tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62490762024-02-28T10:47:59.742-05:00Son of the RevolutionChanging the World through Business and TechnologyPhilipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.comBlogger110125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6249076.post-32582544605455357152010-12-26T23:22:00.006-05:002010-12-26T23:45:22.815-05:00Cholera death toll continues rising in HaitiTwo Google spreadsheet charts. Same data. Different chart types - slightly different story.<br /><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="//ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/static/modules/gviz/1.0/chart.js"> {"chartType":"LineChart","chartName":"Chart 2","dataSourceUrl":"//spreadsheets.google.com/tq?key=0Am2eo4lO6pTNdFBtUHUwam5OX1pPaVljMnc4ZVhrV3c&range=A5%3AB25&gid=2&transpose=0&headers=1&pub=1","options":{"displayAnnotations":true,"showTip":true,"reverseCategories":true,"dataMode":"markers","maxAlternation":1,"pointSize":"0","colors":["#3366CC","#DC3912","#FF9900","#109618","#990099","#0099C6","#DD4477","#66AA00","#B82E2E","#316395"],"smoothLine":true,"lineWidth":"2","labelPosition":"right","is3D":false,"logScale":false,"hasLabelsColumn":true,"wmode":"opaque","title":"Cholera death toll continues rising in Haiti","legend":"right","allowCollapse":true,"reverseAxis":true,"isStacked":false,"mapType":"hybrid","width":683,"height":390},"packages":"corechart","refreshInterval":5} </script><br /><br /><center><script type="text/javascript" src="//ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/static/modules/gviz/1.0/chart.js"> {"chartType":"AnnotatedTimeLine","chartName":"Chart 7","dataSourceUrl":"//spreadsheets.google.com/tq?key=0Am2eo4lO6pTNdFBtUHUwam5OX1pPaVljMnc4ZVhrV3c&range=A5%3AB26&gid=2&transpose=0&headers=1&pub=1","options":{"displayAnnotations":true,"showTip":true,"reverseCategories":true,"dataMode":"markers","maxAlternation":1,"pointSize":"0","colors":["#3366CC","#DC3912","#FF9900","#109618","#990099","#0099C6","#DD4477","#66AA00","#B82E2E","#316395"],"width":520,"smoothLine":false,"lineWidth":"2","labelPosition":"right","is3D":false,"logScale":false,"displayRangeSelector":false,"wmode":"opaque","hasLabelsColumn":true,"title":"","height":305,"legend":"right","allowCollapse":true,"displayZoomButtons":false,"reverseAxis":true,"mapType":"hybrid","isStacked":false},"refreshInterval":5} </script></center>Philipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6249076.post-61654783167599239432009-06-08T23:03:00.006-04:002009-06-09T00:41:17.509-04:00Our Housing Dreams<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzqka3j-tip235yf4qCqCsbFBqR7qcWDKN_F_UJQLXfvrDfxA59RPjqVpbhXOaqFle4F3wnvqLgCZFPxAReuWawslmI6Y8WZyxZUgqJZPxXtCNl2ReY7HJXmIAZzCGtEBREMbt/s1600-h/housing-CensusBureau-TrackingtheAmericanDream-April1994.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzqka3j-tip235yf4qCqCsbFBqR7qcWDKN_F_UJQLXfvrDfxA59RPjqVpbhXOaqFle4F3wnvqLgCZFPxAReuWawslmI6Y8WZyxZUgqJZPxXtCNl2ReY7HJXmIAZzCGtEBREMbt/s400/housing-CensusBureau-TrackingtheAmericanDream-April1994.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5345183295310425858" border="0" /></a><br />Dreams sure do die hard. Not only subconscious dreams--a la Freud--but dreams that define us as a culture.<br /><br />Great orators--John Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs--can move us, tapping our dreams.<br /><br />So can great salesmen--be they of used cars or quack medicine.<br /><br />I do not know how the mortgage industry--which in the past some could have called a usurious occupation--came to adopt "the American Dream". But, it's sure had a good run with it. And, in a feat of magic, we could not only now buy a house, but then could sell it back to ourselves through our 401k.<br /><br />Both the Democrats' and the Republicans' critiques are right: it was deregulation <span style="font-style: italic;">and </span>Fannie Mae--in a Brairite "third-way" compromise--which created this monster.<br /><br />Much has been written on deregulation, the chart on the left--from a (now) ironically titled publication "Tracking the American Dream" (Census Bureau, April 1994)--sheds light on the government's role.<br /><br />By next year, only the latter of the two is likely to remain.Philipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6249076.post-49753002322271171242008-11-23T18:41:00.007-05:002008-11-23T19:38:23.404-05:00RIM strikes... and misses<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHL7qWR-Ed3Z4w7XZpq3lj7iuiH4KjqqeyII-_yLdFiZVzBEZLkamHBLVKDiiZSJxUycT14cEN3tDgMinVx9jT2X6Swz0SWOaXid-9gZF6fRrGFJ_MFqmSn3r_XCcV5CVGS3eQ/s1600-h/bb_photo_1.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 194px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHL7qWR-Ed3Z4w7XZpq3lj7iuiH4KjqqeyII-_yLdFiZVzBEZLkamHBLVKDiiZSJxUycT14cEN3tDgMinVx9jT2X6Swz0SWOaXid-9gZF6fRrGFJ_MFqmSn3r_XCcV5CVGS3eQ/s400/bb_photo_1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272014743541812226" /></a><a href="http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/19/blackberry-storm-review/">Engadget's Joshua Topolsky</a> offers the best quip on Blackberry's less-than-stellar attempt at a touchscreen:<br /><blockquote>"For casual users, the learning curve and complexity of this phone will feel like an instant turn off, and for power users, the lack of a decent typing option and considerable lagginess in software will give them pause. RIM tried to strike some middle ground between form and function, and unfortunately came up short on both.... Going into this review, we really wanted to love this phone."