Economic Crisis

Reading about everything that’s happening with the banks is kind of depressing. How the hell did the sh*t hit the fan so hard? The government just bailed out stinking AIG with a $85 billion loan. And all the pundits and experts think we haven’t seen the last of this crisis. When these companies mess up, we need to bail them out with taxpayer money? Or should the Fed keep printing more of our fiat currency, devalue the dollar, and cause inflation? This shows exactly why there needs to be regulation, because when they f*ck up this bad, it affects the whole economy. Deregulation? Free market principles? What the hell do you call the goverment buying up and controlling major financial institutions?

McCain and Palin are Just Talking Points (and Liars)

It’s pretty ridiculous. All they do is spew rehearsed and preplanned talking points. And they lie. They lie like crazy about everything - their own records, Obama, everything. Every interview I’ve seen where the reporter challenged McCain or Palin, they start stuttering, stonewalling, they lie, or end up repeating the same talking points even if it doesn’t answer the question. When they hit something they haven’t rehearsed before, it’s like they don’t know what to do, because no one told them what to say in those situations.

When you can’t articulate your own views and have to memorize things you’re told to say by political strategists, you’re not competent enough to be President or Vice President. I know Obama does the same thing, all politicians do, but at least when he’s thrown a curve ball, he answers with clarity and specifically addresses the actual question. That, to me, signifies a much greater level of intelligence, competence, and initiative.

Google Chrome

Well most techies know that last week Google released a new web browser called Chrome. It’s based on the Webkit rendering engine (also used in Safari) and from what I’ve seen and read, it’s very stripped down and simplified. As a web developer, it creates another browser I may need to test in, but considering it also uses Webkit like Safari, it’s going to adhere to standards very well. IE continues to be the biggest nuisance in my work.

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Federer Wins 2008 US Open, 13th Grand Slam

Federer beat Andy Murray in the final in straight sets (6-2, 7-5, 6-2) to win his 13th grand slam and 5th straight US Open! Finally, he grabbed the last grand slam of the year. I thought Murray was really going to give him a fight, considering how well he played against Nadal. Congrats, Roger!

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Geico Rocks

I mentioned previously that I got rear-ended. Well I was waiting to get the police report before reporting the claim mainly because the other guy left before I got his info. It took a whole damn week for them to have the report ready but anyway, I submitted a claim online to Geico on Monday at 4:30 pm. This was Labor Day and I got a call less than 10 minutes later from a very friendly lady asking me questions and also giving me any info I needed to know. She set up an appointment at a Geico drive-in location the next day at 2:45 pm.

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Be Careful on the LIE on Sundays

I got rear-ended on my way home on the LIE this morning. Stupid people merging in front of me STOPPED while blocking 2 lanes (entrance ramp and outside lane). I don’t even want to get into how stupid and incredibly dangerous it is to be at a full stop while blocking traffic that’s going 50-60 mph. I couldn’t switch lanes so I had to stop. I had to slam on the brakes a bit and I stopped but I just knew I was probably going to get rear-ended. I immediately look into my rear-view mirror and BAM.

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My Sassy Girl (English Remake) Sucks

I just watched the 2008 remake of My Sassy Girl and it totally sucked. If you don’t know, My Sassy Girl is a South Korean romantic comedy that came out in 2001 and was immensely popular throughout Asia. The remake doesn’t compare AT ALL to the Korean version. The remake is worse in every aspect. The people who produced this movie clearly didn’t understand what made the original so great. If you’re going to watch this movie, watch the Korean version. I don’t have time to go into details right now but I’ll probably make a more in-depth review another time.

EZPass Website User Interface is Horrible

Man, who designs these crappy user interfaces for government websites? I’ve never seen a NY government website with a decent user interface. The EZPass account area is really bad. The design is really dated, the sections aren’t organized, and the links aren’t labelled well. It’s not intuitive at all - an interface is bad when you basically have to click every link to see where they go and hope you find what you’re looking for.

US Wins Gold in 4×100m Freestyle Relay

Wow, what a race! Jason Lezak pulled off a miracle and overtook Alain Bernard of France. Damn, that was exciting.

WATCH THE RACE (Requires Silverlight plugin)

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/swimming/news/story?id=3528865

People Like This Should Not Be Cops

Critical Mass Bicyclist Assaulted by NYPD

This video shows a completely unprovoked assault by a NYPD police officer. He purposedly tried to walk into the biker’s path (evidenced by his accelerating pace) even though the biker swerved to avoid him. I really can’t fathom what goes through the mind of people like this. Despicable.