-29T12:17:00.000-07:00

Is anyone surprised by this kind of stuff?

Now, lo and behold, with $250 billion in bailout funds committed to dozens of large and regional banks, it turns out that many of the recipients of this investment from taxpayers are not all that interested in making loans. And it appears that Mr. Paulson is not so bothered by their reluctance.

*sigh*

The purpose of the bailout was to jumpstart the economy by enabling banks to make loans again. Both to each-other and the American public. Instead, they appear poised to buy up the assets of failing banks....to....wait for it.....increase their profit margins. Aren't you glad your tax dollars are going to such a noble cause?

Plan to make billions:
1 - Start a bank
2 - Suck at it
3 - Convince a bunch of dumbass congress-persons that they're in trouble if I go out of business
4 - .....
5 - profit!

Great....

2008-10-27T09:20:00.000-07:00

As if Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and Pakistan weren't enough enemies...it looks like we're now starting into Syria.

The Syrian press is claiming U.S. forces launched a helicopter raid inside Syrian territory today. Ruh roh! SANA, the country's state-run news agency, said four US military helicopters 'violated Syrian airspace' at 4:45 p.m. local time. The report further claims that eight Syrian citizens were 'martyred' in the attack, allegedly launched from across the border in Iraq.

Story Here

I made a Telecsope for you...

2008-10-23T20:18:00.000-07:00

When faced with absurdity, what else can you do?

This doesn't look good....

2008-10-22T16:10:00.001-07:00

150,000$ for Palin on clothes and Accessories? Sorry guys, but this is gonna make you look real stupid...especially after you went after Douchie Mc-Edwards for having spent 400$ on haircuts.

Another night shoot

2008-10-20T13:23:00.001-07:00

Another walk through the night with Dan. Picked up a few exellent shots. The clouds were low and the light was good. Some of them need some color correction...

Flickr Set Here

Are you Effing Kidding me?

2008-10-19T13:42:00.000-07:00

Open your mind

2008-10-18T10:32:00.000-07:00

Thought Police

2008-10-17T10:57:00.001-07:00

A child has been arrested on felony Terrorism charges for writing about....

Zombies.

For his English class.

I think we're getting confused on the definition of Terrorism...this can only lead to bad things.

SMS and Android

2008-10-15T16:13:00.000-07:00

My latest article for DevX.

Mondays....

2008-10-13T09:33:00.000-07:00

Hopefully this will help

1st Admendment?

2008-10-08T07:27:00.000-07:00

53 peaceful protesters names were added to Terrorist watch lists. Their crime?

The police [...] entered the activists' names into the federal Washington-Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area database, which tracks suspected terrorists. One well-known antiwar activist from Baltimore, Max Obuszewski, was singled out in the intelligence logs released by the ACLU, which described a "primary crime" of "terrorism-anti-government" and a "secondary crime" of "terrorism-anti-war protesters."

Link

So much for the right of free assembly...

Heads up...

2008-10-06T15:50:00.000-07:00

This is interesting stuff. I'm not sure how accurate it all is and how much is scare tactics....but watch it, pass it on.
Here's the Army Times article she's talking about.
Here's an article about the protesters arrested for "Terrorism"

Upon further reflection I think this woman is a little a-Obnoxious and b-Hyperventilating. These signs are cause for serious concern. It's not time to panic....yet

Devil in the Dow

2008-10-06T11:37:00.000-07:00

The number of the devil in the drop of the dow

A picture for your Sunday

2008-10-05T13:05:00.001-07:00

Crap!

What's another 700 billion?

2008-10-02T14:44:00.001-07:00

wow.

Disgraceful

2008-09-26T10:21:00.001-07:00

We're supposed to believe this train wreck of a person is supposed to be ready to be the PRESIDENT?!?
I'm not sure if this makes me want to laugh or cry...

Rage

2008-09-26T09:50:00.001-07:00

I've gotten so angry about this "bailout" that I can't really think straight enough to write about it.

For now, I'm seething, expect a longish post to come.

