Highest Mileage Cars : 80MPG+!!

You read that correctly - production cars that get 80+ MPG. Yes, EIGHTY MILES PER GALLON. They exist! But, it seems that we (here in the United States) keep having to hear from the major auto makers that "we just can't build cars that get more than 30MPG" and along that line of thinking).

Oh, did I mention these are MAINSTREAM BRAND-NAME automobiles from Volkswagen and Mini too? I so want one of these 80MPG Mini-Coopers... or, heck, I'll even settle for the 80MPG VW Polo!





MY GOD THAT IS SOME SERIOUSLY AWESOME GAS MILEAGE!
Combined miles-per-gallon in excess of 70MPG! Oh how I want one!

Even with both of these vehicles being Diesel powered (vs. gasoline), and with Diesel currently being more expensive here in the United States than gas, with those numbers, who cares!? EIGHTY-EIGHT HIGHWAY MPG for the little VW! Wow!

Now, here's the catch: this is for the UK (United Kingdom) / European market. Sorry, you can't get one of these in the United States, for various reasons. First, they supposedly don't meet our emissions standards (though, you can sit on the highway and watch as many emission-EXEMPT semis, tractor-trailor rigs, buses, and other "exempt" vehicles spewing a choking black diesel smoke all the time, and THAT is "ok"?)

I was in the UK in the sumer of 2007, and I had a chance to drive a rental car that was made by a subdivision of GM - and it achieved 45MPG average, in a mid-size vehicle, and while burning gasoline. But yet, I have no chance of getting such a car here in the USA. This really, really miffs me when gas is in excess of $3.00/gallon, and $4.00 or $5.00 per gallon gasoline seems like it is just on the horizon... especially thanks to price-fixing essentially, where refiners have learned that by simply lowering their output, they can hit record per-gallon gas prices -- today's report showed how refinery utilization here was at something like 81% now... or, barely above post-Katrina (hurricane) levels. Supply/Demand curves mean nothing when nobody is willing to actually COMPETE!

We hear all the time how we "need more refineries", yet as consumers actually started using less fuel, and refiners saw margins falling, they simply cut capacity. And, at a mere 81% of capacity, we have a fair amount of "slack" in the system - should anyone decide to actually put it to use. I call this all price manipulation one way or the other. In a truly free market economy, with ample competition, SOMEBODY would sell fuel even at "thin margins" because they would have an opportunity to gain market share. Not here. Not now. There isn't enough competition left. I heard some bonehead on NBR (Nightly Business Report) talk about how if we had a recession, that prices would fall -- well, again that logic depends on supply-demand curves meaning something, and as demonstrated lately, even when demand falls, it just doesn't matter, since refiners simply adjust supply downward to keep prices up.

Fact is, the American consumer has little choice but to pay high prices for gasoline (and yes, I realize it is MUCH lower here than in Europe), while not getting the choice in high-mileage vehicles that Europe has. Auto companies claim they can't make them, or that nobody would buy them, etc. etc.... and, I really don't think oil companies want any downward spiral in consumption to ever have a chance to take hold. I'm also not kidding myself either: most people, even given the choice of a high-mileage tiny vehicle would still rather have the sportier, higher horsepower, fancier, ritzier, trendier, etc. etc. vehicle at their disposal, and would be willing to pay for the fuel it requires.

But, some of us would really really love to have a little commuter-car that gets 80MPG... or even 70MPG... or 60MPG... or 50MPG. And, you give me the option of something as stylish as a Mini-Cooper that gets 80+MPG highway (and 60MPG City), and I am in line IMMEDIATELY to buy one! It'd be a no-brainer from a gas-savings / payback standpoint. But, thanks to our government, various corporate interests, and all sorts of other junk, I will not get that opportunity, and instead will be forced to drive something much less efficient (perhaps that is a good thing, since lately I rarely drive anywhere!). But, I want the CHOICE to purchase a super-high-mileage car here if I want to.

Note: there are some nice electric vehicle options on the horizon, though I really doubt they'll ever materialize either, and if/when they do, I GUARANTEE electric rates will soar - and, most electricity will be from COAL or oil or natural-gas burning anyhow, thanks to lobbying efforts by those industries. If solar and wind-power generated electricity can be used to "fuel" these future electric vehicles, I'm all for it. Otherwise, forget it.

Wind and Solar Tax Credits

Here we are in 2008, with Democrats in control of Congress (theoretically), and yet I don't see any real push for serious Wind and Solar Tax Credits for individuals. This really upsets me, especially since I would love to get some assistance with installing a small wind-turbine or some rooftop solar photovoltaic panels to offset energy consumption (especially foreign-sourced petrochemical-based energy!)

The United States is supposed to be such a World power, and a leader in so many areas, but we trail many countries considerably when it comes to anything that would promote green energy initiatives that would help ween consumers from utility companies. On the opposite end of the scale are countries in Europe that are making serious attempts to become energy independent (much through renewable energy - and I don't mean that losing proposition known as ethanol).

