Fix for Android Apps Disappearing into Folders

One of the most frustrating things I’ve run into since making the switch to Android is that, quite often, when I go to move an app on one of my screens it just disappears. I eventually figured out that, for some reason, these apps were disappearing into seemingly random folders located on other random screens.

I’m currently using the Nexus S 4G and running the latest version of Gingerbread but from what I’ve read the issue may not be limited to Gingerread or the Nexus S.

The first work around I found was completely rebooting your phone sometimes, but not always, seemed to work and allow you to replace the icons that disappeared or move them to wherever you had originally planned on moving them.

The second work around is a bit quicker and actually seems to work better. Before you start moving or rearranging your apps kill all your running apps using the Advanced Task Killer app. The native app killing app may work just as well but ATK is the app I use.

I’ve found that killing everything with ATK and then rearranging seems to make everything go pretty smooth. No more disappearing apps so far. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Why MG Siegler "Quitting" Email Means Nothing and Why It Won't Work for the Rest of Us

MG Siegler’s announcement that he was “quitting email” elicited quite a few responses from both sides of the spectrum. Many people seemed to think it was a good idea while others thought it was a “dick thing to say”.

The problem with someone like MG making this kind of sweeping statement is that it means next to nothing for 95%, if not more, of everyone else out there grinding it out with email and whatever other form of communication or platform you can use to connect with people.

MG’s auto-response for anyone who does email is, “No longer responding to email, if you need me, you’ll figure out a way.”

Hmm, is there some way to qualify a “first-world problem” even more? “Elite first-world problem” maybe?

He goes on to say:

Yes, this sounds sort of like a pampered problem and perhaps somewhat of a dick move — I should be so lucky to get so many emails, right? But the reality remains: email is an absolute nightmare in my life. I dread it in the morning, I dread it more right before I go to bed. It’s always in the back of my mind, lingering.

You know who doesn’t have this problem? Construction workers, janitors, Wal-Mart employees. Maybe he should try that out one of those jobs for a month or so and see how that works out as part of his little “experiment”.

Maybe it’s the current economic client and knowing how many people are trying desperately to eek out a living by any means necessary but it really rubs me the wrong way to see someone who’s job it is to write about tech and to be in touch with people on a certain level to just up and declare something like this. It reeks of pretentiousness.

You know, I plan on cutting back on yachting for a month. It’s such a bore to constantly have to put the sails up and down.

Come on MG, you have dream job man, suck it up and deal with the email until the tech company you work for decides that they’re phasing out emails for the entire company you just come off as sounding pompous and out of touch.

Gmail Introduces Two New Themes to Preview Their New Gmail+ Look

Google already made the announcement earlier this week that they’ll be phasing out the Picasa and Blogger brands to more fully integrate them with Google+, it’s no real surprised that they’re doing the same thing for Gmail.

They may not be phasing out the Gmail brand but they did just release two new themes that are supposed to let you “preview” the eventual new look of Gmail. Both themes are basically the same although one is “dense”. The only difference is between this and the non-dense version is the other version seems to be double-spaced, a little too much space for my liking. I prefer the dense theme.

If you have right-side chat enabled in your Gmail Labs you’ll want to disable that otherwise it tends to make the theme look pretty funky.

I’ve been hoping for a new Gmail UI for quite a while and although I do think this is a step in the right direction I think there’s a lot more room for tightening up the UI and making it a just a little cleaner.

To activate the themes simply go into your Gmail settings > Themes and choose one of the two new options listed, they should be the last two themes listed.

What do you guys think of the new look?

Writing From Heart to Hand

I’ve been going through what feels like, and most likely is, the worst period of personal turmoil in my life. I’ve wanted desperately to continue to writing and updating this site and keep connected in some way to the people that actually read the other stuff I blather on about.

Unfortunately I’m not as good as writing from heart to hand as other excellent bloggers out there. Some people seem to be able to easily transition fairly seamlessly from random subjects to some fairly personal aspects of their lives. I definitely wish I was better able to make that transition myself.

