Red Letter Day

I drink a lot of coffee. Luckily, Lawrence has a lot of places to get coffee.
Here’s a brief overview of what Larryville has to offer coffee-wise. By the way, all the coffee places in Lawrence as far as I know have free WiFi.
This list is very subjective, and only includes places that are primarily coffeeshops where there is sit-down seating (so, no tea places and no Scooters). Also not grocery stores with coffee nooks, I want to keep this list manageable.

23rd Street Corridor

Z’s East
Vibe: Townies and commuters, pretty laid back back definitely businesslike
My thoughts: Great coffee (the house blend is superb, and they have really good mochas), good place to hit coming to or going from Johnson County. I don’t visit this location too often though.
Bonus features: drive-through, roast their own beans

Dunn Bros.
Vibe: Mix of townies and students, study and discussion groups, pretty open
My thoughts: Decent coffee (and a bonus for two shots standard in 12 oz espresso drinks), lots of good chairs and a fireplace, a good overall chain coffeehouse especially for its location. I go here maybe once a week.
Bonus features: peanut butter for spreading on bagels!

Downtown

Z’s Downtown
Vibe: Grad students, professors, and townies, pretty businesslike, working and studying.
My thoughts: Good coffee (like the East location, the house blend is superb, and they have really good mochas), both brewed and mixed drinks, and great location, but seating is limited to tables. Still come here probably once a week.
Bonus features: roast their own beans

Starbucks
Vibe: Thorough mix of Lawrence civilization. It’s a Starbucks.
My thoughts: It’s a Starbucks. You know what you’re getting. Not very much seating, so the place will fill up quickly.
Bonus features: It’s a Starbucks

Aimee’s
Vibe: Very laid back, students reading and studying.
My thoughts: Haven’t been here in a while, but good location on the south side of Downtown, and features lots of comfortable seating and food to go along with the coffee
Bonus features: Couches and antiques

Henry’s
Vibe: Mostly townies, some students, intellectual
My thoughts: Only table seating, but really good coffee and nice decor. The baristas are probably the most artistic in Lawrence with drawing cute designs on the mochas. Bonus for the awesome little bar upstairs. Downside is in the summer they have a persistant problem with flies. Probably come here a couple times a month.
Bonus features: upstairs bar, late hours

Bourgeoisie Pig
Vibe: More townies then students, casual and laid back, strong group of regulars
My thoughts: I’ve only been here a couple times, so I can’t really testify to the quality. However, the Pig is very popular and has a loyal group of regulars. They also have a liquor license and for smokers, have the most comfortable smoking porch among Lawrence coffeeshops.
Bonus features: booze, covered smoking area, late hours

Java Break
Vibe: Townies AM, students PM, very laid back, place to read, study and hang out
My thoughts: One of my favorite places in Lawrence, really good speciality and espresso drinks, several rooms with different feels, great location, and offer cereal and food in addition to coffee. I come here several times a week. Probably the best mochas in Lawrence, but annoyingly, they don’t offer a 12 oz size for any drink.
Bonus features: sandwiches and cereal, couches, open 24 hours

Signs of Life
Vibe: Artsy, mostly students, Christian
My thoughts: Good coffee and a nice relaxed intellectual vibe. Good place to work for a while. They are closed Sunday for religious reasons. They have good mixed drinks, especially like the “donkey”
Bonus features: Bookstore and art gallery

Prima Tazza
Vibe: Mixed crowd, intellectual
My thoughts: I don’t go here enough. I like their coffee a lot (especially the espresso-based drinks), but it is a very small location and there often isn’t any room to sit. Good people-watching.
Bonus features: Next door to Free State

Seattle’s Best (at Borders)
Vibe: It’s a Borders, so lots of “library” patrons and people studying
My thoughts: It’s a Borders. So, always something to read. I don’t usually go there (for coffee) because I feel awkward taking my own reading material into a bookstore.
Bonus features: Bookstore

