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Well, it's been an interesting week or two leading up to Macworld this year.
I notice that among other things, the rumor mills were very quiet until this morning. Then everybody jumped with iMac and Mini updates that have been on all the tech sites.
When it was first announced that his Steveness wouldn't be doing the keynote, there was a lot of bullshit hoopla about "what it means". As we know from his letter this morning, he's okay and that's not why they are doing what they are doing vis a vis Macworld. (For the record, I think it plays a small but not insignificant part in the choice.)
What I do know firsthand is that Apple has been planning on ditching Macworld for a couple of years now. IDG runs macworld, not Apple and it just isn't as important for them as it used to be.
Once upon a time, Apple needed Macworld to get the attention of the media spotlight so they could introduce new products with maximum impact. But at this point, Apple has the world's attention and doesn't need to a) spend lots of money to show at Macworld, and b) release products on somebody else's schedule. And that's why things are changing. The big trade show isn't as important to them any more.
But I tell ya, I'll sure miss the shows where Apple had a monolithic presence in the middle of Moscone's largest hall. Their booths kick trade-show ass, plain and simple. (Complete with massive movie theatre.) I'll enjoy the show just a bit more this year knowing it won't likely be this way again. (Then again, that's kinda what I thought last year, so you never know.)
This year should be an extra blast for me as I have a good friend from the midwest joining me out in San Francisco this year for the show. He's even getting me a tour of Apple headquarters in Cupertino. Can't wait!!
We will file our show reports from his soundproof suite on the club level of the San Francisco Grand Hyatt Hotel. Look for them in the coming days.
Previous show reports can be found in the links below:
For the first time in a decade, I'm getting to spend the holiday season with my family, rather than intensely preparing for a Macworld keynote.
Unfortunately, my decision to have Phil deliver the Macworld keynote set off another flurry of rumors about my health, with some even publishing stories of me on my deathbed.
I've decided to share something very personal with the Apple community so that we can all relax and enjoy the show tomorrow.
As many of you know, I have been losing weight throughout 2008. The reason has been a mystery to me and my doctors. A few weeks ago, I decided that getting to the root cause of this and reversing it needed to become my #1 priority.
Fortunately, after further testing, my doctors think they have found the cause%u2014a hormone imbalance that has been "robbing" me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.
The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I've already begun treatment. But, just like I didn't lose this much weight and body mass in a week or a month, my doctors expect it will take me until late this Spring to regain it. I will continue as Apple's CEO during my recovery.
I have given more than my all to Apple for the past 11 years now. I will be the first one to step up and tell our Board of Directors if I can no longer continue to fulfill my duties as Apple's CEO. I hope the Apple community will support me in my recovery and know that I will always put what is best for Apple first.
So now I've said more than I wanted to say, and all that I am going to say, about this.
Steve
As he makes clear in that last line, Steve doesn't much like talking about personal stuff like this.
Posted by heff on Monday, January 05 @ 08:58:02 CST (4 reads)
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Dock Ellis Dead at 63
If you don't know who Dock is, you might want to look him up. He did something pretty amazing one day.
Posted by heff on Saturday, December 20 @ 17:14:24 CST (16 reads)
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Jottings on Holiday Hiatus
Postings are likely to be few and far between for the next couple of weeks as I take some time out for the holidays.
Wishing everyone in the Jottings community a happy and healthy year-end celebration.
Posted by heff on Thursday, December 18 @ 09:04:43 CST (21 reads)
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Bettie Page, the 1950s secretary-turned-model whose controversial photographs in skimpy attire or none at all helped set the stage for the 1960s sexual revolution, died Thursday. She was 85.
Page was placed on life support last week after suffering a heart attack in Los Angeles and never regained consciousness, said her agent, Mark Roesler. He said he and Page's family agreed to remove life support. Before the heart attack, Page had been hospitalized for three weeks with pneumonia.
"She captured the imagination of a generation of men and women with her free spirit and unabashed sensuality," Roesler said. "She is the embodiment of beauty."
Posted by heff on Friday, December 12 @ 08:28:09 CST (29 reads)
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Posted by heff on Tuesday, December 09 @ 17:03:14 CST (26 reads)
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IL Gov. Blagojevich Busted for ''Selling'' Obama's Senate Seat
Our old pal Patrick Fitzgerald (Fitz!) has the details:
A 76-page FBI affidavit alleges that Blagojevich was intercepted on court-authorized wiretaps during the last month conspiring to sell or trade Illinois’ U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama for financial and other personal benefits for himself and his wife. At various times, in exchange for the Senate appointment, Blagojevich discussed obtaining:
* a substantial salary for himself at a either a non-profit foundation or an organization affiliated with labor unions;
* placing his wife on paid corporate boards where he speculated she might garner as much as $150,000 a year;
* promises of campaign funds – including cash up front; and
* a cabinet post or ambassadorship for himself.
Just last week, on December 4, Blagojevich allegedly told an advisor that he might “get some (money) up front, maybe” from Senate Candidate 5, if he named Senate Candidate 5 to the Senate seat, to insure that Senate Candidate 5 kept a promise about raising money for Blagojevich if he ran for re-election. In a recorded conversation on October 31, Blagojevich claimed he was approached by an associate of Senate Candidate 5 as follows: “We were approached ‘pay to play.’ That, you know, he’d raise 500 grand. An emissary came. Then the other guy would raise a million, if I made him (Senate Candidate 5) a Senator."