I’ve thought about starting a random anonymous blog to write about this stuff but far too often in the past I’ve completely diluted my writing and whatever following I’ve had built up by going off on tangents thinking that the grass would be greener.

Part of the issue is that with all that’s going on I feel a bit as if I’ve lost who I am. I sort of feel like nothing really inspires me or makes me feel like writing. The kind of tech and brand strategy stuff I usually write about just feels forced and trite with everything else that’s going on in my life. I feel like a phony of sorts writing about that stuff when my mind is in a million different places, none of which have to do with that right now.

I know that eventually these things will all begin to work themselves out and thoughts, ideals and passions will return but until then I have to decide whether or not my personal life is of any interest to anyone or, more importantly, whether or not it would be beneficial for me to just be as honest as possible and share what’s going. Often just being able to write about it and even occasionally get some feedback and or support can be extremely cathartic.

Watch Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg "Threeway" with Lady GaGa

SNL brought out the big guns for tonight’s season finale.

50 Back Beer: The Brew of the Brave

If you’re going to throw back a few beers either pre or post-rapture, you may as well throw back a few while kicking a few bucks to a good cause.

Paige Haley and Kimberly Rogers of Pepperell, who grew up in military families, created 50 Back American Lager for that very purpose. Every time they sell a beer, they give half of the profits to groups supporting veterans, active service members, and their families.

So far the women say they have donated more than $6,000 in cash to charity, plus $4,000 in beer donations for fund-raising events. The nonprofits they’ve supported include the USO, Homes for Our Troops, the Ahern Family Charitable Foundation, the Massachusetts Soldiers Legacy Fund, and America’s VetDogs.

“Our priority is really just to say ‘thank you’ to our troops and veterans for their service,” Rogers said. “When my father passed away, I wanted to do something in his honor to say ‘thank you’ for his life of service. [Haley] said, ‘Well, why don’t we do a beer.’ I said, ‘Hmm, beer, all right. That’s an interesting thought.’”

Currently it’s only available in parts of Massachusetts and certain grocery store chains in North Carolina but you can check out their site at 50Back.com and buy a shirt or check out one of the links they have up to donate to organizations dedicated to helping veterans as well.

Bloomberg Grants Immunity for Alternate-Side Parking, Parking Tickets and Late Library Books for Anyone Caught Up in the Rapture

Well, one less thing to worry about I guess:

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on Friday pledged relief from the often-criticized rules, saying it was “official policy” in a doomsday situation. “Alternate-side parking will take on a whole different meaning, actually,” he joked in an interview with John Gambling on WOR-AM (710).

If the end of the world comes to pass, Mr. Bloomberg said, city residents will also not have to worry about returning library books or paying parking tickets. He noted that it would help ease the city’s traffic problems.

This is New York City though, I’m not sure how much the rapture will actually effect traffic congestion.

Dropbox Drops the Ball on Security

InfoWorld posted a great story about Dropbox getting caught doing the old slight of hand routine on the real nature of how secure your files are in their cloud storage system.

Sharp-eyed doctoral candidate Christopher Soghoian caught Dropbox in a bit of, uh, let’s call it an inconsistency. Here’s what he found.

Even though Dropbox claimed, “All files stored on Dropbox servers are encrypted (AES-256) and are inaccessible without your account password.” Yet the company also claimed, “If we detect that a file you’re trying to upload has already been uploaded to Dropbox, we don’t make you upload it again. Similarly, if you make a change to a file that’s already on Dropbox, you’ll only have to upload the pieces of the file that changed.”

How, Soghoian asked, could Dropbox find duplicate files — or detect which pieces of a file had changed — if it didn’t have access to the contents of those files? Dropbox responded with a resounding thud.

I’ve been praising Dropbox to anyone who would listen since I signed up over a year ago. I even paid for a year’s worth of service not too long ago. I’m starting to have some serious second thoughts about that.