I just finished reading about how Scotland is nearly tripling their annual incentive program funding for wind/solar credits. Here's a couple quoted paragraphs that will give you a feel for what the Scottish people can look forward to (which I can only hope we eventually evolve our tax-code to include here in the USA):

Finance Secretary John Swinney today announced the Scottish Government will make available £13.5 million a year for the next three years to help householders, small businesses and local communities generate their own clean energy.
...
Mr Swinney said: "We recently announced our intention to introduce a statutory target to reduce Scottish emissions by 80 per cent by 2050, as part of our proposals for Scotland's first Climate Change Bill. Everyone has a part to play and the Scottish Government is providing strong leadership by tripling funding support to encourage householders, businesses and community projects to generate their own renewable energy."

80 per cent reduction by 2050! Now that is a serious target for reducing one's emissions. And, I can only imagine how this will not only improve their economy (by reducing impact of high and volatile foreign-sourced energy, as well as creating jobs to source, install, and maintain alternative energy systems on a distributed scale), but also how it will improve their National security (again, the distributed nature of power-generation vs. the USA "GRID" model makes a huge amount of sense with regards to redundancy and less-likelihood of major disruptions to our power - disruptions that can cause huge economic issues too).

OK, Washington... wake up and get with the program! Start including individuals in some serious wind and solar tax-credit programs here in the United States so we too, as both individuals and as a Country, can realize the economic improvements and National Security improvements that a decentralized electricity-generation model offers. I am ready and willing to install solar cells and/or wind generator(s) at my house, but I find the current pricing extreme (even when considering current electric and oil prices, the return on investment - ROI - period is quite long and a tax credit would sure be nice... heck, we give enough tax-credits to big oil companies and coal-fired electric plant owners... just start redirecting that to something that will deliver a true long-term payback!!).

Cyring Foul : Bear Stearns Investor Rip-Off!

I predicted this, and it is coming true...
The fleecing of America will continue...
If you invested in Bear Stearns, get ready to sue! Sue the government and regulators that are letting this happen, and file personal suits against everyone involved in this "deal". This does NOT represent the best deal for the average investor. Ask yourself, would YOU like to be offered that same $2/share bargain-price to purchase Bear Stearns? I wouldn't mind a cut of that deal!

Don't let this stuff continue. We are all being used... fear is being put in our minds, and we are supposed to somehow accept a $2/share buyout of Bear Stearns as the only possible option for shareholders... the best deal?! My @$$!!! Somebody is going to get incredibly wealthy during this period of financial upheaval, all while the average investor gets duked. And, the government is helping to finance it. Beware!

"JPMorgan Chase & Co. surged in New York trading after striking a deal backed by the Federal Reserve to buy Bear Stearns Cos. for $2 a share, 90 percent less than the 85-year old firm's market value last week.
...
JPMorgan Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon bought Bear Stearns, once the biggest underwriter of U.S. mortgage bonds, for less than the value of its real estate..."

Here's the real kicker:

"Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Brad Hintz estimated that the breakup value of Bear Stearns was at least $7.7 billion. Even taking into account JPMorgan's estimated $6 billion of merger costs, the price paid for Bear Stearns is a ``tremendous bargain for JPMorgan shareholders,'' Hintz said in a report today."

EXACTLY!
The breakup value is quite a bit higher than the purchase price.
A bargain indeed!
Too bad the public at large isn't allowed to take part in this fire-sale!
Sure, JP shareholders may stand to benefit, but at the cost of another group being fleeced like never before.

Was BS going to go bankrupt? Who knows, but once the price has been pushed down to $2/share for an acquisition, that doesn't leave THAT much risk in finding out! On a risk-reward basis, I think most shareholders may have taken their chances and rode Bear-Stearns stock out for a while.

This all sets a terrible precedence for things to come. And, you wonder why the market (financial stocks in particular today) have fallen off a cliff?!

New Economy : Skilled Labor Wage Inversion Imminent

I have been giving a lot of thought to where Wages are headed in this "New Economy" of global competition and such. My conclusion: wages for those generally considered "skilled labor" are going to fall, and wages for what has been historically considered "unskilled labor" are going to rise (certainly substantially relative to that skilled labor).

I call this my geographically-bound-wages-theory in a global economy, and the subsequent education-vs-wages "inversion" I see coming. Fact is, if your job CAN be outsourced to a cheaper, lower wage country, it WILL be, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. The only jobs that can not be outsourced to cheap-labor markets are those that require a physical presence right here in the United States.