West Lawrence

Scone Lady’s
Vibe: Very quiet, townies and grad students
My thoughts: A nice quiet place to escape to in the middle of the day to read or get out of the office. Good selection of baked goods. Never seen them crowded. Their Caramel Twist, coffee mixed with caramel (but no milk) is quite good.
Bonus features: roast their own beans

J&S
Vibe: Townies, business people, a place to get work done
My thoughts: Really good brewed coffee, and a great location, the only coffee shop on the far west area of town. I will usually go here at least once a week, a great “coffee break” from the office. The Mayan Mocha is great, a mocha with chili and cinnamon, the drip coffee is also really fresh and really good.
Bonus features: roast their own beans, kids play area

As most of my friends know, I read a lot. I make no claims to read books on every subject – I am quite prejudiced. I only read books that looks interesting to me! Being a geek, I tend towards history, science, and books on “big themes” (and for some odd reason this year, several books set on generational starships). However, part of the pleasure of browsing a real bookstore is that sometimes something completely unexpected will pass my eye, and I will discovered and enjoy a book that I never would have known about otherwise.

Below is my list of the best 21 books I read through the past year. Not all of these were actually published in 2010 (although many of them were). Why 21? Basically, I went through my catalog of books (yes, I catalog my books – I told you I was a geek!) in reverse order back to the beginning of the year, and this is what I found…

Pump Six and Other Stories by Paolo Bacigalupi
A great collection of thoughtful and humane science fiction short stories by the author of “The Windup Girl” (see below). The best among the bunch is the title piece, “Pump SIx” about a a guy who tries to keep civilization going as everything is breaking down and coming apart.

Death By Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries by Neil deGrasse Tyson
Tyson’s collection of short essays covers the gamut of astronomy and physics, in a fun and enlightening style. This is one of the rare science books that would be enjoyed by any intelligent person even if they do not otherwise have much interest in science.

Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why It’s So Hard to Think Straight About Animals by Hal Herzon
A fascinating overview of the psychological and cultural aspects of humankind’s interaction with the animal kingdom. If you’ve ever wondered why we keep dogs as pets but eat pigs, or how owners of fighting animals can claim with a straight face that they love the animals they condemn to death, this book will enlighten and entertain you.

Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear
A man wakes up in an enormous, frigid, ancient, mechanically unsound spaceship, and has no idea what is going on, all the while being chased by strage horrifying creatures while trying to survive and figure out what is going on. Bear takes the reader on an intense and entertaining journey that plays out like a more intellectual version of the (underrated) movie “Pandorum”

At Home by Bill Bryson
Bryson is genius at taking the mundane and peeling it like an onion, and in “At Home” he used the rooms of an average home to explore the social and cultural history of everything from why salt and pepper are our ‘default’ spices to how the modern bathroom came about. As is Bryson’s wont, he peppers his prose with a myriad of fascinating historic tidbits and stories about obscure and not-so-obscure people and their amazing lives. You will never look at your house the same way after reading this.

On the Grid by Scott Huler
Infrastructure is the sinew of our society. Without plumbing, sewers, electricity, roads, and communications, we would be living like monkeys. If you’ve ever wondered about how all these systems actually work and what it takes to maintain them, you will enjoy Huler’s book. In the best “Dirty Jobs” style, Huler goes on location investigating (and working with) the people who make our civilization operate by delivering water and power and removing waste. Entertaining and enlightening.

War by Sebastian Junger
“War” has won numerous awards, and for good reason. This is probably as close as the average reader can come to getting a feel for the emotional and physical experience of being in combat in a modern wartime environment. The author ’embedded’ with troops in an isolated firebase in Afghanistan, going into combat with soldiers, coming under fire, and basically experiencing everything except actually firing a weapon. A truly intense and harrowing read.

Packing for Mars by Mary Roach
Rocket engines, trajectories, and such are quite important in space travel, but what about how you go to the bathroom in space? Or eat, sleep, and of course, make love? And of course, what happens to the human body when you are weightless for months? The practical issues of “human engineering” are the topic of Roach’s book, and she takes the reader on an enlightening and entertaining trip into the lesser-covered aspects of day-to-day life in space.

