Author: Serkadis

Filed under: Motorsports, Videos, Hatchback, Ford, Racing

Ken Block‘s inaugural outing in his new Ford Fiesta Rally car took place on Thursday ahead of today’s opening of the Sno*Drift Rally America Series, and the crew at Monster have released some footage of Block’s maiden run.

After the jump, you’ll find a two and a half minute clip of Block pounding down the icy roads of Gladwin, MI, blowing past trees at triple-digit speeds and topping out in sixth gear during one insanely long straight.

Live updates from the event are available at Rally America’s website. Follow along today and tomorrow, but in the meantime… jump.

Continue reading Video: Ken Block tests his Ford Fiesta Rally ahead of Sno*Drift

Video: Ken Block tests his Ford Fiesta Rally ahead of Sno*Drift originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Today we’re arguing the relative fantasy merits of two young outfielders with five-category upside. Both are available beyond Round 10 in early mock draft action, so there’s clear profit potential. In keeping with Spin Doctors tradition, Brandon Funston and Andy Behrens are each allowed 250 words to build their cases. (Italicized words count double, syllables are unlimited, hyphens must be cleared by the rules committee). Let’s play the feud…

Behrens for Bruce: It always feels wrong when we refer to professional athletes as "unlucky," but, speaking strictly about balls-in-play, no one in baseball had less luck than Bruce in 2009. He posted MLB’s lowest BABIP among players with 300 plate appearances (.222). Before fracturing his right wrist in July, Bruce appeared to be our game’s best buy-low candidate. The fantasy stats didn’t match the underlying skills.

Thus it was no great surprise when Bruce mauled opposing pitchers in September after returning from the DL. He hit .326/.426/.652 with four homers over the season’s final three weeks, reminding us of the talent that made him the 2007 Minor League Player of the Year. He still projects as an eventual star. Entering his age-23 season, it’s much too early to limit Bruce’s ceiling. He’s a career .334 hitter at Triple-A; he managed to hit 22 home runs for Cincinnati last year in just 101 games, in a campaign that disappointed everyone. Don’t sleep on him on draft day.

Bruce actually improved his plate discipline and contact rate in 2009 – check the outside-swing and zone-contact percentages here – so be careful not to overstate the extent of his sophomore-year struggles. And before you give a home park advantage to Gonzalez, understand that Great American has been more homer-friendly than Coors Field in four of the past five seasons. If Bruce maintains his ’09 power pace over 550 at-bats, then he’ll hit 35 bombs in 2010. If he improves, then he’ll be the year’s greatest bargain. 

Funston responds: I’m not going to sit here and disparage Jay Bruce(notes), because you don’t give up on a soon-to-be 24-year old with his upside. But we do know that there are some sizeable issues that he needs to overcome. Like 758 career at-bats at a .240 clip – 237 of those ABs have come against southpaws and have produced a sub-Mendoza line of .198. There’s also the matter of just seven steals (and nine caught stealings) in that span, as well. That’s two very significant holes in a standard five category roto set-up.

By contrast, Carlos Gonzalez(notes) may not possess the power ceiling of Bruce, but he has the all-around skill set that won’t likely leave his fantasy owners unsatisfied in any one particular area. Last season, after the break, CarGo hit .320 with 12 HR, 24 RBI, 42 R and 11 SB – if you exclude RBIs, he was a top 20 level fantasy hitter in the second half.

CarGo is a former No. 1 prospect of the Diamondbacks, talented enough to have been a major component in deals for Dan Haren(notes) and Matt Holliday(notes). He brings tremendous bat speed and a graceful swing to the batter’s box, and judging by nearly all key metrics, he took positive strides in the ever-so-crucial plate discipline department last season. He also adeptly handled both lefty and righty pitchers in ‘09, unlike Bruce.

When the time comes to choose between these two players, frankly, I’ll forego the sub-.250 worry in favor of CarGo.

