All this week, I’ve been offering an opinion as to what I considered to be the best in terms of movies, political events, technology and sport events for 2009. The list is a personal one and therefore subject to discussion, but not argument.
So far, I’ve looked at what I thought were the notable movies, politics and technology events of 2009, today I will look at the notable sports stories that made a different in the past year. Let’s roll:
1. Tiger Woods. This is a no brainer. The idol falls from his pedestal and is now vulture food for the media. All of his great sports accomplishments will be lost because of his inability to keep his pants zipped or his mistresses silent.
2. Michael Oher. A rookie offensive lineman for the Baltimore Ravens whose life story was played out in the movie, “The Blindside.” He’s the best “feel good” story of 2009.
3. Steve McNair. Former quarterback of the Tennessee Titans who died this year after being murdered by his mistress (Tiger Woods, are you taking notes?).
4. Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl. This was a match up, that on paper, was a blowout for the Steelers. The problem was that the Arizona Cardinals don’t play on paper. They showed up and were within one minute of pulling off the upset. Only a fantastic catch by Santonio Holmes in the end zone with 35 seconds to play gave the Steelers the victory. It was one of the best last two minutes of a Superbowl game in a decade.
5. Jack Kemp. This former politician died this year and while he was remembered for his political accomplishments (and they were many), he should also be remembered for his playing days in the American Football League and the NFL with the Buffalo Bills. He helped organize the player’s union for the AFL and was instrumental in getting player equality in the AFL & NFL locker rooms. After his death, President Barack Obama praised Kemp’s work on race, adding that Kemp understood that divisions involving race and class stood in the way of the country’s common goals.
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This will be my last post of the year. My hope is that the coming New Year will bring you more peace and happiness than you think you are rightfully entitled to. Happy New Year!
All this week, I’ve been offering an opinion as to what I considered to be the best in terms of movies, political events, technology and sport events of 2009. The list is a personal one and therefore subject to discussion, but not argument.
So far, I’ve looked at the movies and technology events of 2009, today I will look at the political stories that made a different in the past year. That said, let’s roll:
1. The Inauguration of Barrack Obama. In the history of our republic, this has to be the number one event of all time. He’s the first man to be elected President that comes from a state admitted to the union after 1912. Yeah, there’s other things that I could mention where he’s the first, but the state thing is pretty cool and often overlooked. He’s from the last state admitted to the union and his Vice-President is from the first state admitted. Again, a pretty cool fact. As Stan Lee would say, “’Nuff said.”
2. Protest in Iran. In what was supposed to be a rubber stamp election for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, protest broke out when reform candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi was declared the loser “by a landslide.” Fueled by the internet and Twitter in particular, the world saw Iran put down the protest violently. It was a public relation nightmare for Iran, as all appearances of a “democracy” were swept away by the brutality and bloodshed. And the blood is still flowing.
3. The Party of No. The Republican party refused to be part of the Government in 2009. They offered no alternates, no compromise and no ideas. They refused to accept any responsibility for the financial chaos they created during the previous eight years. And collectively have hoped that the fiscal ditch they left the country in, deepens so that they can sing their one note song of “tax cuts” as the cure for the economic malaise in a hoped for victory in 2010. They have been obstructionist all year long. For example, because of senate rules, Senator DeMint, a republican from South Carolina, has been able to hold up Obama’s nominee for the TSA because he didn’t want TSA employees to join a labor union. Now he will be part of the hearings next week to ask why there was a failure at the TSA on the Northwest flight Christmas Day. By refusing to be part of the solution, the party of Lincoln has become solidly identified as part of the problem.
4. Foxnews. This cable network gave up all pretense of being a “fair and balanced” news organization and showed itself to be a political broadcast platform for anyone opposed to Barrack Obama. They gave a pulpit to the birthers, the Tea Baggers and any right wing organization that encouraged revolution. The Australian-born Rupert Murdoch seemed intent on using his American companies (which include Foxnews and the New York Post) to sow the seeds of discontent and distrust of the current White House occupant (before he even took office) and drive up the price of gold which he has Glenn Beck hawking almost daily.
5. Healthcare vote. Just that fact that a bill actually cleared both houses of Congress is a miracle. Is it perfect? No! But once you have a law in place, it is easier to change it, then it is to create it in the first place. For good or bad, the Democratic Party has created something with practically no Republican support that they will own for the next two decades. Healthcare, like Social Security, will be part of the American consciousness as an entitlement from this day forward, despite the efforts of the party of ‘no.’
All this week, I’ve been offering an opinion as to what I considered to be the best in terms of movies, political events, technology and sport events for 2009. The list is a personal one and therefore subject to discussion, but not argument.
Yesterday, I looked at the movies of 2009, today I will look at the technology stories that I thought made a different in the past year. My list won’t include stories about service outages (Blackberry, Livejournal, Twitter, Facebook, etc) or new phones or Windows 7. My list is about notable tech and the applications that made a difference. That said, let’s roll:
1. The switch from analog to digital TV. In June 2009, all television signals in the United States switched from analog to digital. The lower band analog signal is now reserved for emergency services and (this is a biggie) can now be auctioned off to companies that will be able to provide consumers with more advanced wireless services (such as wireless broadband). In short, the picture of American homes dotted with big and tall TV antennas has gone the way of the dodo.
