HURRICANE PALOMA

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Hollywood Neighborhood Erupts with Fireworks

As the announcement rings out over the TV, of Obama's win, fireworks light the Hollywood skyline and I pop the cap on the first of eight beers that I have now consumed.

With that said, I will reserve and preserve my post-election opinion and remarks for a more sober moment in time.

One Day More

My fellow blogger, Joe. My. God. posted this YouTube video a few months ago and I placed it in my favorites in my YouTube account. Throughout this presidential race, I have gone back to this "battle cry" video and somehow, it has given me strength.

The video features the fine music of Les Misérables produced by First Night Records of the UK and lip-synced perfectly by Ultimate Improv of LA.

So, without further ado, here is the video, this 2008 Election Eve:

What goes around, Comes around

Very Funny

Apple Computers

When my Acer laptop died earlier this year, I did not go back on my promise to myself that I would never buy another Microsoft product again. I bought an Apple iMAC.

I have not regretted it. Not having to do scans and worry about viruses are just two of the wonders I have enjoyed since buying my 24" iMAC. The fact that the entire computer is in the monitor keeps the floor virtually wire-free (click picture above to see a great comparison). The productivity of this machine has been outstanding, and I'm learning something new every day. This past week, in fact, I used the built-in video/phone feature. I'm very impressed.

I have not had a "desktop" model for years and yet I don't miss my laptop one bit. With that said, be it known, Apple has re-designed their MacBook and since I know it has the same operating system and software of my iMAC, I would certainly recommend it to my friends and family. A current review:

Born to Hand Jive

What's more Partisan, shrill and exhausting than presidential politics? The eternal conflict between Microsoft and Apple, of course. While the race to the White House will, mercifully, be over soon, the decades-long battle between Macs and PCs--with the negative ads and trash-talking bigwigs--will persist until cockroaches inherit the earth. You think taxes are just a political issue? A few weeks ago, as Apple prepared to launch its new line of laptops, Microsoft execs were on the stump, criticizing what they call the "Apple tax," the premium consumers pay for Macs with the same power and speed as lower-priced PCs.

Market-research firm NPD Group dug into the numbers and determined that, on average, you'll spend up to $800 more on an Apple than you would on a comparable PC laptop. And in most cases, PCs come with more bells and whistles, like Blu-ray drives and more ports for special external hard drives and video connectors. So what kind of sucker would be willing to pay the Apple tax?

I would! Gladly. Where do I sign? After months of reviewing Windows desktops and laptops, I put the new $1,600 MacBook through its paces--and it was like returning from a backward country where nothing works only to find your homeland is even better than you remembered.

Apple specializes in mini-malist design that simply works better. Each MacBook, for instance, is carved out of a single block of aluminum, and this unibody construction creates a stronger, lighter chassis that looks like a work of art.

Likewise, while some of the PC laptops I tried have two separate sets of mice on board--in case you prefer one type over the other--Apple's pointing system has evolved on the new laptops so that the (only) mouse consists of a single glass touch pad. Push the entire pad down to click, or configure it so a double tap does the same job.

Cooler yet is the touch pad's iPhone-like gesture system. Drag one to four fingers across the surface to perform a variety of tasks--move your cursor, zoom, scroll through documents, even navigate among alternate desktops you can create on your machine.

— Full TIME/CNN review
— Apple Website