So Dropbox’s site went from claiming:

Dropbox employees aren’t able to access user files, and when troubleshooting an account, they only have access to file metadata (filenames, file sizes, etc. not the file contents)… All files stored on Dropbox servers are encrypted (AES-256) and are inaccessible without your account password.

to:

Dropbox employees are prohibited from viewing the content of files you store in your Dropbox account, and are only permitted to view file metadata… we have a small number of employees who must be able to access user data for the reasons stated in our privacy policy (e.g., when legally required to do so). But that’s the rare exception, not the rule. We have strict policy and technical access controls that prohibit employee access except in these rare circumstances… All files stored on Dropbox servers are encrypted (AES-256)

Wait, it gets worse. They also added a new “provision” to their TOS:

We may disclose to parties outside Dropbox files stored in your Dropbox and information about you that we collect when we have a good faith belief that disclosure is reasonably necessary to (a) comply with a law, regulation or compulsory legal request; (b) protect the safety of any person from death or serious bodily injury; (c) prevent fraud or abuse of Dropbox or its users; or (d) to protect Dropbox’s property rights.

It went from they absolutely can’t access users files to ok, they can to well we’d only access them if the nice authorities at the DHS or the County Sheriff’s office asked them to.

Honestly my mind is still reeling about this. The guy who discovered this monumental gaffe filed a 16-page complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.

As a result, Soghoian has filed a 16-page complaint with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which asks the FTC to have Dropbox admit that it can get at Dropbox data, making your data vulnerable to an attack on Dropbox’s servers; require Dropbox to email its 25 million customers to warn them of the potential problem and suggest that customers encrypt their data independently; force Dropbox to refund money to people who paid for “Pro” service, if they felt they were deceived; and enjoin Dropbox from making future deceptive statements.

So, anyone have any SECURE alternatives to Dropbox?

Louis C.K. on Same Sex Marriage

I couldn’t have said it better. This is the most absurd topic of our times.

Serena Williams Posts the Sexiest Twitter Profile Pic Ever and Douchebag Tennis Writer Goes and Ruins It

Not only is Serena Williams one of the best tennis players of our generation she’s also one of the sexiest and not afraid to show off her natural curves. In a world where skin and bones is revered, I for one am happy to see a woman show off something besides her rib cage. In Serena’s case, it’s her booty.

Either earlier today or late yesterday Serena posted a new profile pic of a gorgeous, well done and elegant photo taken of her as her profile pic on Twitter. (It’s that ->>>> picture if you haven’t guessed.)

If I took a picture that hot not only would it be my Twitter profile pic, it would be on the cover of my family Christmas card. Still, you’re always going to have the stalker/rapist apologists out there who are going to blame the victim for what they see.

Last week, a man was arrested for allegedly stalking Williams, having gotten too close to her, too many times all over the country, even in her dressing room at Home Shopping Network. On Thursday, she has posted a new avatar on her Twitter page, a photo suggestive of us peeping at her through a lace curtain while she unknowingly looks the other way in white bra and panties.

It’s a sexy photo, she looks great and it’s not pornographic. To be honest, I would actually find it to be somewhat artistic if it weren’t for the serious business of stalking women. What was her message anyway? What was she trying to say? Just this: Look at me.

Instead, what she was saying was this: Peep at me, but don’t stalk me.

Seriously? A woman can’t share completely non-explicit, beautiful photos of herself online without inviting stalkers? Thanks for proving all the asshole-isms about guys right.

The fact that Serena has gone through what she has gone through, through no fault of her own, and still has the courage to be herself and not hide and be afraid is a testament of courage and should be applauded not questioned in a half-ass attempt to create derision of some sort.

Whether through the idiotic comments of the above mentioned blogger or not, Serena has since changed her profile pic back to an equally sexy pic of her in a tennis outfit. I blame the blogger. Regardless, to even pose this question as something that might have any substance whatsoever is irresponsible and egregious.

At best I would say it was a lapse in judgement on the writer’s behalf, at worst I would say it was an obvious cry for attention. Either way, it’s disturbing and uncalled for and I would hope you would consider publishing an apology to Ms. Williams.