2. North Korea says it put a satellite in orbit. We say they didn’t. On April 5th, North Korea launched a rocket that they said put a satellite in orbit. Within 30 minutes of the actual launch, the United States had satellites photos of the launch and the rocket’s failure to achieve orbital altitude. In short, we were in a position to call their launch a failure before they were ready to admit there was no satellite transmitting the Song of General Kim Il-sung and Song of General Kim Jong-il to the North Korean people.
3. Facebook saves a man falsely accused of a crime. A man’s Facebook page provided an alibi for a him after he was accused of a crime 12 miles away. The Facebook records for Rodney Bradford were subpoenaed and they did, indeed, show Mr. Bradford had just posted a comment about his pregnant girlfriend and her desire for pancakes on Facebook about one minute before two men 12 miles away were being robbed. This information validated Mr. Bradford’s alibi that he did not commit the crime.
4. Microsoft ordered to stop selling Word 2007. Microsoft lost a lawsuit to a Canadian company that patented a way to read and edit XML coding. Next to Windows, Microsoft’s next biggest cash cow is MS Word and despite the company’s protest to the contrary, losing this suit hurts them. Still, there are deals out there for consumers looking for Microsoft Word or the Office suite, in the near term. For example, as of today, Office (student and home version) is now selling for under $100 which is a 33% reduction from its regular price.
5. Wireless Battery Charging Pad. This is a product from several manufacturers that just makes sense and one wonders why it wasn’t available sooner. The product uses magnetic induction (the same tech used in your rechargeable toothbrush) to charge cell phones and IPods. You lay your device on the pad and walk away. The device recharges quickly (well as fast as your device would charge using USB 2.0). Again, just a product that makes a ton of sense to someone like me who has a lot of portable device, all requiring dissimilar chargers.
In previous years, I would do an end-of-year review of fan fiction that I’d written in the preceding year. I don’t do that any more. So over the next four days, I shall opine as to what I considered to be the best (or most notable) in terms of movies, political events, technology and sport events of 2009. The list is a personal one and therefore subject to discussion, but not argument.
We’ll start with what I consider to be very, very good noteworthy movies for 2009. But to be clear, if a movie is on this list, I actually saw it in a movie theater and therefore I’m providing a comment on the movie as well as my movie going experience. These are movies that I would buy the DVD to see again with my family.
1. Up. – Ed Asner should get an award for his voice work in this film. I think it is impossible to not be emotionally invested in this movie after the first 15 minutes. To me, it was the best movie of the year – I cross my heart.
2 . Monsters vs Aliens. – I loved this movie about a young woman named Susan who fate backhands on her wedding day. We watch Susan grow (no pun intended. Okay, pun intended) to not only accept her fate, but embrace it and realize that she is much more than she thought she could ever be. This movie is full of teachable moments for parents and kids.
3. Night at the Museum (Battle of the Smithsonian). – This movie was funny and very witty in spots and that comes from someone who is far from a Ben Stiller fan. Yet, there is a great teachable moment in this film when General Custer (Bill Hader) confides in Larry (Ben Stiller) that despite his successes (and he had many during the Civil War), he will always be known for his failure. Sometimes, your legacy will be the last thing you do as opposed to a lifetime of achievement. (Are you listening, Tiger Woods?)
4. Avatar. – Ten years in the making and fantastic special effects makes this often told tale of the spy going native a delight to watch. Yes, it will beat you over the head with its environmental message (much worse than Happy Feet), but when the movie is over, you will find yourself saying, “Wow!” That’s the mark of a good movie.
5. The Blindside. – Sandra Bullock’s finest film in a decade, period. Quinton Aaron should be at least nominated for an award. He and Bullock have great chemistry in this film. Based on the real life story of Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman, Michael Oher, this is a movie worth watching more than once.
Honorable Mention (without comment) : X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.
In August, I wrote here about the Canadian company, i4i, that successfully sued Microsoft for patent infringement relative to Word’s XML editing and displaying capability. Well, Microsoft’s appeal of the judgment was not upheld, so sales of MS Word 2007 must stop in the U.S. if it contains the infringed patent code.
In August, I suggested that Microsoft would do to i4i what they did to Stack, Inc. That is, they would license the patent technology, give i4i a big payout and in addition to the violation judgment and then literally put them out of business within a few years. That would have been the Bill Gates approach to business. But this is the kinder,gentler Microsoft.
On January 11, 2010, Microsoft will sell MS Word 2007 (Office 2007) without the XML coding. Period. Office 2010 will not have the code in it either. Microsoft claims the feature “is little used.” That very well may be the case since Microsoft is not prepared to invest with the technology owner to include the capability in future MS Word releases. Or it could be that Microsoft will create its own proprietary code that will be purposely incompatible with the i4i patent with the intent of killing i4i’s market share. That would be an approach that would do Bill Gates proud.
But here’s where we, the consumer, really win. For the next two weeks, look for major price reductions on the Office 2007 suites, and Word 2007 in particular, as Microsoft offers steep price incentives to clear product off the shelf by the deadline rather than buy it back from vendors. If you don’t have Office 2007, now maybe a good time to buy it.
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