Jesse says...

I’m now particularly glad that I sent $15 to MoveOn… this is damn hilarious.

The Republicans are desperate.

The choice of Palin as VP could have initially been seen as an appeal to the evangelical base, to women voters, to small-town America. That argument could have been made, and while she was kept in a tightly-controlled, scripted environment, one could have almost been convinced that McCain and his party made a surprising, but effective choice of VP. Almost.

But now that they’ve let her into slightly less-controlled, slightly less-scripted environments—like news interviews—it’s obvious the lack of vetting and preparation that happened. The choice of Palin was a desperate move. It’s readily apparent to even the few Republicans I know that she’s just not that knowledgeable about the issues at the core of this contest. She comes across as entirely unable of thinking on her feet, only capable of parroting the script she’s already been given.

I would feel bad for her, for being so out of her league, but she did say “yes” to the job offer…

I’m going tonight… anyone else gonna be there?

“Ben Edwards, an Arden Hills resident who crossed the 35W bridge every day on his way to work in Eden Prairie, said he didn’t want Minnesota “to miss an opportunity to do something special with this bridge,” including a unique design and transit options. He said that his commute was no picnic before the collapse and isn’t much different now, and that he’d be willing to wait for a bridge that did more than increase vehicle capacity.”

New bridge need not be short-sighted, ugly.

From my new Brazilian friend Sunny:

This is to remember and think about how we’re treating elderly people today. People forget that they know a lot and they’ve been through a lot.
It’s a British band with 40 people with more than 90y/o, singing “My Generation” from The Who.
The documentary maker Tim Samuels brought together the 40 old people, including pensioners tired of life in old age homes and those suffering from social isolation in their own communities

The Zimmers, performing “My Generation”. Absolutely amazing

Last November I received an email from someone at America’s Most Wanted. They were looking for a student from Kansas City named Jesse Ross, who had gone missing during a trip to Chicago. They got in contact with me with the hopes that I might be him.

Hi there,

I’m an Associate Producer at the TV show “America’s Most Wanted.” This might sound ridiculous – but a man named Jesse Ross from Kansas City is missing. He was last seen in Chicago. I’m just writing to make sure that you are not the same Jesse. Sorry for any confusion – just trying to help the Ross family locate their son.

Thanks,

Jenna Naranjo
Associate Producer
America’s Most Wanted

Today, I received an email from Jesse’s family. He’s still missing, and they’re really hoping that someone can provide them information as to his whereabouts. If anyone out there knows anything about Jesse, and can help them out, please contact the Chicago Police at 312.744.8266.

Our Jesse Ross is missing, maybe you could give him honorable mention on your site. Thanks, Don, Donna, Andy, and Jesse Ross

Donald Ross

When I first started learning Chinese, I looked at everything. One of the first things I found were the Pimsleur Audio Lessons, which are totally amazing (I highly, highly recommend them). The only issue about them is their cost — they run about $250 per section, of which there are three. I didn’t really want to fork out $750, so I decided to check out my local library. Now, the Minnesota suburbs are not very well known for linguistic diversity, but surprisingly enough they had copies of the lessons. The lessons were not provided by the library, however, but as a downloadable audiobook via NetLibrary. I’m a tech-savvy guy — a downloadable file doesn’t worry me. The only thing that did worry me was that they were provided as Windows Media files.

So, I downloaded the files, and downloaded a copy of Windows Media Player for the Mac. No problem. Open the file… no luck. Huh? Then I read the FAQ:

Q: Can I download and play an eAudiobook on a Mac?
A: No. eAudiobooks cannot be played on Macs because the latest version of Window Media Player available for Macs (version 9) is based on Windows Media Rights Manager version 1.3. We use version 2.x licenses for downloadable eAudiobooks in order to maintain a high level of security.

Q: Can I download and play an eAudiobook on an iPod?
A: No. eAudiobooks cannot be played on iPods. iPods use the .aac file format and the .aac file format does not support the Digital Rights Management (DRM) protection required by our eAudiobooks at this time. DRM protection helps ensure that the content of our publishing partners is secure, especially when items are checked out from the library’s collection and borrowed by a user rather than purchased. This Digital Rights Management technology allows checked out items to expire on the due date.

So, no luck. I can rent books from the library, even CDs and movies, and none of them are locked down to prevent how I want to use them. But, apparently, not all audio content is created equal. Don’t even mention the chances people using Linux or BSD would have trying to listen. Should the library not provide fair and equal access to all patrons? I understand wanting to be monetarily rewarded for one’s efforts… but at the cost of locking people out of a cultural institution, which, by all accounts, they are already monetarily supporting in the form of tax dollars?

DRM creates a lock-in. It denies people choice and robs them of their future. Most heinously, it traps culture in a box where access is granted only to those who have money and only for the time contstraints imposed by the jailer.

Don’t fall victim to the conveniences of DRM. Read more now.

I really hope that this passes — what a huge win that would be both for the public and for open standards:

Bill Introduced in Minnesota to Require Use of “Open Data Formats”

And remember: Open standards make the web go ’round.

I mentioned Kiva in a previous post, but about the time I found out about it, they had already fulfilled all their loan needs for their available businesses. Well, they’ve partnered with similar agencies in other parts of the world, and they have new businesses on their site that need your help. If you have the means to send a microloan ($25) to one of these businesses, do it. This is what the internet is all about — bringing people together to help one another.

Kiva is a site that helps entrepreneurs in developing nations start their businesses via microloans, a brilliant idea that demonstrates what is best about the internet. Offer a small loan, say $25, to a business — at the end of the loan period (usually 6 – 12 months), you are repaid. If, for some reason, the loan recipient defaults, the loan is considered a donation.