Nice Work Steve Jobs. You did well . RIP

Steve Jobs, Chairman and a founder of Apple Computer, died today.  I've been coincedentally waxing away about the Apple iPhone recently, and feel the need to note Jobs passing.
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The first great thing that Apple did was to popularize the idea of a personal computer.  Other companies had been in the forefront, but it was Jobs who took Steve Wozniak's Apple 1 invention and captured the imagination of nerds like myself who thought a lot about how things might be different if we had access to individual and managable computers.
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Apple came out with the Apple 1, Apple ll and Apple lll.  I never purchased one, having access to a Tandy Radio Shack TRS-80, buy I did do some consulting to teach some clients how to use the Apples.  
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You would not believe how clumsy and technical these early machines were, but they did three things.... they enabled you to automate spreadsheets so you could construct financial models easily, they did word processing, which was a quantum leap over typewritting, and they allowed you to collect and manipulate data in data bases.
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All of the commands were keyboard based, and you moved the cursor by memorizing keyboard combinations.  If you were really nerdy like I was at the time, you got pretty good at it.
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Jobs had a big part in getting people aware of the potential of personal computing... but he took it the next step when he popularized the mouse with the introduction of the MacIntosh.  Once again, Apple didn't invent the mouse, but they... through the marketing genius of Jobs.... captured the imagination of the computing public.   I paid $4,000 for my first Mac, a 128K black and white beauty that stored data on diskettes.
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Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak

Apple also had a vastly superior and simple operating system, but lost the advantage to IBM and Microsoft when they disallowed the use of the system on competing hardware.   The world was then divided between Apple computers and IBM compatible computers using Microsoft MS-DOS based software.

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Although Apple lost market share, it stayed in the game because the Mac and its operating system were better, but applications grew faster, particularly in business for the MS-DOS based IBM systems.

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Jobs resurrected the company with the introduction of the iPods and iPhones.   Once again, he popularized and easy to use interface and made you feel cool using it.
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I read accounts that he was a jerk and an egomaniac, and really rode roughshod over the other Founder, Steve Wozniak, who had opted out of management at Apple before the introduction of the Mac.

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But he was one of the rare people of the age who changed the wants and behaviors of his entire generation.

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Nice job Steve.  You did well . RIP

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iPhone Buzz

I went into a Sprint retail store on route 114 in Peabody today and asked about trade up programs for when the iPhone came out.  The young lady looked at me like I was the stupid one and said that she had no information on that.... that they didn't carry the iPhone.
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Not a good sign.
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Sprint is betting the house on the iPhone, and the front line workers aren't even up to speed.  Sprint has been one of my best customers in the past, and I do know a lot about the company.   So I'm not going to get too critical.  But their employees should be buzzing about the iPhone instead of looking at me like I'm asking a stupid question.

The Knock on Knox

This is the guy who killed Meredith Kercher, the roommate of Amanda Knox.  Knox and her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito.
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Rudy Guede had DNA all over the apartment and his footprints and handprints were found with in Kercher's blood.  He had a criminal background and had just met Kercher.  He claims that while he was taking a shit, Knox and Sollecito came in and committed the murder.  But their DNA never showed up in evidence.  Seems like quite a stretch.
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There will be those who will say that Knox got off because she is a White American.   But all the evidence shows that she spent four years in Italian prison because she was fingered by Guede.
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Reports at the time say that Knox was acting weirdly.   But she was a 20 year old college kid.   I would had  hated to be put on trial for how I acted as a 20 year old.  She is probably guilty of stupidity and bad behavior, but I just don't buy the murder rap.
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This case is closed.  Justice has taken in inexhorable, expensive course in Italy.  I hope that the Kercher family can find closure for the heinous loss of their daughter and sister.

tuna lips said...
Ise durn't think them guinea pigs (Hoo ha! Get it !) sweated this so called damsel proper like. give ole TL 10 minutes with that there Foxy Knoxy, we'd get to the bottom of her primal itchin'.

Big Week

Do you ever get the feeling that you have a big week ahead of you?... that a major advance or breakthrough is in the air?... that things are shortly to be permanently better???... and for no particular reason?

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That's me this morning.

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I do have a meeting for one of our hotel customers, and have the regular telecom routine this week, but this feeling transcends those events.  Something big is ready to break... and I have no idea what it is yet.

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Have a nice week!  I'll report back to the Peeps this weekend.

Sprint for the Apple

Apple is releasing the iPhone 5 this week and Sprint is planning to offer it with an unlimited data plan.

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I'll be trading in my Blackberry soon.  The Apple technology is so advanced and the selection of useful applications is so vast, that you really can't say that you are utilizing cutting edge technology unless you have one.
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The ease of use and the intuitive nature of the device bringing personal communication together with a comprehensive library of applications that cover personal interests and business data, has leveled the playing field, where the world's knowledge fits neatly in our pockets and not just in libraries or corporate boardrooms.
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Apple is an amazing company that has led the way in making the information revolution accessible to all of us.   Watch what happens to Sprint stock with the addition of the iPhone 5....   especially in light of this Nanepashemet Blog endorsement.

