tinypliny - 05/13/09 07:28
I hate that finish too! Why can't they have selected a more sensible matté finish!? Isn't video chat awesome? I feel like I am taking to my family without even going home. It keeps me sane.

heidi - 05/11/09 13:07
I got the toshiba. it's speedy and functional but I really hate the super-shiny, fingerprint-gathering finish. I didn't expect to use the integrated webcam so much - I spent about two hours with one of A's aunts working on her computer using gmail video chat and logmein.com. She lives in Syracuse.

tinypliny - 05/06/09 22:23
So what did you get in the end?

I have never had bad luck with Toshiba. I dropped my first from the second floor and it still works!

heidi - 05/04/09 10:16
Yeah, I have a 5+ year old Sony vaio that's still running. The screen is falling off the hinges b/c of a few drops. Great hardware.

I realized after I posted that y'all use Macs... Really I just needed to think it through. I ordered the Toshiba last night before I went to bed, plus a 1TB backup drive, eSATA compatible. I spent a lot (too much) time moving files from the old toshiba to my 80gb external hdd and moving some to my school desktop, installing software that I use for work on the school desktop... I *hate* getting a new computer. It's such a pain to get it set up and configured and takes too much time! This is my third in about eight months.

paul - 05/04/09 09:43
I found sony hardware to be really sturdy and reliable. However, I hate all the spamware they come with.

jim - 05/04/09 09:30
I don't think the one is necessarily worth the $250 premium, but I wish I knew more about non-Apple laptops to give any better advice :)

dcoffee - 04/29/09 20:36
The 2 party system doesn't make sense. There's one reality in the public, and there's another reality in politics. we need about 5 parties. There's too much variety, I shift my position, and that's fine. I do think the Republican Party has moved to the right over the past 30 years, and I think the Democrats have too. Now the Democrats seem to be going back to the 1970's, but still more conservative than most liberal parties in the world. I'm not sure you can declare a 'center' I guess moderate is a good word.

I'm reading an awesome political book right now, it's giving me some historical perspective on this stuff. I just mentioned the book to Jason, I think both of you would like it. It's short, and pretty light reading, for an in depth political philosophy/history book. it's called "The Tyranny of Dead Ideas" pick it up. Maybe after Finals :)

jason - 04/29/09 13:21
Ok. It's back. =) Thanks again!

jason - 04/29/09 13:17
Arg, I lost another comment. Is there a permanent link to the graveyard or something?

jason - 04/29/09 13:16
Therein lies the problem, (e:Heidi). You, me, (e:James), this columnist...all of us agree that the country has experienced a shift to the right over the last few decades. That's where we sit. In today's mainstream environment, Specter is a moderate, not a rabid right winger as the columnist wishes it could be. His argument isn't based on accurately describing things as they are.

But let me entertain the faulty premise concerning Specter for a second just to illustrate one other thing. I'm an asshole for calling someone liberal while not considering all of their nuanced opinions, but if I agree with the GOP 75% and disagree 25%, according to this winner that 25% shouldn't be considered before labeling me, at its kindest, a right winger. Apparently this guy should be applauded for his effort, but I say it takes some cheek. He doesn't want these complex discussions.

I am in the middle as it exists today. I'm very much like Specter. I understand perfectly well where the dividing lines exist. You'll hear me refer to "real liberals" to differentiate between people at The Nation and people in the American center. I don't feel the need to use every PC, liberal-endorsed moniker when I'm commenting and writing on an informal blog, especially when people on my "side" have never been given the same courtesy (to put it beyond lightly).

About liberals being "bad" - I don't think they're "bad" by default. I don't use "liberal" as a pejorative. I don't think any of you on e-strip are bad, and I don't believe I've given anyone a reason to think I feel that way. You're all aces in my book. Now, does this mean that I have to capitulate and love everything Liberals do? Of course not. One thing I will promise you all is that no matter how much I disagree, I'm not going to come on here and start misusing terms and using inflammatory rhetoric meant to provoke and cultivate hatred. I think the country has seen enough of that.

heidi - 04/29/09 11:20
Why does it matter to be accurate in describing the political spectrum? I think that in the conversations we've had here, that's one of the issues that comes up repeatedly. I'm often frustrated because it seems that you & (e:josh) like to say essentially that anyone left of you is "liberal" (and therefore bad) without recognizing the spectrum that exists from right of center to left of center, liberal, progressive, socialist and anarchist (recognizing the gaps there, too)... So my point is that by discussing and being accurate in these descriptiosn, we can have better, more complex, more reality-grounded discussions. I fully recognize the spectrum within the "right" and certainly wouldn't lump you in with Rush Limbaugh even tho you're both to the right of me.

jason - 04/29/09 09:03
Let's say for the sake of argument it's true that the nation has shifted to the right. In that case, why gripe about where we are, and where people are slotted in terms of left, center, and right? Specter was a moderate Republican. Now he's a moderate Democrat. What he "is" or "should be" based on the feelings of people like this guy and Bob Scheer, who for some reason feel they are the center, is sort of pointless.

james - 04/28/09 19:09
ya, I have to disagree Carolinian. The right has not moved to the right and the left has not moved to the left creating a void in the middle. Rather, the whole spectrum has shifted right over the years.

