Again - spot on ...

There is a large contingent of pundits who apparently would be more excited about a new iPhone that looked entirely different but had the exact same components as the iPhone 6S than they are by the actual iPhones 7, which are shaped like the 6S but have amazing new components. I don’t get that mindset at all. It’s like being a car pundit and judging the new Porsche 911 with a “meh” because it looks like the previous 911, and never even considering what it’s like to actually drive the new car.

... as Gruber usually is.

... then again isn't the pundit thinking a reflection of modern society. It's all about appearance - forget capability.

Couldn't have put it better myself ..

Jeff Williams claimed that in 2015 Apple was the number two watch maker by revenue in the world, second only to Rolex. And Apple Watch was only on sale for eight months in 2015. If you think Apple Watch is a flop you are a moron.

... which is good - because Gruber makes his living out of this - I don't.

I have tweeted about this already - but I still find it fascinating. Capturing the information so that I can come back later and write something more considered. My thanks for making me think this way Graham.

...adjectives in English absolutely have to be in this order: opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose Noun. So you can have a lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife. But if you mess with that word order in the slightest you'll sound like a maniac. It's an odd thing that every English speaker uses that list, but almost none of us could write it out.

via Kottke

... and Stowe's position 

Read All About It

Beyond that, anti-Trump Republicans treat his voters like immoral enablers of a malignant boob. Should Mr. Trump lose decisively in November they’ll lord it over everyone, say “I told you so,” and accept what they imagine will be forelock-tugging apologies. Then they will get to work burying not only Mr. Trump but his issues.
That’s where the future of the GOP will be fought, and found: on whether Trumpism can be defeated along with Mr. Trump.
Mr. Trump would care about that if he cared about that.

... is I believe the word.

I got this running - all by myself 

I wonder if it will stay up when I close down terminal ?

LATER ::: Yes it will - managed to get the former command working .... now need to work out why my 'Music Feed' is not rendering correctly.

All caught up .... and I think I am there . You might notice that I have NOT been publishing as much here recently ... because I am publishing here. Over the past couple of weeks been transitioning my 1999 presence from Dave Winer's test space to here. Big thanks to Andy Sylvester for his help.

We had a few issues, but I think I am there. The posts from today and yesterday, are posts I had been making since August 11th that somehow got mangled. I could save them - but not here. 

Anyway - they are now all reposted - and now moving onto the backlog. At the same time playing around with the style sheet a little to move it closer towards my main blog at Beyond Bridges.

Trying to decide whether this is a good thing ... or a bad thing?

Overall - I think good - but there is an increasing number of these kind of things going on. That said, there probably always were - its just that now we know about it.

... Dave Winer writing on the passing of Gawker.

Now that the line has been crossed, it's fair to assume it will become standard practice for billionaires like Thiel to finance lawsuits until the publication loses and has to sell itself to pay the judgment.

Hmm - not so sure I agree. Gawker was the worst and lowest scum - with Nick Denton taking his cue from the British Gutter Press, despite his education and early days as an FT reporter. He should have known better, but in Gawker he led the pandering to the lowest form of taste. I am mixed about the ability to kill a publication, but it has always been possible.

Gawker made the mistake of writing things that were secret and really and truly added little value to the public discourse. Again, not a fan of Christine O'Donnell, and I get their defense - but why allow the writer to publish anonymously?

This time they picked on the wrong guy. I don't like Thiel. But if we don't like the laws - change them.

That said, lets say that Thiel doesn't like what The Intercept writes about him - I do not think he would take them on. Because they are writing journalism. Gawker was not journalism.

Apple: If we're forced to build a tool to hack iPhones, someone will steal it.
FBI: Nonsense.
Russia: We just published NSA's hacking tools

... Christopher Soghoian (@csoghoian) August 17, 2016

Read All About It.

... for very good reasons. That said, it accounts for seven of the top selling beer brands in the USA. I don't drink any of the other three either, but that is by-the-by. Most important fact to note?

Lite Beer is all Marketing, proving that in America, you really can rely on the gullibility of the public.

But there's more

Consider this

• Calories in a Bud Light - 145
• Calories in a Guiness - 126

Read All About It

The conclusion of this piece ....

For only a movement that swells into every street and across borders and does not give up can stop the warmongers. Next year, it will be a century since Wilfred Owen wrote the following. Every journalist should read it and remember it...

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

This is a great post from my buddy David Airey.

SHAMEFUL actions by Zara. A boycott by all of their customers should be the minimum. And they should pay at least double to every single artist for stealing their work and set up a foundation to support other artists.

.. but not what you expect in many ways. For a start - as a 'cover' artist - he was truly original. I also never knew that he illustrated this book - a staple of my library for many years ...

Read All About It

Love Maps

In his testimony, Plant says he doesn't remember ever hearing the track Taurus. He says: "I didn't remember it then, and I don't remember it now."
Plant says he heard earlier Spirit track Fresh Garbage on a compilation album that he bought in 1968.

Read All About It.

"After throwing the Bowmar under the bus I will not buy any Under Armour product again and will strongly encourage others not to purchase your products, unless you reinstate Sarah Bowmar as a sponsor," Phil Meyer wrote on the company's Facebook page. "For a company to stab hunters in the back after so many of us have used and endorsed your products is intolerable!"

and

"It will be interesting watching your whole hunting line of business go down the toilet," Stan Smyla wrote.

and

A petition to reinstate Sarah Bowmar's sponsorship deal has reached 6,400 signatures as of Tuesday morning.

Read All About it .... seriously 6,400 signatures? I wonder how Under Armour plan to survive !

In the end, even if you think Gawker deserved punishment, media organizations should not face the financial death penalty for a mistake, even a deplorable and egregious one.

Read All About It - The Grauniad weighs in on Gawker.

I mainly agree - but it wasn't a mistake - otherwise Denton could have done something about it way back. Instead he stuck two fingers up and said 'F**K you' - I am the press. We are above you. He was wrong.

... some times sooner than you think

Running through my music feeds this morning. Not one, not two - but three headlines .... jeez.

Former Nine Inch Nails Keyboardist James Woolley Dead at 50

3 Doors Down ex Matt Roberts dead at 38

Architects guitarist Tom Searle dies of cancer aged 28

RIP - all of you.

Post Script ... interesting how many names we do not relly know that provide so many emotional touchpoints in our lives.

Buddy Guy was on the same bill as Beck - and guess who did a surprise appearance?

one more