—

Photos via Getty Images

DAVOS, Switzerland — The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will donate $10 billion over the next decade to research new vaccines and bring them to the world’s poorest countries, the Microsoft co-founder and his wife said Friday.

Calling upon governments and business to also contribute, they said the money will produce higher immunization rates and aims to make sure that 90 percent of children are immunized against dangerous diseases such as diarrhea and pneumonia in poorer nations.

“We must make this the decade of vaccines,” Bill Gates said in a statement.

“Vaccines already save and improve millions of lives in developing countries. Innovation will make it possible to save more children than ever before.”

Gates said the commitment more than doubles the $4.5 billion the foundation has given to vaccine research over the years.

The foundation said up to 7.6 million children under 5 could be saved through 2019 as a result of the donation.

It also estimates that an additional 1.1 million kids would be saved if a malaria vaccine can be introduced by 2014. A tuberculosis vaccine would prevent even more deaths.

“Vaccines are a miracle,” said Melinda Gates. “With just a few doses, they can prevent deadly diseases for a lifetime.”

Margaret Chan, head of the World Health Organization, called the Gates contribution unprecedented and urged governments and private donors to add to the initiative.

“An additional two million deaths in children under five years could be prevented by 2015 through widespread use of new vaccines and a 10 percent increase in global vaccination coverage,” said Chan.

The Gates statement said the foundation would help to dramatically reduce child mortality in the next 10 years and urged others to pitch in with research funding and other financial support for poor children.

Gates noted the announcement comes on the 10th anniversary of the foundation’s partner GAVI Alliance, which he praised for its work in immunizing children against killer diseases.

“This is an amazing announcement,” GAVI CEO Julian Lob-Leyt said.

Bill and Melinda Gates did not specify how the money would be distributed, and a spokeswoman said that had yet to be decided.

A spokesman for GAVI said the alliance was involved mostly on the distribution end and therefore would receive only part of the money.

Vaccines are usually an effective way to spend money to improve public health, because they can even be delivered in poor countries lacking functioning health systems.

Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.

WICHITA, Kan. — A man who said he killed prominent Kansas abortion provider Dr. George Tiller in order to save the lives of unborn children was convicted Friday of murder.

The jury deliberated for just 37 minutes before finding Scott Roeder, 51, of Kansas City, Mo., guilty of premeditated, first-degree murder in the May 31 shooting death.

He faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years when he is sentenced March 9. Prosecutor Nola Foulston said she would pursue a so-called “Hard 50″ sentence, which would require Roeder to serve at least 50 years before he can be considered for parole.

Tiller’s widow, Jeanne, and the rest of the family quickly exited the courtroom after the verdict. In a statement, Jeanne Tiller said “once again, a Sedwick County jury has reached a just verdict.”

The family said it wanted Tiller to be “remembered for his legacy of service to women, the help he provided for those who needed it and the love and happiness he provided us as a husband, father and grandfather.”

Roeder had confessed publicly before the trial and admitted again on the witness stand that he shot Tiller in the head in the foyer of the Wichita church where the doctor was serving as an usher. He testified he felt the lives of unborn children were in “immediate danger” because of Tiller.

Roeder sat straightforward as the verdict was read, showing no visible reaction as he moved his head toward the judge and to the jury as each juror confirmed the verdict. He also was convicted of aggravated assault for pointing a gun at two ushers after the shooting.

Roeder’s attorneys were hoping to get a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter for Roeder, a defense that would have required them to show that Roeder had an unreasonable but honest belief that deadly force was justified.

But after hearing Roeder testify, District Judge Warren Wilbert ruled that his lawyers failed to show that Tiller posed an imminent threat and the jury could not consider such a verdict.

Tiller was one of the nation’s few providers of late-term abortions, and his Wichita clinic was the focus of many protests. It also had been under investigation by a former state district attorney who accused Tiller of skirting Kansas’ abortion laws.