What does that leave here in the United States not subject to outsourcing? Not much! If you do any work that does not require at least half of your time being spent physically "on location" here, forget it. So, if you happen to fall into nearly any job considered "White Collar", get ready for a rude awakening as you job is shipped overseas. Thanks to high-speed communications (aka, the Internet and telecommunications), any "desk job" type work is instantly subject to relocation abroad. This includes:

• Information Technology jobs
• Accounting jobs, including tax preparation
  
• Lawyers - unless you are one of the RARE lawyers actually chairing a case in a courtroom
• Most management positions - trust me, hiring and firing decisions can be made from abroad based purely on underling performance statistics
• Psychologists
• Architects
• Engineers
• Artists
  
• Advertising and marketing
• Fundraisers
• Call-Centers and Customer Service
  

I'm not just making this list up... I have seen news about nearly every type of white-collar position moving overseas, little by little, and the pressure for that movement will only continue as Congress bends to the will of Corporate America.

Very few "skilled worker" or "white collar" jobs will remain physically here in the United States. Sure, some health workers will remain, like surgeons that require immediate on-site access to the patient, but even that is under threat as remote surgery is enabled (this tech already exists!) Nursing: yeah, it seems that would stay here, but don't count on it. I guarantee some enterprising persons or companies will find a way to outsource most longer-term care situations to cheaper geographies eventually, even if if means moving the patient, invalid, elderly, whatever, to foreign shores or South of the border. You wait. It'll happen.

So, what will remain (and remain a decent paying profession)? Essentially, the "blue collar" jobs that require a worker to physically be here (and I do NOT mean manufacturing - since, as we all know, that is going, going, gone!).

Don't believe me? I read recently that in 2005, the average College grad made $51,206/yr (i.e., just under $25/hr.). Now, have you checked the bill from your mechanic lately and compared the hourly rate to what you make? I have seen hourly mechanic rates of $75/hour charged at automotive dealers for service, and I know plenty of people with College degrees that make no where near this amount. And, even if you were to take out over 50% for "shop charges" and "overhead" and so forth, I still know many College-degreed individuals that don't make even close to the remaining figure. The list of people I am comparing to includes quite a few PhD's that just constantly seem to find themselves "overqualified" for positions. I know people that mow lawns for a living or plow snow for a living that make a better hourly rate than people with Masters and PhD level educations. Is this wrong? Not necessarily,... it's just a sign of the times, as jobs that require the work be done HERE have some current demand imbalance that allows them to charge great rates.

How did this happen? We were always told to graduate...go on to College... get advanced degrees... etc. Well, the whole time our government is constantly in the media talking about how we need a better educational system, more people with advanced degrees, and so on... they are (helping Corporate America with) shipping all the jobs that require such degrees to overseas locations.

What is the incentive for ANYONE to get an advanced degree, unless they have some "in" with someone in government or will be one of the few remaining at the top (of the management hierarchy) exploiting those below by stripping the value of their College educations from them daily when they force their US labor force to compete with much cheaper foreign labor? In fact, why even get a College degree? Wages for College-grads are stagnating, to no surprise, for the reasons I'm discussing.

We even offer "retraining" programs for workers... why? Fact is, if retraining of displaced manufacturing workers was successful, we'd have more than enough skilled labor to fill all those Technology jobs our leaders are now pushing for foreigners to fill (I just blogged about the current push to yet again raise the 2008 cap on foreign IT workers via H-1B Visas).

Again, trust me, regardless of the talk coming out of the government with regards to advanced education and retraining workers, the only real government push that is going on is to help large multinational companies expedite the transition from a domestic (and "expensive") workforce to a foreign-sourced labor pool (mainly not residing here, as such local people are "expensive" relative to nearly the entire rest of the world's labor pool. Even H1's will become too expensive, unless they quickly erode the average pay-rate here considerably, but, more likely, they are just a transitional step towards overseas outsourcing quite frequently, which is why they are so desired now).

So, if this wage pressure on the middle-class wasn't enough, and you (the College grad or potential College grad) start thinking you should perhaps take up a profession in plumbing, construction and remodeling, housekeeping, lawn care, automotive repair, or any of a multitude of decent jobs that seem like they'll be "safe" from this globalization push, guess what? Next, you'll face the fact that even those good local jobs that require local talent are under attack by our government, as they push for open borders and allow a flood of (mostly illegal) immigration further put pressure on the labor market in an effort to suppress wage-growth and fill the Corporate coffers.

I can't help thinking how dismal the future for the American worker looks if we don't, as a Country, start doing something to stem the flow of decent paying middle-class jobs out of here. I'm not advocating outright protectionism, but we really need to start making companies that outsource their workers and/or their pollution/environmental-damage, pay some type of tax to level the playing field for the US workers and the companies here that truly care about the long-term health of this country.

One massive problem with the whole overseas outsourcing thing is how the average small business can not achieve the economies of scale to outsource like their larger competitors. This all but ensures that few startups will ever be able to compete long-term against those firms that can - in fact, they'll be lucky to gain a foothold at all, since most any product or service (unique, patented, or not) can be copied (illegally in many cases) and brought in to the US within months of going on the market.