Being Batman Ain't What it Used to Be [Video]

Damn, you know if you’re dressed up like the original Batman on the Las Vegas Strip, whatever the reason is, your life isn’t going exactly the way you planned. That being said, if you’re dressed up like the original Batman on the Las Vegas Strip you may not want to encourage the drunken rabble to “play” fight with you. Remember, it’s all fun and games until Batman gets knocked out.

Disqus Adds Cool New Feature For @Replies on Twitter

I went to leave a comment on a blog via Disqus earlier and got this nice, little message after clicking in the comment area.

Disqus has long had the option to simultaneously publish a blog comment on either Twitter or Facebook but this feature is rather intuitive and seems like a great way to help jump start conversations among individual users.

I’m definitely looking forward to using this feature in the future.

Microsoft Acquires Skype for $8.5 Billion

Microsoft made it’s largest acquisition since purchasing aQuantive in 2008 for $6.3 billion.

Press release:

Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: “MSFT”) and Skype Global S.à r.l today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Microsoft will acquire Skype, the leading Internet communications company, for $8.5 billion in cash from the investor group led by Silver Lake. The agreement has been approved by the boards of directors of both Microsoft and Skype.

The acquisition will increase the accessibility of real-time video and voice communications, bringing benefits to both consumers and enterprise users and generating significant new business and revenue opportunities. The combination will extend Skype’s world-class brand and the reach of its networked platform, while enhancing Microsoft’s existing portfolio of real-time communications products and services.

With 170 million connected users and over 207 billion minutes of voice and video conversations in 2010, Skype has been a pioneer in creating rich, meaningful connections among friends, families and business colleagues globally. Microsoft has a long-standing focus and investment in real-time communications across its various platforms, including Lync (which saw 30 percent revenue growth in Q3), Outlook, Messenger, Hotmail and Xbox LIVE.

Skype will support Microsoft devices like Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone and a wide array of Windows devices, and Microsoft will connect Skype users with Lync, Outlook, Xbox Live and other communities. Microsoft will continue to invest in and support Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms.

It seems as if part of the reason Microsoft made such a large offer over Skype’s original $7 billion asking price was to make sure that Google or Cisco Systems didn’t get their hands on the service. Google already has the fairly popular Google Voice as well as the fairly new ability to make VoIP calls and video calls right inside of Gmail, you can see why Microsoft wouldn’t want them to also take control of Skype’s user base as well.

Hopefully Microsoft’s first mission with Skype will be to improve call quality. While Skype’s video is probably the best around, their call quality leaves a bit to be desired. Second, please do something about the cheesy UI, it’s just horrible and was made even more horrible by the last update. There’s something to be said about beauty in simplicity.

I think this is a good buy for Microsoft if they are actually serious about leaving Skype basically intact. With their resources they definitely have the ability to elevate Skype even more because, like it or not, it’s definitely the industry leader right now. It’ll be interesting to see what, if any, improvements Microsoft makes to it.

Twitter Gets Separation Anxiety

Back in the good old days you used to be able to log out of Twitter and go on your merry way without giving it a second thought. Twitter hopes to change all that.

Now, when you log out of Twitter you’re redirected to a new landing page encouraging you to “go mobile” with a handy device guide on just how you can do that.

Fortunately this isn’t an issue for me because I stay logged into Twitter simultaneously from 7 different devices and 12 different clients. Still, I’m curious about what the rest of you think about this move? A nice, fresh reminder to stay connected or a needy cry for attention? I’m leaning more toward the former.

Zapd App Lets You Build a Website in Seconds

Zapd is an ingenious little app that makes it easy for literally anyone (with an iPhone that is) to publish photos and content to their very own website right from their phones.

If you have a ton of photos just sitting on your iPhone looking for a unique space to share with friends and family you definitely want to check out Zapd.

It’s a great concept with a lot of potential even if it is still a little rough around the edges. Here’s my Zapd page I created last night in less than a minute.

