Amazon held an Apple-like press conference to announce their next generation of Kindles resulting in the cheapest and possibly best e-book readers to date. There will be three models (or more with alt configurations) with various degrees of features and release dates but all are available for pre-order now.
Kindle Fire ($199); out November 15th; 8 hours per charge This is the tablet version of the Kindle comes with a 7'' color touch screen, 1Ghz dual core processor, 512MB of RAM and 8 GB of storage for 14.6 ounces. The reason for the lack of space is because this customized Android devise will be mostly cloud based using the Amazon Whispernet in conjunction with Amazon Cloud Storage to hold your books, movies, TV shows and music. Instead of having to store everything locally on the device (like with the iPad), you can just makes your purposes online at Amazon and download as needed. The device also comes with their new web browser called Amazon Silk which takes advantage of the 3G to Amazon's cloud to pre-render websites for faster load times. The device is not designed to be an iPad replacement. If you are someone that isn't particularly into using a bunch of apps (which is most people once the "new" of tablets wear off), but see using tablets for reading (web or books), listening to music, and watching the web, this just might be the perfect (and cheap) solution. - Impressions and Video
Today is the 10 year anniversary of a terrorist attack that quite literally changed America and the world. Every year the media makes us relivethe day and it still hurts. It still makes my cry. But not so much for those that died that day but for what was lost since then. America lost its hope and lost its way.
The attack claimed more than 3000 and more lives and did change a city. A city that is finally working towards reclaiming the site, complete with memorial using the footprints of what fell. America is now much more aggressive, angry and quick to lash out blindly. America is no longer the land of the brave but the land of the scared. The airwaves are now ruled by fear mongering and finger pointing as others desperately blame others for situations while doing little to offer solutions. That day the terrorists did win. When they change the character of a person, or a country for the worse, there is no other term for that but victory.
To find that hope I continue to look back at the days that followed and see the moments of greatness. I remember moments of solidarity such as Great Britain's Changing of the Guard. Or Jon Stewart extraordinary episode of The Daily Show a week after the attack.
The rebuilding continues. There is still hope. There is always hope. That "victory" can be taken away as easily as it was given up. America has the ability to change like no other country on the planet. Once day, the fear mongers will cease to penetrate. One day the cowards will quit being the vocal minority constantly seeking blood. A few days after 9/11 the world was probably the closest to peace it has ever been as everyone gathered around, mourned with us, claimed hardship with us, and offered the hand of help and friendship. If the world can do it once, it can do it again. The leadership to reach that day isn't here today, but one day it will be. Hopefully with the next generation that has seen how easily the older generation has been manipulated by the media and political leaders and chooses not to follow the same path.
9/11 was a day of tragedy and new darker beginnings. Osama bin Laden is finally dead. It’s time we start moving past the specter of 9/11. America changed once, it will change again. We will once again be the beacon of democracy and wiliness to hold our hands out in a gesture of friendship rather than fear. Our future will be bright even if it doesn't seem like it today.
"The reason I don't despair is because. This attack happened. Its not a dream. But the aftermath of it. The recovery is a dream realized. That is Martin Luther King's dream. Whatever barriers we put up are gone. Even if just momentary. We are judging people not by the color of their skin but the content of their character. ...any fool can blow something up, any fool can destroy, but to to see these guys, these firefighters, these policeman, people from all over the country, literally with buckets, rebuilding, that that thats extraordinary. Thats why we already won. Its light, its democracy, we already won, they can't shut that down." - Jon Stewart 9/20/01
GOP Explained by an Ex-GOPer Hit the link for an effective explanation of just how far gone the Republican Party is now. Despite their frequent claimed love of Ronald Reagan, not even he could get a vote in today's GOP. For example he committed the horror of raising taxes 11 times. This change of party first, business second, America last and what is motivating it was brilliantly broke down by Mike Lofgren, who was a Republican Congressional staffer for 16 years. He pretty much hits the nail on the head on not only how corrupt the GOP has become but why the weak Democrats are ineffective at countering them.
25 CEOs Who Made More Than Companies Paid in Taxes One of the great cons (of many) that the GOP has pulled over the last year is successfully lying that taxes influence business more than any other factor. That because of taxes, business choose not invest in themselves, to grow, to try to perform better. The logic makes no sense but people follow it anyway. Even though 11 years of tax cuts have proven it doesn't work. It’s not even hypothetical anyone. Eleven years of tax cuts sold to create jobs and all that has occurred is 2 recessions, minimal job growth, smaller middle class, and the rich being richer for doing nothing. Yet the idiots still believe. Between the tax cuts and loops holes it has now reached the point where most CEOs now make more money than their companies pay in taxes (most pay $0). It is now past pathetic. Yet if anyone is experts at being pathetic, it is teabaggers and their ilk. Anyway hit the link for details.
Amazon held an Apple-like press conference to announce their next generation of Kindles resulting in the cheapest and possibly best e-book readers to date. There will be three models (or more with alt configurations) with various degrees of features and release dates but all are available for pre-order now.