Game over, man.
UPDATE: More details are emerging:
The tapes reveal a two-term governor who no longer wants his job, badly wants cash and is determined to leverage a financial benefit out of his appointment powers.
He also appears to think little of the president-elect, whom he calls a "motherf***er" at one point.
"F**k him," Blagjoveich says of Obama during a lengthy call with top aides and his wife recorded on November 10th, "For nothing? F**k him.
There's more...
In the earliest intercepted conversation about the Senate seat described in the affidavit, Blagojevich told Deputy Governor A on November 3 that if he is not going to get anything of value for the open seat, then he will take it for himself: "if . . . they're not going to offer anything of any value, then I might just take it." Later that day, speaking to Advisor A, Blagojevich said: "I'm going to keep this Senate option for me a real possibility, you know, and therefore I can drive a hard bargain." He added later that the seat "is a [expletive] valuable thing, you just don't give it away for nothing."
Later on November 5, Blagojevich said to Advisor A, "I've got this thing and it's [expletive] golden, and, uh, uh, I'm just not giving it up for [expletive] nothing. I'm not gonna do it. And, and I can always use it. I can parachute me there," the affidavit states.
What a tool.
Posted by heff on Tuesday, December 09 @ 11:36:11 CST (23 reads)
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Prop. 8 - The Musical (The Interview)
Posted by heff on Monday, December 08 @ 07:55:07 CST (16 reads)
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Willie and Colbert - Little Dealer Boy (Best Xmas Tune Ever?!)
Posted by heff on Thursday, December 04 @ 07:47:24 CST (63 reads)
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Prop. 8 - The Musical
If you haven't seen this star-studded response to Prop. 8, it's freakin' brilliant.
Posted by heff on Thursday, December 04 @ 07:31:00 CST (22 reads)
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Odetta, the singer whose deep voice wove together the strongest songs of American folk music and the civil rights movement, died on Tuesday at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan. She was 77.
Posted by heff on Wednesday, December 03 @ 08:56:07 CST (20 reads)
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Elisabeth Hasselbeck's Macaca Moment on The View
Maybe somebody will finally pull the plug on this racist, homophobic, right wing, wack-job after she told Deepak Chopra to "go light a bowl of incense".
No, I'm not joking. She actually said this on national TV.
While attempting to reference Deepak Chopra's recent remarks on the Mumbai massacre (he implied the terrorists had an eye on America), a frustrated Hasselbeck first called him "Glitter Glasses Whatshisface," and then, dismissing his comments as beneath her recognition, muttered, "Go light a bowl of incense." Why stop there, Elisabeth? Tell those minorities how you really feel using the most stereotype-laden kiss-offs you can muster! If your stylist tries to dress you in another pirate shirt? "Oh, go take your AIDS pills!" Joy Behar got you down? Just say, "Whatsa matta, you-a? Something land in your spaghetti? Oh, what-a spicy meatball!" It's fun, easy, and guaranteed to get the letters pouring in!
Video via the link above.
Posted by heff on Wednesday, December 03 @ 08:48:39 CST (32 reads)
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Simpsons Packs 20 Years of Apple Jokes into One Segment
Posted by heff on Monday, December 01 @ 07:56:33 CST (20 reads)
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flickr Fryday (Tryptophan Coma Edition)
It's high-time I did another flickr Fryday posting, and what better Friday than the day after thanksgiving.
This will be a big one, so I'm sure there's something for everyone. Sit back and enjoy the weird, the wacky, and the wonderful...
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Mitch Mitchell, drummer for the legendary Jimi Hendrix Experience of the 1960s and the group's last surviving member, was found dead in his hotel room early Wednesday. He was 61.
Mitchell was a powerful force on "Are You Experienced?" the 1967 debut album of the Hendrix band. He had an explosive drumming style that can be heard in hard-charging songs such as "Fire" and "Manic Depression."
The Englishman had been drumming for the Experience Hendrix Tour, which performed Friday in Portland. It was the last stop on the West Coast part of the tour.
Hendrix died in 1970. Noel Redding, bass player for the trio, died in 2003.
An employee at Portland's Benson Hotel called police after discovering Mitchell's body.
Erin Patrick, a deputy medical examiner, said Mitchell apparently died of natural causes. An autopsy was planned.
Bob Merlis, a spokesman for the tour, said Mitchell had stayed in Portland for a four-day vacation and planned to leave Wednesday.
"It was a devastating surprise," Merlis said. "Nobody drummed like he did."
Reader BC adds:
End of an era. Most of the trio's contemporaries are dead or defunct. Pete Townsend is a deaf old man with a bad wrist. Clapton is still a good player, but so bloated with success that he doesn't create anything new anymore. Jeff Beck is still sharp, but works on cars more than guitars these days. Ron Wood is a rich old drunk and teen skirt chaser. Jimmy Page suffers from arthritis and a big ego.
Nobody plays even the ripping blues riffs anymore, let alone the soaring psychedelic sounds.
Rest in Peace, Mitch. Hope he's sitting-in in a drum-off between Buddy Rich and Keith Moon right now.
Posted by heff on Thursday, November 13 @ 07:41:13 CST (39 reads)
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Printer vs Cat
Posted by heff on Wednesday, November 12 @ 21:25:57 CST (59 reads)
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