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Shqipo's Virtual Mumblings

Shqipo's personal blog, about anything and nothing.

A matter of (political) priorities

Thursday, October 04, 2007
News from Washington tell us that our President vetoed a plan that would have boosted funding for the Children's (or should I say, "childrens'") Health Insurance Program by $35 billion over five years. I don't know what the current total budget for this program is but it covers about 6.6 million children whose parents can't afford it. I'm not going to get into details of whether some people do not deserve to be in this program, etc.

On the other hand, our mighty Senate passed a $456 billion budget for Pentagon - $3 billion of which are for the stupid Mexican border security. This does not include, however, $190 billion for the many people who are getting super rich - err, I meant to say for the "wars" in Iraq and Afghanistan. Which bring the total military budget to something like $655 billion. Did I mention it is only for the year 2008?

You draw your own conclusions...

Southern humor

Monday, September 24, 2007

The blind leading the blind

Sunday, September 09, 2007
Now it's already old news that, just like I had anticipated (although not by this much), Apple lowered the price of their fancy iPhone by $200.

I've already posted my feelings/thoughts here about those "avant-garde" suckers that stay in line for hours to overpay for a product that has no shortage. And now I'm laughing all the way to the bank (well, kind of - since I doubt I'll ever buy the iPhone).

This was an interesting article. The Apple cult followers are finally, partially, starting to wake up.

Now here's a part that cracks me up: I've never seen a worse marketing strategy than what this dude, Andrew Brin, is using for himself - it's my assumption he did not mean for this to ruin his business! This dude is an "addiction Los Angelenos really that dumb and shallow to hire this guy?! His own words: "If they told me at the outset the iPhone would be $200 cheaper the next day, I would have thought about it for a second - and still bought it." "It's better than a dog, if you want to meet people," Brin said of his iPhone.

Mr. Brin, the addiction therapist, I have a message for you buddy: YOU'RE ADDICTED! Stop cheating your clients!

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Let me solder your $500

Saturday, August 25, 2007
Much has been said, written, blogged (I'm not of any songs written for it - yet) about the iPhone from Apple. Although I consider myself to be somehow "technologically advanced," I haven't found it economically smart to purchase any Apple products - of any kind. Consider me cheap if you want, but I can't justify paying for hype.

After a brilliant marketing campaign, iPhone finally hit the US stores a month or two ago. People stayed in line to buy them - but that's something I already covered in another blog entry.

Let me get to the point: As anticipated, smart people wanted to take a "crack" (literally!) at it trying to modify it. I think one of the mod reasons is kinda legit: crack/unlock it so it works on other networks besides AT&T.

And it happened. A 17-year old, apparently quite smart, cracked it. Now, here's what I have a problem with: he did it the ooold fashion way, using a freakin' soldering iron! What I don't understand is where do these kids find $500 to toy with?

Sharing

Monday, August 20, 2007
I want to thank whomever was kind enough to send me an invitation to GrandCentral. I first learned about GrandCentral about a month and half or so ago but was not able to get in. Then Rich posted a plea on his blog, crying and begging for an invitation, like the little girl he is. I stayed strong, did not post any stupid girly plea on my blog. Instead, I begged like a little girl for candy in his blog :p

A couple of hours later, I got an invitation in my mailbox! I have no clue who sent it, although Vinny (we don't even know each other!) did offer one later as well - thanks Vinny!

So, the person who sent me the invitation, whoever you are (I'd like to know), here's a big and heartfelt THANK YOU!

And, to pay it forward, here's an interesting site: http://www.inviteshare.com/

Too bad they split up :(

I've been listening to Dirty Vegas ever since their music was used on a Mitsubishi commercial. Their one and only "the one" album is pretty cool!

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Dumb @ss

Monday, August 13, 2007
It truly amazes me how stupid some people are - no matter what age. For instance, I'd think that someone who's 17 years old would have an idea that 7 espressos are not exactly 7 cups of water. Heck, even if she drank 7 Pepsi she'd be in trouble!

What blows my mind even more is her (and her father's!) excuse "oh, I thought they were single servings." Are you for real? Do they really think 7 singles would not be a problem?!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/wear/6944026.stm

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