Prosecutors were careful during the first few days of testimony to avoid the subject of abortion and to focus on the specifics of the shooting. Wilbert said he did not want the trial to become a debate on abortion, but he did allow Roeder to discuss his views on the subject because his attorneys said they were integral to their case.

Roeder, the lone defense witness, testified Thursday that he considered elaborate schemes to stop Tiller, including chopping off his hands, crashing a car into him or sneaking into his home to kill him.

But in the end, Roeder told jurors, the easiest way was to walk into Tiller’s church, put a gun to the man’s forehead and pull the trigger.

“Those children were in immediate danger if someone did not stop George Tiller,” Roeder said. “They were going to continue to die.”

He testified that he wrapped the .22-caliber handgun in a piece of cloth and buried it in a rural area. The weapon has not been recovered.

Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.

While leading bankers and politicians of the world are sipping champagne at Davos, another set of economic luminaries are dancing with flower girls in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

The World Social Forum is a ten-year old conference that has attracted speakers such as Joseph Stiglitz and Noam Chomsky, along with a yearly crowd of 25,000 activists.  

The forum’s leftist politics may not be for some, but who could deny that it looks more fun?

See How Much Fun They’re Having At The Davos Shadow Conference>>

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• The Only 10 Important Things Said So Far In Davos
• Davos Goers Still Having Way More Fun Than You
• Where To Party When The Sun Goes Down On Davos

Alfa Romeo will be showing three concepts at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show hinting at a future model for the brand. One of the three concepts made its sketch debut today – the Pininfarina Spider Concept.

“The Pininfarina new concept is meant to be part of the tradition of successful spiders born from the relationship with Alfa Romeo, among the most significant and long-lasting ones in the automobile history, and interprets the innovative vision of an antique theme strongly present in the Pininfarina roots, the 2-seater spider,” Afla Romeo said in a statement.

Details are a bit vague right now but we’ll have more for you when the concept makes its world debut in Geneva.

Alfa Romeo Pininfarina Spider Concept:

– By: Omar Rana

After a few setbacks, Dragon Age: Origins’ Return to Ostagar DLC is now back on the XBox Live Marketplace along with a new title update. Same as last time, however, PC and PS3 owners will

Say hello to Goojje, a Chinese search engine that looks remarkably like one we’ve seen before. It launched on January 14, and yes, it’s filtered for less flavor.

The way the name works is this: Jie Jie (Goojje) is mandarin for sister, while “ge ge” (Google) means big brother (er, shouldn’t that be the other way round?) The Web Monster (ie, the real one) is being exhorted to stay by its sino-doppelganger, with a message on Goojje that reads, “Sister was very happy when brother gave up the thought of leaving and stayed for sister.”

The figure behind Goojje is said to be a female student from Guangdong, who’s been calling for help developing the search engine – translated, I guess that means it’s open source. [Shanghaiist and BBC News]

From Green Right Now Reports

Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Photo: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

While the rest of America has seen plenty of video footage of recent drenching rains in Southern California, some state officials are seeking a longer-term solution to assuring water remains plentiful in the Southland. At a congressional hearing earlier this week, water authorities insisted that the problems of farms and cities across the state will not be solved by the occasional freak storm.

“A couple of days of rain are certainly a nice relief, but they are a reflection of weather impacted by variable ocean conditions and are not the long-term solutions to addressing the issues that underlie our water dilemma,” said Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Santa Fe Springs, who held the hearing.

Even before the effects of climate change, getting enough water from the Sierras to crops, people and businesses across the rest of the state had been problematic.

“Our water management system is no longer keeping up with our needs as a result of climate change, environmental degradation, and lack of sustained investment in the system,” said Lester Snow, director of the state Department of Water Resources. “Our water system can no longer meet the needs of the state. We need a long-term sustainable solution.”

