Official Announcement: New Government Seal

The government today announced that it is changing its emblem from an Eagle to a CONDOM because it more accurately reflects the government's political stance. A condom allows for inflation, halts production, destroys the next g eneration, protects a bunch of pricks, and gives you a sense of security while you're actually being screwed!


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Google Drives Like a Man...

Honey, there's no shame in asking directions.

SHUT UP! I Know where we're going!


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R2-D2 is the man!

If we accept all the Star Wars films as the same canon, then a lot that happens in the original films has to be reinterpreted in the light of the prequels. As we now know, the rebel Alliance was founded by Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Bail Organa. What can readily be deduced is that their first recruit, who soon became their top field agent, was R2-D2.

Consider: at the end of RotS, Bail Organan orders 3PO's memory wiped but not R2's. He wouldn't make the distinction casually. Both droids know that Yoda and Obi-Wan are alive and are plotting sedition with the Senator from Alderaan. They know that Amidala survived long enough to have twins and could easily deduce where they went. However, R2 must make an impassioned speech to the effect that he is far more use to them with his mind intact: he has observed Palpatine and Anakin at close quarters for many years, knows much that is useful and is one of the galaxy's top experts at hacking into other people's systems. Also he can lie through his teeth with a straight face. Organa, in immediate need of espionage resources, agrees.

For the next 20 years, as far as 3PO knows, he is the property of Captain Antilles, doing protocol duties on a diplomatic transport. He is vaguely aware of the existence of the princess but doesn't know much about her. Wherever 3PO goes, being as loud and obvious as he always is, his unobtrusive little counterpart goes with him. 3PO is R2's front man. Wherever they land, R2 is passing messages between rebel sympathisers and sizing up governments as potential rebel recruits - both by personal contact and by hacking into their networks. He passes his recommendations on to Organa.

Yoda is out of the picture by this stage, using the Force-infused swamps of Dagobah to hide himself from Vader and the Emperor. Or something. He is meditating on the future and keeping in touch with Obi-Wan via the ghost of Qui-Gon Jin, which as comm systems go has the virtue of being untappable. Obi-Wan, on Tattoine, keeps in touch with Bail Organa and the other Rebel leaders by courier, of which more later.

As Star Wars opens, R2 is rushing the Death Star plans to the Rebellion. R2, not Leia. The plans are always in R2. What Leia puts into him in the early scene is only her own holographic message to Kenobi. Leia's own mission, as she says in the holographic message, is to pick up Obi-Wan and take him to Alderaan - or so she thinks. Actually, her father just wants her to meet Kenobi, which up to this point she never has. There's a reason for that.

Obi-Wan has spent the last 20 years in the Tattoine desert, keeping watch over Luke Skywalker and trying to decide on one of the three available options:
A) If Luke shows no significant access to the Force, then leave him alone in obscurity
B) If Luke shows real Force ability, then consider recruiting him as a Jedi. The rebellion needs Jedi. Now.
But, if Luke shows any signs of turning out like his father, then C) sneak into his house one fine night and chop his head off. With great regret but it'll save a lot of trouble later on.
Knowing this to be the case, Bail Organa (perhaps at the insistence of his wife) has found excuses not to send Leia to Ben for assessment of Jedi potential, largely for fear of option C.

To be fair to all concerned, Leia has shown no overt signs of a link to the Force. Luke on the other hand has. In his home-built hotrod aircraft, with no formal fighter pilot training and no decent instrumentation, Luke can regularly score centre-hits on 2-metre targets in complicated zero-altitude maneouvres. Until he attends the briefing on Yavin, Luke has no way of knowing that hardened combat pilots would consider that nearly impossible. To him it's easy. Obi-Wan, who saw Anakin's performance in the Pod Race, is nervous.

Much of Obi-Wan's behaviour in this film, and Yoda's in the next, can best be understood if they are frankly scared to death of what Luke might become. (Ben is also scared that he himself will make all the same mistakes he made with Anakin.)

