Smartphone Start-Ups Have a Friend in This Fund - NYTimes.com

Smartphone Start-Ups Have a Friend in This Fund - NYTimes.com

This could be something. iFund invests in select startup companies that write applications for the iPhone. To give you an idea of popularity of these apps, Apple's iPhone App Store has served 60 million of then since the store's launch last month. Blackberry maker RIM (Research in Motion) sees this trend and will announce a yet-to-be-named fund specializing in developers of applications for its smart phone.

Are we paying attention? One thing we don't fully appreciate about hundreds of millions of smartphones in users' hands is that they have eyes, ears, know their location and are connected to the Internet. Developers can leverage these assets to unimaginable ends -- with potentially questionable aims, possibly creating a transparent world or the mother of all big brothers.

Gannett 2Q profit falls by 36 percent

I don't believe the paper's decline is because of any perceived liberal bias, dittoheads. Fewer readers get their information from print because there are so many free and instant sources -- including this web site. 1. Local delivery audiences are dying off -- literally; and 2. local advertisers don't understand how to market to an audience that's obviously shifting to online sources. Consider that a typical newspaper reporting staff today is comprised of two-thirds online content producers.

That's telling. And it lends a lot of credence to the Craigslist argument in the comment section of this story; my baby boomer mother uses it.

And partly because...it's the economy, stupid.

This is an awkward time for traditional media, but I assure you that "liberal bias" is nothing more than a branding campaign aimed at the feeble-minded.

To fix the nation's problems, circle the wagons

When we see what has become of our nation and the impending crisis that faces it, we the people should take action and not wait around for the next election cycle.

Problem
The economy, the war, forced taxpayer charity, immigration issues, diminishing standard of living and inaccessible health care in this country are all related to the ineptitude of congress, who acts as agency for corporate and foreign interests instead of its constituents.

Solution
A temporary national charter mandating the legislature, executive and judicial to implement and support the following measures immediately:

• Recall all diplomatic personnel, armed forces and materiel to US soil and ports
• Withdraw from world financial complex
  
• Eliminate Homeland Security
  
• Secure all borders and waters
  
• Place a moratorium on all all foreign trade and aid
• Eliminate national income tax
• Redesign transportation infrastructure to support universal electrified rail
• Replace coal and petroleum derived energy with wind, solar, hydro and nuclear
  

Interesting comments regarding FEMA buyouts

In 1794, Congress appropriated $15,000 for relief of French refugees. James Madison stood on the floor of the House to object, saying, "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents." James Madison, you'll recall, is the acknowledged father of the Constitution, and he couldn't find constitutional authority for spending "on the objects of benevolence."

Your congressman might say, "Madison was all wrong; after all, there's the 'general welfare' clause." Here's what Madison had to say about that: "With respect to the two words "general welfare," I have always regarded them as qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators." Thomas Jefferson echoed similar sentiments saying, "Congress has not unlimited powers to provide for the general welfare, but only those specifically enumerated."

Walter Williams, http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/williams111302.asp

I'm all for giving. Giving is the duty of private citizens, both individually and collectively via charitable organizations. The federal government has no authority to take money from taxpayers for the purpose of giving it to the needy. Charity is a personal, voluntary act of love toward our fellow man. Don't confuse charity with taxation, a compulsory act under duress.

When the government takes over, the whole transaction becomes less personal and more clinical. Giving gives way to taking. Gifts give way to entitlements.

Any of you who believe charitable giving is the duty of government should ask yourselves (and James Madison) if you're living in the wrong country.

Politics is a useful smoke screen

Narrow-minded partisan hacks look pretty silly calling each other names, while extolling the virtues of politicians who facilitated the sale of our country to China and the Mideast at bargain-bin rates. Because of these petty distractions, people still hope, sadly, that the outcome of the presidential election will make a difference.

And before long, they may also feel silly.

The power base is comprised of banks, insurance companies and investment houses who derive immense benefit from war, open borders, free trade and skimming your paycheck -- and they care not about national boundaries. It's laughable that they watch the money flowing into the Mideast and China, yet they sit in their protective bubbles and engage in ignorant online debates about which idiot will be most useful, as US President, to the quality of their individual lives.

The FEMA flooded home buyout program is forced charity

Under what authority can the government buy flooded private properties? James Madison said it doesn't exist, referring to "objects of benevolence", which is a compulsory levy, usually assessed by kings, with no other authority than the claim of prerogative. When the government is in the business of charity, like funding and administering buyouts of private homes, it becomes taxation without representation, which you're compelled to hand over, as if a king had demanded it.

My fear is that we're moving fast toward a nation where lazy, ignorant clods comprize the majority, who elect criminals to lead.

Identity theft solutions, not blame

My 17-year-old son, a multi-generation US citizen, was approached recently by a foreign national living in the US illegally, who solicited his identity for the sum of $5,000 to help him bring members of his family to the US and work under assumed identities. Fortunately, he declined the offer. But others will accept. Far more citizens will have their identities compromised.

