Wrapping up January, first month of the new year.  Whew.  Who knew it would be so busy?  And ... fun :)  Well I guess I might have suspected...  anyway, it's been fun blogging too; hope you agree.  And as always, it's all happening...

Excellent, not.  Obama on track to be most polarizing President ever. 

Philip Greenspun has some questions about Obama's state of the union address.  "If everyone is inherently equal, why are we so determined to bring home the gold?" 

The afforable care act: a train wreck and a lie...  "It is difficult to decide what is more infuriating: the dishonesty or the incompetence."  Not for me.  The dishonesty is unforgiveable. 

Davy Crocket and one week's pay.  "Congress has no power to appropriate this money as an act of charity."  Exactly right. 

How cool is this?  Rams owner Kroenke buys 60 acres in LA.  I grew up rooting for the Rams and still find myself doing so, even while wondering what the heck they are doing in St. Louis. 

This is excellent: Google autocomplete results for "why is [state] so...".  California is expensive.  Texas is big.  Arizona is hot and Montana is cold, and so are Minnesota, the Dakotas, and Michigan.  Weirdest?  Pennsylvania is ... haunted :) 

Doc Searles: the hell of comments.  Yeah I agree, current commenting systems are broken.  This is where I comment. 

Excellent: 3D-printing goes carbon fiber.  "For $5,000, you can print a carbon copy of a banana."  It is amazing the wide range of materials that can now be 3D-printed... 

Apple is already way ahead in mobile payments.   Well, yeah.  They have everyone's credit card information (via iTunes).  And now many people's fingerprint identifications also.  This is only a matter of time. 

Meanwhile: Google acquires DeepMind, an artificial intelligence startup.  Will they take advantage of the possibilities or squandor them? 

Eric Sink: an iPad user tries a Nexus 7.  "Judging the OS and its built-in apps, I gotta say I think Android might be generally better than iOS."  How interesting. 

I have been considering getting a Galaxy for an Android test device...  eyesFinder must work on IOS and Android both.

So Marissa Mayer has rid Yahoo of its COO.  Good work.  IMHO a COO is always a sign of trouble; either the CEO needs to be replaced, or one or more VPs, and a middleman is brought in as a bandaid. 

Possible related: Mayer is working to bring back search technology to Yahoo.  More good work.  When Yahoo left the search business they really lost their way. 

Best news of the week: Lampre have signed Chris Horner!  (and he can still eat cheeseburgers :)  "'If he rides like he did at the Vuelta, he can eat cheeseburgers every day,' said Copeland. 'The experience of Chris is huge. He's been around 20 years. It's difficult to change the mentality of veteran riders'"  Yay.  You will remember Lampre previously signed Rui Costa, the young Portugese world champion.  This is suddenly the team to watch ... I will certainly be rooting for them!