</blockquote><ul><li> PC World's Yardena Arar <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/154212/blackberrys_storm_awkward_and_disappointing.html">hates the Storm</a>: "awkward and disappointing". </li><li><a href="http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20081119/blackberrys-storm-presses-into-the-touch-phone-fray/">Mossberg likes it</a>: "another good option for anyone who is looking to buy one of the new, more powerful, pocket computers". </li><li>Gizmodo's Matt Buchanan <a href="http://gizmodo.com/5093715/blackberry-storm-review-verdict-not-quite-a-perfect-storm">isn't a big fan</a>: "falls short of what they were aiming for". </li><li>And, the <a href="http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2008/11/20/review-round-up-blackberry-storm/">Christian Science Monitor</a> does a nice roundup of the reviews.<br /></li></ul>Better luck in v.2!Philipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6249076.post-40034750094177313842008-11-17T23:43:00.001-05:002008-11-18T00:27:09.387-05:00Good newsBoy, the world needs a lot of good news just about now.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">But, first the bad news</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span>We're facing a medium-term recession, whether or not a "surge" of borrowed taxpayer dollars will help ease the pain of Wall Street, General Motors, or foreclosing "home-borrowers" in the short-term. The reason? We have lived well by depleting our assets for years, <a href="http://clusterstock.alleyinsider.com/2008/10/why-this-recession-will-be-a-doozy">Henry Bloget points out in a great chart on Clusterstock</a>:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs_yN94aBzBfavMuCMKiidtOkRDWuZNpDlaNuIr0LRlxv4-iJ1Z6Zti8GnwlYcfPx1sGkILuRdSo0370JkH31gxZ4HJPRxEJdiz5Y3a37nk-M5wk8MEmuwdT1YAg9rSIu0JOnu/s1600-h/jm101708image004_3.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs_yN94aBzBfavMuCMKiidtOkRDWuZNpDlaNuIr0LRlxv4-iJ1Z6Zti8GnwlYcfPx1sGkILuRdSo0370JkH31gxZ4HJPRxEJdiz5Y3a37nk-M5wk8MEmuwdT1YAg9rSIu0JOnu/s400/jm101708image004_3.gif" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269823505011085410" /></a><br /><br />Alas, a cynic could say, the strength of U.S. consumer spending--the genius of American economy over the past decade--was simply a charade of "fudge"-priced assets, similar to those backing Enron's investments in the early 2000s or fueling <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MMM_(Ponzi_scheme)">MMM's meteoric rise</a> in Russia in the early 1990s.<br /><br />We are now taking on a new charade: propping up today's economy by using a mythically unlimited capacity of U.S. government to--someday--pay back debt. Demand for treasury bonds is creating unprecedentedly low interest rates, despite the total surpassing $11 trillion.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMlySHd7LB4sNEOF_lf4lVmPYpiGwSSowBszx84T9DwyxQtgkxQTZ1nXJPBb0xNoG3nklORQTW4VpdKH-XKlKJQ49KVrsKCpssChYG-7m-EiOVprG6yusuHLgpek9gcwAOWNOt/s1600-h/Picture+1-.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 224px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMlySHd7LB4sNEOF_lf4lVmPYpiGwSSowBszx84T9DwyxQtgkxQTZ1nXJPBb0xNoG3nklORQTW4VpdKH-XKlKJQ49KVrsKCpssChYG-7m-EiOVprG6yusuHLgpek9gcwAOWNOt/s400/Picture+1-.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269839161091963058" /></a>(Data: <a href="http://federalreserve.gov/releases/h15/data.htm">Federal Reserve</a>)<br /><br />It's as though the U.S. government is a Latin American country in the 1980s. Or, a condo "fix and flipper" couple in 2004. Or, a Carlyle-Blackstone-KKR-Bain Capital in 2006. It's ready to borrow, plop down money on "underpriced assets", turn them around, and flip them for a profit a few years later. Foreign investors, once again, are happy to try their luck.<br /><br />Let's be very careful with this trust. I hope Bush, Obama, and Congress are <span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">both</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"> prudent and bold</span> in their stimulus and crisis response.<br /><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">So, what's the good news?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>Thanks to American institutions, we have the <a href="http://www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/gcp/Global%20Competitiveness%20Report/index.htm">most competitive</a>, and the <a href="http://www.cato.org/pubs/efw/index.html">eighth freest</a> economy in the world.<br /><br />And, American democracy is literally on the march, with Tom Palmer's publication of DeTocqueville's <a href="http://tomgpalmer.com/2008/11/08/democracy-in-americain-russian/">"Democracy in America" in Russian</a>.<br /><br />If little else, do keep these two in mind.