At last...

2008-09-25T14:35:00.000-07:00

The NRO and I agree...

"I have concluded the best way to deal with the election roller coaster is to commit yourself to cocktail hour."

The law of averages says it had to happen at some point...

Welcome to Mobile

2008-09-24T10:07:00.000-07:00

Seeing headlines like this: "Renegade iPhone 'Podcaster' Developer Neutered by Apple" cracks me up.
People, it seems, who have never worked in the mobile world are SHOCKED, Shocked I tell you, that a company might deny an application access to their catalogue because it competes with one of their own.

File this one under "Duh"

Anyone who's spent more than 2 months writing mobile software knows that at any point, for any reason, any carrier *cough*Verizon*cough* can pull your application from the catalog. They don't owe you an explanation, justification, or appeal. It's a commercial dictatorship...not a democracy. AT&T or Verizon don't like how much wireless data your customers are consuming? Maybe they don't like how much you charge? Or they don't even like your UI? Maybe they plan on making a competing application _some_ day? *poof* your application is gone like a fart in a hurricane.

This is one of the major flaws in mobile software today. Like it or not, it's not going away until the tower-owners open up their networks. Maybe, in a few years, articles like the above one really will be shocking.

Until then, they'll just have to provide amusement for those of us who've been doing it for a while.

Tom's New Startup

2008-09-17T20:02:00.001-07:00

My friend Tom Seago has just (and by just, I mean I'm like 2 weeks behind) launched his start-up over at Reality Box Labs
If you're a web developer, it lets you stop pestering your PC running friends with "Does this look ok in IE?" questions.
His service is actually pretty badass. It lets you check out a machine, use it on a virtual desktop through the web page, and the dismiss it to be wiped of whatever you've done. Check it out. http://www.realityboxlabs.com

F*cking Hilarious....

2008-09-16T12:13:00.001-07:00

Damn Evan...nice work!

Zing

2008-09-15T22:22:00.001-07:00

Obama tries on a few new lines in Colorado.

Quote for Today

2008-09-15T14:46:00.001-07:00

In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress.
John Adams
US diplomat & politician (1735 - 1826)

Gotta love that guy.

Disgusting...

2008-09-10T09:53:00.001-07:00

This is pure douchbaggery with more than a dusting of desperation.

Are they really trying to get us to believe that Obama was attacking Palin by using the colloquialism: "lipstick on a pig" ? When John McCain used the same words to describe Clinton?

They're trying to have their cake and eat it too. On one hand, they're trying to promote Palin as a tough-as-nails reformer....while at the same time they work themselves up into a "lather" anytime says something their spin-meisters can contrive that a comment is "sexist" as if she's some pore helpless damsel in distress. Mark my words, they're sharpening their "sexist" lines for whatever falls out from the VP debate against Biden.

Either she's strong or she isn't. Pick one, stop flip flopping, you can't have it both ways.

Sarah Palin

2008-09-09T11:09:00.001-07:00

John Stewart on McCain

2008-09-06T13:08:00.001-07:00

/b/ gets ahold of Chrome Comic...

2008-09-04T10:12:00.001-07:00

4chan: Uh oh, the b-tards got their hands on Google's Chrome comic

He's not Michael Phelps

2008-08-21T07:20:00.001-07:00

"Steve! My name is Steve!"

The value of Privacy

2008-08-20T19:05:00.001-07:00

Interesting article on the impact of Privacy on Society:

"If I'm not doing anything wrong, then you have no cause to watch me." "Because the government gets to define what's wrong, and they keep changing the definition." "Because you might do something wrong with my information." My problem with quips like these -- as right as they are -- is that they accept the premise that privacy is about hiding a wrong. It's not. Privacy is an inherent human right, and a requirement for maintaining the human condition with dignity and respect.

Article Here

Got this one...

2008-08-19T13:00:00.001-07:00

Way to go apple...

Cool video...

2008-08-18T15:21:00.001-07:00

I found it!

