Genuinely Cool Software Department (cont.)

Check this out! I can search Google by speaking into my cell phone! I actually don't mind typing on the iPhone virtual keyboard but this seems to work just as well. It will be interesting to see whether I end up using this in practice over the long term. I'm thinking of the following scenario: Suppose I'm reading a dead tree version of a book and I run across a word I don't know. Since I'm not reading my beloved Kindle, I'll pull my cell phone from my pocket, raise it to my ear, and say the words "define ichthyology" and lower it from my ear so I can read the result. Okay, okay, so realistically I'll actually be saying "define neocon bastard" but you get the idea.

It's not terribly accurate yet but I suspect I'll get the hang of speaking clearly and surely the software will improve. I saw another article in which the author says, essentially, just wait to see how capable the software is in six months! Methinks I'll be as accurate in speaking the word now as I currently am typing on the tiny virtual keyboard with my big mitts. We shall see.

But no way will these dead tree books ever replace the Kindle. :-)

The One We've Been Waiting For

For those who've been wondering "just how the HELL did this guy get elected?", YouTube (anecdotally) confirms what your ears have been telling you for the past two years. Swell!

Congratulations to President-Elect Obama!

Barack Obama won last night and he will be our next president. Conservatives ought to give him a chance and we ought to support him when and where we can. There are important issues on which he must be opposed, such as those involving the sanctity of life. My fears about the war on terror are somewhat quieted by the current state of the Iraq war and the fact that the president-elect has explicitly stated that he recognizes that Afghanistan and Pakistan must be dealt with. But even if those fears were to flare up again, I respect the office to which he has been elected; I respect the outcome of the vote that put him there; and I hope he is a good president. We need one right now. I have always been proud to be an American and I will always be proud of that.