</div>Philipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6249076.post-57050066710662967302008-11-17T23:03:00.001-05:002008-11-17T23:05:56.902-05:00GOP's New Slogan"Sarah Palin--well, that was awesome for about two weeks!"Philipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6249076.post-86096437141886990322008-10-20T22:54:00.002-04:002008-10-20T23:22:47.050-04:00Zakaria and Powell break with McCain and the GOP<b>Bad news for Republicans in <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/20/national/main4532113.shtml">California</a>, <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/164509">Florida</a>, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/16/AR2008101603607.html">New York</a>, and (embarrassing posturing) in <a href="http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1849422,00.html">Virginia</a></b>. <br /><br />This is in addition to recent scandals in <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/29/us/politics/29repubs.html">Idaho, Alaska, Florida, and nationally</a>. Another day, another chip in the Republican armor. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/164498">Fareed Zakaria</a> and Colin Powell make powerful arguments for Barak Obama for President.<br /><br /><iframe height="339" width="425" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/27265490#27265490" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>Philipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6249076.post-66979676977988794972008-10-20T22:19:00.006-04:002008-10-20T23:30:35.442-04:00Review: Joseph Stiglitz, Making Globalization Work<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9kQohPJgYQLZv_ZZyGhh692mSw34JoxVGQNJ2PRiRqkjWLWZuRPoYimG0ZTiD_T9SG6-Z8-yVTIy08FiWZ9iqRBgCOWeb9EI0V-svkGTTNW94MQdudkS9xvGr8w5ufPCQbafP/s1600-h/51dhqA3cxGL._SL500_BO2,204,203,200_AA219_PIsitb-sticker-dp-arrow,TopRight,-24,-23_SH20_OU01_.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9kQohPJgYQLZv_ZZyGhh692mSw34JoxVGQNJ2PRiRqkjWLWZuRPoYimG0ZTiD_T9SG6-Z8-yVTIy08FiWZ9iqRBgCOWeb9EI0V-svkGTTNW94MQdudkS9xvGr8w5ufPCQbafP/s200/51dhqA3cxGL._SL500_BO2,204,203,200_AA219_PIsitb-sticker-dp-arrow,TopRight,-24,-23_SH20_OU01_.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259444364738370562" /></a>Overall, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Making-Globalization-Work-Joseph-Stiglitz/dp/0393330281/"><span style="font-style:italic;">Making Globalization Work</span></a> seems shockingly light: akin to Stiglitz lending his Nobel Economic credentials to the agenda of the World Social Forum. Instead of an independent viewpoint, Stiglitz seems to fully endorse the “anti-globalization” thesis defined activists like <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Soil-Not-Oil-Environmental-Justice/dp/0896087824/">Vandana Shiva</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/No-Logo-Space-Choice-Jobs/dp/0312421435/">Naomi Klein</a>.<br /><br />However, for me, there were a few interesting takeaways:<br /><br />1. In <a href="http://www.amazon.com/End-Poverty-Economic-Possibilities-Time/dp/0143036580/"><span style="font-style:italic;">The End of Poverty</span></a>, Jeffrey Sachs writes of natural resources as the key differentiator between countries that did and did not make it out of the "poverty trap"—UK and Bolivia, for example.<br /><br />Stiglitz, on the other hand, points to the "resource curse": "It's no accident that so many resource-rich countries are far from democratic. The riches breed bad governance." He cites Nigeria, Congo, Iraq, Middle East, and Russia.<br /><br />It seems you’re thus “damned if you have” and “damned if you don’t.” Perhaps another explanation of the underlying phenomenon is required.<br /><br />2. Throughout the book Stiglitz condemns colonialism, IMF, and "shock therapy", similarly to (right-leaning) <a href="http://www.amazon.com/White-Mans-Burden-Efforts-Little/dp/1594200378/">William Easterly in <span style="font-style:italic;">The White Man's Burden</span></a>. <br /><br />This is a stunning policy agreement, as it is rooted in completely different ideologies. While Easterly links all three policies to Western governmental meddling in “exotic lands,” Stiglitz considers the first two as examples of (mercantilist/pro-corporate-interest) "globalization" and the last as "market fundamentalism"—exactly the reverse of Easterly.<br /><br />3. Finally, Stiglitz recognizes—as does Sachs—"free markets" as the foundation of a happy, abundant society and condemns socialist excesses. However, almost in the same breath, he proposes heavy Keynesian, if not essentially socialist, reforms to help "improve” these markets.<br /><br />This rhetorical give-and-take is an important economic reform consideration. It seems that given such liberal concerns of the slippery slope towards unfettered markets and their opposite—conservative apprehension of the slide towards socialism—any sound, bipartisan economic reform proposal will have to appeal to the language and thinking of both to gain broad support.