Blame Game

Terry "Tito" Francona was fired as the manager of the Red Sox today.  You could see it coming.  Assigning blame is an important and cherished practice in corporate America.   When Shit Happens, some poor schmuck always gets covered in it.

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Who gets blamed is never straight forward.  Generally, the Ass Kissers who practice CYA more than a Jesuit says the Rosary have manuvered themselves outside of the line of fire.  Usually, the victims are the up front guys who go about doing their duty regardless of which way the wind is blowing.  They are naively too busy trying to do the right thing and never take time to man the barricades.

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There is an argument that Tito was the best manager that the Sox had in the last hundred years.

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But someone had to take the fall.

TommyO said...
I think a lot of people would like to say the Red Sox fired the Manager. Quite frankly I liked Tito. He said he had lost control of the clubhouse. There are a bunch of overpriced nimrods on that team and I don't know who could have been able to control them. Tito stated that he owed it to the organization to move on. I believe that he resigned and good for him. The head office is too busy selling bricks and working on the circus that has become Fenway Park and lost sight of their priorities. If the players see that the management doesn't care about the ultimate goal, why would you expect them to. And another thing. You need more people who care than don't care, the Sox have to get some players with passion and guts and turn this thing around. Go Pats..

Pride and Joy

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~ He's been dead for 25 years, but Stevie Ray Vaughn mastered this tune.

True Work of Allah

So this little Douche Bag, who grew up in Ashland and went to Northeastern U. was bagged in a terrorist, Al Queda plot to blow up stuff using model airplanes.
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Rezwan Ferdaus, 26, a US citizen whose only known previous crime was vandalism, told FBI agents working undercover as Al Qaeda members that he wanted to “change the world,’’ according to the complaint.“I just can’t stop; there is no other choice for me,’’ he told the agents, according to an affidavit written by FBI Special Agent Gary S. Cacace.“This is what we have to do. This is the righteous way . . . to terrorize enemies of Allah,’’ he said, calling for the deaths of any kafir, the Arabic term for nonbeliever.

- Boston Globe

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You "changed the world" for sure Asshole... your own pathetic little world.... which will consist of a prison cell for the rest of your completely worthless douche bag life.  Probably won't be able to play with toys where you're going.

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BTW, count yourself as an enemy of Allah, Rezwan (which is a pussy name if I ever heard one.)  I'm sure that Allah has a hand in landing you where you belong, and preventing the murder of innocent people.

Wicked Shockah

The Red Sox had a 9 game lead to make the playoffs at the beginning of September.... and they lost 20 games during the month, being elimimated last night.

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Did that just happen?

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What kind of an Alternate Universe is this anyway?
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All month long, I expected them to turn the slump around.... but they followed it right into the Shitter.
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There will be a call for heads to roll... Tito, Theo, etc.  I can never authomatically buy into this kind of thinking.  Tito Francona or Theo Epstein are not doing the pitching and hitting.   Did we blame them when we were riding high at the beginning of the month?

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It's just a Wicked Shockah!

Republican Metabolism

No news day.
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Gov. Chris Christie of NJ seems like a straight talking politician.  I was watching Keith Oberman on MSNBC last night and Keith was coming up with all sorts of reasons why Christie shouldn't run for President, which makes me think that the Looney Lefties are afraid of this.

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That alone is reason to back Christie, although it's a little weak.  And No... I wouldn't be supporting him just because he is a fellow Fat Man.  As a Fat Guy, I see no reason why his weight should be an issue... metabolism is not an ideology
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Other than that, I have to head out to Littleton, MA today to pull a Builidng Permit for one of Nanepashemet Telecom's clients.   The best thing about driving to Littleton is that I'm not driving to New Haven.  We're making Alex do that.
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Like I said... No news day.  
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Yet you read this anyway.

All Quiet in the Gulf of Mexico

You don't hear much about the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill these days.   Remember the BP leak that people like Congressman Ed Markey were saying had ruined the Gulf of Mexico forever?
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Apparently, fish counts are triple what they were before the spill.  Some are attributing this to a ban on commercial fishing with little residual effect from the spill.
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So the Gulf Spill goes into the same file with the Swine Flu.  Another "end of the world as we have known it " scenario that the Liberals made a run with. 
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Another Dud.  But another scare is soon to come.  Fear mongering is part of their MO.

Peering Through the Years

I've been running into some people from the old neighborhood, the Highlands in Lynn, lately.... people I haven't seen or really thought about for over 40 years.   Then when you see them, you peer through the gray hair and body changes and see the kids that you used to hang with on the Little League fields and basketball courts.
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Seems almost supernatural.  How the hell did we get this old?  When did the time slip by?  When you see these guys, you get the same feelings that you had when you were 12 years old.