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Day: March 5, 2008

Apple Smack

Think Apple Computers and Adobe Systems are two peas in a pod? They’ve certainly made billions of dollars from one another, so it’s easy to assume all is well in Silicon Valley between the two behemoths. Leave it to Steve Jobs, though, to pull the pin on a stink bomb and throw it in Adobe’s general direction.

Adobe Systems Inc.’s popular media player for cellphones simply isn’t good enough for Apple Inc.’s iPhone, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said Tuesday in the most substantive comments to date about why the iPhone can’t now be used to view a large percentage of videos on the Internet.

As Jobs put it Tuesday, Apple’s iPhone, with all its cutting-edge mobile Internet trickery, needs something much better than the current Flash player that Adobe makes for cellphones. The Flash Player option that fits the bill is made for devices like laptops that are larger than the iPhone; as a consequence, it performs too slowly on the iPhone, he said.

“There’s this missing product in the middle,” Jobs said.

An Adobe spokesman didn’t respond to a message seeking comment.

Steve Jobs sure knows how to win friends and influence people. Most people see him personally as a class “A” jerk, but marvel at his ability to create the most innovative products. Still, Steve knows how to get people motivated, and this public speech directed at Adobe might just be what it takes to create the software he desperately needs for the iPhone, and future Apple mobile computing products.

Technorati Tags:
Apple, iPhone, Steve Jobs, Adobe, Flash Player

Patrick Swayze has 5 Weeks To Live

The 55 year-old actor made famous in the movies “Dirty Dancing” and “Ghost” was diagnosed in late January with pancreatic cancer. It’s now spread to other organs.

For the past month, Patrick, 55, has been traveling to Stanford University’s prestigious cancer center in Palo Alto for radical chemotherapy, but his doctors are no longer optimistic that the treatments will be successful.

Patrick and his wife Lisa Niemi — who both have pilot’s licenses — have been flying their private Beechcraft plane into Palo Alto’s airport, minutes away from the Stanford Cancer Center, where the actor has received outpatient treatment.

He received three doses of chemotherapy and the tumor shrank, but less than his doctors had hoped for — and Patrick was told he should prepare for the end.

“He was told he could have two more treatments, but his cancer was not responding. In short – they held out little hope for a cure,” said an insider.

Technorati Tags:
Dirty Dancing, Patrick Swayze, Pancreatic Cancer

It’s The Math, Stupid

He knows it. She knows it. The question is now, who’s going to solve the problem. Who’s going to appear as the patriarch of the Democratic party and cast judgement on how the rest of this nomination process goes? The fact is, the super delegates could do it today. They could easily put their support behind Obama and then go to the Clinton campaign with the news. But they won’t do that, because they’re intimidated by Bill and Hillary. It’s really kind of pathetic when you think of it.

It’s simple really. Either follow the rules and let the delegate count rule the day, or change the rules for the benefit of the Clintons. What’s the exist strategy for the Democratic party?

Technorati Tags:
2008 Election, Barack Obama, Democrats, Hillary Clinton, Politics