Now, with the existence of the rebellion at stake, Bail Organa has finally told Leia to go see Obi-Wan and has sent her along with R2. The original plan would then be for Obi-Wan (with optional Luke and/or Leia in tow) to leave his exile and take the Death Star plans to Yavin, where they can be put to use. R2 (with Leia if Ben doesn't want to take her) would then carry on to Alderaan to maintain the cover story. The original plan does not survive contact with a large Imperial Star Destroyer.

R2 and 3PO bail out in an escape pod, landing in vaguely the right area of Tattoine, where R2's first priority is transport. He arranges to be captured by a group of Jawas and, once on board their transport, he makes a deal with them (possibly using emergency funds stored about his person) to take him where he wants to go. The Jawas refuse to go directly to Kenobi for fear of marauding Sandpeople but they agree to R2's second request : transport to the Skywalker farm. They even get to keep the purchase price if they can sell R2 and 3PO there. The Jawas shake on it and go through with the plan.

Seeing 3PO fail to recognise the farm where he worked for 10 years gives r2 a moment's amusement but, as soon as possible, he gets away and heads for Kenobi. Luke and 3PO follow, which may or may not have been part of the plan.

On first seeing R2, Obi-Wan has a twinkle in his eye and calls him "my little friend". Well, he is. However, when Luke wakes up and says that R2 claimed to be owned by an Obi-Wan Kenobi, he blandly says "I don't seem to remember ever owning a droid." Ben has in fact owned several but the remark is aimed at R2 and translates as "You keep quiet. I'm not about to tell him everything just yet." Obi-Wan thinks fast and tells Luke a version of his past that does not involve a father who became a dark lord of the Sith. He wants to examine Luke a lot more closely before he risks telling him the real truth.

Although the Death Star plans need to get to Yavin as soon as possible, Obi-Wan needs to make one more diversion first. If the Empire knows that Leia is a Rebel leader, then they also know about her father and the whole Organa family may need immediate evacuation. Fortunately, before coming to Tattoine, R2 had already arranged transport, which is waiting at Mos Eisley, under the command of the Rebellion's other chief field agent and espionage asset. Chewbacca.

20 years earlier, Chewbacca was second in command of the defence of his planet. He's there in the tactical conferences and there on the front lines and is a personal friend of Yoda's. When he needed reliable people to join the embryonic Alliance, who else would Yoda turn to but his old friend from Kashykk? Given his background, there is no way that Chewie would spend the crucial years of the rebellion as the second-in-command to (sorry Han) a low-level smuggler. Unless it's his cover. In fact, Chewie is a top-line spy and flies what is in many ways the Rebellion's best ship.

The Millenium Falcon may look like a beat-up old freighter but it can outrun any Imperial ship in normal space or hyperspace, hang in a firefight with a Star Destroyer or outmaneouvre a dozen top-of-the-line TIE fighters. It's a remarkable feat of engineering and must have cost a colossal fortune to build. How does Han come to own a ship like that? He only thinks he does, actually it's Chewie's. Half-way through RotS, we see the Falcon landing at the Senate building on Coruscant. If it's the same ship (which of course it is) then it was the personal transport of one of the senatorial delegations - a much more likely source to commission its design. That delegatino must have later joined the Rebellion and given it the use of the Falcon. In fact, if the delegation is the one from Kashykk, then the ship may have belonged to Chewbacca as early as RotS.

Han is Chewie's front man. It's much better, and safer for him, if he doesn't know what's really going on. Chewie used to work with Lando Calrissian in a similar way but Lando wanted to settle down, so Chewie arranged for him to lose the Falcon in a card game to Han Solo, an even better choice as partner. Han and Chewie's working method is pretty much what we see in the cantina scene: Chewie make the contacts and sets up the deals, then turns them over to Han who haggles over the price and gives the final yea or nay. This lets Chewie wander the seamy underside of the galaxy pretty much at will, making contacts, gathering and passing information with no-one was the wiser, especially not Han.