This isn't competition. Either is "dumping", and it's rampant -- I often see products from China at stores where the retail price is less than the cost of the raw materials (not even counting labor). This is all part of the systematic destruction of the American Dream and middle class. Something has to change. And, I am looking forward to anyone (with any power) to stand up and slow this bleeding of American jobs, though I have little hope anyone will be able to take on the entrenched establishment in Washington and actually "win". So, you best start figuring out how YOU are going to ensure some sort of unique value proposition in your own job situation, lest you be next on the "sorry, your job has been outsourced" list.

2008 H-1B VISA Limit Increase Sought

No surprise! Our government seems again poised to increase the number of H-1B Visas issues to allow additional technology workers into the country. And, I posit that "our" government does not represent the will of the people on this matter (which is the norm these days), but rather the will of the few rich and powerful that run this country. And, it seems Democrats and Republicans alike will push the same agenda to dilute technology-worker pay and job-availability, since this is what corporate America is telling them to do.

I just read a blog over at ComputerWorld that discussed the mad dash to raise the limit, even though facts such as the following were presented (with few true listeners) to help defend keeping the limit where it stands now:

"The IEEE-USA was once more direct about the impact of the H-1B visa: In 2004, when the [VISA] cap was scaled back to 65,000 the IEEE-USA pointed out: The number of unemployed U.S. high-tech professionals dropped sharply from the first quarter of 2004 to the third quarter. The decline mirrors the reinstatement of the H-1B visa cap to its historical level of 65,000 in Fiscal Year 2004 from 195,000 in FY 03."

Gee, and I thought our own government would welcome lower unemployment, additional tax-income, and less costs associated with people being out of work. What could make them ignore these basic facts? (I think we all know)

There is an established, observable, and measurable cause-effect relation between the allowed H1B VISA limits and unemployment among our own (United States) Information Technology workers. When H1-B Visas are reduced, unemployment amount technology professionals drops. You think this would be a GOOD thing?! Keep in mind, in theory, H1-B Visas exist ONLY for filling jobs that there are no available and qualified workers for already here in the United States.

So, it is QUITE OBVIOUS that employers are abusing that section of the law, since unemployment swings based on how many of the foreign workers they are allowed to import. Sure, they can argue that in the absence of their ideally qualified candidates, they had to resort to hiring lesser-qualified USA candidates instead. If that is the case, I want some people to start coming forward, in front of all their employees, and telling them how they feel the work being done by their current employees just can not rival that which an H1B VISA candidate could have done in their place.

Fact is, this is all about money (especially corporate greed). If existing IT people here have the "luxury" of finding jobs, and/or keeping their wages up, that is seen as a bad thing by corporate America, since IT is most often looked at as a "cost center" (like most employees in general are viewed these days). Management (especially senior levels) in the United States is generally lame, unimaginative, uninspiring, and just plain simple. They fear having to actually do anything to generate profits - other than lobby the government to protect their interests.

It's only a very few (at the top) that are currently "allowed" the luxury of income protection it seems - in fact, if you examine the disparity between the rate of pay increases for senior executives versus that of the typical worker, you'll quickly conclude that income protection is just the tip: instead, income mega-explosion is the reality at the very top. And, trust me, if the corporate leaders pushing for H1B expansion get their way, they'll also be taking home extra bonuses and patting themselves on the back for finding another quick way to increase their profits (while laying off existing US workers).

Heck, just look at all the mega-million dollar "retention incentives" given to the losers running Citigroup and other banks' earnings into the ground while the average worker will be canned, and the average investor has lost their shirt. Let's up the number of H1-EXEC VISAS and start lowering their cost, since the rest of us (especially stockholders) would certainly like to reap the cost-benefits of such a move!

These same losers that get their mega-million-dollar bonuses even when the companies they run lose money like a sieve, also want to get cheaper labor into the USA no matter what, since this is their only way to quickly realize any cost savings. This is certainly a much easier strategy than figuring out 1) what you as a company offer your clients that is unique and of value, 2) how to leverage your people and make them true assets, instead of just saying they, are while really considering them nothing more than numbers, "overhead", or cost-centers, and 3) facing the prospect of being discovered, found out, and uncloaked for what little "management" abilities you really have while getting paid like you are god's gift to the board-rooms of America.

Word is, that the 2008 technology H1-b VISA cap is going to be raised no matter what this year again, and probably for 2009 as well. Congress does NOT represent the people of this country, aside for a FEW that can exploit them for massive profits. We're facing a recession, and their are bound to be plenty of soon-available IT workers on the market for anyone that needs them. But, will that fact stop the importation of more workers? Of course not. Dilution will continue, and the assault on America's middle-class will only increase.

Even if you are not in Information Technology, be concerned. Fact is, we (the United States) are very much tied up in what I will call a "race to the bottom" with regards to cost-lowering initiatives, all in the name of "global competition". Well, the fact is simple: if you are at the top, you only have one place to go if you want to compete (especially on price, since quality is generally out of the equation now)... and that is DOWN!

