Song of the Day: Black Lab - Mine Again

Have I mentioned how much I like independent music? Who needs a record label anyway?

Here is a great song from Black Lab's third album, Passion Leaves a Trace:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvl0ML7r_bg

Traffic Enforcement: It's all about the money.

In case there was any doubt (I realize that there wasn't, not among intelligent people anyway), here is another story that demonstrates that traffic enforcement is not about safety. It's about money.

The Truth About Cars: "Louisiana: Parish Red Light Camera Program Caught in Bogus Billing Scandal"
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/louisiana-parish-red-light-camera-program-caught-in-bogus-billing-scandal/

Red light cameras are not about safety. Police don't care about safety. They care about money. Their job is to generate revenue. I have seen people run red lights in front of police and they don't care. I have been hit by someone who ran a red light. Police didn't care. You can see people run red lights every single day, around here in Atlanta anyway. Extremely dangerous.

Song of the Day: Joshua Radin - Closer

Here is a beautiful song I first heard on Scrubs. I think Scrubs was ahead of its time in showcasing great music as part of the show.

Song of the Day: Joshua Radin - Closer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HaTGAMbd8I

Life in the Beer League

Here is a very funny (and all too true) look at a hockey player's life in the beer league.

Life in the Beer League
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7192553/

Some of this is disturbingly accurate, I have to admit. But don't feel sorry for me! If you're reading this at the time it is first posted, I'll be on my way to the Thrashers game tipping one back in a private suite with my Beer League buddies as we celebrate our recent championship ("Champions! Hockey Time, 2010!").

Search Engine Optimization? Or Manipulation?

Here is an interesting post on the Daily Kos (never thought you'd see a Daily Kos link on this blog, did ya?).

Daily Kos: "A different way to make a big difference in 2010"
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/10/8/908577/-A-different-way-to-make-a-big-difference-in-2010

Essentially, what they are trying to do is coordinate their activity to identify online articles that are damaging to Republicans and drive those articles higher in Google search rankings, so that more people are exposed to those articles.

I don't see anything illegal about this. But it is interesting to see how technology changes the battle lines. It is important to be aware of the channels through which people get information, and to influence those channels if possible.

Will it work? I don't know. I don't have any inside information on this, but I think it's fair to say that people have been trying to influence search engine rankings for a long time. And search engines are aware of this and actively make changes to avoid being manipulated.

Song of the Day: Eminem - Not Afraid (live at T in the Park)

Eminem - Not Afraid (live at T in the Park)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8V2W_mRVVc

Did you catch Eminem on 60 Minutes last week?
CBS News: "Eminem's Incredible Rise to Stardom"
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/10/07/60minutes/main6936406.shtml

I find Eminem to be one of the most honest and talented artists alive today. I normally don't like rap, yet I find his music to be heart-felt and compelling. Watch the interview, see what he has to say about swearing in his house. He may surprise you.

The video I linked is from a concert in Scotland earlier this year. Based on what I heard in the 60 Minutes piece, this is something of a comeback tour for Eminem, and this song reflects his journey back from addiction. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it. Either way, I like the song.

The left supports vote fraud

The left supports vote fraud. I'm sorry, but it is true. We all know about the Acorn scandals. We know that the Left gives lip service to the issue, but doesn't care to address it because they benefit from it.

Here is a story from Milwaukee that clearly demonstrates the point. From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
"Groups protest voter fraud ads"
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/104816414.html

Most of the comments after the story "get it." So I'm going to let them do the commenting in this post.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/104816414.html?page=1

"Ummm, last time I checked voting illegally *is* a felony and does take away a vote from someone who voted legally. And these billboards are designed to scare people into not voting illegally. So what's this group's problem? Unless of course they are pro-voting illegally....but that can't be, right?"

In response to these signs targeting minorities:
"There's one in Pewaukee and one in Waukesha on Hwy 164 that I know of. High concentration of minorities.....yeah right."

Finally, again from the comments, here is a great question:
"If a person were to see a billboard that indicates that an illegal vote is a felony, and that person didn't vote at all because of that billboard... should that person be voting anyway? If that hypothetical person is swayed by a billboard that doesn't tell him/her not to vote, how can that person thoughtfully vote for his/her best candidate?"

Adios, GOOG-411

From the Google Blog:
"Goodbye to an old friend: 1-800-GOOG-411"
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/goodbye-to-old-friend-1-800-goog-411.html

Sad to see this very innovative service go away. Even so, I can understand why. Using GOOG-411 people could access Google when they were away from their computers. Nowadays "smartphones" surf the internet directly so there is little need for it.









10/08/2010 11:00:00 AM
Back in 2007 we launched 1-800-GOOG-411, a voice-powered directory assistance service that connects you quickly to businesses across the U.S. and Canada. On November 12, 2010, we will shut down the service.

GOOG-411 was the first speech recognition service from Google and helped provide a foundation for more ambitious services now available on smartphones, such as:
Voice Search - search Google by speaking instead of typing.
Voice Input - fill in any text field on Android by speaking instead of typing.
Voice Actions - control your Android phone with voice commands. For example, you can call any business quickly and easily just by saying its name.
Our success encouraged us to aim for more innovation. Thus, we’re putting all of our resources into speech-enabling the next generation of Google products and services across a multitude of languages.

If you don’t use a smartphone, and you’re trying to call a business, you can send a text message with the name and location of the business to 466453 ("GOOGLE") and we’ll text you the information, or on Gmail you can use the new phone-calling features to call any U.S. business free of charge. Also, if you don’t have the free voice search app pre-installed on your phone, you can download it here.

Thanks for all the calls, and keep an eye out for all the innovation to come.

Posted by The GOOG-411 Team

Quote of the Day: Warren Buffett on converting thought into action

As I watch the strong reaction against the Left's policies enacted in the past two years I cannot help but be reminded of one of Warren Buffett's famous sayings. From the 2001 Berkshire Hathaway annual report:
"Predicting rain doesn't count; building arks does."

It is simply amazing to see the number of people try to claim they were against this health care debacle we have gotten ourselves into, or against the ridiculous levels of spending to try to support the economy without realizing that government spending produces exactly nothing (every penny spent on something was taken from someone else). Even Republicans, so-called fiscal conservatives, are guilty of this (voting yes on bailouts, for instance). Bear in mind that George W. Bush bailed out GM before he left office.

Well, it's not enough to say that you knew this would happen. Or that you support different actions now. Now it's too late. Actions count, not words. Actions when you could have done something. How did your representatives vote? Who did YOU vote for? Did you vote for "hope and change" without considering what it really meant? Shame on you if you did.

Don't just predict rain, build arks. Don't just talk, educate yourself and vote.