Chewie persuaded Han to do business with Jabba the Hutt so he could make regular runs to Tattoine, where Chewie could pass messages between Kenobi and Organa. When R2's urgent message came through only days before, the only way for Chewie to get back to Tattoine in time was to make the "mistake" that forced Han to dump his cargo to avoid capture. As a down side, this led to Solo's getting a death mark out on him from Jabba the Hutt. Chewie was a bit upset about the need for that but figured they weren't going to be dealing with Tattoine for much longer.

En route to Alderaan, R2 and Chewie play stop-motion chess. This is the latest in a series of games they've played over the year in the back rooms of space stations and cantinas across the galaxy, but this is the first time they've done it in front of their respective straight men, so they put on a big show.

Then it all goes wrong again. Alderaan is gone and the Falcon is caught and brought aboard the Death Star. Only Han, Luke and 3PO don't know just how much trouble they're in but Obi-Wan has a plan and seems confident (but Jedi always do). Soon afterwards, R2 finds Leia in the detention cells and shouts that they have to rescue her, to which Chewie can only agree. If Vader learns he has a daughter, then they're all in deep trouble, so Chewie does his bit to persuade Han to go along with Luke's plan.

Then, on the verge of escape, Vader himself turns up only yards from both of his children, one of whom is leaking Force all over the place. Obi-Wan stages a distraction by letting himself die and go into the Force while the others escape. At this point, Chewie suddenly realises that he's been left in charge, not only of the Death Star Plans and the survival of the Rebellion but of the secret son and daughter of Darth Vader. With the Organas and Kenobi all dead, only Chewie, R2 and Yoda know who Luke and Leia are. And only Ob-Wan knew where Yoda has been hiding. Chewie is stressed out by the responsibility and R2 (who keeps making crude jokes about the whole affair) is being no help at all.

Chewie's first problem is what is happening between Luke and Leia. With a psychic link they can feel but don't understand, thrown together in a life-or-death escape, they are looking at each other with a sparky intensity that Chewie gradually recognises as Romantic Tension. He's no expert on human relationships but Chewie is fairly sure that that's Wrong, so he does the only thing he can under the circumstances - he throws Han at her. Han is at first not interested but after a while starts to warm to the idea with an intensity that gives Chewie new worries.

When they reach Yavin, Han decides to take the money and run and Chewie decides to go with him. Looked at in cold light, it's for the good of the Rebellion. Even if Yavin is destroyed, there'll be one agent who knows what's going on who can try and put something back together, but he doesn't feel good about it. When Han decides to turn around and join the attack, Chewie is all for it.

Han and Luke get medals but Chewie doesn't. Actually, Leia offers him one but Chewie turns it down. He got one of those things from Yoda about 20 years ago, but there's no way he can tell her that.

As the film ends, the three founders of the Rebellion are all gone. Bail Organa is dead, Yoda is out of contact and Obi-Wan's ghost can only talk to other Jedi. (So that would be Yoda then.) Thus, the field leadership of the rebellion has just been turned over to the daughter of Darth Vader. Chewie is really hoping that someone with an official rank greater than hers will get here real soon before he has to think really seriously about option C.


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Goodnight Moon

Jan. 3, 8:57 a.m. EST - The Full Wolf Moon. Amid the zero cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. It was also known as the Old Moon or the "Moon After Yule." In some tribes this was the Full Snow Moon; most applied that name to the next Moon.

Feb. 2, 12:45 a.m. EST - The Full Snow Moon. Usually the heaviest snows fall in this month. Hunting becomes very difficult, and hence to some tribes this was the Full Hunger Moon.

March 3, 6:17 p.m. EST - The Full Worm Moon. In this month the ground softens and the earthworm casts reappear, inviting the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signals the end of winter, or the Full Crust Moon because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. A total lunar eclipse will take place on this night; the Moon will appear to rise will totally immersed (or nearly so) in the Earth's shadow over the eastern United States. The rising Moon will be emerging from the shadow over the central United States, while over the Western U.S. the eclipse will be all but over by the time the Moon rises.