2008-08-11T10:16:00.001-07:00

It was in a small bookstore in Santa Cruz. If you spot it at your local borders...take a picture and send it to me...I'll post 'em here!

You can *cough*buy it here*cough*

This one still makes me chuckle

2008-08-09T13:11:00.001-07:00

Album cover photo for the group "The Early Risers" for their single "I'll rise, but if you ask me to shine I'm going to stuff my fist up your nose."
http://www.flickr.com/photos/haseman/2649906231/

This was one of those random pictures I snapped without looking through the viewfinder.

MY first HDR photo

2008-08-03T22:38:00.001-07:00

My first attempt at making a night shot into an HDR photo. I'd love feedback. Get a larger image by clicking on it.

Another walk in the dark fog

2008-07-30T09:02:00.001-07:00

Dan and I took a walk through the fog in north beach with our tripods. Here are the results.

An Open letter to Steve Jobs

2008-07-24T16:35:00.001-07:00

On reading this again....I've realized It's really not my best writing ever...mostly I think I was just too pissed to think straight ;-)

Dear Steve,

I'm writing, as an apple user of over 20 years, to express my outrage at having been advertised at while minding my own business using your operating system.
I was working on some software for my company when, from nowhere, I was alerted, by an annoying and blatant advertisement, that could update and purchase your product "Mobile Me"
This "alert" appeared without any input from me...I was working in another application entirely. I then had to track down how to make the mobile me menu item go away...because there was no setting in the menu kill the icon in the top top right corner of the screen.

This is a violation of my trust in your company. It is a violation in my trust that I will not be advertised at while using your operating system.

This is something I would expect from Microsoft. Frankly, if this is the direction in which your company is headed I will take my money somewhere else that will not harass me while I'm trying to work.

Thanks for your time,
Chris Haseman

http://haseman.blogspot.com

What's missing from this picture?

2008-07-22T17:02:00.001-07:00

This picture was taking from the San Francisco Apple Store website. If you're an SF resident you should be able to spot it.

If you give up or think you have the answer, click here

No, it's not homeless people yelling at you, but that's a good guess

Back to the Fog

2008-07-14T09:24:00.001-07:00

We made it back to SF safely. It's good to be home. Although I could do without all the over-cast.

Getting back to the gym today was painful both physically and mentally (when stepping onto the scale and seeing how much damage vacation had done)

All's well here, it's back to the grind for me.

Our last day in paradise

2008-07-12T10:24:00.000-07:00

Since I know many of you have been plotting my death for the past week while looking at the photos I've been posting, it should come as a relief to many of you that today is our last day in paradise. It's been staggeringly beautiful...even this morning during a downpour:

I hope both of you have enjoyed the pictures, rants, and scenery posted here. I return to SF tomorrow and will return to my regularly scheduled hardly-ever blogging.

Since I took a picture from this spot on arrival, it made sense to post one taken from the same spot upon departing.

Aw Christ, there's even a rainbow on the left side I hadn't seen until just now.

Hiking outside Hana

2008-07-10T23:14:00.001-07:00

More photos from the hike: here

The Elusive Double Fail

2008-07-08T12:19:00.001-07:00

First, before I go any further, let me say that there are more pictures to be seen on the hawaii flickr set here.

Sparks, Meghan, and I woke up this morning at 5 am to catch the sunrise and witness the "Maui Blow-Hole"
The for those of you who don't hate yourselves enough to wake up at 5 am, let me explain what this entails.
The Goddamnit-what-the-hell-is-that-noise machine goes off at 4:50...and upon spreading bits of the aforementioned alarm clock evenly over the space of about 3 square feet like so much chunky penut butter one is immediately struck by two things.

First, It's EARLY, like, uh....early wow.
Second, the Sun hasn't come up yet.

At this point, a dialogue begins between two very important parts of my brain:

Meghan - Jesus christ, do we have to get up?
Me - No.
Meghan - good.
Me - Wait, that didn't go as planned....