<br /><br />This is particularly true of <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/19/AR2008101901416.html?nav=rss_opinions">current economic institution reforms in the U.S. </a>and internationally. <a href="http://www.tomgpalmer.com/archives/042695.php#comments">If past is any example</a>, these are likely to turn out as the battle of two lobbies—pro-aid and pro-corporate interest—neither one of which is necessarily pro-freedom or pro-prosperity.Philipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6249076.post-90801306811919447522008-10-20T19:25:00.008-04:002008-10-20T23:28:12.525-04:00The Google/T-Mobile G1: Neat but clunky<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFRN8jDIBDUgaP6sPVgmA2DnaY-_lhgXKGWyUGbo-dxOcvZKTcG3d0ty-4lgDKeDNaEqEXWnqqqWIYXkTSBNREmkOZkTYRoqH1BRz4plwRPvGn0UXpw63omYN3xptH1O4Djkv_/s1600-h/91052290-CE47-36C5-6628F34FC51E972C_1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFRN8jDIBDUgaP6sPVgmA2DnaY-_lhgXKGWyUGbo-dxOcvZKTcG3d0ty-4lgDKeDNaEqEXWnqqqWIYXkTSBNREmkOZkTYRoqH1BRz4plwRPvGn0UXpw63omYN3xptH1O4Djkv_/s200/91052290-CE47-36C5-6628F34FC51E972C_1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259443749269963138" /></a>(Originally posted on Facebook on Sept. 23, based on G1 launch demonstrations and reporting)<br />G1 shows why cross-company orchestration in technology is so hard to do, and why Jobs-ian obsessive integration sometimes wins.<br /><br />If you're a techie looking for the next toy and are already on the T-Mobile network, the G1 is for you. But, only a more streamlined, lighter, smaller next-generation "G2" would likely have the consumer "whoomph" to give Apple a real run for its money.<br /><br />G1's operating system--the first "live" implementation of Google's Android--has a lot of neat features, but not necessarily ones non-tech-geeks will find most intuitive or useful. For example, the phone allows drag-and-drop onto three separate icon desktops, but has only a bare-bones built-in music player.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS7ZFyuo3y_ZacT9T31ui-8DoWOpNRY0MWGZm-q1RUofe6nxVAij73J7cpqpwZkrEJA8XdprVk9VEluT1hoi-Sbs8vb8jTD0Lde8irAuaN4824Pz5hd3PnsS1j0a6t0ZMSJhT6/s1600-h/n1700719_33234468_8742.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS7ZFyuo3y_ZacT9T31ui-8DoWOpNRY0MWGZm-q1RUofe6nxVAij73J7cpqpwZkrEJA8XdprVk9VEluT1hoi-Sbs8vb8jTD0Lde8irAuaN4824Pz5hd3PnsS1j0a6t0ZMSJhT6/s200/n1700719_33234468_8742.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259388466973720274" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXl_kKqLyWPQWMJJjY4Yx5CJz5Op1-W_-vmlEWT12XbtunEBANzbUA3iyHxgE7CKyI7oqt5nidYOKAs54sJvZh8dnK87wFC-WT69s5697nDq3iHz8tTQn4AIAAAHZUz9Vesl2-/s1600-h/n1700719_33234467_5392.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXl_kKqLyWPQWMJJjY4Yx5CJz5Op1-W_-vmlEWT12XbtunEBANzbUA3iyHxgE7CKyI7oqt5nidYOKAs54sJvZh8dnK87wFC-WT69s5697nDq3iHz8tTQn4AIAAAHZUz9Vesl2-/s200/n1700719_33234467_5392.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259388233456762418" /></a><br />The phone's physical design, by HTC, is more reminiscent of the original, circa-1996 Palm Pilot than a modern smartphone. That's surprising, as HTC also ships slick Windows Mobile handsets like the HTC Touch.<br /><br />Finally, as Verizon might say, "it's the network." T-Mobile has a bit of a ways to go on its 3G network rollout, which, of course, it promises to do this fall.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">What's in it for Google?<br /></span><br />Google is donating Android code as open source. So, what's in this for Google?<br /><br />Mobile advertising is the official raison-d'etre, but it's still nascent and difficult to implement despite growing screen sizes.<br /><br />Features-bundling is another, and G1 is full of it. If your world consists of Gmail, Google Maps, and YouTube, this phone is for you. If you have more diverse online preferences, however, you may find G1's built-in "steering" towards these services somewhat irritating.<br /><br />Controlling key technology in future mobile development is the third, but as <a href="http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/09/what-google-mus.html">Dylan Tweney of Wired points out</a>, Google must move quickly to prevent Android balkanization and loss of brand.<br /><blockquote>"The company needs to set up an aggressive "Googlephone" partners program." "If Google doesn't do that, Android will quickly disappear into the morass of poorly-branded smartphone operating systems that consumers don't give a damn about, alongside Symbian, Windows Mobile and the Palm OS. And Google will have lost the mobile game."</blockquote><br /><b>Great minds think alike?</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/16/technology/personaltech/16pogue.html">New York Times' David Pogue</a> writing on Oct. 16 agrees with my original review, giving the G1 the following report card: "software, A-. Phone, B-. Network, C".Philipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6249076.post-1090789371904524132004-07-25T16:50:00.000-04:002004-07-25T17:07:53.886-04:00JibJab.com<a href="http://www.jibjab.com/">Check it out</a>!Philipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6249076.post-1090786214085599752004-07-25T16:00:00.000-04:002004-07-25T16:50:26.453-04:00Amost Famous<img src="http://www.tufts.edu/alumni/magazine/summer2004/graphics/summer2004cover.jpg" align="right"> I'm profiled in the summer issue of the <a href="http://www.tufts.edu/alumni/magazine/summer2004/features/cover.html">Tufts Magazine</a> (where I once used to work)!