April 2, 1:15 p.m. EDT - The Full Pink Moon. The grass pink or wild ground phlox is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other names were the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and -- among coastal tribes -- the Full Fish Moon, when the shad came upstream to spawn. This is also the Paschal Full Moon; the first full Moon of the spring season. The first Sunday following the Paschal Moon is Easter Sunday, which indeed will be observed six days later on Sunday, April 8.

May 2, 6:09 a.m. EDT - The Full Flower Moon. Flowers are abundant everywhere. It was also known as the Full Corn Planting Moon or the Milk Moon.

May 31, 9:04 p.m. EDT - The Blue Moon. The second full Moon occurring within a calendar month is usually bestowed this title.

Although the name suggests that to have two Full Moons in a single month is a rather rare occurrence (happening "just once in a . . . "), it actually occurs once about every three years on average.

June 30, 9:49 a.m. EDT - The Full Strawberry Moon. Known to every Algonquin tribe. Europeans called it the Rose Moon.

July 29, 8:48 p.m. EDT - The Full Buck Moon, when the new antlers of buck deer push out from their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, thunderstorms being now most frequent. Sometimes also called the Full Hay Moon.

Aug. 28, 6:35 a.m. EDT - The Full Sturgeon Moon, when this large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water like Lake Champlain is most readily caught. A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because the moon rises looking reddish through sultry haze, or the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon. A total lunar eclipse will coincide with moonset for the eastern United States. The Central and Mountain Time Zones will see the Moon's emergence coincide with moonset, while the western United States will see the entire eclipse.

Sept. 26, 3:45 p.m. EDT - The Full Harvest Moon. Always the full Moon occurring nearest to the Autumnal Equinox. Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice-- the chief Indian staples--are now ready for gathering.

Oct. 26, 12:52 a.m. EDT - The Full Hunter's Moon. With the leaves falling and the deer fattened, it is time to hunt. Since the fields have been reaped, hunters can ride over the stubble, and can more easily see the fox, also other animals that have come out to glean and can be caught for a thanksgiving banquet after the harvest. The Moon will also be at perigee later this day, at 7:00 a.m., at a distance of 221,676 miles from Earth. Very high tides can be expected from the coincidence of perigee with full Moon.

Nov. 24, 9:30 a.m. EST - The Full Beaver Moon. Time to set beaver traps before the swamps freeze to ensure a supply of warm winter furs. Another interpretation suggests that the name Beaver Full Moon comes from the fact that the beavers are now active in their preparation for winter. Also called the Frosty Moon.

Dec. 23, 2:51 a.m. EST - The Full Cold Moon; among some tribes, the Full Long Nights Moon. In this month the winter cold fastens its grip, and the nights are at their longest and darkest. Also sometimes called the "Moon before Yule" (Yule is Christmas, and this time the Moon is only just before it). The term Long Night Moon is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is indeed long and the Moon is above the horizon a long time. The midwinter full Moon takes a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite to the low Sun.


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Lonely -- Akon

Lonely im so lonely,
I have nobody,
To call my owwnnn
Im so lonely, im mr. Lonely
I have nobody,
To call my owwnnn
Im so lonely,

Yo this one here goes out to all my playas out there ya know got to have one good girl whose always been there ya know took all the bullshit then one day she cant take it no more and decides to leave

I wont up in the middle of the night and I noticed my girl wasn't by my side, coulda sworn I was dreamin, for her I was Feenin, so I hadda take a little ride, back tracking ova these few years, tryna figure out wat I do to make it go bad, cuz Ever since my girl left me, my whole left life came crashin

Cant belive I hadda girl like you and I just let you walk right outta my life, after all I put u thru u still stuck Around and stayed by my side, what really hurt me is I broke ur heart, baby you were a good girl and I had no right, I Really wanna make things right, cuz without u in my life girl

Been all about the world ain't neva met a girl that can take the things that you been through Never thought the day would come where you would get up and run and I would be out chasing u Cuz aint nowhere in the globe id rather be, aint noone in the globe id rather see then the girl of my dreams that made me Be so happy but now so lonely

Never thought that id be alone, I didnt hope you'd be gone this long, I jus want u to come home, so stop playing girl and Come on home (come on home), baby girl I didn't mean to shout, I want me and you to work it out, I never wished Id ever Hurt my baby, and its drivin me crazy cuz...