This conversation would rinse and repeat until such time as there is light outside. Unfortunately, I during iteration "I have no idea" I remembered that Sparks was probably having a similar battle upstairs except by himself. So the next time round the conversation went something like:

Meghan - Jesus H. Christ in a Chicken Basket, do we really have to get up?
Me - No we don't.
Meghan - are you sure?
Me - ...maybe...

At which point Sparks knocked on the door.

40 minutes later we were somewhere on the coast of Maui taking photographs. Which is where, I might add, the title of this little post comes into play. See, as I said before, we were looking to see the blowhole and the sunrise.
Due to some unforseen water vapor hovering in the east-ish direction of our fair island the sunrise was almost completely obscured. You might call this hovering water vapor clouds, I would call it the first of two epic failures. Ok, no sunset...what was the other thing..ah yes, the "blow hole"
Here's the thing about the blow hole, it's caused by holes in the rocks being flooded by the ocean. Thus sending large founts of water into the air. But, there's a catch, oceans have these things called tides wherein the level of the sea isn't always constant. This "Blow hole" apparently requires a tidal status of "Not-so-goddamn-early-in-the-morning" and so we were faced with the second half of our elusive double fail. Low Tide = not enough water to make the blow-hole work.

At least, it seems, I got a few good photographs from the walk. Some of which might make delightful desktop backgrounds after I've gotten over the anger. Since you, oh sorta-faithful-reader, did not have to wake up at the crack-of-what-the-hell-time-is-it-again to get them, I suggest you check them out at the link I provided near the top. Or, because we can't be bothered to work the scroll wheel anymore, I'll link it again here.

Things, as they say, are normal here.

Blogging with style

2008-07-07T12:59:00.001-07:00

My desk for the day. This morning was the first time we could actually see the top of that mountain.

Oh yes, and for those wanting more pictures, I keep a running flickr set here

Good morning Maui!

2008-07-05T11:37:00.001-07:00

Took this just before going on the sweatiest run of my entire life...

The view from where we're staying

2008-07-04T20:21:00.001-07:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/haseman/2637401281/

Landed in Maui

2008-07-04T19:56:00.000-07:00

View Larger Map

Landed in Maui. Here for the next week. This place is beyond amazing. Photos will be published once I find the USB cable from my luggage.

Night Photography

2008-06-15T17:31:00.001-07:00

Another walk, another pile of pictures. More of my photos here

HDR for the day

2008-06-03T12:54:00.001-07:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cuellar/435533081/in/set-72157601442308408/

Winning in Iraq?

2008-06-01T12:51:00.001-07:00

Interesting WaPo OpEd about the goings on in Iraq. It seems, in spite of everything, the Army and the Iraqs seem to be winning.

I've heard it before, so I'm extremely skeptical. But if this turns out to be true, we should be shouting it from the rooftops. Considering all the negative press the war has gotten in the past.

My Book has a page...

2008-05-30T17:19:00.001-07:00

So yea...my book has a link.

Sometimes it feels great to be done writing it....somtimes I feel like I'm pushing a baby bird out of a nest and watching it sail towards the ground...

Anyway.

I give you:

Android Essentials by Chris Haseman

It should ship inside the next month.

Hard work sometimes pays off...

2008-05-29T11:00:00.001-07:00

My first real project, upon moving to Gravity Mobile, was MLB.com Gameday + Gameday Audio.

I came in this morning to find out the app had won a BREW award from Qualcomm!

w00t!

Sorry, had to brag a little.

Say goodbye to the Constitution...

2008-05-24T11:38:00.001-07:00

It has begun

President Bush declared a US citizen an "Enemy Combatant" and has detained him without any due process.

He was arrested on US soil, is currently detained on US soil, and has been stripped of his citizenship and all rights at the say-so of one man.

Our democracy has been broken. By the Congress, by the President, and by Us.

I'm done writing my book

2008-05-23T16:01:00.001-07:00

Those of you who've been listening to me constantly bitch about writing my book...should be excited to know that I'm done writing it. The last chapter went to the Project Manager this morning for editing.
I have about 2 or 3 weeks worth of copy-editing left to do, but for the most part I'm finished writing new content for the foreseeable future.