<br />
<br /><blockquote>"I don’t think John Kerry presents the ability to lead the country in any direction. His record of changing his stances and decisions is going to come out very clearly, and the people of this country are going to see that this guy has no plan to lead us anywhere. The Bush administration showed strong leadership in the face of terrorism and on social and economic issues. They are providing a course for America to a better future for our generation and our children’s generation."</blockquote>
<br />I was also quoted in a lengthy article about young Republicans in the <a href="http://www2.townonline.com/lynnfield/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=40440&format=">North Shore Sunday</a>:
<br /><blockquote>Much was made about the way former Vermont governor Howard Dean utilized the Internet in getting young people excited about his campaign for the White House, but as Tufts' Tsipman explains, Democrats weren't the only ones taking notice of Dean's technique.
<br />
<br />"I think the Internet has been huge in the way it's been used by young conservatives," says Tsipman. "I thought the Dean phenomenon was pretty amazing, but the Bush campaign team that's targeted at college students is absolutely fantastic.
<br />
<br />"Plus there are books and conferences and great college programs for conservatives," he adds. "It's all these things that gets students energized, gets them interested and gets them out to vote." </blockquote>Philipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6249076.post-1090785628675564132004-07-25T15:52:00.000-04:002004-07-25T16:00:28.676-04:00Chirac's Outbursts Worry World LeadersFrom Mort Rosenblum, outspoken veteran of the AP and author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/o/dt/assoc/handle-buy-box=0471120324">"Who Stole the News?"</a>:
<br />
<br />Chirac's Outbursts Worry World Leaders
<br />By MORT ROSENBLUM, AP
<br />
<br />PARIS (July 25) - Jacques Chirac, whose refusal to join the Iraq invasion gained him I-told-you-so clout, is worrying allies with blunt outbursts that some say raise the risks in an overheated world.
<br />
<br />At a time when fighting terrorism needs a united front, arrogance in Paris and Washington alike is breeding discord, analysts and diplomats say.
<br />
<br /><b>The crux is simple: While George W. Bush wants to destroy terrorism, Chirac insists that at best, it can only be contained.</b>
<br />
<br />But things have gone beyond the two men's apparent mutual dislike to drag in other leaders.
<br />
<br />Turkey, for instance, badly wants to join the European Union. But last month, when Bush endorsed Turkey's ambitions, Chirac essentially told him to mind his own business, saying Europe doesn't tell the United States how to deal with Mexico.
<br />
<br />Chirac has enraged eastern European newcomers to the European Union by warning them against supporting the Iraq invasion. He is engaged in a nasty exchange with Ariel Sharon over the Israeli prime minister's claim that France is engulfed in "the wildest anti-Semitism" and that its Jews should get out. And he has angered the Muslim world by championing a ban on schoolgirls' wearing Islamic head scarves at school.
<br />
<br />Chirac also sent a message to this month's international AIDS conference in Thailand accusing Washington of tying aid to trade and calling it "tantamount to blackmail."Philipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6249076.post-1090785109582058702004-07-25T15:48:00.000-04:002004-07-25T15:51:49.583-04:00Bush Leads Kerry in Electoral Votes<a href="http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/9236193.htm?1c">Ron Fournier of the AP</a> has a nice breakdown of how the Presidential race is shaping up.Philipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6249076.post-1090784396597808112004-07-25T15:39:00.000-04:002004-07-25T16:32:37.760-04:00Scans uncover secrets of the womb<img src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40322000/jpg/_40322435_walking203.jpg" align="left"> <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3846525.stm">"A new type of ultrasound scan has produced vivid pictures of a 12 week-old foetus 'walking' in the womb."</a>
<br />
<br />"The images have shown:
<br />From 12 weeks, unborn babies can stretch, kick and leap around the womb - well before the mother can feel movement
<br />From 18 weeks, they can open their eyes although most doctors thought eyelids were fused until 26 weeks
<br />From 26 weeks, they appear to exhibit a whole range of typical baby behaviour and moods, including scratching, smiling, crying, hiccuping, and sucking.
