Mike DeWolfe : The Daily Edition

src: Flickr Apple launched the iPad with much hoopla. They were so eager to get to the market, they skipped over the question of whether they own the rights to the iPad name. They don't. I thought I could make hay off of the iPaid.com domain-- I can't: a bank owns it. I do love the concept of the iPad: $499+ price tag. It has the streamlined sexy cool of the iPod and iPhone. I have seen lots of tablet PCs over the years. They were all wanting, so the market was ready for a new gadget. Many things suck about the iPad: one app at a time. What? Since 1988, I've been able to run more than one app. WTF? Even the new Palm has that capacity-- so iPod newer bigger brother should have been able to pull this off. What this will do is raise awareness of the tablet concept in the PC world. Between Windows 7, the iPod pinch-pull fascination and trending towards laptops, the iPad could have propelled us squarely in the tablet direction and opened the floodgates for Apple revenues. Inst...

Back in the 1980s, Coca-Cola came out with "New Coke"-- it tasted like Pepsi. I remember scouring the town for the last few bottles of real Coke. There was a civil war over which was better: new Coke vs. old Coke. Under much hoopla and pressure, Coca-Cola put New Coke on ice (so to speak) and Coke Classic came out in its place. The mega-corporation caved to the will of the people. More than that: the public fell for stunt. Fast forward to 2010. Conan O'Brien isn't everyone's cup of coffee. Johnny Carson was so hokey, his show was fun. Jay Leno was an update. Conan O'Brien ported over some of his audience and likely alienated some of the "Great Karnak" crowd. The rumblings came about a month or two ago: Conan sucks, let's boot him. Conan sucks, bump his time slot. Conan sucks, he's going to Fox (presumably because all their shows suck). Everyone is asking about the fate of Conan. They're demonizing NBC and Jay Leno. Last week, amid rumors ...

As our attention turns to Haiti with it's 100,000 - 500,000 dead, dying and injured, it's important to remember that Haiti has been the whipping boy of the Western world for some time. I have to think that Europeans have to shell to make up for some very tangible guilt we should be experiencing. Haiti is the poorest economy in the Americas. Its GDP is $790 USD per capita is; or $2 per person per day. In its history, Haiti has seen 32 coups. Political chaos is a constant. On more than one occasion US, French, German and British forces claimed large sums of money from the National Bank of Haiti. In 1915, Woodrow Wilson, sent in the marines to ensure that German and French forces wouldn't threaten nearby Panama Canal. The election in the Senate was overseen by US Marines, armed with fixed bayonets. Then the U.S. forced a treaty on Haiti's leader, Dartiguenave that would establish American control of customs houses. This allowed them to load up good and float them away. In...

Disaster struck the Bay Street bridge this morning. Last night, a worker on the Point Ellice Bridge ruptured a Terasen gas line. Vehicle traffic was blocked off from the area. Details at present are sketchy, but this morning as an unnamed government worker was biking to work while enjoying his morning smoke. The source of ignition touched off the gas leak and tragedy ensued. Emergency teams are still on the scene at this hour. Last night, a gas leak led to the closure of the Point Ellice (Bay Street) Bridge and it was not expected to open until close to noon today. In addition to the closure to vehicle traffic, marine traffic heading into and out of the Upper Harbour and air traffic in the area is affected. Bicycle traffic, pedestrians and vagrants making use of the paths near the bridge were not redirected.

I am really tired of the stupid Facebook meme posting your bra color on your status. First off, most men cannot post in support. Second, women who have have double mastectomies cannot post either. Sorry, ladies, you've lost your breasts and your capacity to participate because you no longer wear a bra. Third, the goal of the "Think Pink TM " is not to cure breast cancer-- there is no cure. This isn't like smallpox where you can contain the virus and put the djinn in the bottle. Every woman may eventually have their body turn on them and give them a breast tumor. What we can hope for is to get mortality from cancer and metastasis down to almost 0%. You get cancer and you'll survive-- maybe even with both breasts unblemished. That's the deal with cancer, pneumonia, broken bones, heart disease and most illnesses: immunity will be hard to impossible. A solid treatment is possible with enough research and better prevention. In 100 years, women will still hear that ...

I have a friend who tries to be authoritative. He's also a little dim-- the worst kind of dim: the type he doesn't know he's a little dim. How does he exert his intellect? He tells you do the only thing possible; or he tells to do what you're already doing: I get up from the table. He says, " Get up. " I'm about to reach for my coffee. He says, " That's your coffee. " I driving down the road. He says, " Drive the van. " Really? There are two things going on. First, it seems like this guy is stuck with someone who doesn't know when to stand up or breath; he's a lifesaver. Second, he's speaking with authority so whatever he says, no matter how obvious or pointless, it seems necessary. I have Obvious People in several parts of my life. I'm happy that I'm able to keep them all so busy tripping over the Obvious. [ Extra capitalization and punctuation gaffes were implanted so that the Obvious People could exercise thei...