Wages will drop, especially if you consider the purchasing power of the dollar. They have to. They are already. They will continue to. We can't "compete" otherwise (oh, wait,... I'm starting to sound like the CEOs running all these companies now!). I'm all for competing, but I'm definitely against competing solely for the sake of inflating the bonuses of already extremely overpaid losers running the show in this country. There are plenty of skilled managers that could do a better job, and do so for much less. So, you want competition? Let's start some real competition for those CEO and upper-management gigs. Doubt that'll happen.

CodeGear / Borland drops Turbo product line

I remember not too far back how Borland (i.e., CodeGear now - for the software development tools portion of the company) brought back the old "Turbo" moniker for some of it's products, resurecting a brand from the old TurboPasal days. They had Turbo Delphi and a couple others offered as FREE downloads for a while.

Well that didn't last long! From their website news now:

" Turbo Delphi 2006 Professional, Turbo Delphi 2006 for .NET Professional and Turbo C++ 2006 Professional are no longer available. CodeGear recommends our newer versions Delphi 2007 for Win32, C++Builder 2007 and CodeGear RAD Studio 2007 which include support for Windows Vista, faster performance, enhanced IDE and build system and much more."

The call them "retired" now. I just can't figure out from day-to-day, week-to-week, and certainly not year-to-year what CodeGear and/or Borland is doing from a marketing perspective. So, you TRY to generate interest in your products via freeware. Then, perhaps people don't buy your for-cost products. So, you get rid of the free ones hoping people will buy newer for-cost products? Is that what's going on? Or is it something else?

I had this discussion with my friend Kirby Turner from White Peak Software, who provided his insight and thoughts on the matter which I will now either quote or closely paraphrase. Kirby has a long history with Borland products, and like me, he really thinks Delphi is an exceptional development tool for custom software and commercial applications. I found his insight and perspective definitely worth sharing for consideration.

-----------------------

Turbos are gone? Great news! They only lead to confusion.

Free trials are still available for all CodeGear latest products. So CodeGear is still giving people a free avenue for trying the software.

As Nick Hodges use to say, the Turbos were for hobbyist, not professional programmers. I think having the Turbos lead to confusion. I remember when Delphi 2007 Win32 came out. People were asking "But what about the Turbos". The Turbos were intended for a different target audience. Oh, and the Turbos came in different editions leading to more confusion. There was the freeware Turbos which did not allow you to use 3rd party components, and there were the paid editions of Turbos. It was the paid editions that I think really lead to confusion among customers. Example, "How is Turbo Delphi Professional different than Delphi 2007 Win32?" Heck, the paid versions of the Turbo were not that much cheaper then the non-Turbo counterparts.

Does dropping the free editions of the Turbos suck for the hobbyist programmer who is interested in Windows development? Sure, but I'm willing to bet that the number of hobbyist looking towards CodeGear is very, very small. And I for one would rather see CodeGear focus energy on professional developers and not hobbyist. There are plenty of open source alternatives for hobbyist programmers. Besides, the Turbos were never as up to date as the non-Turbos.

Bringing back the Turbos and having them on a different release cycle than the mainline products was a mistake. Dropping the Turbos is a good move in my opinion.

As for Microsoft (MSFT) and the Express Editions of the developer tools (Visual Basic.NET, Visual C#, and Visual C++), I could be wrong about this but I seem to remember those free editions come with licensing limitations. The biggest limitation effecting people like you and me is that you cannot release commercial software built from the Express editions. That may have recently changed, I don't really know. And I don't know what the other limitations are with the Express editions, but I'm sure I still need to have my licensed professional edition instead of the express edition.

I think CodeGear is also now going after a different type of developer than Microsoft. Microsoft is king in the corporate world. But there are plenty of other shops in the world and I think CodeGear recognizes this. In the micro-ISV world Delphi is on the rise. I read the private forums at ASP and the number of Delphi developers is growing. Many are ex-VB developers who do not want to go to VB.NET. Others are looking for a better development experience compared to other products such as RealBasic.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, CodeGear needs to separate from Borland. It needs to be a private company and remain small and agile. And they need to continue targeting the non-corporate developer. I feel CodeGear can be hugely successful in its market if it can separate from Borland and the bad press of Borland.

-----------

I must say, I totally agree with Kirby's statement about CodeGear needing to separate itself from Borland and really maintain a developer focus and a clear marketing message. I'm a huge fan of Delphi, and CodeGear's Delphi for PHP (which, I hate the NAME of) is getting my attention, and their Third Rail (Ruby development platform) is also interesting.

But, they really need to start getting consistent releases out the door and instill confidence in the marketplace that they, and their products, will exist regardless of how poorly Borland (BORL) does - which, as evidenced by their stock price lately, doesn't appear so hot. Kirby is right: getting rid of market confusion by dropping those "Turbo" products is a good step in the right direction. Now, I'm just waiting for the inevitable release of CodeGear Delphi 2008 - which I sure hope isn't too far away now.

