Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Breast Feeding in the USA

I just read another article about people being offended by breast feeding. This time the family was ejected from their air-flight.

To be honest I do not understand why there is a group of people that find breast feeding offensive. Or why some people want it banned in any place out side one's home. I could at least understand if some person was feeding their 4 or 5 year old this way. But I believe most women breast feed infants (typically stopping at 1 1/2 years of age at the latest).

Age aside. Let the kid eat. You don't have to stare or watch the breast feeding. You don't need to feel uncomfortable, because, well, you are not doing it.

I only see these stories in the USA, maybe others country societies have issues as well, but they keep it to themselves. Seems to me the USA is loosing its step and the "me-me" attitude is just getting worse. It is no longer the good for society - it is what is good to me the individual.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Zune Marketplace

Been following the Zune. Went to the site today, but it provides me little to no information about its Marketplace. I was curious on the Marketplace setup. I read that some press people liked its interface. However, I see you need to purchase a Zune to enter the Marketplace. Guess I will not be seeing it.

I'm not quite sure I understand Microsofts idea on the Zune. I have a Sandisk e200 and love it. It is small, easy to use and not so expensive. Zune (and iPod) is the opposite. Plus with Zune working with its own proprietary music system seems very strange. Just not sold on Zune's idea. I think the sharing feature is neat to talk about, but it is too limited for me. I see good promotional tools being developed for it, but I think the marketers will ruin it and start seeding partial songs for advertising. And the next thing you know you have a bunch of files on your unit you don't need.

I think this proprietary music is making music more difficult to discover. Maybe it is because I was raised on records, CD and tapes that was shared to a larger audience. The new players are so personal people don't much bother to ask what you are listening to. Maybe the Zune will open sharing a bit, but they need to open their format to allow it to be heard.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Terry Fox Run Taipei 2006

A running bug as caught me. I have kept my schedule of running every other day. So, I ran at the Samsung 3K Fun Run (October) and completed it in some 10 minutes. The Samsung race was crazy crowded. The Terry Fox run was not so crowded (most likely due to people being asked to donate money), but there were a good number of people and the organization raised A LOT of money. I ran the 6K in 18:52.

I must say I don't have an issue with the length of runs and look forward to the 9K ING run in December. My main issue is having the extra "umph" needed to push that extra energy. I have it in the evening when I run, but having it at 7:00am is a whole different thing. I can do without the 5:00am alarm going off on a Sunday.

I must say that after the Terry Fox run I am a bit disappointed in myself not signing up for the ING half marathon. I feel the 9K for me may be a rushed race. I think I would be better suited for the longer haul at this time.

I never really wanted to do a marathon, but I see one coming on this year.