This is so exciting.

For those of you who're hearing this for the first time and have been blessed to miss out on my constant whining...I've been writing a book about Google's mobile phone platform Andoird. It's been a trip. I'll keep you all posted as things develop on this one.

HDR for the day

2008-05-19T20:32:00.001-07:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/85223998@N00/2370890086

To Move a church...

2008-05-15T11:08:00.001-07:00

The day the news stopped...

2008-05-14T19:04:00.001-07:00

I can't help myself...

2008-05-13T22:21:00.001-07:00

It's looking like she's done..

2008-05-10T10:02:00.001-07:00

It seems, at last, that sun sun is setting on the Clinton campaign. Major news outlets seem to have caught on, many referring to Obama as the presumptive nominee. At this point, I can't fault them...She's behind in money, votes, pledged delegates, and super-duper-delegates. It's pretty much his to loose at this point.

For those of you who see this as a hope for America...that a brilliant black man could be the Democratic nominee...should hold on to your pom-poms a little longer. Wait until you see what the Republican smear machine will trott out against him this fall.
Expect them to appeal to Rascism (Wright) challenge his Patiotism (his refusal to wear a flag pin) smear him as a radical Muslim (there were large numbers of emails circulating to this effect months ago) and any other filth, slime, and vile they can dredge out of their soulless, overpaid, thinktanks.

I'm not kidding. You think the swiftboating of Kerry was bad? You just wait until they come for Obama. Because this time, they're desperate. Having lost the house and the senate...facing even greater losses in both houses this go-round, they have nothing to loose.

Get your bullshit hats on ladies and gentlemen. It's about to start raining nut-job Theocon Pseudo-Republican talking points.

Way back then....

2008-05-06T13:15:00.001-07:00

It seems so long ago....

I guess a lot has changed in economics since Bill ran for president...

Gassss Tax

2008-05-06T10:45:00.001-07:00

Hilary Clinton has to be an idiot.

I don't say that lightly, because I've met her... and she seemed really smart at the time. But this "Gas Tax Holiday" is dumber than toast. She wants to windfall-tax the big oil companies (Something that is currently impossible...Bush has pledged to Veto) and then take away the gas tax on consumers for a few months.

This is pure, ridiculous pandering. If you remove the tax, oil retailers will simply jack up the price. Even, assuming that the laws of supply and demand some-how took a vacation, the most an average American would save at the pump would be 30$ over 3 months.

Every Economist, or human being, with two brain cells to rub together knows the gas-tax-holiday is bullshit. Yet Hillary is beating the drum for it anyway. Claiming that Economists are "Elitists" who are out of touch with what real working American's need. Are you kidding me? Can we go back to the over 100 million dollars on your last tax return? You really think you're in a position to be a champion of poor and working-class people? Go away Hillary, your desperation is turning from sad to downright insulting.

Ironically enough, at a recent campaign gimmic, Hillary mentioned, while standing next to a gas pump, that she hadn't used one herself in years.

I would like to propose an alternative tax. The Bullshit tax. Every time a politician knowingly lies through their teeth they have to put a dime in the IRS tax jar.
We should have the budget balanced in no time.

Charity and Wealth

2008-05-04T16:46:00.001-07:00

This doesn't speak well if our fair liberal city....

Medical Quandry..

2008-05-02T10:58:00.001-07:00

A man was denied a liver transplant because of his use of prescribed, medical, Marijuana. He has since passed away.

This is about as clear a violation of the Hippocratic oath as I can see. Isn't there something fundamentally wrong with this? Is there some medical issue I'm missing here?

Story Link

A walk by the water

2008-04-28T00:02:00.001-07:00

Late at night.... A walk by the bay
These are actually my photos. I post a lot on this blog that aren't, but these are mine!

Close the Deal

2008-04-25T17:46:00.001-07:00

My desk for the day...