Linux : Gnome 2.20 Final Released

One of the two dominant desktops for the Linux Operating System, Gnome, has just been released in its latest version 2.20 update (the other major desktop being KDE).

Every time a new release of these open-source desktops for Linux comes out, I can't help thinking that it is only a matter of time before Linux grabs some serious market share from Microsoft (Windows - be it XP or Vista or even Server 2003 or Server 2008). Why? Because these desktops are making serious advancements in usability, and catching up to Microsoft (or exceeding its products) on many levels.

Some of the latest Gnome 2.20 features that really caught my attention include the following:

• The password-management feature that allows network-wide passwords (to servers you commonly log on to) to be saved (encrypted) in such a manner you don't have to keep re-entering them every time you access the network is a huge plus for me. They call this keyring management - I call it quite handy! Now, I will still have to wait for my favorite Linux distributions to support this, but I expect the major ones like Ubuntu will soon do so.
  
• There has been some nice simplification of the control panel applet with regards to desktop appearance settings. It consolidates various disparate settings panels (like theme, background, font) into one simple interface. I'm all for simpler UI's!
• File-Management in general looks a lot better and is more functional. This ranges from simple things like displaying a graphic of how much disk space is free/used on your drives, to automatic orientation of photos (i.e., auto-rotating pictures to be "upright" upon import from a camera).
• Email, web-browsing, PDF-Viewing, file-searching, and note-taking are also all improved. I won't get into details here, but the various changes will surely be welcome by most users.
• For developers, the new syntax-highlighting improvements in gedit should be very useful! I know I am going to definitely reap the benefits of this, especially when I need to quickly edit some code while on a Linux system where I don't have any particular "fancy" editor installed.
  
• For notebook computers, I find their approach to guaging how much battery-life remains to be quite innovative and useful, since they keep track of how your battery has performed over time, and use that data to better predict true battery life (quite particular to your computer).
  
• Not necessarily a Gnome (desktop) feature, but nice related product: their new Gnome Online Documentation Website - which is a huge improvement, and makes myself and others much more likely to be able to find the information we need quickly.
  

The full release notes can be found here: Gnome 2.20 Release Notes.

If you haven't given Linux and Linux Desktops a look in a while, it's always a great time to do so. Unlike Microsoft operating systems, you can get a Linux OS up and running in no time, with pre-installed applications, just by using a "LiveCD" or "LiveDVD" - I highly recommend that for evals!

Another thing I actually quite prefer about the Linux desktops (vs. the latest Microsoft offerings) is that Linux desktops tend to focus more on features that really matter to productivity vs. what I consider just superficial glitz (and, further coupling to MS-only closed technologies). And, I can get a default install (to a hard-drive) of Linux up and running in as little as 10 minutes, compared to hours and hours installing and updating Windows.

If you really want a feel for how Microsoft has bloated an operating system, with a very low bloat-to-value-added ratio, just check out Windows Server 2008. I installed the "web server edition" beta a while back (which took hours) only to find out it had grown to something like a 10GB install (from something like 2GB under Windows Server 2003 Web Edition). I started poking around in the folders to see just Gigabytes of crap (like high-res images, etc) - for what? For god sakes, I wanted to test a web-server!? I don't need 3D interfaces or anything else - just IIS.

Supposedly, Microsoft has improved this in later release candidates, but fact is, if I want a slimmed-down efficient server, Linux has my attention first (aside from fact that for IIS, I pretty much need a Windows Server OS - who would have guessed... more of that MS tight-coupling of apps and operating systems!) Likewise, if you want an efficient and useful desktop operating system, Linux is available and delivers value (heck, its FREE) and features that should take care of most destop users' needs (any needs that are non-Windows-specific at least).

Ohio Election - Obama or Clinton?

The State of Ohio 2008 Presidential primary takes place this Tuesday.
So, which candidate should I vote for: Senator Barack Obama or Senator Hillary Clinton?

Simple answer for me: Barack Obama.
Why?

He's as far from the "typical" candidate we have, and the typical Washington politics just are not cutting it with regard to the concerns paramount to the middle-class these days: economy, health care, foreign policy, etc. We need some serious change of direction.

Prior to an earlier blog a month or two ago about supporting Senator John Edwards, I have never expressed any political opinions on my blog. I was disappointed to see Edwards get no further than he did (though, it wouldn't surprise me if he jumped on as a Vice Presidential candidate for Obama yet). I liked Edwards because he very openly attacked "business as usual" in Washington, and though his message seemed to not be enough to get votes early in this campaign, similar messages from the leading candidates are now acceptable it appears.