Snow and others support an $11 billion bond scheduled for November that would fund a variety of water projects, from reservoirs to recycling efforts. More than $2 billion of that money would go to improving the ecosystem in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

Scientists report that pumps in the Delta that push northern water south are threatening several endangered species of fish in the rivers and their confluence. In the wake of those findings, judges ordered limitations on pumping for more than a year.

Those limits, Show estimates, resulted in Central Valley farmers receiving only about 60 percent of the water they normally would have seen following recent rains. The cut in water deliveries has resulted in more than 500,000 acres of farmland being fallowed and more than 21,000 jobs lost, lawmakers from that region have said.

While the legislature and judicial system wrestle with the Delta issue, Snow says there will be no panacea.

“We are long past the point that a single project or strategy can bail us out. Some might like to say all we need is more conservation. Some might like to say all we need is to build one more reservoir. The fact of the matter is we have to implement all of those options.”

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Advance-fee fraud (AFF), also known as 419 scams and Nigerian scams, exploded in 2009, with victims losing more money than ever before. This is according to the latest analysis from Dutch investigation firm Ultrascan—a company that has been monitoring the activities of 419 scammers since 1996—which says that victims lost almost 50 percent more money in 2009 than 2008.

Considering that 419 scams have been well-known since the 1970s, this trend is particularly disturbing. However, Ultrascan says scammers are expanding their operations and shifting their focus to emerging Internet markets, where there’s more fresh meat getting online every day.

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Article

By Ashley Phillips
Green Right Now

Consumers are being more conscious now than ever before of their own sustainable practices. They are buying from local farmers markets, recycling, and switching to LED lights.

But when a person leaves home, say to go out to eat, they could pack on the carbon calories without realizing it — especially if the restaurant they visit isn’t treading lightly on the environment.

According to the Green Restaurant Association (GRA), the certification body aiming to create an environmentally sustainable restaurant industry, an average restaurant uses 300,000 gallons of water and produces 150,000 pounds of garbage a year. Even worse, the restaurant industry as a whole, which includes approximately 900,000 restaurants in the United States, is the largest consumer of electricity in the commercial sector.

The GRA has certified 265 restaurants in the U.S. Those green restaurants have taken multiple steps to use less energy, save on food and packaging and improve their carbon and food footprints.

Austin's Barr Mansion is certified green (Photo: Suzy Q.)

Some of the changes are virtually invisible. At Barr Mansion, an Austin events restaurant that the GRA cites as a star performer, 97 percent of the waste is diverted from the landfill by recycling or composting.

Other green actions are more noticable, such as Barr Mansion’s hemp tablecloths, organic food and a roof made from recycled concrete.

Many restaurants, yet to be certified, are taking initial green steps in the normal course of business. They are using motion sensors on bathroom faucets to save water, programmable thermostats to temper energy use, bulk packaging to cut down on individual wrapping, and serving water upon request to preserve that resource, and save the water it would take to wash the glass.

If every restaurant put these basic changes into place, the energy and water savings would add up. According to GRA, if just one quarter of restaurants in the United States only served water upon request, the country could save 26 million gallons of water each year.

Restaurants can take other inexpensive steps toward sustainability: In the office, staff can switch to 100% post-consumer recycled paper in the office and recycle office ink cartridges.  In the kitchen, changing to a readily available $30 low-flow spray valve can save hundreds of dollars on the water bill. Adding and maintaining Energy Star appliances also helps.

Saving food can be among the most gratifying ways to change. Kitchens usually prepare more food for the day than is eaten, but they can plan for leftovers by segregating organic waste, which can be composted. Partnering with a local food bank or Salvation Army also can put quality leftovers to good use.

GRA is currently working with 600 restaurants, including the 265 that are already certified. Restaurants need 100 points on a scale developed by the GRA to become certified.

Most restaurants fall between 40-60 points in their first assessment, according to Colleen Oteri, GRA’s Communications Manager.

