On the fourth year of blogging, Cupertino gave to me... An iPad to watch movies.
It's difficult to think about something to post on the eve of this blog's fourth anniversary given that Apple is about to change the world yet again with the launch of the iPad this weekend.
Some of the highlights since last April were the release of iPhone OS 3.0, Snow Leopard, and—because it sucks somewhat less than prior versions—Windows 7. Television went digital while digital book makers failed to deliver anything close to the iPad. The President rallied Congress to pass health insurance reform, and then they (i.e. Democrats) delivered! Autumn 2009 also brought closure to a decade of work with one company making way for new opportunities with the next one... And bonus: no cold this time!
Still doubt that the iPad is both magical and revolutionary? Checkout the new iPad Guided Tours videos. Then imagine all of the amazing third-party apps that are about to be unleashed upon the world. The way people consume content alone is about to change. Here's a recap of the future of books,comics, and magazines. Oh, and don't forget the games!So exciting!!!
Early registration for the Web 2.0 Expo on May 3–6 in San Francisco ends today. Use code websf10ema1 for a free Expo Hall Only pass, or websf10ema42 to get 20% off other fees.
TiVo Premiere ships today! The latest-greatest TiVo looks like a solid offering save for the lack of included Wi-Fi in a box that touts its Internet savvy. Seriously? Also, TiVo's total cost of ownership comparison (PDF) to a cable box is somewhat suspect given that it's a five-year estimate based on a one-time, up-front $400 TiVo service fee. A monthly subscription to TiVo costs $12.95 per month. It's a good thing that TiVo Premiere only requires one multi-stream CableCARD decoder, which the nation's largest cable company provides for free. Now we just need a TiVo for DIRECTV again...
The Naked Chef attempts to make American school lunch programs healthy in Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. This blogger was motivated to go for a run and cook dinner after watching just one episode. (Succeeded at the latter activity, preparing stir fry instead of ordering a pizza.) ABC is posting the complete series for free online. Had it not been for the video evidence, it would be difficult to believe there's a school in this country where children can't tell a tomato apart from a potato, let alone identify them in their natural state! Checkout the show and then sign the petition to ask The White House to institute more nutritious meals for students.
Batman proves that he's often right in Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. The Dark Knight is the sole Justice League dissenter when the other superhero do-gooders decide to help an alternate universe Lex Luthor defeat the supervillains who have taken control of his Earth. Despite his stated lack of trust in good Luthor, Superman leads the League into the other dimension. Entertaining PG-13 "action violence" ensues. The only let down is the story's weak attempt to justify JL's interference with a different timeline, a plot that involves energy that can't be contained...stored in a small container.
To paraphrase the vice president, this is a big deal! Yesterday, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law, making health insurance available to more Americans than ever before. President Obama's remarks start at 7:11 (in the video below) followed by the signing of the bill:
Health insurance reform will expand and strengthen coverage:
This year, children with pre-existing conditions can no longer be denied health insurance coverage. Once the new health insurance exchanges begin in the coming years, pre-existing condition discrimination will become a thing of the past for everyone.
This year, health care plans will allow young people to remain on their parents' insurance policy up until their 26th birthday.
This year, insurance companies will be banned from dropping people from coverage when they get sick, and they will be banned from implementing lifetime caps on coverage. This year, restrictive annual limits on coverage will be banned for certain plans. Under health insurance reform, Americans will be ensured access to the care they need.
This year, adults who are uninsured because of pre-existing conditions will have access to affordable insurance through a temporary subsidized high-risk pool.
In the next fiscal year, the bill increases funding for community health centers, so they can treat nearly double the number of patients over the next five years.
Health insurance reform will also curb some of the worst insurance industry practices and strengthen consumer protections:
This year, this bill creates a new, independent appeals process that ensures consumers in new private plans have access to an effective process to appeal decisions made by their insurer.
This year, discrimination based on salary will be outlawed. New group health plans will be prohibited from establishing any eligibility rules for health care coverage that discriminate in favor of higher-wage employees.
Beginning this fiscal year, this bill provides funding to states to help establish offices of health insurance consumer assistance in order to help individuals in the process of filing complaints or appeals against insurance companies.
Starting January 1, 2011, insurers in the individual and small group market will be required to spend 80 percent of their premium dollars on medical services. Insurers in the large group market will be required to spend 85 percent of their premium dollars on medical services. Any insurers who don't meet those thresholds will be required to provide rebates to their policyholders.
Starting in 2011, this bill helps states require insurance companies to submit justification for requested premium increases. Any company with excessive or unjustified premium increases may not be able to participate in the new health insurance exchanges.
Reform immediately begins to lower health care costs for American families and small businesses:
This year, small businesses that choose to offer coverage will begin to receive tax credits of up to 35 percent of premiums to help make employee coverage more affordable.
This year, new private plans will be required to provide free preventive care: no co-payments and no deductibles for preventive services. And beginning January 1, 2011, Medicare will do the same.
This year, this bill will provide help for early retirees by creating a temporary re-insurance program to help offset the costs of expensive premiums for employers and retirees age 55-64.
This year, this bill starts to close the Medicare Part D "donut hole" by providing a $250 rebate to Medicare beneficiaries who hit the gap in prescription drug coverage. And beginning in 2011, the bill institutes a 50% discount on prescription drugs in the "donut hole."
The Cove is a damning documentary about Japan's annual roundup of dolphins to be sold into the entertainment industry, or slaughtered for food. The Academy Award winner is clearly biased in favor of whales' cute cousins. However, it does sound the alarm that their cetacean meat is laced with toxic levels of Mercury even by American standards, which are actually more relaxed than Japanese government guidelines. Isabel Lucas and Hayden Panettiere are tragically underutilized in this film. The doc's distributor should enlist their star power to promote the movie's forthcoming theatrical release in Japan.
Today is World Water Day. This year's slogan is: Clean Water for a Healthy World. Water quality is key to human and ecosystem health. Having water in abundance here in Northern California is useless if we can't drink it, or use it to sustain our agriculture and environment.
Yours truly is personally trying to cut back on the number of disposable—particularly plastic—bags used when shopping. It would be awesome if more stores featured "carts" like some of the ones at IKEA that feature hooks to hold reusable bags in place of the the standard steel or plastic basket.
Batman proves that he's often right in 