Barack has definitely taken up where Edwards left off, and he seems emboldened enough to really try to make a difference in Washington. Don't get me wrong here: it's not just because he is a Democrat that I like him. If there was a great Republican candidate that was focused on fixing some of what's wrong with this country, I'd certainly consider them also. But, the Republican ticket looks like it'd simply lead to another 4 years of a Bush-like era, where Ohio has experienced a less-than-positive effect from those economic policies (according to 60 minutes this evening, the median income in Ohio has dropped 10% during Bush's Presidency - and that is just scary!

So, here I am blogging about my hopes that someone, Barack Obama in particular, will focus on our own Country as much as the current administration is focused on the Middle East and moving jobs to China and abroad. We CAN reverse this massive sucking sound (of all our Capital being sucked out of the USA at a record pace for war spending, Middle East and foreign oil, and Chinese goods). We can, instead, use Ohio's manufacturing might to build solar cells, windmills, and other products that will wean us off this foreign cash-draining oil! We also have some leading health-care technology manufacturers here too, that could certainly help spread modern health-care to the masses (presuming we implement a universal health-care system somehow).

Something has to change. Here's hoping Barack Obama can be the vehicle of change that will help Ohio, and the rest of the United States, start moving in a direction that addresses the concerns of the middle-class and the less fortunate. How can we continue to ignore the issues that are weighing heavily on the Country? Again, the evening 60 minutes piece tonight should give anyone concern (if you didn't see it - the piece about how medical "rescue" operations, that formerly were helping outside this country, are now helping with the crisis of uninsured here in the USA - it was just downright scary how close we all are to being dependent on the goodwill of others).

We need to start treating people, our friends and neighbors, as more important than the insane pursuit of ever-more money and ever more consumer goods. This is not to say I don't believe in business pursuits, Capitalism, or improving one's self and economic position. But, if the health of our people is less important than cheap consumer goods and electronics, what does that say about where we are as a culture? Let's adjust our priorities a bit and start putting our own health at the top of the list. And, this opinion is coming from someone that has health insurance and has what should be adequate coverage -- but, from someone that clearly sees how little it can take to move ANYONE from the ranks of healthy and insured to uninsured and at risk. It's just not something people should have to be so worried about.

We're the only major industrialized and "advanced" economy in the world without National health-care. It's time for change. So, bring it on Barack Obama, and I wish you luck getting the rest of Washington on board! And, I really want wind and solar power (and American energy independence) to boot!

eBayDesktop Adobe Air Review

Adobe AIR - Rich Internet (cross platform) Applications?
Perhaps you are not yet familiar with the new Adobe AIR technology (if you are... skip forward to the Ebay/Adobe-Air section), so I'll try to give you a quick explanation of what it is, and how eBay is using (or is trying to use) this software for an enhanced interface to its auction site. Basically the concept behind Adobe AIR is to allow for a "richer" Internet experience for applications, much like you see with Adobe / Macromedia Flash type graphics, but with more real functionality that you'd expect from true software "applications" (as compared to just web sites).

First of all, Adobe is not the only player in the RIA (Rich Internet Application) domain, as their are many competing technologies that can deliver robust applications that happen to use the Internet - this includes Java, JavaScript (and AJAX type stuff), and even traditional Windows 32 executables (yes, you can EASILY write a Windows application that interacts with remote databases over the web, etc - I've been doing it for 10 years or more now).

The end goal of all these techniques is to provide users with the functionality they have come to expect from desktop applications (whether that means Microsoft Windows based apps, or Apple OS-X apps, or Linux Gnome / KDE - or GTK / QT respectively - apps). Fact is, these are all just nifty graphical layers and widgets that allow for a rich user experiences, and they all be used to interact over the Internet, though the "holy grail" of cross-platform identical experience is an elusive one (and will exclude Windows executables by default, and will generally exclude other technologies for one reason or another too - though, Java can certainly deliver an almost identical experience for the same application interface on multiple platforms).

Ebay and Adobe AIR
Well, either way... on to the eBay (attempt at a) user-interface that is implemented with the Adobe AIR product. Bottom line: IT SUCKS! OK, it has *potential*, but it is so darn buggy I quit using it within 20 minutes, uinstalled the Adobe AIR runtime, and went back to eBay's standard web-browser interface, which works MUCH more consistently. I couldn't find any way to search completed items at all with the AIR-based product either - and that annoyed me. But, functionality aside,...

First of all, the eBay user interface is strange, with drop-down menus that overlap with areas of the GUI, and remain there until you close them manually. That's bad enough, but I kept experiencing random menu-opens when I did nothing to prompt them. Then, buttons just stopped working... the software application (eBayDesktop.air) got into a state where I could not go "back" to the equivalent of my "My eBay" page / home page. Search buttons quit responding... and finally, the application eventually just plain hung and required Windows Task-Manager to KILL IT! (even that took repeated attempts). And, keep in mind, I was only using this thing for a few minutes.

