It's about time Mr. President...

Today, President Bush finally said he takes full responsiblity for what he said about Iraq trying to buy nuclear materials in Africa. He should have just said this a month ago, rather than making his entire staff take the fall first.

The World Says Goodbye to the Old VW Beetle...

The last old-style Volkswagen Beetle will roll off the assembly line in Mexico today, as the plant is will be converted to produce the New Beetle.

Since 1998, Mexico has been the only country where you could buy a new, old-style Beetle. It will be sad to see the old Beetle go, but with more than 21.5 million of them having been produced over the last 70 years, it probably won't be hard to find one.

See the full story at cnn.com.

The aviation world focuses on Oshkosh...

The annual EAA AirVenture Oshkosh is going on this week. The Oshkosh, WI event is the largest aviation event, air show, etc. in the world. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers flight, which will be a theme at Oshkosh.

If you've never been to Oshkosh and are even mildly interested in aviation, you should definitely check it out sometime. It really is amazing.

Downloadable music for the PC...

Buymusic.com recently launched a downloadable music service for Windows. My first impression is that it is a total rip-off of the iTunes Music Store - from the ads, to the layout of the website, to the "Download" buttons. Buymusic.com has also taken a very anit-Apple stance, which I think if funny because seemingly every idea for their site came directly from Apple.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see who wins the on-line music battle. To stay ahead, Apple needs to hurry up and get the Windows version of iTunes into the market. Unfortunately, Apple, Microsoft, etc. can't work together on one standard file format. Buymusic.com uses WMA and iTunes uses ACC. Neither format is playable on the other's platforms, which makes things confusing, and in the end, probably hurts Apple the most.

Metallica's most recent mistake...

Recently, Metallica filed a lawsuit against Canadian indie band Unfaith for using the cords E and F in a way that causes "confusion, deception and mistake in the minds of the public." Metallica wants this band to stop using these cords or pay them 50% of the revenue generated from the songs. I think this is ridiculous, but it's a proper follow-up for a band that I feel has been on the wrong side of many issues over the last few years. Starting with the Napster suit, through the recent decision not to feature music on iTunes, and now, to this. I think Metallica only cares about Metallica and that in the end will hurt them.

Google Can't Find Weapons of Mass Destruction Either...

Google is having as much trouble finding Weapons of Mass Destruction as the Bush Administration. Follow this link to search Google for WMD. Click on the first link and see what you can find...look closely.

A $250,000 Lunch with the Oracle of Omaha...

Through an eBay auction, someone purchased a lunch with Warren Buffett for $250,000. The winning bidder and seven friends get to dine with Buffet in either New York or Omaha (I found this funny because these cities are not often used in the same sentence). The proceeds go to the Glide Foundation, a non-profit organization offering programs to the poor, hungry and homeless in San Francisco.

2004 Presidential Candidate Selector...

Follow this link to use the 2004 Presidential Candidate Selector. After answering a series of questions, it will tell you which candidate your views most closely match. My results had Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D- OH) at the top of the list with a 95% match. The funny thing is I've never hear of Mr. Kucinich. I guess I'll have to check out his web site. By comparison President Bush had a 12% match with me.

The Help-Wanted Index...

I read an interesting article in Slate about the correlation between the health of the job market and the number of help-wanted ads placed. The theory goes that the more help-wanted ads that are placed the lower the unemployment rate will be. Except for the abnormal job market in the late 1990's, the Help-Wanted Index has been fairly accurate. It's been shown to be a good leading indicator of unemployment as it takes a few weeks after a help-wanted ad is placed for someone to respond, get interviewed, and get hired. Of course, the index is currently at its lowest point since the early 1960's.