Zapd pros:

• Incredibly user friendly.
• Super fast and easy to create a site.
• It’s free (Although I would imagine there will be premium features available in the future).
• 20 free themes to choose from.
• Create an unlimited number of free sites.
• Sites are mobile optimized for and automatically show the best theme for phone, tablets of PC.

Zapd Cons:

• No ability to create custom URLs, someone will definitely need a link to get to your site. For example the Zapd URL I create is http://2s5t.zapd.co/.
• Once you’re on a Zapd site there’s no ability to “share” the site. No social media integration.
• Posts are shown in chronological rather than reverse chronological (typical blog order) so the oldest photo/post is always at the top. (Although this may be less of an issue if you think of Zapd in a different way which I’ll discuss after this).

As I was writing that last con it crossed my mind that not only is Zapd incredibly easy to use, it’s totally outside the box of other photo/content sharing apps and it doesn’t work to try and judge it by the same standards. The complaint about the posts showing in chronological order may be a valid one if you’re thinking of Zapd as along the same lines as Posterous or Tumblr or even Instagram or Picplz but I think that’s a mistake.

Each of those sites are permanent archives where you archive all of your content always and forever, which is why it’s important that the content be displayed in reverse chronological order so you’re not seeing the same photo every time you visit the site for the next two years. What Zapd allows you to do (and should be encouraging its users to do) is to create one-off Zapd sites for virtually every moment in your life. Go for a walk in the park? Here’s a Zapd for that. Kid learning how to walk? Here’s a Zapd for that.

Zapd’s strength isn’t in it’s ability to harbor every moment in your life in one place, it’s strength lies in it’s ability for you to create a clean, quick, one-off site complete with dozens of photos, comments and commentary about literally any life experience that is happening right now and share it with the world in a matter of minutes. When you think of Zapd like that it’s features become a lot more valuable.

Zapd Screenshots

[nggallery id=21]

Zapd in 60 Seconds

It's No Wonder the Baltimore Orioles Suck with Idiots Like Luke Scott Playing for Them

Luke Scott believes in God just not legal documents

You would think with everything else that’s going on in the country that President Obama’s decision to release his long-form birth certificate would allow everyone to move past this lunacy. Nope, legal documentation isn’t enough for MLB player Luke Scott.

Here’s what Scott told Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star:

“If they can counterfeit $100 bills, I think it’s a million times easier to counterfeit a birth certificate, if you ask me,” Scott says. “So, all it is, let’s just see if it’s real. Anybody can produce a document, so let’s check it out.”

It’s a little known fact that Luke Scott has been taking Counterfeit 101 correspondence courses for years now. Looks like Donald Trump has an early candidate for a presidential soul running mate.

Blogger Publishes His Final Blog Post from Beyond the Grave

Derek K. Miller: June 30, 1969 - May 3, 2011.

Here it is. I’m dead, and this is my last post to my blog. In advance, I asked that once my body finally shut down from the punishments of my cancer, then my family and friends publish this prepared message I wrote—the first part of the process of turning this from an active website to an archive.

If you knew me at all in real life, you probably heard the news already from another source, but however you found out, consider this a confirmation: I was born on June 30, 1969 in Vancouver, Canada, and I died in Burnaby on May 3, 2011, age 41, of complications from stage 4 metastatic colorectal cancer. We all knew this was coming.

That includes my family and friends, and my parents Hilkka and Juergen Karl. My daughters Lauren, age 11, and Marina, who’s 13, have known as much as we could tell them since I first found I had cancer. It’s become part of their lives, alas.

First, go get a box of tissues, then go read the rest of his goodbye.

"Here's $20, Buy Yourself a Flag"

Let’s all step back, take a deep, collective breath, and take an objective look at the overwhelming majority of facts that consistently show that a vast majority of peoples and families from all over the world, our nation included, regardless of religion, skin color or culture, have far more similarities than differences. Still, we are far too often taught to fear those differences rather than learn about them, perhaps even grow to understand and accept them.