Next, the UI (User Interface) just seemed sluggish and slow. I'm running rather modern hardware, and it just seemed dogged out. When I write custom Windows32 executables that interact over TCP/IP (via the Internet) to remote databases, etc, many users would never guess it's a "web based" application they are using, since it looks and performs identical to their normal Windows desktop applications. That certainly can not be said of this eBay Desktop implemented with AIR. Sure, the UI is "pretty" at first glance, but also pretty confusing. Non-standard look/feel everywhere. I think the graphics-artists tried a bit too hard at smoothing every corner on the screen -- equal attention should have been paid to smoothing out bugs!

What concerns me about the Adobe AIR technology is not its goal or merits -- it has potential -- but rather, I am worried that if one of their premier launch technology show-off applications (i.e., eBay Desktop) is this buggy, how is any smaller player ever going to create an AIR application that works and works consistently? I can't stake my business on a user interface that just hangs, or has inconsistent event-responses, and worse yet, requires the user to manually kill the process to exit the application (and restart in HOPES it was just a temporary problem).

I have a feeling the Adobe AIR technology is going to require some additional baking, and even more, the software developers that are to build applications with this technology are going to require some serious, real-world application code samples, best-practice code blocks / templates / quick-starts, etc., if they are ever going to make this work on a large scale. If history serves as an example, it will take a fairly long time for good, solid techniques to become common place. Sure, books will be available touting "best practices" and such soon, but no matter how many "advanced" or "expert" monikers are plastered all over those books, they ultimately tend to be just reprints of the (free) online help-manuals with a bit of fluff tossed around them.

RARELY does anyone (instruction book authors) dive into creating serious business applications -- they nearly always focus on fluff, games, child-like applications (especially when we're talking about something related to Flash here). So, Adobe (and eBay), if you want this technology to go anywhere, you best get to work on polishing your applications, and then releasing the source-code for how a "real" (business) application works, and some great building-blocks/templates for doing so. Perhaps then I'll consider this a real "rich internet application" technology. For now, I'd rather develop a custom Windows application using Borland Delphi (i.e., CodeGear Delphi) that can run on 90+% of the computers out there, and deliver stellar performance and a rich user-interface, whether for Internet applications or otherwise.

Advertising Simulations / Dramatizations

Am I the only one that thinks all these television advertisements featuring simulations and dramatizations (instead of REALITY) are a bit messed up? It really just tells me that the products being marketed do no really do what the maker claims.

Here's a prime example: teeth whitening strips. We've all seen the ads where some cute model puts these strips on their teeth and miraculously 7 days later their teeth could glow in the dark (with an *Asterisk beside the picture showing the "results" saying "simulated" or "dramatized", etc.). Or, how about laundry detergent where, after an hour, a very dirty garment comes out sparkling clean (once again, with a footnote stating how the results were simulated). Why?

This instantly turns me off, and will keep me from EVER buying the maker's product. Fact is, when you have these very short-term (anything a month or less) cause-effect type sales pitches, then if your product REALLY does what it claims, it would not be very much trouble to actually have your models show REAL before/after pictures (be it teeth whitening, laundry detergent, facial creams promising wrinkle removal, etc. etc.).

If ANY of these products really did what they claimed, wouldn't you (the manufacturer) absolutely want to show "proof" of that? Yes, of course you would. Which is exactly why I am convinced all these products (that can't replace their "simulations" with real time-lapse) are pure junk and a waste of money. If there is a teeth-whitening strip out there that works, I dare a manufacturer to recruit a series of people from the public, have them use their product for a week, and show real before/after pictures (without touchup, without OTHER laser-whitening, etc. being used). I'd take that as proof, and try the product. But, I can nearly guarantee I'll NEVER see such an ad.

I am so sick of marketing bull*#$@ in this country! Marketers and advertisers have become so bad that they can essentially run an advertisement saying "this product is absolutely free", and then subtext (in VERY small print) that, in fact, the product actually will cost you some very real money. It's insane. Why would anyone believe anything like this? It seems to work, but I think it all despicable. If you make a product, then you best be straight about what that product is, how much it costs, and how effective it is. No more of this subtexting, fake (oh, I mean "simulated" or "dramatized") visual proof, and other weasel-like ways of dodging the truth!

I can't help thinking that things will never change though, because people continually purchase products based on false promises and simulated results. Even after they purchase a product marketed under these conditions and are disappointed, they continue to still hope the next dramatized product outcome will be what they too experience. Until people demand something more forthright from companies, this will persist. So, here I sit watching the TV every day completely and utterly annoyed by 90+% of all advertisements (since, at least that percentage are pure junk!).

And, before I forget,... on a related topic: how about those ridiculous trademarked phrases in ads? One that recently just about made me scream was the Dannon Activia yogurt ad that has a "Clinically Proven" sign up in a corner of the screen, which if you look closely, you will see a little "TM" beside it. How in the heck do you get away with trademarking the phrase "clinically proven" for god sakes? I have a feeling if *I* wanted to do so, I'd be denied, but if I have a large enough budget, some good lawyers, and perhaps a lobbyist or two, such a thing would be easy these days. It's all just insane!