Thursday night’s Vice Presidential Debate, moderated by Gwen Ifill and participated in by Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) and Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), was the most watched veep-debate in history. Everyone wanted to know if Biden could deliver the crushing blow to Palin that would end the Republicans’ hopes for the White House a month early. OFB’s Timothy R. Butler and analyst Jason Kettinger weigh in.
In a year filled with election twists and turns, the pièce de résistance could very well come up at one of the three presidential debates. So, how did the first debate go on Friday? OFB editor-in-chief Timothy R. Butler and freelance analyst Jason Kettinger assess the aftermath.
The Daily Kos and others have picked up on a new mantra this past week: “Jesus was a community organizer [like Sen. Barack Obama] and Pontius Pilate was a governor [like Gov. Sarah Palin].” Tamara Butler asks, “whose side are the Daily Kos and its friends on anyway?”
Alaska has been a subject of national interest in recent days. Years ago I lived there and I recently found myself musing on some of the unique aspects of that mysterious state the nation is now so inquisitive about.
Apple’s App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch is proving interesting in large part because it has suddenly mainstreamed the idea of downloading third party applications for a mobile phone. With the prominent storefront, developers seem anxious to get their fifteen minutes of fame. TouchTerm’s developers, however, are now trying for a second fifteen minutes — can they get it?
Few things in Unix match the importance of the terminal emulator. Having a nice GUI is fine, but nothing beats the command line, which some have said is the "front line" of computing. As an official member of the Brotherhood of the Commandline, I have always kept at least one terminal window open at all times, and often three or more.
Media bias is a topic almost everyone seems to have an opinion on, particularly when high profile examples occur, such as the New York Times’s refusal to run John McCain’s editorial this week. Many people will get quite upset about big media’s “bias,” yet depending on a person’s political orientation, the alleged bias will typically land on the opposite side of the spectrum. For those on the same side of the spectrum, the typical response is a thorough scratching of the head and a response of, “Bias? What bias?”
Take a deep breath and repeat after me: A computer is just a tool. It is only so good as it serves to make life better for users. A "better" life is obviously not the same thing for everyone. For me, it means making my Mac more like Linux, as I began to discuss in my last article.
A year ago, page after page of ink was spilled by prophets of doom fretting about the iPhone and how it would surely not be as good as this or that other phone. It doesn’t have a keyboard! It can’t do voice over IP calls for really cheap international calling! It isn’t open enough to allow Quake to be installed on it! Oh, the humanity! A year later, were the critics right?
Sometimes you stumble across a decent system, still working fine, but getting old. If the price is right, you might take it anyway. For most people in non-profit work, which is like running a business on a very poor budget, this is about the only way to get enough computers to get the job done. A few weeks ago I stumbled upon an eMac running Panther. It cost almost nothing, so I took it.