Macalope on the Apple Tax “Battle”

The Macalope » Blog Archive » No, no, no:

“Just to be clear, this is not a rational argument they’re trying to make, so don’t treat it like one. Don’t waste your time refuting horse shit. When someone calls you a name, you don’t say ‘Am not!’ You say ‘Yeah? That’s not what your mother said while I was…’ Etc.
Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight.”

(Via The Macalope.)

Why I am a Mac user

Microsoft’s ‘Apple tax’ needs a refund | Mac | MacUser | Macworld:

“Kay would have you believe that everything can be reduced to quantitative measurements, and that’s emblematic of the way Microsoft operates. But there are plenty of important qualitative differences as well. The report bandies about the term ‘cool’ like a four-letter word, but it mistakes the trappings of ‘cool’ for its substance. True coolness is never really about appearance and only those who just don’t get it claim that it is. Apple’s computers are fantastically designed and aesthetically attractive, but that’s not what makes them cool—what makes them cool is what they allow their users to do. And for many, that’s worth a few extra bucks.”

(Via Macworld.)

Annapolis is not Just a Town in Maryland

On the White House – With ‘Annapolis,’ a Warning to Israel – NYTimes.com:

“By bringing up the word, Mr. Obama was sending a warning to the government of new Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that reneging on the goals outlined during the Annapolis Middle East peace conference in 2007 would put Mr. Netanyahu on the wrong foot with the Obama administration.”

(Via NY Times.)

Sometimes you have to be a hard ass with your friends, not just your enemies.

Baracknophobia

Baracknophobia – Obey | The Daily Show | Comedy Central:

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Baracknophobia – Obey
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Full Episodes
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(Via The Daily Show.)

Comedy!

Why Are Army Recruiters Killing Themselves?

Why Are Army Recruiters Killing Themselves? – TIME:

“Last year alone, the number of recruiters who killed themselves was triple the overall Army rate. Like posttraumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, recruiter suicides are a hidden cost of the nation’s wars.”

(Via Time Magazine.)

This is just wrong.

Troop Support

msnbc.com video: President Obama greets troops in Iraq:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

(Via MSNBC.)

Sorry, Palin. Looks like the troops support Obama!
UPDATE: I think that’s because as the old addage goes: No cares how much you know until they know how much you care.

What The Geese Are All Roaring About – Ta-Nehisi Coates

What The Geese Are All Roaring About – Ta-Nehisi Coates:

“It’s true hip-hop has a problem respecting women, but this is a symptom of deeper truth–the music doesn’t respect men. It doesn’t respect that essentially male moment, when standing at the bus stop, when sitting in English class, when in that sales meeting, a dime-piece floats past, and cognition stops. It doesn’t respect the exhilarating terror of being attracted to a woman. To cop to that violates the pimp ethos. One can’t be out of control, and be the player president.”

(Via Ta-Nehisi Coates.)

This is real.

Getting Our Priorities Straight

Defense chief proposes weapons cuts:

“‘It is important to remember that every defense dollar spent to over-ensure against a remote or diminishing risk — or in effect to run up the score in a capability where the United States is already dominant — is a dollar not available to take care of our people, reset the force, win the wars we are in and improve capabilities in areas where we are underinvested and potentially vulnerable,’ Gates said.”

(Via Yahoo! News.)

I’ve been saying this for years. I can’t wait to see how those “small government” conservatives react to this.
UPDATE: Good analysis on his speech.

The Ever Spending Story

The Ever Spending Story | The Daily Show | Comedy Central:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart M – Th 11p / 10c
The Ever Spending Story
comedycentral.com
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(Via The Daily Show.)

Jon Stewart’s displays usual genius.

Paying for the Name

Microsoft’s latest ad attacks Mac aesthetics, computing power — RoughlyDrafted Magazine:

“The strangest point of this ad is that Giampaolo didn’t get the portability, battery life, and power he was looking for, he just ended up with a cheap-appearing machine that obscured its real technical limitations under a flashy layer of misleading, specification-oriented marketing, the very thing he thought he was avoiding with HP: buying a brand rather than a computer. And that’s exactly what Microsoft wants people to do: buy its brand rather than a computer that does what they want it to do.”

(Via Roughly Drafted.)

Great summary on why Microsoft can’t even sell itself. It has to sell others. I wonder how Dell or Lenovo feel about this ad.