Im so lonely (so lonely)
Im mr. Lonely (mr. Lonely)
I have nobody (I have nobody)
To call my own (to call my own)


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Yeah I've heard of it... Thanks...

1999 Dec14: Apple acquires the domain name www.iphone.org, which used to just direct visitors to the main corporate page. Article

2001 Apr16: Infosync posts a photo of what many believe to be the iPhone. Forum

2002 Jul20: Apple CEO Steve Jobs downplays the prospect of an Apple PDA by explaining that Apple decided about 3 years ago, they felt that PDAs would eventually evolve into next generation cell phones, and that PDA's will become a smaller market. Article

2002 Aug18: The New York Times discusses Apple's future plans for an Apple-branded Phone (aka iPhone): "But analysts and people close to the company say that the plan is under way and that the evidence is manifest in the features and elements of the new version of the Macintosh operating system." Article

2002 Aug28: Wireless Week reports that Steve Jobs, chief executive of Apple, and his former partner, Steve Wozniak, are said to be developing a "smart" phone in an attempt to kick-start the market for next-generation mobile phones in the same way that the company's computers popularized personal computing. Article

2002 Sep11: Perhaps the first time Jobs fields the question: The International Herald Tribune interviews Steve Jobs and asks about the iPhone directly. Q: Will there be an iPhone? Jobs: "One never knows. We don't usually discuss products we haven't announced." Article

2002 Sep26: A website called ePrairie claims to have authentic, leaked photographs of the iPhone, back when such a claim was taken somewhat seriously. The first faked iPhone pictures? Maybe. Here's the original cl.. "ePrairie has obtained these three photographs (dated September 2002) of an unannounced Apple cell phone called the Applele hiPhone R4 CHICAGO (Exclusive) – A picture can tell a thousand words. Leaked to the right place at the right time, some pictures of some products can even tell a story of a new venture by an unsuspecting company that has decided to silence the word. Well, at least for now." Article

2002 Oct18: Apple applies for a trademark on "iPhone" in Singapore. Article

2002 Oct21: Apple applies for trademark of "iPhone" in the U.K. The application seems to suggest a software solution like a .Mac internet phone or iChat voice integration. Article

2002 Dec03: Apple trademarks "iPhone" in Australia. Trademark #930990. Article

2003 Jun10: Singapore grants Apple a trademark on iPhone. Article

2004 Oct14: Apple files for iPhone trademark in Canada. Article

2004 Dec13: Apple files a civil suit against several anonymous parties, claiming that "an unidentified individual, acting alone or in concert with others, has recently misappropriated and disseminated through Web sites confidential information about an unreleased Apple product." Pundits suspect the product is the iPhone. Article

2004 Dec16: Apple and Motorola have admitted they are working on a joint-venture phone to support a mobile version of iTunes. "We've said we have something coming on this in the first half of 2005 and we're definitely on schedule for that. Hopefully you'll be able to see more about it soon," says Eddy Cue, VP in charge of applications at Apple. Article

2004 Dec20: Turns out the Dec. 13 lawsuit was against three Mac rumor sites and regarding an unreleased product called Asteroid or "Q97." Not the iPhone. Article

2005 Mar28: Business 2.0 Magazine publishes an article based on analysts' comments about what is next for Apple. The iPhone is in the top five potential products, along with a wireless iPod, video iPod, media center and an enhanced iPod product for the car. Article

2006 Mar21: A search of the European Patent Office reveals a patent application from Apple entitled "Database programs for handheld devices" that was published in February 2006. As advertised, the patent describes techniques for providing access to databases from handheld devices. The application, however, incidentally points out that "the remote handheld device can, for example, be a wireless phone which uses a telecom server to communicate with the database program." Article