There are five requirements that restaurants must meet to be GRA certified:

1. Accumulate a total of 100 points
2. Meet minimum points in each category
   1. Energy
   2. Water
   3. Waste
   4. Disposables
   5. Chemical & Pollution Reduction
   6. Sustainable Food
   7. Sustainable Furnishings & Building Materials
   8. Full-scale recycling program
   9. Free of polystyrene foam (no Styrofoam allowed)
   10. Annual education program

GRA has a detailed explanation of its 4.0 Standards on their website.

Barr Mansion is GRA’s highest scoring restaurant with 284.76 points. Hosting and catering to over 1,600 guests each month, Barr Mansion is a picturesque site for weddings, luncheons, parties, and various events.  As the nation’s first and only Certified Organic events facility, Barr Mansion prides itself on being green. From simple things like using non-toxic cleaning chemicals, paints, and candles to the more complex such as diverting 97 percent of its waste, Barr Mansion is leading the way. Other unique eco-aspects include:

• Hemp and organic table linens
• Chairs made from eucalyptus
• Roof made from recycled concrete
• Geothermal heat
• Organic food grown on the property
• Serving grass fed beef
• Composting all food waste

GustOrganics, eco-friendly world foods at 519 Avenue of the Americas, NYC

Many of the GRA-certified restaurants attest to the money savings that accompanied their green transformation. At GustOrganics Restaurant & Bar in New York City, owner Alberto Gonzales, notes that he has saved $1,300 a year by foregoing paper towels in favor of an energy efficient hand dryer in the restroom. GustOrganics, which serves everything from granola and fruit to organic bar drinks and Buenos Aires steak,  also has received much media attention as the first certified organic food restaurant in NYC.

GRA understands that with each new year better environmental solutions become available and more plentiful. Because of this, certified restaurants must continually improve their sustainable practices.

“They [consumers] expect more and they want to know that the restaurant can truly back up their green claims. Being certified through a 20-year-old national non-profit with transparent standards is the way to do that,” said Oteri.

So while a restaurant does not need to have the GRA seal to be taking some green actions, the certification is verification that the facility is among the vanguard of eco-friendly eating establishments. Use the Dine Green online tool to find a GRA-certified restaurant near you.

Copyright © 2010 Green Right Now | Distributed by Noofangle Media

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It’s one thing to hack your cable modem for your own personal edification, but it’s another matter to turn around and sell hacked cable modems to people. I mean, that’s just common sense, right? Smoke all the dope you want, just don’t sell it to kids on the street. (You’ll note I used the word “dope” like a 70-year-old man.) Some guy in Massachusetts found out the hard way, and he now faces up to 20 years in prison and fines up to $250,000.

OK, so the sentence is 100 percent over-the-top, but that’s what a single count of conspiracy and a single count of wire fraud can get you in the Federal courts.

The guy, 26-year-old Matthew Delorey, was selling hacked Comcast cable modems that enabled users to obtain free Internet access. The hack wasn’t sophisticated: all he did was modify the modems’ MAC address so that it appeared to be another modem, one whose owner was paying for Internet access. But that’s a crime, they say, so off with his head.

What finally did him in was selling two of the modified modems to undercover FBI agents.

Let this be a lesson for you: if you want to hack your own cable modem for whatever reason, cool. But don’t be dumb enough to think you can make money off your little scheme. It’s bound to get you thrown into the clink.

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This seems like a really good idea. A German company called Armatix has developed a handgun that can only be fired by someone wearing a biometrically unlocked wrist watch. An LED light on the gun glows green if it’s set to be fired or red if it’s locked.

According to the product page:

“To activate the wrist watch, the authorized person’s fingerprint must first be read by the wrist watch. An internal database compares the current fingerprint against stored prints and responds accordingly. The wrist watch is then activated for a definable period – e.g. an officer’s work shift or until manually deactivated.”

So probably not great for cases when you need to fire as quickly as possible (unless whatever’s going down happens within the unlocked time frame) but ultimately very safe for plenty of other scenarios.