Sex At Dawn by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jetha
Everyone “knows” that men naturally evolved to mate with as many women as possible, and that women evolved to be naturally picky about mating, the best to protect their precious eggs and look for a mate with the right qualities. It’s just common sense. Not so fast! The authors show, carefully, with ample evidence that many of our most cherished myths about what is “natural” human sexuality isn’t backed up by the latest research. Written in an engaging and friendly tone, never lecturing, the authors cover the latest research on human sexuality with wit and verve.

Lucy by Laurence Gonzales
Lucy is a “humanzee” – a hybrid of bonobo and human, who is adopted and raised by a woman in Chicago after Lucy’s original father is killed in an African civil war. What makes “Lucy” amazing is that the book focuses on not on the science of hybridization, but rather Lucy’s actual life as a teenager, and how she develops and socializes, as well as the political and cultural reaction once her true nature becomes known. Emotional and touching, the “Lucy” represents the best tradition of science fiction by moving tech to the background, and making us examine ourselves.

Ancestor by Scott Sigler
“Ancestor” was the most fun book I read this year, and winner of the “most likely to be made into a blockbuster movie” sweepstakes. The plot? Genetically engineered ‘organ donor’ cows give birth to…something. These somethings are isolated with researchers on a snowbound island in the middle of the Great Lakes. There is a blizzard. The animals are very, very hungry.

How Pleasure Works by Paul Bloom
I never thought an evolutional psychology book on the nature of pleasure could turn out to be so interesting. Bloom covers the obvious bases, but in looking deeper at the meaning and source of ‘pleasure’ he examines sources as disparate as the fetishes of cannibals and the mechanisms of overeating along with a survey of the latest findings in a topic in which we all are self-developed experts.

Grounded by Seth Stevenson
I picked this up almost at random at the bookstore and I glad I did. “Grounded” is the travelogue of a couple who take a journey around the world while eschewing any travel by air. They take steamers, trains, busses, cars and everything in between as they circle the world in an adventure featuring exotic people and places that are unseen from the usual 30000 foot view.

Five Roads To the Future: Power In the Next Global Age by Paul Starobin
I do not read many books on geopolitics, but am glad I made an exception here. For anyone wondering about our turbulent age and what the next few decades will bring, Starobin proves to be an adept guide lucidly laying out five scenarios, all of them both plausible and refreshingly free of the posturing and wishful thinking of the usual pundits on both the right and left.

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
An amazing journey into a post peak-oil world in which the genetic code of plants (controlled by “calorie men”) is the source of wealth, molecular springs are the main source of power, and civilization is adapting and making the best of things. The genius of the book is its plausibility and refusal to give into Mad Max-like scenarios of a post-oil world. The titular character, the Windup Girl, is a genetically-engineered ‘pleasure girl’ who is on the run from the law and whose movement through society ties the various threads of the novel together. Covering themes from cultural identity to the meaning of power, “Windup Girl” is one of the finest novels I have read in years.

Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn
Probably my surprise book of the year. I don’t read much historic fiction, and certainly not a book (apparently) aimed at female readers with a title containing the word “mistress!” However, I am glad I did. “Mistress” is a historically-accurate look at life in first-century Rome under the emperor Domitian, and about the flow of power, vengeance, and politics in that world, along with a generous helping of (very perverted) sex and gladiatorial violence. A fun read, and an interesting look into one of Rome’s lesser-known periods.

Ill Fares the Land by Tony Judt
Tony Judt is one of the the most thoughtful historians with a keen eye towards recent history and political trends. He passed away in 2010, and this was his last book, which was adapted from a speech he gave to graduating college students. At once both a meditation on the current (degraded) state of affairs in the modern economic-deterministic American body politic as well as a stirring call to arms, “Ill Fares the Land” is at once both disturbing, wistful, and hopeful.