2006 Mar30: Think Secret reports that the iPhone has been placed on hold because of "significant technical hurdles" in development. Apple wants to develop the phone "from the ground up" rather than improving on existing designs, which led to technical problems in interfacing the various cell components. The iPhone will not likely come until at least 2007, if not later, the site believes. Analysts, however, expect one in the next 12 months. Article

2006 Apr02: Analyst firm visiongain claims that Apple will team up with Sky Dayton's MVNO Helio for the iPhone launch. Article

2006 Apr02: Think Secret reports that Apple is struggling with its chipset for the iPhone. Article

2006 Apr19: Analyst firm visiongain suggests Apple will go the MVNO route and calls an iPhone launch "logical and inevitable." Launch date predicted during 2007 as the end of the year sees a product acceleration. Article

2005 May04: The US Patent & Trademark Office revealed an Apple patent titled "Reservation of digital media items," originally filed on December 21, 2004. The patent relates to the purchasing of digital media items and, more specifically, to the use of a portable wireless device to identify and/or purchase digital media items. In fact, ringtones are discussed, so we're talking telephony. Article

2006 May12: Japanese news agency Nikkei is reporting that Apple and new Vodafone Japan owner Softbank are working together to develop cellphones capable of downloading and playing music from the iTunes store. Article

2006 Jun04: The Globe and Mail reports that analyst Peter Misek believes BlackBerry maker RIM could ink a deal with Apple for an Apple branded PDA: Such a deal would have huge merit because each company lacks what the other provides. RIM wants a firm foothold in the consumer market and Apple doesn't have a presence in the booming wireless data sector. Article

2006 Jul29: Engadget reports that: "A reader is reporting to us that a coworker's tech-unsavvy friend, who is regularly hired by Apple to do marketing photo shoots, was recently brought on to take some shots of 'the sleekest, sexiest damn phone he's ever seen.'" The phone could appear as early as August, the site claims. Article

2006 Aug02: Engadget claims that an Apple cell phone could see a launch at World Wide Developers Conference on August 5th. Article

2006 Aug11: Steve Jobs is cockier than ever about the firm's much-anticipated iPhone product. The obsessively tight-lipped executive apparently is bragging about the product to close friends, saying that the product launch is coming sooner than even he expected. Article

2006 Sep05: American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu reports that Apple is indeed developing such a device and predicts that the company would likely sell about 10 million phones. Article

2006 Sep11: PiperJaffray analyst Gene Munster estimates that Apple could sell as many as 12 million iPod-enabled cell phones next year, potentially boosting earnings by as much as 10 percent above current Wall Street estimates. Article

2006 Sep16: Apple files for iPhone trademark in New Zealand. Article

2006 Sep22: PiperJaffray analyst Gene Munster thinks Apple will launch an iPhone in the next 3 to 6 months -- an introduction he expects will draw more attention to the music-enabled handset market. He also sees it contributing to significant growth expectations implied in industry analyst market forecasts. Article

2006 Sep25: A company called Ocean Telecom Services based in Delaware files for a trademark on "iPhone" in the U.S. It is widely believed Ocean is working on behalf of Apple, because the filing is identical to previous "iPhone" trademark filings in other countries. Article

2006 Sep26: A company called Ocean Telecom services based in Delaware also files for a trademark on "iPhone" in Hong Kong and the U.K. using the same language as Apple did for iPhone trademarks in other countries. Article

2006 Sep27: Cingular Wireless will be the first carrier to offer the upcoming iPhone--a rumor which itself has not yet been confirmed. The operator reportedly has a six-month exclusive on the device, to be offered early next year. Article

2006 Oct09: T-Mobile USA CEO Robert Dotson also spoke quite favorably of Apple, singling out the Mac maker's efforts on the desktop as a "great precursor" of where he thinks the marketplace is headed with 3G, leading to speculation that T-Mobile, not Cingular, will host Apple's much-rumored iPhone project. Article

2006 Oct16: AppleInsider reports that Apple has filed for another trademark for the "iPhone" term on September 15th with "a Far Eastern trademark office." The filing describes the iPhone as under "handheld and mobile digital electronic devices for the sending and receiving of telephone calls, faxes, electronic mail, and other digital data; MP3 and other digital format audio players." Article