Fear sells. Fear feeds distrust and bigotry. Fear keeps us divided amongst ourselves and distracted from the real threats to our livelihoods. More people are outraged about the neighbor down the street stealing a loaf of bread to try and feed his family than they are at the corporations for stealing hoarding the grain we need to make the bread in the first place.

A vast majority of the world, no matter their race or religion, are no different than any one of you. Most people want the same basic things, to be able to find a little bit of happiness in this crazy, fucked up world and raise their families in peace. If we’re going to make this work going forward we’re going to have to stop buying into the fact that the worst apples in any culture are in any way representative of an entire group of people.

Think of some of the most despicable groups of hate-mongers that claim to represent your race, whatever that may be. About 99 times out of 100, right minded people will insist that those small-minded groups in no way speak for them or the ideals they instill in their children. Why is it so easy to see a small group of irrational people from another country and assume that they speak for any significant number of that nation’s population.

This whole tangent came out as I was trying to think of a way to share a photo I saw on Reddit earlier this evening.

Via Reddit user XminusOne: I'm the only Caucasian in my part of town. I found this note on my windshield today...

Some of the comments are classic and show how truly insecure we are about race in this country…on both ends of the spectrum:

cc132: “Dear Neighbors:
I seriously appreciate the $20, but you can have it back. You don’t have to apologize for someone else’s actions just because you happen to be the same race. I know you aren’t all the same.

Seriously, though, I appreciate the gesture.

Thanks,
Neighbor”

clarencejohnson: It’s a goddamn shame, a stain on our national character, that African American citizens realize that the actions of one person of their race reflect on their entire race, in the eyes of the majority.

No white person would ever see another white person do something awful and think to themselves, “That makes all white people look bad. I better counter that.” We don’t have to, because we’re the dominant race.

It’s a goddamn fucking travesty that black people have internalized white racism so thoroughly that they see another black guy do something fucked up and know that their entire racial group will be judged for it.

calebros: i kinda disagree if one black guy lived in a white neighborhood, and his stuff got messed with. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume that one of the white neighbors would do something nice so that he doesn’t think they’re all the same.

granted the black neighborhood didn’t want to be assumed to be thieves where as the white neighborhood wouldn’t want to be assumed racist. but despite the different motivations, it is due to similar thoughts.

Any thoughts?

Google Chrome: It Gets Better

Beginning with one inspiring video, Dan Savage used the web to create the It Gets Better project–a movement that has generated thousands of uplifting videos that give hope to teens.

The Daily News Gets in on the Obama/Osama Photo Mashup Meme

For the past few years the line between so-called mainstream media and blogger media has been slowly dissapearing but I have to say this is the first time I’ve seen a major newspaper’s website jump on a viral photo mashup meme and publish so many of them.

For a minute I wasn’t sure if I was reading Reddit or the Daily News.

A couple more for reference sake of course.

This little girl can't catch a break. First she's miserable at the Royal Wedding, then she's miserable watching bin Laden get Black Opped

Call of Duty: Osama bin Laden

World Population to Pass 7 Billion on October 31, Contraception Programs Still Taboo

One subject that has the potential to be more controversial than global warming and religion put together it may be the subject of overpopulation. Regardless of your ethnicity, race or religion humans are biologically programmed to procreate. Embedded deep down in our genetic makeup is a drive to pass on our DNA and ensure our immortality.

The drive to pass on our genes is so deeply ingrained in our survival instincts, in fact it’s probably the reason humans managed to survive at all, makes having a rational discussion of what, if any, consequences might arise as a result of unchecked population growth nearly impossible.

Without a doubt it is an extremely tenuous concept to even suggest that there might be some deadly serious consequences if the current population of 6,916,225,353 continue to procreate completely unchecked.

The UN recently issued a revised report on its world population figures.

The report, “2010 Revision of World Population Prospects,” projected there would be 10.1 billion people on the planet by 2100, the first time it has looked that far ahead. But it said that if global fertility was just half a child more per woman than it expected, that figure could be almost 16 billion.

