Sequel to the bad movie

http://www.cnbc.com/id/27451527

I'm sorry, they can't account for the $90 Billion they've spent since mid-September???

Folks, I keep hearing people screaming about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan costing Billions a week.  

I'm doing the math here, and I'm seeing about $15 Billion per week ($90 Billion divided by 6 weeks), by a single company, who can't say where the money is going.

I know where some of the money is going:  nice business "retreats".  That news story has been done.  But I ask you:  If they're that stupid about publicly spending that kind of money, what are they doing privately?

Vaccinations

OK, before I start to rant and rave, you might want to just take a quick glance at this article:

http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20081012/NEWS/810120373/1001/news

This is a topic that was tiring before it even got to this point.  In 1998, Andrew Wakefield (A gastroenterologist, a bowel doctor) and his colleagues looked at 12 children who had bowel disease and developmental disorders, who had all recently had a vaccination of some sort.  All of these children had been referred to him as patients.  They were not blindly chosen for the purposes of a research study.  These patients had been selected (on some level) for care, specifically for their bowel problems.

For some reason, the daft Dr. Wakefield decided that he saw a trend, and published a "study" (this is in quotes because this is a study only in the most limited sense.  An article would be a better term).  The fact that this "study" made it into Lancet (a peer reviewed, and somewhat prestigious medical journal) only makes this story all the more tragic.

The media picked up the story, and before long an international scare burned across the globe.  Parents were petrified of giving their child something that could cause brain damage.  Media generated statistics (read: lies, half-truths, and misintepretations) were thrown into the mix.  Before long, people acted with what was felt to be justified outrage.  In their minds, the medical community was posioning their children.

By 2006, the majority of the authors of the "Wakefield Study" had issued statements of retraction, condemning the study.  The limitations of the study far outweighed any relevance to the practice of medicine, or the safeguarding of children.

The year is 2008, and we see children dying of a preventable disease.  Diseases which have been mostly conquered for decades.  Why?  Because parents remember the media feeding frenzy of 1998, and not th quiet retractions that have happened since then.  No real press has been given to the clarification that, in FACT, there is no proven link between vaccinations and autism spectrum disorders.

Correlation does not equal causation.  If you give a child a vaccine, and months later the child develops mental disorders (or any disorder) that does not mean that the vaccine is the culprit.  Think about it.  In the intervening months the child: ate, fell down (at least I did as a child), learned a new skill, breathed, had a band-aid applied (again, at least I did as a child), played in the dirt, etc.  Any one of these things could be just as guilty (or contributory) as the vaccine.  Or it may have no role at all in the child's developing condition.

Now, another chain of events.  Your child gets Measles (or mumps, or rubella), and now has a chance of dying, suffering from neural damage, or losing their sight.  The child also has a chance of spreading these diseases to others.  Pregnant women may spontaneously abort their unborn child due to rubella infections.  We know for a fact that this happens (if you want to discuss Disease Theory, I'll give it a short try, but this is pretty well established).

Please vaccinate your children.

But now that I've said that, we have to respect a parent's right to bring up their child.  There may be reasons to not vaccinate their children (though none of the above appear to be valid to me).  Strict religious reasons may prevent a parent from vaccinating their children (Not what I believe in, but a patient's beliefs should be recognized and respected.  It is one of those big reasons that life is so sacred).

I don't believe that the government should mandate immunizations in any but the direst circumstances (smallpox containment is an example).  Parents should be able to opt out of immunizations.  However, I believe that the default position should be one of immunization.  Require some level of energy expenditure to prevent the immunization, even if it is simply requiring a simple signature on a simple form.  This way, apathy will still result in protection of the child from potentially fatal illnesses, and help reinforce herd immunity.

Education should also be taking place.  Every flyer discussing immunization should list some of the relevant facts regarding the immunization/autism controversy.  Point out the level of discredit that Wakefield has suffered.  Point out the incidence of diseases of concern (not just MMR, but Autism as well).

