Why are there no Thanksgiving movies, no Thanksgiving songs? This scene from The Addams Family Values should be a holiday classic.

This is one of the best The Word's I've seen from Colbert Nation ever. Stephen satirizes Arizona's plan to privatize their prisons. Be sure to watch part 1 of 2 with Jon Stewarts segment on Glenn Beck.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Word - The Green Mile
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor U.S. Speedskating

This is one of the best segments from The Daily Show I've seen in a long time. Jon Stewart brilliantly satirizes Glenn Beck. Next up is a segment from Colbert Nation. Apparently I can embed one video but not two in a post.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The 11/3 Project
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

I never get tired of this Robot Chicken Charlie Brown parody.

Below are three links to editorials on why President Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. (See bottom for update for a fourth link)

I was puzzled at first. I knew that this administration had done a lot towards repairing the damage done by the previous administration and to engage the world community again, but didn't think he'd done enough to be awarded the prize. He was nominated in February, though the vote wasn't taken until recently. Recipients of the peace prize aren't always awarded it for what they've achieved. They were awarded it to encourage them to continue along the same path.

Congress just approved the largest military budget in history. This administration has continued some of the more egregious Bush policies. So naturally I was a little skeptical of Obama receiving the prize. Peace is never perfect. What actions you may take may be baby steps compared to the magnitude of the challenges, but it is always better to make the effort regardless of the outcome or how little may be achieved. As long as that pursuit of peace is relentless and never gives up, we end up with a better world.

An Open Letter to Americans Who Are Annoyed at Obama's Nobel Prize (essay)
http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2009/10/an_open_letter_to_americans_wh.php

IAEA Chief ElBaradei on Obama Winning 2009 Nobel Peace Prize (video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1yUAfOlQGo

I haven't updated in a while. Mostly out of shear laziness. I've been twittering and facebooking a lot these days. I also have my own blog which I've neglected. Anyway, just a quick note that I'm still here.

When I broke down to pay the $200 to get my iPhone swapped it it went very smoothly. I went to the store, told them what I wanted and they fixed me up. I bought a new case; one that protected all four corners. The other one effectively only protected three. The good news is even if I got a refurb it has a new battery in it, and because I had AppleCare--though I'm not real clear on this--my warranty has now been reinstated and my iPhone still has the added year of AppleCare.

Personally, I think they should have replaced the phone under warranty. Cracking around the ringer/silent switch is a known issue, and I only found out after I replaced it that that switch is also known to break off. I could have spent hours on the phone with Apple to berate and cajole them into doing the right thing, but it would have been an uphill battle. And it probably still would have resulted in my shelling out $200. Not too mention much angrier.

One thing I have noticed with the replacement that some of the apps still start spontaneously, so that clearly is a design problem. I don't know if the software can adjust the motion detectors not to trigger apps that I clearly did not start. It's not as common as it was.

In December 2008 I got a white iPhone 3G. And I did get a hard case for it, but I dropped it on the least protected part of the phone. I didn't see any cracks when it happened. A few weeks later I did notice a crack on either side of the ringer/silent switch. At the time I thought I ought to see about getting the back shell replaced. Fast forward to a few weeks ago. The silver part of the ringer/silent switch broke off. That pushed up the urgency of getting it fixed. The phone is still under warranty and I do have AppleCare, but this kind of damage is not covered under warranty. I used to repair cellular phones and two-way radios, so I understood what is and isn't covered under warranty. The phone still works, but I think because of the cracked case it makes the touch panel overly sensitive and apps start up at random. Either by jostling it, setting it down a little hard, and by touching the display not near the app that was started. Finally, I thought, I would check at an AT&T store about getting it fixed. I was told at the AT&T store that I should go to the Apple Store. Not a good start.

I set up an appointment at the Apple Store Concierge Genius Bar online or whatever the fuck they call it. About the Apple Store here in Tucson. It is an exercise in frustration. Whoever thought up the Genius Bar concept should be smacked. Repeatedly. If you've never been in an Apple Store before there is no obvious counter or person to talk to when you go in, nor can you really tell what the hell is going on. You see dozens of people milling about. Some of them look pissed off. Customers? The only thing that gives you a clue that something might happen is the display above a counter showing names of people... to be served next? Also you see people wearing shirts that make you suspect they work at the store.