Leiberman is considered leaning to the right because he is Hawkish, he did not support the Democratic nominee for President, lost the Democrat primary, was a speaker at the Republican National Convention for his buddy McCain. He is a case of sleeping with dogs and getting fleas... and no, that is not a reference to MIchelle Bachmann. HEY YO!!!

heidi - 04/28/09 18:26
Maybe the political shift rightward would be better illustrated by looking at Nixon:

:::link::: particularly the Family Assistance plan, Clean Air Act, EpA, revenue sharing between state, local gov'ts and the feds...

To say that folks on the left would consider FDR a Republican is mindboggling. Let's review some of the basic facts about FDR's presidency: Civil Works Administration, public Works Admnistration, established diplomatic relations with USSR, takeover of steel mills, "4 Freedoms" :::link:::

Lieberman is a conservative DEMOCRAT, not a conservative, and now no longer a Democrat.

(My shift-p, which should result in a capital p, seems to have been remapped to launch windows media player. ew. how do i change it back?)

carolinian - 04/28/09 17:14
That Joe Lieberman is considered a conservative by the left also illustrates how far to the left the left has travelled. By the standard's of today's left, FDR and JFK would be considered republicans. It's like there's a polarization to either extreme.

james - 04/28/09 16:18
I love Glenn, but I think he is being a bit unfair. There is a utilitarian element involved with Specter switching that we wouldn't get otherwise for two more years. I am willing to live with a blue-dog for a little while longer.

And no shit the spectrum has shifted way far to the right in this country. A center-left man is elected to the white house and people are screaming that he is a socialist.

jason - 04/28/09 16:14
Interesting article Heidi. The ink on his registration card ain't even wet yet and people are already starting in with the arguments for unceremoniously booting him on his ass as soon as it's convenient.

tinypliny - 05/13/09 07:29
Why do Dandelions get scorned?

metalpeter - 04/27/09 19:15
Yes they are thought of as a weed even though they look like an odd flower.

theecarey - 04/27/09 15:29
I love dandelions yet they get so much scorn, right?

paul - 04/27/09 15:26
Basra the tortoise loves them more, lol.

fellyconnelly - 04/25/09 19:43
damn those are sexy chicks!
Battle at Buffalo tonight?

paul - 04/24/09 17:14
OMG, they are so cute. We wanted to get some chickens for the backyard, with the sinister purpose of eating their egg, but you aren't allowed to have them in the city because of the stupid cock fighters.

tinypliny - 04/24/09 17:00
You have these little cute chicken in your office?? Unbelievable.

tinypliny - 04/23/09 18:30
Wow. Are you a certifiable deadhead? :)

heidi - 04/22/09 22:31
(e:Tinypliny) - yes, they do have a huge cult following, even 14 years after Jerry died. :::link::: An ex of mine had over 1300 hours of live Dead, plus Phish, Jerry Garcia Band, and other related projects. My first show was 6/6/92 at (what was then known as) Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, NY.

Last night I sat next to a kid who was at his first show. I had some balloons in my pocket and blew one up - he got very excited, "I would pay you money for one of those!" I handed it to him and he said, "I don't know if I can get the knot out of it." I asked him why he'd want to do that and he looked embarrassed so I said, "There's no nitrous in it. I just blew it up in front of you."

(e:Drew) I hear the owners are nudists. There is also a stuffed back end of a black bear on the wall next to the bar.

tinypliny - 04/22/09 21:54
The Grateful Dead? Do they really have such a huge cult following?

james - 04/22/09 21:36
I am the dumbest man alive, no really, hear me out on this one.

I heard "The Dead" were coming to town for a few weeks now, and I kept wondering who they were. Seeing those bears I suddenly realize it wasn't The Dead, it was THE Dead. Doh

drew - 04/22/09 20:06
If there was a Bear Ass bar around here it would definitely be a gay bar.

tinypliny - 04/22/09 19:41
Wow - that looks like a weirdly blue milky way.

metalpeter - 04/22/09 18:43
When I first saw the Blog Name I thought it was about a Different Band. They Picked that as there name cause when they worked at a Coffee shop everything ended up 95 so they would all ways say here is your nickle back. Glad you had fun. Staying up having fun till 4am is all ways a good time when it can be done.

jenks - 04/22/09 17:59
how did I have no clue there was a Dead show last night- yet it seems that 95% of my friends were there?