The .22 caliber handgun will apparently be available sometime next month with a price of 7,000 Euro (almost $10,000) — definitely a niche item at first but perhaps the technology will become more widespread in the future, causing prices to decrease.

Armatix GmbH [Armatrix.com via DVICE/Wired]

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To Our Clients, Colleagues and Friends,

• Lots of mortgage bankers talk about buying a bank, but aside from this writer, very few have ever done it.   So a huge round of applause to Rob Hirt , owner of RPM Mortgage, for closing on his purchase of Darien Rowayton Bank in Darien, Ct.  We advised RPM on his acquisition plans in the very beginning of the process, but we take very little credit.  It was all a result of Rob Hirt’s persistence, doggedness and total focus.  Way to go, Rob.

• No way were actors better in the old days.  Johnny Depp is one of the current greats, and one of his most obscure movies, Cry Baby, showed that he’s more than just a great actor. Watch these clips to see what a great singer and dancer he is.  And equally fun is this one, also showing his great talent as a singer and stage performer Like all Johnny Depp movies, this one takes place in good old Baltimore . And like all John Waters movies, this one features Patty Hearst in a cameo role.  Yes, that Patty Hearst.    Now shouldn’t you get back to selling your loans or hedging or something?

• Lots of us have kids who’ll be getting college acceptance letters soon, and they’ll soon go off to bucolic campuses where they’ll broaden their horizons, attend a variety of cultural events, and meet interesting people they’ll become lifelong friends with.
  

And making it even worse if it’s private, it’ll cost you $55,000 a year!  For you Animal House fans, the screenplay was written by a member of the Dartmouth class of 1960, reflecting his experiences there, and the movie was actually filmed in Eugene at the University of Oregon campus.

• Do you eat breakfast with your spouse?  Winston Churchill was asked if he did, and his response was “My wife and I tried it once about 40 years ago, and it was so awful that we haven’t tried it since.”

• It looks like Viewpoint Bank (FPFG) is going to fully demutualize, and this is one that actually merits investing in.  So many mutuals don’t have a real growth strategy and few use the capital for new lending growth. The new capital raised will be good for their warehouse customers.
• We were just driving past the Cal campus, and living in a college town is weird. Every year you grow a year older, but they, the college students, never get old. They are forever 18-22.  It’s just kind of interesting. Like living in a town filed with Peter Pans.
• Isn’t it just perfect when two historical trends intersect at the exact same time?  The Wednesday WSJ showed that movie-rental chain Movie Gallery will file for bankruptcy and close 1,200 of their 1,800 stores. The very same day, Netflix reported that they now have 12.3 million subscribers, up by 31% in the last year, and that they generated revenues for the quarter of $445 million.  What a perfect example of what Schumpeter called the Capitalist Storm of Creative Destruction.

• Texas Capital had an outstanding quarter. Non performing loans stabilized, and they had loan growth + expansion of their net interest margin.  Kind of a trifecta.
• From a client, regarding outsourcing our prisons: “ England outsourced their prisoners in the past.  It’s called Australia .”

• Probably no one would find this of interest, but we were looking at the year-end numbers for Fair Isaac,  and they’re sitting with $382 million of cash and cash equivalents + equity of $586 million.