The Dark Beyond the Stars by Frank Robinson
A starship sent from Earth has been wandering the galaxy for hundreds of years, searching for life. The captain is both immortal and mad, the ship is falling apart, and the protagonist seems to be suffering from severe amnesia, all the while someone (or something) seems to be trying to kill him, as he starts to unravel the secrets of the voyage. “Dark” contains some great action sequences, as well as a really interesting take on the evolution of shipboard culture and mores over hundreds of years that propel the story forward.

Lonely Planets by David Grinspoon
“Lonely Planets” is a great survey of all aspects of extraterrestrial life. One of the most unique aspects of this book is that Grinspoon includes a history of SETI going back hundreds of year – surprisingly, a lot of philosophers and scientist going back centuries were open to the idea of ET and actively speculated what form he might take. Grinspoon covers the modern SETI program, technologies and findings, and then goes into details with some speculation on what real alien life might be like and why we haven’t yet found it. This is probably the best overall book on this subject I have read.

Terminal World by Alastair Reynolds
Alastair Reynolds manages to do “it” again – “it” being a novel that has a relatively mind-blowing “big idea” as well as some great character development and old-fashioned action sequences that are something right out of a blockbuster movie. The “big idea” is that at some point in the distant past, something changed the nature of reality on Earth, splitting the world into various zones, each one having different physical laws. In some zones life is impossible, in other zones humans can survive but higher-energy processes don’t work, and so on. The story is about a man who is ‘drafted’ into an adventure crossing many zones to figure out the nature of the world, as well as save his city and friends from a terrible calamity.

Exodus: The Ark by Paul Chafe
“Ark” is the second book of a planned trilogy, and is far better then its predecessor (and luckily doesn’t require the reading fo the first book to enjoy this one). “Ark” is the story of life aboard a massive generational starship, and about a series of people. over thousands of years, who try to figure out the nature of their world and where they came from, and are going. The depiction of the ship itself is amazing (think something Rama-sized) and both the culture of the residents and the mechanics of the ship itself are presented in a very plausible manner weaved into a great adventure.

Even though same-sex marriage isn’t directly on the ballot today, there are several races flying well under the radar that will affect the rights of gays to marry in California, Iowa, and New Hampshire that bear watching tonight.

In New Hampshire, the legislature, which narrowly passed a same-sex marriage law last year, is likely to be taken over by Republicans who are eager to repeal the law. The only thing standing in their way would be the veto pen of governor John Lynch, a Democrat, who is narrowly leading in the polls. If Lynch is defeated, it means the likely forthcoming end to same-sex marriage in New Hampshire, so keep an eye on this election.

In Iowa, all of the press has gone to the effort by right-wing forces to kick out three of the judges who ruled for marriage equality in 2009. It will obviously be disheartening if these good judges are removed from office, but this will not affect their ruling. What could undo marriage equality in Iowa is one of two things. First, if the state legislature switches from Democratic to Republican control. Polls at the state level are not out there (that I could find) but several Iowa bloggers seem to think that the Senate is likely to remain Democratic. Still, keep an eye on this and check the Iowa newspapers to find out for sure. Of more concern is the ballot question asking voters if they wish to call a constitutional convention. Iowa votes on this issue every 10 years, and normally they fail by large margins. If this wins (and right wing forces are pushing for passage), then a convention could be held this year which would advance an anti-marriage amendment, passable by simple majority. Given that this is the quickest and most likely way the same-sex marriage in Iowa could be ended, I am very surprised that this has gotten no national coverage in gay or mainstream press.

Finally, California. The key races there are for governor and attorney general, the latter being most important. Currently, Proposition 8 is on the legal ropes – a big reason why is that the Attorney General has chosen to simply not defend the law. Because of this, there is a good possibility that the federal appeals court will rule that Prop 8 supporters do not have grounds to defend the law (only the state can defend the law) and Prop 8 will be history. If the Republican candidate, Steve Cooley, wins the Attorney General election in California, he has stated that he will defend Prop 8 – which would give that unjust law a new lease on life. His Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, would not defend Prop 8. In other words, the future of Proposition 8 is quite dependent on this (relatively) obscure race, which has gotten no national coverage. Polls showed the two candidates nearly tied.