There's great value in the identity trade, which has become a commodity industry, and there's a reason for it. And while the political class watches you all bicker about who's fault it is, your fellow citizens are getting soaked by the financial complex and raked over the coals.

The solution is to make compliance the new path of least resistance -- a financial no-brainer -- by causing great expense to the individuals reaping the benefits of cheap labor, who promise the cheapest possible labor force. You'll know who they are because they speak loudest for immigrants' rights.

One of the extremely few true responsibilities of the government is to guard against foreign invasion, but a nation rife with ignorance will never demand it.

Types of Internet access

DSL
Over-the-phone-line (sometimes called PSTN or Telco), the "digital subscriber line" is piggybacked data over regular copper phone wires, doesn't interfere with normal phone calls, but data noise (hissing sound) must be filtered or most telephone equipment will not function correctly. Special customer equipment, service and ISP are required. With DSL service, you're getting a special data connection between you and the phone company, but not to the internet. You will also have to enter into an agreement with an ISP (Internet Service Provider), who then makes the fnal connection between the phone company and the Internet. In many cases, DSL and ISP are bundled, simplifying your installation.

Cable
Through your cable-TV provider (sometimes called CATV), the data is passed on the same coax cable as your cable television signals. A special cable modem is required, as well as a special high-speed cable internet service, also through your cable company. No additional ISP is needed; the cable company handles the ISP duties as well.

Satellite internet
If you use Hughes/DirecTV satellite television service, you may have heard about their HughesNet internet services, in which an installer replaces your receiving dish with a special Internet dish, which is oval-shaped. As with satellite television, you must have a clear view of the southern sky in order for this to work. The service is ordered through Hughes/DirecTV.

WLAN
Wireless Lan (WLAN) is an extension of your ISP's network that covers the last mile using towers (often rented cell towers, water towers, grain elevators or other tall structures, to beam an 802.11 wifi radio signal across a wide area (often several miles). While traditional wifi gear works on this type of network, you'll probably need an antenna mounted on the side of your house and pointed in the general direction of the nearest WLAN tower, as well as a cable that plugs into a special network bridge inside your home, then into your computer/network.

WiMax
Similar to the above, but doesn't use tradition 802.11 (wifi) protocols, but a proprietary network protocol and special equipment at your home.

Cellular
Your cell phone company probably has a data plan, through which you can access the internet. In some cases, if your phone and computer are both equipped with Bluetooth, you may be able to setup an arrangement between your phone and computer in which your computer goes through your phone to access the internet, a sort of wireless Internet connection. This may be a slow, clunky and difficult option, but with a little guidance from your cell phone provider, it may be your only reliable option if you travel a lot or live in an area where DSL or cable Internet are not available.

Internet Over Powerline
Not available in our area, but would pass a data stream over powerlines to your home. You would need a special receiver that connects to the household power and your computer or home network.

Nurturing the festering

Howard Fineman appears to be reasonably intelligent and is good for political insight if you pull his chain -- and NBC does quite a bit of chain pulling when he's in the room. But the more I see him on the various talk shows and read his op-eds, the more I believe his function is to feed the discomfort level of enthusiasts.

Kill troop morale
A favorite tactic in any battle is to try to add to the discontent of the groundpounders on the other side. The purpose is, of course, is to weaken the position of the other side. But the battle's won, so what's Fineman trying to accomplish? To pour salt in wounds and watch them fester. To cause a reaction that will be heard around the world.

Being one of NBC's go-to guys for punditry is probably a pretty good way to get paying customers, but none of this advances political discourse. Fact-based analysis isn't supposed to inject emotion of itself, but to reflect the facts.

This adolescent tendency to want to be seen as the insider is sophomoric. Children like to say words that produce a "wow" from their audience. Makes them feel relevant, purposeful.

I wish Fineman and the rest of the beltway insiders would mature.

Immigration officials charge a Postville illegal

In this story, the DM Register says the Chief of Police of Postville claims his department doesn't routinely act as an immigration-enforcement arm because it can't afford the training, and that he wants immigrants to feel comfortable reporting crimes to his officers without fearing that they will be deported.

Well, actually, the police chief is referring to illegal immigrants, foreign nationals in this country without a visa or other authorization -- referred to as "illegal aliens". Let's be honest.

What if the chief had said his department doesn't go after shoplifters? And that he didn't want drug users to feel uncomfortable reporting other crimes for fear of arrest? That's an equivalent argument.

In the military, I believe we refer to this as "dereliction of duty", punishable by death in times of war.

Food for thought.

As I've always said, if the laws are wrong, then let's change them. If we can fairly increase the number of immigrants and successfully integrate them into our country, then let's up the numbers. But if we're being over-run by foreign nationals who have no intentions of assimilating, then we're being invaded and our pocketbooks are being raided -- and sworn officers of the law are accessories.

Des Moines Floods of 2008

Des Moines residents and officials brace for flooding, the likes of which have not been seen in 15 years -- and more, in some cases. This playlist as a day-by-day visual account of the flooding.