• At our last bank, we used to routinely originate SBA loans and sell them at 109-110, servicing retained, and no, that 9-10 point gain is not a typo. Prices dropped dramatically when the financial crisis hit, but they’re recovering, and we hear that sellers are getting 108. Unlike the mortgage banking business which gives away too much to the loan officer, SBA loan officers almost never get a percentage of the total premium.  The typical commission is a flat 50 bps of the loan amount. None of this 60-40 or 70-30 stuff.
• Doing a $1 million SBA loan and selling it at 108 is very cool. That’s an $80,000 gain on that one loan and you’ll get ongoing servicing revenue each month,
• Michigan is a tough state to lend in.  Capitol Bancorp (CBC) has only 32% of its loan portfolio in Michigan , but 47% of their Non Performing Loans are there.
• Speaking of commission splits, we studied compensation among our client data base a few years back. Our conclusion was that higher commission splits seemed to have an initially positive impact on overall revenue as more loan officers joined the company, but once the higher commission splits had become the norm, it appeared to have a negative impact on overall profitability.  Commission structures need to reward the company and not just the loan officer.
• Baseball’s Opening Day is still 61 days away, but it’s never out of season to read Ricky Henderson quotes. We’ve met and talked to Ricky a number of times over the years, and he’s not only the greatest lead-off hitter of all time, he’s also an American original. Ask us sometime about his views on banks, bank failures, and CD’s.  But read (or re-read) his quotes. It’ll be the best thing you’ll read all week.
• We’re speaking next month at the Seattle Mortgage Bankers Association dinner, and if you have nothing better to do on February 23^rd, this is a pretty sharp group.
• Remember that photo last week of the guy getting married?  We guessed that he might be wondering what his wife’s sister looked like naked, but one client wrote that he was obviously wondering what Ben Bernanke would do with interest rates.  No way.  We contacted the fellow and he told us that he was wondering what Bernanke looked like naked. Speaking of which, who would you least like to see naked:
  (a) Nancy Pelosi, (b) Barney Frank, (c) Joe Biden, (d) Hank Paulson, (e) Richard Nixon (when he was alive) or (f) Allan Greenberg.
• We were just listening to Tony Bennett, and we know this sounds blasphemous, but have you every thought that maybe he was a better singer than Sinatra? On the other hand, when it came to that slow dance, the one at the end of the evening, you always wanted a Sinatra song.  And even if Tony Bennett had a better voice, it was always Sinatra you went for when you were making out, or hoping to.  Speaking of which, what do today’s teenagers listen to when making out?  Nine Inch Nails?  Snoop dog?
• A legend passed away Wednesday.  J.D. Salinger (1919-2010) wrote Catcher in the Rye in 1945, and this wonderful novel went on to sell 60 million copies and is still used in high school classes everywhere. When you first read it at 14, it’s hilarious.  When you read it in your 20’s, there’s a sadness to it,  and in your 30’s you read it again and realize it’s the tragic story of a young boy’s life spiraling out of control. On the last page, ‘”That’s all I’m going to tell about. I’m sorry I told so many people. About all I know is, I sort of miss everybody I told you about. Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everyone.”   Goodnight Mr. Salinger. Goodnight Holden.  You were America ’s first teenager, and while the writer who created you has died, you’ll live on forever.

We’ve run out of things to write about, so as Arnold said in the Terminator, hasta la vista, baby. And when the Terminator came back from the future, isn’t it weird that he’d have an Austrian accent? By the way, we wrote the attached article 5-6 years old but it’s every bit as relevant today as it was then.  It’s the Seven Deadly Sins of Mortgage Bankers.

Garrett, Watts & Co.

“Helping lenders increase revenues, control costs, and better manage risk.”

• Joe Garrett      (510-469-8633)
• Corky Watts     (408-395-5504)
• Mike McAuley   (281-250-2536)

Filed under: iPod Family, iPhone

If there has been an editorial theme about the iPad over the last few days, it’s been this: it disappoints. Pundits and consumers alike have been underwhelmed by the name (I mean, seriously, does anyone in the product naming department use feminine hygiene products? How many of these devices are going to be named “Max”?), by the physical design (Can you say “Un-Ives-like Bezel” three times fast?), by the missing features (no camera, no multitasking, still no Flash), and so forth. And yet, despite these seeming flaws, I’m wildly enthusiastic about the tablet. I think part of that enthusiasm is attributable to the fact that I’m a dyed-in-the-wool netbook user… and we are the actual target audience for the device.