So, if you are concerned about same-sex marriage in America, keep an eye on results tonight from the New Hampshire governor’s race, the Iowa Constitutional Convention ballot question, and the California Attorney General’s race.

Well, any chance that I would vote for Kevin Yoder for Congress pretty much evaporated after reading his embarrassing, evasive answers to some real softball questions asked by citizens on this Journal-World voter chat.

I am sure Yoder has experienced campaign operatives advising him to ruthlessly Stay On Message and don’t say anything controversial but his attempts to do so in the context of the simple questions asked on this forum were a joke. There were only five questions asked, none of them very difficult, and by my count, Yoder completely ignored two of them (on bipartisanship and gay rights), provided a partial answer to two of them (on drug legalization and roadway safety) , and only gave a decent answer to one question, on health care, probably because for that one he at least had a nice canned answer prepared in advance.

Yoder’s responses to the question on partisanship was a complete non sequitur; he was asked if his political philosophy had changed (he was known as being moderate to liberal in the Kansas House) and his reply – talking about the federal government spending too much money – was like he hadn’t even read the question. Yoder was later asked if he supported gay rights, specifically about Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (because in the past he had been endorsed by a gay political group) and he replied with a non-answer about the Kansas marriage law that says marriage was between one man and one woman, which he said he supported (although as a state legislator he voted AGAINST an amendment on this issue). He didn’t mention Don’t Ask Don’t Tell at all, although he at least gets a D- for answering the part of the question about the Federal marriage law.

Moving down the list, Yoder’s answer to the question about legalizing drugs was buried at the end of a rant that can basically be summed up as “California, you suck!” which doesn’t strike me as being terribly relevant to the actual question, although hey, at the end Yoder does actually answer it by saying he’s opposed to drug legalization.

So, finally, at the very end of the entire “chat”, a solid unequivocal answer!

Yoder’s a young guy, but he can apparently dodge and weave like an old pro. This actually kind of stinks, because I would like to vote for an intelligent moderate with some fresh ideas who can work together with both parties and get stuff done. Apparently voters in the third district don’t have that option with either party.

It’s election season! You know, the magical time of year when, if you’re a good little boy or girl, Uncle Sam will cram something up your chimney, or something like that. This year, it’s just so hard to choose, with all the teabagging going on, not to mention our socialist communist Muslim president, who even as I write this, is forcing gay people to get married and then have abortions performed by government-controlled doctors.

Anyway, my little corner of the world is actually pretty boring. We don’t have any candidates who with pro wrestling backgrounds, nor do we have any right-wing Republican former witches or Nazis (although we do have Kris Kobach).

I think our country is in a lot of trouble, and the results of the forthcoming election are almost certain to make it worse, as we look poised to give the Republicans back control of Congress (“Today’s GOP – We’re the party that campaigns on government not working, and then we prove it once we’re elected!”)

But, all we can do is vote (and bitch – loudly). My Douglas County sample ballot had a dozen or so races, a bunch of judge retentions, and a couple ballot measures on it, and for what it’s worth, these are my thoughts on how I will be voting this year.

US Senate

Lisa Johnson is my pick here. The big knock on her is lack of experience, but she has responsible, moderate positions on the major issues, which unfortunately won’t stop her from losing by 30 points to cookie-cutter Tea Party favorite Pat Moran in the election.