The vehemence surrounding this is astonishing at times.  I know parents want the best for their children, and I know that I will never be able to assess "Best" for every parent in every situation.  However, the logic behind some of these decisions, and the numbers that are making these decisions is just baffling.

Stay safe, folks, and take care of each other.

A quick rant about Macs, the Apple store, and the zombie fan boys

I don't really think of myself as particularly dedicated to any one tool, tactic, technique, or gizmo.  If something works, I'll grab it.  Sometimes I'm an early adopter, sometimes I'm a late adopter.  It took me years to get an iPod.  I thought they were overpriced and overblown, and it seemed that an easy way for a manufacturer to make 25%-50% more on an item by labeling it "iCrap".

Then my sister got me an iPod Nano.  I was amazed at the awesome sound coming from such a small, light package.

The Nano failed at an inopportune time when the sync cable interface cracked.  I found an iPod Touch and grabbed it, impressed with the excellent user interface.

However, I'm still a Windows guy.  I do a tremendous amount with my computer that I simply can't do with a Mac.  Case in point, I just finished turning old PC parts (and a drive) into a Blu-Ray Disc player and Recorder.  As of this morning, it's questionable whether Apple will ever support Blu-Ray.  Keep stifiling those options....

So, back to the iPod.  I switched laptops recently, and had to move my collection of music from one computer to another.  I won't get in to DRM and the MPAA/RIAA, that's a rant for later.  What I will get into is the error that happened a couple of days later.

Suddenly, iTunes is refusing to load.  I get an "Unknown Error: 13026".  I'm lucky that I live in an area where we have a couple of Apple Stores, as nothing in the iTunes knowledge base pointed to this problem.  So I made an appointment, and went to see them.

My first clue that I was going to have a problem was when I see a girl, near tears, at the "Genius Bar", hearing that she needs to spend $350 on a half-terabyte backup drive.  Why does this iCrap cost so much?  

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4107545&Sku=M122-7832

One gigabyte (twice the storage) for half the price.

I didn't say anything.  My dumb-ass.  At the time, I thought (and still think) it would be rude to walk into a shop (anyone's shop) and offer contrary advice.

So I get up, and present my problem.  The first thing out of the guy's mouth "Well, the big problem is that you're using Vista.  You should get a Mac".

OK big guy, I just bought a laptop for less than a grand that lets me do the photoediting I need.  To get something even close to this, you're suggesting I spend over $2,300, not including the $1,000-$2,000 software suite to go with it.  Thanks, "Genius".

So, the error says it's from iTunes.  This guy tells me it's a Vista problem.  I just want to make sure that I've got the rundown on this:

iTunes is available for Windows XP, Vista, or even Vista 64-Bit.

Apple makes a fantastic amount of money from Windows users who purchase music over iTunes

I purchased an iPod Touch for use with my Windows system.  Which is supported (at least according to the box).

All of this would leave me to believe that I could expect some modicum of tech support.  The "Genius'" suggestion?  Wipe the hard drive, start from scratch.  Buy a Mac.

It was at this point that I did launch into him, listing the reasons why I wouldn't buy a Mac (though I would probably get one for my Mom, who is a little behind the times when it comes to computers.  Let's face it, Mac's are pretty durable in the hands of people who don't understand computers).  I finally got a little peace from the idiots behind the Genius Bar, who told me to wipe the drive (and the music, coincidentally.  That part didn't get mentioned.  They didn't offer me a $350 backup drive either).

I went home, and did what I should have done in the first place:  I researched the problem, found the solution, and implemented it.  In 20 minutes or less.

Incidentally, the problem (13026) is caused by a bad file, Genius.itdb (the irony of this is kind of funny).  Simply erasing the file will cause iTunes to generate a new one, but one that should be competent.

So, I'm kind of curious, why does iCrap cost so much?