<br />Until recently it was thought that smiling did not start until six weeks after birth."
<br />
<br />Twelve weeks is just three months. Wow.
<br />
<br />Via <a href="http://johncoleman.typepad.com/ex_nihilo/2004/07/professor_stuar.html">the ever-brilliant John Coleman</a>.Philipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6249076.post-1090783242499679692004-07-25T15:14:00.000-04:002004-07-25T16:39:34.696-04:00Is The New York Times a Liberal Newspaper?<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/25/weekinreview/25bott.html?ex=1248494400&en=dca31de48d445865&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland">"Of course it is."</a> -- Daniel Okrent, Public Editor, New York Times. A wonderfully written piece on bias in the "New York Times", IN the "New York Times".
<br />
<br /><b>Which paper do you read?</b> (via the <a href="http://ksfp2004.blogspot.com/2004/07/new-york-times-biased-on-berger-story.html">Koch 2004 blog</a>)
<br />
<br />1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.
<br />2. The Washington Post is read by people who think they run the country.
<br />3. The New York Times is read by people who think they should run the country, and who are very good at crosswords.
<br />4. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don't really understand the Washington Post. They do, however, like their statistics shown in pie charts.
<br />5. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn't mind running the country, if they could spare the time, and if they didn't have to leave LA to do it.
<br />6. The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country and did a far superior job of it, thank you very much.
<br />7. The New York Daily News is read by people who aren't too sure who's running the country, and don't really care long as they can get a seat on the train.
<br />8. The New York Post is read by people who don't care who's running the country, as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.
<br />9. The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren't sure there is a country...or that anyone is running it;but whoever it is, they oppose all that they stand for. There are occasional exceptions if the leaders are handicapped minority feminist atheist dwarfs, who also happen to be illegal aliens from ANY country or galaxy as long as they are Democrats.
<br />10. The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country but need the baseball scores.
<br />11. The National Enquirer is read by people trapped in line at the grocery store.Philipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6249076.post-1090777198640123392004-07-25T13:37:00.000-04:002004-07-25T13:39:58.640-04:00Tuition Burdens Fall<a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2004-06-28-tuition-burden-cover-usat_x.htm">USA TODAY</a>, June 28, 2004, via <a href="http://www.conservativepunk.com/">ConservativePunk.com</a>:
<br />
<br /><blockquote>Contrary to the widespread perception that tuition is soaring out of control, a USA TODAY analysis found that what students actually pay in tuition and fees - rather than the published tuition price - has declined for a vast majority of students attending four-year public universities. In fact, today's students have enjoyed the greatest improvement in college affordability since the GI bill provided benefits for returning World War II veterans. </blockquote>Philipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6249076.post-1090774953927946892004-07-25T13:02:00.000-04:002004-07-25T13:02:33.926-04:00Kerry Makes Whistle-Stop Tour From Deck of YachtFrom <i>The Onion</i>: "<a href="http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:749D4kfl8NYJ:www.theonion.com/news.php%3Fi%3D1%26n%3D1+theonion.com+Kerry+campaign+yacht&hl=en">"Kerry Makes Whistle-Stop Tour From Deck of Yacht"</a>, via <a href="http://www.theamericanmind.com/mt-test/archives/015350.html">The American Mind</a>, via <a href="http://www.hayekcenter.org/prestopundit/">Prestopundit</a>Philipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6249076.post-1087794790992661432004-06-21T01:13:00.000-04:002004-06-21T01:13:10.993-04:00SecessionSecession--not just for <a href="http://www.jacobgrier.com/blog/archives/000159.html">wacko Libertarians</a> anymore. Welcome to the <a href="http://www.andrewsullivan.com/index.php?dish_inc=archives/2004_06_06_dish_archive.html#108692129124348215">"sovereign Christian nation of South Carolina"</a>.Philipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6249076.post-1086541699164438872004-06-06T13:08:00.000-04:002004-07-25T16:45:55.603-04:00Ronald Reagan, Rest in Peace<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/170/1043/640/reagan.jpg"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #000000 1px solid; MARGIN: 2px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 1px solid" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/img/170/1043/320/reagan.jpg" border="0" /></a>
<br />
<br />"When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future. I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead." — <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040605/ap_on_re_us/reagan_quotes">Ronald Reagan</a>, Nov. 5, 1994
<br />
<br />"I hope that when you're my age you'll be able to say, as I have been able to say: we lived in freedom, we lived lives that were a statement, not an apology." — <a href="http://www.geocities.com/Pacific_Future/quotes_reag.html">Ronald Reagan</a>, March 28, 1985Philipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6249076.post-1086062491807828902004-05-31T23:52:00.000-04:002004-06-01T00:01:31.806-04:00Back to BloggingSo, my faithful readers, I'm back. Not only that, but thanks to the new Blogger features, you can now <a href="http://philtsip.blogspot.com/atom.xml">syndicate me</a>, too!Philipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6249076.post-1083337243252561262004-04-30T11:00:00.000-04:002004-04-30T11:05:01.920-04:00KGB Resurrection?Jamie Glazov brings together at <a href="http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=13210">FrontPageMagazine</a> Ion Mihai Pacepa, the former acting chief of Communist Romania’s espionage service, James Woolsey, CIA Director from 1993-95, and Vladimir Bukovsky, a former Soviet dissident, for a discussion of the supposed "re-Sovietization" of Russia. Their opinion is damning.