I'd been to the store once before to purchase an AV cable which allows me to play movies from my iPhone on my TV. Once I figured out how the store worked and got some advice from another customer. I made my purchase and left. Cable works beautifully. Now that I'd been there I sort of knew what to expect. I went in at the designated time. The website tells you to be their 5 minutes early. I saw my name up on the screen and I heard my name called. I chatted with a nice young lady who told me they don't do repairs like that, but I could replace my phone for $199. I was already expecting to spend close to a $100 for parts and labor. Still $199 was too much. She suggested the name of a local company that might be able to repair it. I left.

That company no longer appears to be in business. I found traces of it's existence via Google but their website is gone. Then I thought maybe I could replace the back cover myself. I'd already watched a video how to replace the front glass of an iPhone if it had been shattered.


After watching it, I saw what a pain in the ass that was, but I figured replacing the back shell should be a lot easier. Ha! Boy was I wrong. I found a web page how to disassemble an iPhone 3G, and it's an even bigger pain in the ass. You have to remove a lot of very tiny parts. Now on to the 5 Stages of Grief:

1. Denial and Isolation.
2. Anger.
3. Bargaining.
4. Depression.
5. Acceptance.

I've already been through stages 1 and 2. I denied that there was a problem by ignoring it. Until the switch broke. Anger, when I was told how much it would cost to fix, or rather replace. I'm just about done with 3 bargaining to see if I could do it myself. I will be depressed that I'll have to pay $199 to get a replacement, and when I shell out the money that will be my acceptance. I still have to do a little bargaining. I need to know if I still get to keep my warranty and AppleCare if I do this.

The bottom line is this: If you have to pay $199 to replace your iPhone for a refurbished one, it's worth it, but you have to go through the five stages of grief to realize it.

The Daily Show hits another home run in the health care debate. In fact they hit two.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Healther Skelter
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Spinal Tap Performance

And now for the second home run.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Healther Skelter - Obama Death Panel Debate
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Spinal Tap Performance

*Note- Birthers: People who deny that Obama is an American citizen. Yeah, a pregnant white woman from Kansas is going to go to Kenya in 1961 to give birth. If Obama's dad was a foreign white guy you think they'd be questioning his birth certificate? No.

Deathers: People who are scaring others that the gov't is going to euthanize granny. People who are scaring others that the gov't is going to deny you treatment so you'll die.

Screamers: People who shut down debate at town hall meetings by shouting and other forms of intimidation.

Would have posted this to my Facebook account, but I started another health care reform discussion that is apt to get quite heated. Just watched this video. This really does give you food for thought about success, self-esteem, and how our Western worldview is really different from the past.

or How I learned how shockingly easy it was to destroy the world.

When my friend Sean brought his son down to Tucson for a visit recently, we went to The Desert Museum and The Titan Missile Museum. I'd never been to the missile museum before, so I was looking forward to seeing it. Within this one acre site sits an underground silo that once housed a nine-megaton warhead. I won't quote how many X times more powerful it was than Hiroshima, because frankly that destructive capability is meaningless to me. It's huge. Unimaginably huge.

This silo and disabled missile was used in Star Trek: First Contact, so some of the locations would be familiar to visitors. The Titan II missile was the most powerful weapon the US ever deployed. It was liquid fueled and the fuel could be held stable on board. Our tour guide described it as hypergolic which meant once the oxidizer and fuel came into contact, kaboom. The Titan II's were active for 20 years.




The tour guide shows you all the safe guard and multiply redundant communication systems. Once you are in the capsule you see how it takes two to launch a missile. Once the go code is received and confirmed. There are a lot of authentication procedures to follow. But once both operators turn their keys at the same time. That's it. Within two minutes the missile is away and the crew's job is done. There is no recall code.




The missile base is a technological marvel with many complex parts all working together. But what it made possible was the ability to vaporize millions of people in less than half an hour.

As I probably mentioned in earlier posts, Mel and I went to Balticon, Washington, D.C., Gettysburg National Monument, and a wedding at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA. The wedding was the son of a former colleague of Mel's.

Here are thumbnails of three select images from the DC portion of our trip. All three were taken with my iPhone. I have tons more pictures taken with my new Canon. Picture on the left is of me standing in front of the Stephen Colbert portrait at the American History Museum. The middle picture is the original model of the Enterprise from Star Trek, located in the basement toy store at the National Air & Space Museum. The last picture is of a train pulling into a DC Metro station. (Click on the thumbnail for a larger version.)