Congress – 3rd District

Stephene Moore versus Kevin Yoder
This (was) the most difficult decision I have/had, and to tell the truth, I still have not made up my mind. I think retiring Congressman Dennis Moore is one of the finest legislators Kansas has ever elected, and if he were running, he would be my pick. However, he is retiring, and his wife is running for the seat. She has good positions on the issues, but has absolutely no experience (other then being Dennis Moore’s wife). Her opponent, Kevin Yoder is a moderate to liberal Republican who has a very solid record in the Kansas House, especially on social and financial issues. Yoder was a leading GOP voice against the constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in Kansas, and in fact was a registered Democrat for much of his adult life until he realized that you need an “R” next to your name to win in Kansas. Yoder’s been mouthing tea party platitudes to secure his election, and electing him is still a vote for a GOP majority – but, we ought to also encourage socially moderate Republicans, especially when the Democrat is not a very inspiring alternative. I will probably not make up my mind here until election day, but, I was for a while leaning Yoder.

Not anymore. After seeing Yoder’s embarrassing, evasive answers to softball questions from readers in this Lawrence Journal-World forum, I can say that any desire I had to vote for Yoder has been significantly diminished. I have additional thoughts about that forum if you want the ugly details. Making it even “better” is the revelation that Yoder had a “glug glug vroom vroom” moment back in 2009. I am definitely not going to vote for him. I may look at Moore again, or perhaps even consider a write-in vote or something.

Governor

Tom Holland is a decent, thoughtful public servant. He also has an IT background, which is a plus, especially given the state government’s recent PC-related ‘oopsies.’ I don’t like the fact that Holland gave gay people the big middle finger a few years back by supporting a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, but overall, he’s a moderate guy who would keep Kansas on an even keel. In contrast, his opponent, Senator Sam Brownback is running for office on a social-conservative ideological crusade, including cozying up to pro-genocide African “Christians.” Unfortunately, given his statewide name recogniztion and the “R” by his name, Brownback will win in a landslide, but I don’t have to help him along his way.

Secretary of State

Chris Biggs is a thoughtful, responsible public servant running against an ideologue. Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Biggs’ opponent, Kris Kobach, is a nasty piece of work, who has made a career immigrant-bashing (he helped write Arizona’s “papers please” immigration law) and as an anti-abortion crusader (best known for subpoenaing patient medical records in abortion cases). Biggs? Just a boring public servant who is doing the very unglamorous job of running the Secretary of State’s office. I’ll take boring but competent over ideological crusader any day. Hopefully even in 2010, Kansans will agree.

Attorney General

Steve Six has already proved himself to be a capable Attorney General who has spent his time doing things like building a consumer fraud protection division and enhancing identity theft law enforcement. The other guy’s major campaign plank is that he wants to sue the federal government to overturn the recently passed health care law – which, regardless of how you might feel about the law is just a waste of taxpayer money since a suit against the law is already underway. Once again, I prefer the competent do-er versus the ideologue.

Insurance Commissioner

Sandy Praeger is running unopposed, but I will still affirmatively vote for her, as she has done a good job of running this office and addressed several consumer-friendly improvements to insurance regulation in Kansas during her past time in office.

State Representative, 46th District

Paul Davis is also running unopposed, but I will still affirmatively vote for him. Paul Davis has always responded when I have contacted him, and is a reliable liberal voice for Lawrence in the Kansas House. He deserves another term.

Country Commissioner

I don’t know enough about the candidates running for this office to make an informed choice. I’m not just going to vote for the Democrat, because honestly, I just don’t know, and I think it is better to leave the ballot blank then vote based purely on party or by guessing.

Judicial Retention

There’s a bunch of judges up for retention. I do not have enough information to specifically vote on the merits of each judge, but I am included to vote to retain all the judges, because as seen in Iowa, politicizing the judicial selection system is a very, very bad idea.

Constitutional Question 1: Right to Bear Arms

I am going to vote yes on this (purely symbolic) amendment which makes it clear that the right to bear arms in Kansas is an individual right (versus a collective right). The amendment is symbolic since the Federal constitution already secures an individual right to bear arms (at least based on recent Supreme Court rulings), but nonetheless, expanding civil rights is a good thing. The right to defend one’s self is an basic civil liberty, the same as the right to free speech, religion, freedom from search and seizure, and so on. The repulsiveness of certain conservative supporters of this right shouldn’t nullify the right any more then the repulsiveness of certain First Amendment supporters (I’m looking at you, Fred Phelps!) nullifies that right.

