spcrnr Open Thread for the Week of June 21 pdf
by matthew on Sun Jun 21 00:00:00 CDT 2009
Some of our most productive and interesting conversations have come from open threads where almost anything goes. Speaker's Corner is a topic that is dedicated to open-conversation about almost anything that's on your mind.
The real Speaker's Corner is located in the north-east corner of London's Hyde Park where public speaking is allowed. There is no immunity from the law at speaker's corner, and while the police tend to be tolerant, they do not allow profanity or unlawful behavior. You may be jeered, ridiculed, enthusiastically supported, or completely ignored. Now, what's on your mind?
by matthew on Sun Jun 21 00:06:47 CDT 2009
 

First 24 Hours with IPhone 3GS


 

Two words: Seriously Impressed.


 

I bought the 32Gb version, and so far I put every CD I own on the phone, a series of DVD's: “House of Cards”, “To Play the King”, and “The Final Cut” (Ian Richardson's portrayal of Sir Francis Urqhart is incredible), and the Austin Powers series (Oh, Behave!!!)


 

If we ever get AT&T's 3G (HSDPA) it will be incredibly cool!!! (hint to any AT&T Wireless folk who read the blog!!!)


 

I'm watching 'International Man of Mystery on the phone right now, and it's smooth, sounds great, and is in perfect sync....again...seriously impressed....


 

I'm going to turn all computer-science-y, but the AMD-A8 processor on the '3gs is very cool (and a huge step forward in cell phones) ....“Judo Chop!!!”


 

by matthew on Mon Jun 22 09:08:35 CDT 2009
Monday morning, and it’s still going well. I built a handful of custom ringtones, the Calendar and Contacts synched just fine, RSS reader/podcasts are working.  I found and loaded a streaming internet radio station app (I’m a fan of WCPT) – works just fine. Two out of three of my email accounts are working on the phone. Unfortunately matthew4657@yahoo.com is the one having problems. I may just start using matthew62522@gmail.com instead of the yahoo account.
I’m interested in what kind of battery life I’ll get from a typical day of use.
I purchased an FM Transmitter/charger from Best Buy over the weekend so I could listen to the phone in the car…Tried on, didn’t like it, returned it for another…The new one works a little better, but not much…
 
Still impressed!
by Sue on Mon Jun 22 21:25:07 CDT 2009
Sounds pretty cool...    

off the subject:

Annual CONO Picnic - tomorrow night  -  Garfield Park which is NOT on Garfield st but at 999 W. Grand.  In one of the weed and seed neighborhoods -  "Neighborhood Unitied"

6:00 pm tomorrow

CONO is furnishing chicken and drinks.  Bring a dish.  Rep. Bob Flider is the speaker

Hope to see you there even through it will be HOT!!

Sue



by matthew on Tue Jun 23 10:18:57 CDT 2009

The event in Garfield Park is tonight?  Tuesday, then?  We may drop by if I can convince Debbie she won't melt in the heat and humidity! ;-) 

Anyone keeping track of Iran?  Wow.  As a total know-nothing in the middle of Illinois, I think the smartest thing we can do is voice our support for the Iranian people (globally, we're all in this together, too), and let them get on whith what they need to do.  Whether the government falls or not, I think a new new day is dawning in Iran.  At the very least, this will present opportunity to re-establish diplomatic ties (which I think is a good thing), and there is an outside chance there may eventually be a non-extreme (dare-I-say secular) Representative Democracy.  As far as "what we should do" goes - I think: not much.  Organize humanitarian aid for when the shooting stops.  Should there be a stream of refugees, try to make arrangements to provide shelter (at least temporarily), and most important of all:  Don't meddle in any way that could give the anti-democracy forces ammunition!!!