<br /><blockquote>FP: So Mr. Bukovsky, Putin is clearly consolidating his powerful control of Russia. He is placing myriad former KGB officers in his presidential administration posts and has appointed Mikhail Fradkov, also KGB, as chief of government. The Russian media is increasingly practicing self-censorship and political opponents face increasing violence and intimidation. Russia is clearly going back to an authoritarian security state and Putin has made himself somewhat of an oligarch.
<br />...
<br />Woolsey: Once again, I have no substantial disagreement with the views of these two remarkable men. It seems to me that the direction of Russia is decidedly negative and that the question for us in the West is the one Lenin was fond of posing: "What is to be done?"... Putin has used the economic prosperity produced by a strong oil market to consolidate his power and lead Russia toward a form of fascism -- oil prices have given him the idea that he can do anything he wants. Oil can tend to centralize power in any society except in a mature democracy such as Norway.</blockquote>
<br />While I would agree that Russia's foreign policy in Yugoslavia and the Middle East has been atrocious, compared to the chaos it experienced in terms of economics and national security in the 1990s, I think Putin's reforms have been mostly positive. To call them fascism is a bit more than ridiculous, and smacks of the anti-national security rhetoric usually reserved by the far left for Israel and the U.S. (and rightly criticized by FrontPage).
<br />
<br />One could talk about a "re-Sovietization" if Putin was running the country while ignoring the wishes of the people. He remains incredibly popular, however.
<br />
<br />In response to Woolsey, I don't think oil has necessarily negatively affected Russian politics that much more than it has U.S. politics.Philipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6249076.post-1083024443496247072004-04-26T19:18:00.000-04:002004-04-26T20:18:45.436-04:00Kerry's Man in Iraq<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2989511.stm">Cuba</a> and Libya on the UN Human Rights Commission, <a href="http://philtsip.blogspot.com/2004_04_01_philtsip_archive.html#108228489267966669">oil-for-food corruption</a>, and now this? Kerry's plan for a large UN role in Iraq may be backfiring big time, and will cost him in Florida. His great hope in Iraq happens to be the former Algerian foreign minister with certain "interesting" political views.
<br /><blockquote>"[Lakhdar Brahimi is] one of the most skilled and capable people with respect to Iraq and the Middle East," <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/kerry/articles/2004/04/12/kerry_says_us_must_de_americanize_iraq_policy/">Kerry said</a>. "He can talk to all the parties. He would be a perfect example of somebody whom you could ask to really take over what Paul Bremer's doing, de-Americanize the effort and begin to put it under the United Nations' umbrella."</blockquote>
<br /><blockquote><a href="http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4926048">Brahimi told France's Inter radio</a> on Thursday that Israeli policies toward Palestinians and Washington's support for them hindered his search for a caretaker Iraqi regime that would take power on June 30 when the U.S.-led occupation ends.
<br />
<br />"The big poison in the region is the Israeli policy of domination and the suffering imposed on the Palestinians."
<br />
<br />Brahimi said his job was complicated by Iraqi perceptions of "Israel's completely violent and repressive security policy and determination to occupy more and more Palestinian territory."</blockquote>
<br />What's interesting, of course, is that the Bush administration has been <a href="http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110004978">relying heavily on Brahimi</a>, as well. And it was Brahimi who helped forge an interim government in Afghanistan after the U.S. overthrow of the Taliban. Hmmmm.
<br />
<br />P.S. A less somber aside, <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/kerry/articles/2004/04/18/for_kerry_un_envoy_brahimi_is_a_tongue_twister/">via Reuters</a>:
<br /><blockquote>Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry has a problem with Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N. envoy to Iraq -- his name.
<br />
<br />The Massachusetts senator has the vowels down but can't seem to corral the right consonants.... For two days last week, Kerry referred to the envoy as Brandini, not even taking a stab at Lakhdar.</blockquote>
<br />P.P.S. A more somber one: Human Rights Watch is upset with the UN Commission on Human Rights... <a href="http://www.hrw.org/press/2003/04/unchr042503.htm">because the U.S. is on it</a>!Philipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6249076.post-1083004124587541682004-04-26T14:28:00.000-04:002004-04-26T14:32:57.686-04:00Bowling for Fallujah<a href="http://www.coxandforkum.com/archives/000320.html"><img src="http://www.coxandforkum.com/archives/BowlingforFallujah-X.gif"></a>Philipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6249076.post-1082309364271162082004-04-18T13:21:00.000-04:002004-04-18T13:42:58.450-04:00What the World Needs Now Is DDTA <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/11/magazine/11DDT.html?ex=1397016000&en=4ebf5b1fab869680&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND">fascinating piece</a> in the New York Times Magazine touching on Africa, malaria, and global warming:
<br /><blockquote>Yet what really merits outrage about DDT today is not that South Africa still uses it, as do about five other countries for routine malaria control and about 10 more for emergencies. It is that dozens more do not. Malaria is a disease Westerners no longer have to think about. Independent malariologists believe it kills two million people a year, mainly children under 5 and 90 percent of them in Africa. Until it was overtaken by AIDS in 1999, it was Africa's leading killer.