Constitutional Question 2: Right To Vote for Mentally Ill

I am going to vote yes. The state constitution currently allows the legislature to strip the franchise from anyone who has a mental illness. This has never been turned into actual legislation, but that doesn’t stop it from being a bad idea, and a sign of an old stigma that should be excised from the constitution.

Local Question 1: Library Funding

I will vote yes. Lawrence’s library is overused and under-funded. Its current facilities date from when Lawrence was half its size, and it needs to grow with the town. I believe public libraries are a fundamental public good, and Lawrence should make the needed improvements in the library system. This bond issue would provide money for a much improved library building, with more parking, more books, more computer terminals, and more meeting rooms, all at a cost that for the average household is less then $20 a year in additional taxes. That seems like a damn good deal to me.

When Apple announced its exciting new iPod Nano 6th generation, with its tiny form factor, slick touch screen, and cool “iOS-looking” interface, I got my credit card out as fast as I could – in order to purchase a 5th generation Nano before they went out of stock! Without a doubt, the new Nano is quite slick, but in terms of actual usefulness and usability, it represents a decline from the previous model and a very un-Apple-like triumph of design over actual functionality.

Ironically, Apple itself acknowledged that it made a similar mistake with the previous generation iPod Shuffle. You remember, the model that eliminated any buttons on the unit, creating a beautiful little objet d’art that was utterly unusable as an actual music player under many use cases, such as with third-party headphones or in noisy environments. Apple recognized this and re-introduced physical buttons on the newest Shuffle, while retaining the slick voice command system for those who like it. It wouldn’t surprise me if likewise the next Nano brings back some of the functionality Apple stripped away.

Many of the Nano reviews that have mentioned the taken-away features have focused on “bulletpoint” options, like the missing camera, voice recorder, games, and video player. While these features might be important to some people, they are not the primary reason most people buy a Nano – listening to (and controlling) music, especially in certain environments.

Nanos are especially popular as relatively cheap, but very functional music players that can be used in environments where you might not want to bring your expensive (and larger) Touch or iPhone, such as gyms, boats, or jogging trails. Furthermore, the older iPod Nano’s physical buttons allowed for control of the device without having to view the screen. You could have the iPod in your pocket or in an armband and pause the music or change songs by (physical) touch alone, without looking at the iPod.

The new touch-screen Nanos are impossible to control by, well, touch alone, without looking at the screen. You have to pull the device out and look at it in order to change settings, or leave it clipped to your clothes. While some creative straps and bands (such as the one that turns the Nano into a wristwatch) may help with this, the fact remains – it takes more effort to control the touch Nano then the older click wheel variety.

Obviously, the touch interface is more flexible then the click wheel, and Apple has already at least provided physical buttons for volume control. Perhaps the next version will add physical buttons for play/pause and next/previous while keeping the touch screen as the major way of interfacing with the device. Like Apple’s compromise with the new Shuffle, a change like this for the Nano would really represent the best of both worlds and make the device even better.

Imagine if Al Qaeda, working with Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan and Pakistan, developed a devastating new bio-weapon to use against the US forces. This weapon has the following effect when deployed against our troops:

– Intelligently seeks out and permanently disables the most valuable and highly trained soldiers in mission-critical specialties
– Destroys unit cohesion in targeted units, damaging our forces’ ability to fight back and causing thousands of casualties
– Is a persistent agent, continuing to wreak havoc over time and resisting our ability to overcome the attack, resulting in a long-term weakening of our military

I have to imagine that if such a weapon were deployed against American troops, our military would spare no expense if figuring out how to counter it and how to take the fight back to the enemy.