2008-04-25T09:16:00.000-07:00

Life, as they say, is sweet.

Punditry gone bad...

2008-04-21T11:41:00.000-07:00

"... I'll say one thing about Malkin: she is independent, and I admire that about her. She is extremely polarizing, ridiculously partisan and quasi-fascist in her politics, but I can't help but admire her pluck. She has made a name for herself almost entirely by her own efforts, she's extremely hard-working, innovative and ballsy, and takes her own side to task from time to time. She's also managed to rise above the disgusting misogyny and racism that has been thrown in her direction. Don't get me wrong: her McCarthyite bomb-throwing is repellent a lot of the time. But the blogosphere forces you to take the good with the bad and none of us is perfect. Any individual who has wrested control of the discourse from the media establishment and forged their own path is part of the solution." Link

Frankly, I couldn't disagree more. Her posts, at least when I read her blog a year or two ago, were pure monarchical zealotry: the executive does what he pleases during war-time and shouldn't be questioned. Perhaps she does take the republicans to task from time to time, but it seems to come from a place of astonishment... how dare those republicans act more like.... traditional republicans.

Her posts strike me as without logic, reason, or merit, and she represents, at least to me, a serious problem facing our political discourse. How can we possibly come together as a nation when we can't speak about the same issues in similar terms? How can we argue about the validity of invading a foreign country when our pundits cannot even agree, when faced with strong supporting evidence, that the whole thing is a colossal mess. Indeed, even if we cannot agree that it's a mess, we need to at least be able to speak calmly about what _is_ happening over there.
Just to clear the brush, I'm a registered independent, I support the armed forces with a zeal that perhaps matches Malkin's love for her own brand of politics.

But frankly, I find her writing to be poisonous. She represents a kind of buffet style media where you can get exactly the kind of news, opinion, and fact that supports whatever position you wish to have. It promotes talking points, argument and disagreement without substance, and the "shouting past" tactics that somehow passes for debate in this country.
Her "pluck" and "balls" are admirable. But then so were McCarthy's, so are the President's. The ability to fly in the face of convention is only an admirable skill if it produces positive results. In this case, if you look at the current state of our discourse, I would put fourth that her "pluck" is not only disingenuous, it is also very damaging.

Haseman's Wanderings

A new project for me!

A simple iPod trick

Meghan's Page is up!

Uh Oh

San Francisco is a strange place...

It's been a long road

getting above it all

*happy sigh*

Do not buy Fallout 3

Hope...

What tha?!?

Amazing

What?!?

Epic...

XKCD is inspired

The Difference....

Santa's Little Secret Service

Strangers are...strange

Bailout Fail..

Thanks Doug

What do I do on the weekends....sometimes

Happy Turkey Day!

You know you're not in SF anymore when...

How you know you're not in SF anymore...

Damnit...

Is it just me....

uhhhh....

Sarah Palin

Tomorrow

Here we go!

Vote!

Don't struggle....

Wow..

We got conned out of 700 billion dollars.

Great....

I made a Telecsope for you...

This doesn't look good....

Another night shoot

Are you Effing Kidding me?

Open your mind

Thought Police

SMS and Android

Mondays....

1st Admendment?

Heads up...

Devil in the Dow

A picture for your Sunday

What's another 700 billion?

Disgraceful

Rage

At last...

Welcome to Mobile

Tom's New Startup

F*cking Hilarious....

Zing

Quote for Today

Disgusting...

Sarah Palin

John Stewart on McCain

/b/ gets ahold of Chrome Comic...

He's not Michael Phelps

The value of Privacy

Got this one...

Cool video...

I found it!

This one still makes me chuckle

MY first HDR photo

Another walk in the dark fog

An Open letter to Steve Jobs

What's missing from this picture?

Back to the Fog

Our last day in paradise

Hiking outside Hana

The Elusive Double Fail

Blogging with style

Good morning Maui!

The view from where we're staying

Landed in Maui

Night Photography

happy sigh