Steve Jobs laid out the raison d’etre for the tablet right at the start of his presentation. Apple was going after the part of the market that wanted light computing: more than a phone could deliver and less involved than a laptop demanded. Ergo, the netbook. The list of things in the middle column of his main slide reflected the exact way that netbook users operate: checking the mail, surfing the web, enjoying some media. That’s exactly how my parents use their netbook, how my friends do, how I do. We’re coffee-shop, hotel, and passenger-seat netbook users. To that, you can add city commuters and airline passengers among those who have driven the netbook craze.

Netbooks are great. They are small, they are insanely cheap, and they offer just enough functionality to get a few things done without jumping into serious work that would demand a full-sized screen and keyboard. I know approximately three badzillion netbook users, and with very few exceptions, they are all Windows users.
I emphasize the Windows users part because nearly everyone filling that auditorium on Wednesday and nearly every blog author writing about the tablet is not, in fact, a primary Windows user. Apple events tend to draw Apple people. And for many reasons, I think that the Apple netpad (Isn’t that a much better name than “iPad”?) is a better match for Windows users deciding between an Asus or an Eee or an HP or an Apple unit than it is for people who are living and loving the Apple laptop life.

That’s because the new Apple nettop (and there you have another alternative that they could have considered) is not a laptop and it’s not meant to be one. It doesn’t multitask. It doesn’t run Adobe’s Creative Suite. Hell, it doesn’t even do Flash video. It is, in fact, an oversized iPod touch. And for those of us who love the touch, who really feel that iPhoneOS had brought near-netbook mobility, the iPad takes that promise even closer to where it could be.

The win for netbooks isn’t full computing power. Even though nearly every netbook on the market delivers that power, it’s rarely if ever used except when the netbook is docked to a display and keyboard; to be frank, that’s not the normal way most people use their netbooks. No, it’s about convenience. Users pull them out, use them for a few minutes, and then put them away as they sip their venti mocha lattes. Netbooks are second computers for nearly everyone I know, not primary ones.

When you need to get real, serious work done, there are laptops and there are desktop units. And Apple makes some of the best and sells them at a premium. But the netbook isn’t about providing the same solutions as a laptop. It’s about affordable convenience and mobility.

Almost two years ago, I wrote the following on TUAW:

The computing world is changing. We’re no longer tied to desktops. We move around, we take our computing with us. Holding a computer in the crook of our arms isn’t just a nice idea, it’s practical. When you’re walking through hospital halls, sitting in on a University lecture, attending business meetings, or spec’ing out a project at a construction site, the tablet computer makes sense. If anything, the iPhone which has been pushed far beyond its original design specs, has proven that people want truly mobile computing. No keyboard, no standard screen — true portability.

The iPad, with its larger screen, improved multitouch interface, and expanded software delivers on that promise: better movie screen space (especially on the train, in the car, or on the treadmill), better web browsing and e-mail reading, better viewing of photos, charts, and other data. And on top of that, it plays games and offers an eBook reader, not to mention you can use it for business presentations, either on the device itself or by sending video out to component, composite, or VGA-ready screens. And, not for nothing, a four-year-old can use it as easily as an octogenarian can. Literally as well as figuratively.

In comparison to a laptop, anyone who wanted the tablet to be an Air mini is going to be disappointed. But in comparison to a netbook? The iPad is made of win. The iPad delivers enough functionality to make it a a strong competitor to traditional netbooks. There is, however, that missing Flash thing. It’s a big issue for most Windows users I know (possibly because they’re used to the relatively smooth Flash performance on the Windows side, as opposed to the doggedly awful performance on the Mac side), as is the relative dearth of enterprise-ready solutions — problems the iPhone has already weathered for two years. But somehow the iPhone has managed to find its market despite those potential pitfalls. The iPad can as well.

As I wrote in 2008, “Cell phones and tablet computers are all about freeing ourselves.” Free yourself from the table, from the desk, and from the power cord. That’s what the iPad delivers.

TUAWIn praise of the iPad: A contrarian view originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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