While we're in the Middle East - How is Saudi Arabia reacting to all this?  Of course the Sunni and Shi'a secular differences are always going to be present (to some degree), but I've got to think the Saudi 'Street is paying close attention, and the Saudi 'Palace is nervous.  Again - I'm a know-nothing from the middle of Illinois, but for what it's worth - I'd much prefer to see the US working towards a non-oppressive democracy in Saudi Arabia - politically speaking, it looks like the Iranian 'Street has a pretty good sense of fair electoral processes...
by haydiz on Tue Jun 23 12:33:56 CDT 2009
I don't think I could handle the heat and humidity for the CONO event tonight, unless there's a swimming pool involved.  This is when I wish I had a second home in Duluth.  That's where I'd be spending my summers.  Went to Fairview's pool yesterday with the kids and it was packed to the gills.  Decatur really needs to get another public pool up and running soon.   I wish my old neighborhood pool was still around.  I miss it.  Lots of good memories.  Now it's under a mound of dirt.  Woe is me.  We're looking into a membership at Sun & Fun.

On the Iran thing:  I don't buy into the meddling argument for not being more vocal about the Iranian situation. The Iranian leaders have been blaming the United States for their own ineptitude for decades.  The Iranian people aren't buying it anymore, especially the younger generations.  They know who is feuling the uprising and it has nothing to do with us

I say, call a skunk a skunk, and don't try to negotiate with one, because you'll come away smelling like one yourself.   If Obama thinks he can sweet talk Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and their supreme leader out of their nuclear ambitions, he's dreaming.  Side with those who are standing up for human rights and democracy and we'll all come out ahead in the end. 

I wasn't too impressed with Obama's initial responses to the events but I am more pleased with his words today. 

Kris


by Doug on Tue Jun 23 13:37:14 CDT 2009
Yes its going to be hot tonight.  We are stopping by for a bit we have to be somewhere else around 7:30.  At least the Chicken won't be cold and I am staying away from the potatoe salad LOL.


I couldn't belive 41 City employees took the severence package for vouluntary resignations.  This will free up a bunch of money for awhile hope it works.


by matthew on Tue Jun 23 13:50:49 CDT 2009
Well Kris – we don’t have any formal relationship with Iran now, we use the Swiss Emissary as an intermediary for communication between us, and the last Republican candidate for President of the United States went around making songs up about “Bomb-Bomb Iran” (check this follow-up out)…
Still, I think the best thing we can do is let the Iranian people sort it out…
 
In other news, I set up a twitter account quite a while ago and never used it…Twitter, which is basically micro-blogging, is very easy to use with the iPhone, and I think I’ll fool around with it a little now. Anyone who would like to follow along can subscribe to Matthew62522…I’m thinking it could be fun to organize stuff like the occasional off-the-cuff topic debate, meeting, lunch/dinner outing, opinion session, walk-around-town, etc…
by matthew on Tue Jun 23 13:53:23 CDT 2009
Potatoe?  ;-) Thank you Mr. Vice President!!!
by Doug on Tue Jun 23 14:16:37 CDT 2009
I'm pretty sure that how they spelled it at St. Teresa ugh....... : ) >  I before e except after y didn't think they were serious!
by matthew on Wed Jun 24 11:04:05 CDT 2009
How did the picnic go?  I had to work much later than I wanted to last night, and missed it - which is a bummer.  I wanted to see how everyone was doing and talk to Bob Flider for a second...

In other news, brace yourselves for what my turn into the first council controversy of the season...Revisiting the Responsible Bidder Ordinance. It should be on the agenda within the next couple meetings...Talk about a Pyrrhic victory... On the up side, the council is also set to discuss a local bidder preference...It would be nice if we could manage a combination of both...  More to come, I'm sure...
by matthew on Thu Jun 25 11:35:29 CDT 2009
A quick blurb before lunch…
Stay on the lookout for the council agenda…Responsible bidder is coming up again, and goodness knows how much discussion there will be before it gets repealed. I have a feeling it could just show up on an agenda for a vote – after all, I think all the council members but one (Councilwoman Ray) have made their positions clear either by voting or talking about the issue during the campaign…
 
With respect to the city’s early retirement plan: Wow! I’m very interested in hearing the bottom line number this will save this year. Also, when the time comes, I’m going to miss seeing John Smith at council meetings. Hopefully he’ll stick around and maybe even contribute here every now and then.  It’s always a fun chatting with him before council meetings…He’s one smart cookie!
Username
Password