Cole's Notes - The Sunday Journalist

I was reading this article on the iPad and Windows at Paul Thurott's site. Understanding iPad http://ping.fm/Qjsym And watching all the hype around the arrival of the "magical" device in Canada and around the world. As Paul mentioned it is promoted as "a revolutionary device" aimed at key computing scenarios only--"browsing the web, reading and sending email , enjoying photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading e-books and much more." Sort of what I'm doing now - with my tablet PC's and smartphones. I've been keeping a low profile on the mac vs PC fan boys firefights and staying neutral on this. I've always been neutral on the Mac vs PC stuff. When I was DiT at Stentor - we had to support both platforms - so I was always a platform agnostic. (other than those Linux geeks hiding in the server farm who didn't want any support from the IT guys and thought they could run the network better than the engin...

From Mises' 1944 book Bureaucracy . The champions of socialism call themselves progressives, but they recommend a system which is characterized by rigid observance of routine and by a resistance to every kind of improvement.  They call themselves liberals, but they are intent upon abolishing liberty.  They call themselves democrats, but they yearn for dictatorship.  They call themselves revolutionaries, but they want to make the government omnipotent.  They promise the blessings of the Garden of Eden, but they plan to transform the world into a gigantic post office. Found at Palin and the Leftist Elites – read it all here

Perhaps the most common mistake that pay wall supporters make is forgetting that people haven't paid for the news in 180 years. Newspaper readers used to pay for paper, ink, trucks and delivery boys —and often barely paid enough to cover that bill. Now they pay for internet connections instead. (As was) then and now, the reader only pays for access—advertising always has and will continue to pay for everything else.

This Editorial from the National Post is so good – I’m going to reproduce it all here:   Much has been made of a recent Léger Marketing poll regarding racism in Canada. The poll, conducted on behalf of the Association for Canadian Studies and the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, reports that 68% of Canadians have heard a racist comment over the past year, while 31% of Canadians have witnessed a racist act. Predictably, the federal government was called upon to spare no expense curing this social ill. We are skeptical of polls commissioned by agencies with a vested interest in the result: It is important to remember that the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, like the larger human-rights industry of which it is part, justifies its existence on the dubious claim that racism is widespread in Canada. Our skepticism is compounded by the fact that this poll doesn’t track respondents’ first-hand experiences with racism; it merely tracks the broader question of whether the...

The headline explains it all Don't tax iPods

A very good post on Bookworm room this morning – which explains itself. Obama, whatever else he is, is not an intellectual Read it all The two best quotes: “Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.” – Francis Bacon In modern English, an intellectual can be described as someone who is extremely well read.  He or she has a fully furnished mind and, at the drop of a hat, can delve into that internal room of books, and resurrect quotations, ideas, and information….   Barack Obama has nothing of the intellectual about him.  He’s a documented ignoramus when it comes to history , something worrisome, because he often tries to get history to back up his policies.  He’s an almost laughably stereotypical “Ugly American” when it comes to his knowledge of the world around him .   He’s embarrassingly slow on learning the nuances of the military culture he leads .  (You can amuse yourselves in the comment...

  Take a deep breath – everyone say – ummmm.