The October date for reaching the 7 billion mark is based on calculations from current trends and Hania Zlotnik, head of the U.N. economic department’s population division, said it should be taken “with a grain of salt.”

But Zlotnik told a news conference, “Stabilization of the population doesn’t seem to us as very probable at this moment.”

If only there was some simple solution to address this problem…oh wait.

UNFPA chief Babatunde Osotimehin said the latest global figures “underscore the urgent need to provide safe and effective family planning to the 215 million women who lack it,” a point echoed by pro-birth control advocacy groups.

Suzanne Ehlers, president of Washington-based Population Action International, called the new projections “a wake-up call for governments to fulfill the global demand for contraception.”

Who on earth could possibly be against providing family planning and contraceptive alternatives to people who want to have sex without the consequences of countless unplanned pregnancies? Who!?

Answers, opinions and complaints to that question and more start below in the comments section. What are you thoughts on the population boom the world is facing?

Bush Declines President Obama's Invitation to Ground Zero

Excerpt of Bush’s speech at Ground Zero right after 9/11.

President Bush: Thank you all. I want you all to know — it [bullhorn] can’t go any louder — I want you all to know that American today, American today is on bended knee, in prayer for the people whose lives were lost here, for the workers who work here, for the families who mourn. The nation stands with the good people of New York City and New Jersey and Connecticut as we mourn the loss of thousands of our citizens

Rescue Worker: I can’t hear you!

President Bush: I can hear you! I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people — and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!

Between all the rhetoric and the mission accomplished banners you would think that now, almost 10 years later, that the guy that started this game of international bounty hunter would want to be there to pay homage to the final chapter in that particular part of the story.

Nope.

“President Bush will not be in attendance on Thursday,” said his spokesman, David Sherzer. “He appreciated the invite, but has chosen in his post-presidency to remain largely out of the spotlight. He continues to celebrate with Americans this important victory in the war on terror.”

This isn’t exactly a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Piggly Wiggly. Methinks someone seems a bit terrified of what the public’s reaction to his presence might be at this event. Or maybe he’s just mad because Obama told him he wasn’t allowed to bring his bullhorn this time.

The Talking Dog That Just Can't Catch a Break

It’s been a long, rough day so I’m going for the lowest common denominator here. Normally talking animal videos make me cringe but there’s something compelling about this poor dog and his plight to just get some damned food.

Sometimes you just need a laugh even in its basest form. I smell bacon!

Dear Guy at Starbucks Watching a Movie on His Computer without Headphones

When you come to Starbucks whether it’s to relax or try and get some work done, it’s with the understanding that it’s a public place and not a public library. You expect a certain amount of conversation and noise but, theoretically, you also expect a certain level of respect from all the other people relaxing/working.

If you want to come to Starbucks and watch a movie on your laptop, for whatever reason, that’s fine but for the love of all that’s holy put on a set of headphones.

This guy has been sitting here for hours watching a movie, or tv or videos of some sort with the sound blaring out of his laptop. Granted, it’s not deafening or anything but it’s still highly annoying.

What makes it even more annoying is that it’s not even some clueless kid whom you might expect to not have enough sense to know that other people might be bothered by their lack of consideration for everyone else here, it’s a full-grown man.

I’m not a saint or anything nor generally do I consider myself overly concerned with what people think of me, but I cannot imagine myself in a situation where I would consider it OK to walk into a public place, open up my laptop, turn it up and start watching a movie. Why not just drag a portable TV, some bunny ears and a lawn chair and make yourself at home.

And so, in conclusion, you’re an asshole.

JerryDicks: A Site Devoted to Recycling Old Seinfeld DVDs in the Strangest Possible Way

Just when you thought that DVDs were incapable providing any viable form of entertainment JerryDicks comes along to prove you wrong. What is the deal with all these Seinfeld DVDs? Why are they all standing that way? These pretzels are making me thirsty!

Yes, that’s right. A site completely dedicated to creating finger wangs for every Seinfeld DVD ever made. See for yourself.