The sad thing is, Al Qaeda and the Taliban don’t need to waste time developing such a damaging weapon, because it already exists, and is being deployed against our soldiers as we speak. Even worse, all the casualties from this attack are technically “friendly fire” because the weapon is called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and it is being deployed by our own military commanders, with the support of Congress and our President.

And just yesterday, the Senate voted to keep up the attack. Talk about giving “aid and comfort” to our enemies!

If you are curious, this short report is one of the best overviews of the damage Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell has done to our military, and is a great way to familiarize yourself with the issue, especially if you only have a vague idea what it is and how it affects people. The Senate failed to act to fix the problem, and our Cowardly Lion of a President doesn’t seem too keen on making changes, but the issue will come up again, as indeed it should, as long as American soldiers are dying for their country and for freedoms that (sadly, ironically) are denied them.

A couple random thoughts, on topics as varied as Net Neutrality and how to survive the apocalypse in style.

First, and I’m not sure how to turn it into a slogan that would fit on a T-shirt, but I thought of a great tactic for the pro-Net Neutrality folks. Basically explain that without net neutrality, your internet experience will become what your cable TV experience is today – numerous confusing tiers of service, lots of pay-per-view, crappy mandated equipment, and lots of added fees for everything.

The internet won’t matter once the apocalypse occurs. Assuming you want to survive in style (I myself will probably end up on a spit with an apple in my mouth!) you might decide to stockpile gold, guns, and so forth. I have a better idea – stockpile something that is portable, would soon be worth more then its weight in gold for trade, and can survive almost indefinitely if stored correctly. I’m talking about spices of course. The contents of your local Whole Foods spice aisle will enable you to live like a king, especially after a few years when everyone is getting sick of plain roast squirrel and the nearest cinnamon tree may as well be on the moon.

There are several sites that many people really depend on, such as Facebook and the various Google services (Gmail, Docs, and so forth), and perhaps even Twitter. I’d include Yahoo in there as well, at least for some people. You could go further and add some of the big blogging services and media/photo sharing services to the list as well.

By “depend on,” I really mean depend on, both for business and personal use. You might be a heavy Facebook user who depends on the site for interacting with family and friends. You might have hundreds of hours invested in a photo-sharing site, or depend on Gmail to run your business. We can all think of very critical ways most of us depend on one or more of these type of cloud-based services.

While having a backup is better then nothing, it doesn’t make up for the serious interruption that could happen if you lose access to your account on one of these services, either through foul play or an unresolved technical glitch.

All of these services, including Google and Facebook, do not have any way for you to contact technical support. There’s no one to help you. Your only choice is generally to browse forums or send email in the vain hope that someone might look at it. The response times are awful. I know someone who was locked out of their Facebook account for weeks before the issue was resolved. Stories of people being locked out of their Google accounts are sadly common as well.

I can understand why sites like Google and Facebook do not provide free phone support – the cost would be overwhelming. However, I have often wondered why none of these companies have offered paid, premium support. I imagine if Google or Facebook offered “Red Carpet” tech support at say $50 per incident, it would end up being quite profitable, because most of the things people call about can probably be resolved somewhat quickly (I’m thinking account lockouts or very specific technical glitches). We’re not talking “Geek Squad” PC support questions here.

From the customer perspective, it would be a winner too. $50 might seem like a lot, but if your business depends on Gmail and you need to get an account issue resolved in an hour as opposed to a week, $50 (or even $100) would be cheap. You might be pissed that you had to pay, but at the same time relived that it will get taken care of and you have a real human, who has the power to fix and escalate things, at hand (needless to say, I would make the premium support domestically-based).

Setting the price high (or perhaps charging per minute) would discourage calls from “casual” users and would be self-limiting as to the types of people and problems that would be handled. It would prevent calls from people anxious because their Facebook account has glitched for a couple hours. Still, there are a few issues to consider. If the issue ends up being something that is truly the fault of the service provider, a (partial) refund might be appropriate. Authentication issues might also have to be handled properly, especially for account access queries.

Still, I think this is an idea whose time has come. What do you think?