2006 Oct23: The Motorola Rokr is said to be dropping Apple's iTunes media player in favor of Real Networks' Real One player, which signals Apple's imminent entrance into the cell phone market. Article

2006 Nov02: Cingular announces its new mobile music service, partners with Microsoft, Napster, Yahoo! Music, XM Satellite Radio and eMusic for a subscription-based service model. The announcement marks an essential death-sentence to the rumor that Apple would be launching the 'iPhone' as Cingular-only initialy. The MVNO rumor on Cingular's network gathers more steam as a result. Article

2006 Nov15: BusinessWeek reports that Bear Stearns analyst Andy Neff ventures a guess that the iPhone could cannibalize about 30 percent of the iPod market. Article

2006 Nov16: Taiwan's Commercial Times reported Apple has already ordered 12 million handsets from contract manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry, with plans to launch the multimedia device in the first half of 2007. Article

2006 Nov21: While Apple has yet to even confirm rumors it is developing one iTunes-enabled mobile handset, American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu claims the company is already hard at work on a second iPhone, this one incorporating messaging capabilities. "From our understanding, it will leverage off existing iChat software that runs on Macs," Wu told clients. Article

2006 Nov22: Mercury News prints comments from Palm's CEO Ed Colligan on the iPhone rumors: "We've learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone," he said. "PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They're not going to just walk in." Article

2006 Nov30: Digg founder Kevin Rose makes the announcement during his Diggnation podcast that the iPhone will ship in 4GB and 8GB storage capacities for $249 and $449, respectively. All major mobile phone providers will carry the device, Rose claims. Video

2006 Dec14: Apple Computer is poised to launch its own MVNO service by acquiring wholesale capacity from Cingular Wireless, according to a note by UBS AG telecom analyst Benjamin Reitzes, who speculates the company would then sell its much-rumored iPhone music player/networked handset across its 174 retail outlets. Article

2006 Dec15: Daniel Mattes, co-founder of Mountain View, CA-based VoIP software developer JAJAH, has been quoted as saying that JAJAH is presently holding intense conversations with Apple over the use of JAJAH software for a mobile phone, according to a reports from the German-language website "futureZone." Article

2006 Dec15: Gizmodo runs a cryptic one-line report: "Gizmodo Knows: iPhone Will Be Announced On Monday I guarantee it. It isn't what I expected at all. And I've already said too much. –Brian Lam" Article

2006 Dec. 16: Sources report that the iPhone will be a GSM/EDGE (2.5G) phone and not a UMTS (3G) device. Apple's decision to go with 2.5G lies in the technology's advantages over 3G: physically smaller components and more reliable communication. Article

2006 Dec18: Linksys releases the iPhone, a VoIP handset with no affiliation to Apple. Cisco, which owns Linksys, has owned the trademark on iPhone since 2000 when it took over a company called Infogear, which registered the name in 1996. This iPhone was the one Gizmodo was referencing on December 15, hence the "It isn't what I expected at all" comment. Article


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Fashion Focus

The other day I was talking to a friend about fashion and I got started to thinking about how there are some things that are just misunderstood. Now this one is really bad. Worse than the whole shoulder pads thing of the eighties. I have no idea who came up with that idea. What great fashion designer got hit on the head with a dead cat only to realize that women would look better as linebackers?

I read somewhere that Sigmund Freud told a friend that he could not sleep because he was constantly dreaming of prostitutes. Now that is some serious problems. So lets go to the fashion statement. The statement that I want to talk about is the Freudian slip. Now the only thing that I know about women's under garments is that, on the right women they look nice. Now I do not know too much about Sigmund but what I do know is that I am pretty sure that he is not into wearing women's clothing. Well maybe he just was not going around wearing it in public. I know that he had some real problems. But I think he was strictly a suit kind of guy. Can you imagine? Walking around Vienna in women's underwear. That is just the wrong look for someone who wants to be known in the scientific world for his discoveries in psychoanalysis.


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