<br />...
<br />Today, westerners with no memory of malaria often assume it has always been only a tropical disease. But malaria was once found as far north as Boston and Montreal. Oliver Cromwell died of malaria, and Shakespeare alludes to it (as ''ague'') in eight plays. Malaria no longer afflicts the United States, Canada and Northern Europe in part because of changes in living habits -- the shift to cities, better sanitation, window screens. But another major reason was DDT, sprayed from airplanes over American cities and towns while children played outside.
<br />...
<br />In 1970, the National Academy of Sciences wrote in a report that ''to only a few chemicals does man owe as great a debt as to DDT'' and credited the insecticide, perhaps with some exaggeration, with saving half a billion lives.
<br />...
<br />In her 297 pages, Rachel Carson never mentioned the fact that by the time she was writing, DDT was responsible for saving tens of millions of lives, perhaps hundreds of millions.
<br />
<br />DDT killed bald eagles because of its persistence in the environment. ''Silent Spring'' is now killing African children because of its persistence in the public mind. </blockquote>
<br />Obviously, Richard Tren and the libertarians at <a href="http://www.fightingmalaria.org/">Africa Fighting Malaria</a> have been advocating DDT use for years now. To read something like this coming from the pen of an editorial writer at the New York Times though is groundbreaking. Let us remember, when we hear of <a href="http://archive.greenpeace.org/climate/database/records/zgpz0606.html">scare reports</a>, like, ‘World Health Organisation report concludes that "global warming could cause the spread of malaria and other tropical diseases to millions of people presently free of them,"’ that malaria is a poverty disease that requires just a bit of development and social organization to be combated, not for a stop to the world’s economic engine, as some, including Greenpeace, would insist.
<br />
<br />Tina Rosenberg deserves great kudos for this article. I do however have to take issue with her statement that "Rachel Carson started the environmental movement." Influenced by Romanticism, the evil movement that gave us “orientalism” and bourgeois revolutions,
<br /><blockquote><a href="http://www.utpjournals.com/product/utq/713/713_review_morrison.html">by the end of the nineteenth century</a> an explicit concern with the environment was at the centre of a wide range of works, from Gerard Manley Hopkins's 'Binsey Poplars' (1879) to Sarah Orne Jewett's 'A White Heron' (1886) and Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya (1897).</blockquote>
<br />At the end of part one of "Uncle Vanya" (<a href="http://raymondyee.net/blog/archives/000134.html">David Mamet's translation</a>, which is very close to the <a href="http://www.conradish.net/perevod.dhtml.php?doc=Anton_Pavlovich_Chekhov;Dyadya_Vanya;Deistvie_pervoe">original</a>), Dr. Astrov, the country doctor, says:
<br /><blockquote>"Billions of trees. All perishing. The homes of birds and beasts being laid waste. The level of the rivers falls, and they dry up. And sublime landscapes disappear, never to return, because man hasn't sense enough to bend down and pick fuel up from the ground. Isn't this so? What must man be, to destroy what he never can create?"</blockquote>
<br />Is the environmental movement today saying anything all that different? Are its policies being driven by any more facts than a hundred years ago? (Via <a href="http://stevenjens.blogspot.com/2004_04_11_stevenjens_archive.html#108180217715992770">Jens 'n' Frens</a>)Philipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6249076.post-1082292037548936892004-04-18T08:40:00.000-04:002004-04-18T08:44:39.060-04:00Sept. 11 Might Have Been Different If ...<a href="http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/lileks040704.html">James Lileks</a>, via <a href="http://stevenjens.blogspot.com/2004_04_11_stevenjens_archive.html#108183448673940015">Jens 'n' Frens</a>:
<br /><blockquote>Maybe. If. If George W. Bush had phoned the Saudis on the first day of his administration and told them any act of Islamist terror would result in a mushroom cloud over Mecca, and that he would consider it "what we call in bowling a practice frame," it might have been different. It might have been different if B-52s had taken out the Taliban in February 2001 -- and we all know how Ted Kennedy et al. would have exploded in a rain of bile had Bush kicked off his term with a pre-emptive war. The articles of impeachment would have been drawn up before the first wave of bombers returned to base.</blockquote>Philipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6249076.post-1082286445526971452004-04-18T07:05:00.000-04:002004-04-18T07:12:13.546-04:00Total Information AwarenessThought the “Total Information Awareness” surveillance program was shut down last year? So does Congress. Well, <a href="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0404.benson.html">think again</a>.Philipp Tsipmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01168576987719982321noreply@blogger.com0