SharedThought

David Pogue’s review of the new iPhone due to be released on Friday is out. This is probably the best overview of the phone’s new features I’ve seen in a review. Pogue’s favorite new features are the iPhone 2.0 firmware/software/OS upgrade and the AppStore. Both of these features are available to existing iPhone users.

Disappointingly, Pogue says the iPhone’s GPS is too weak to support a turn by turn application. Bloggers have noted that the terms of service of the iPhone SDK prohibit development of such an application, so perhaps the underpowered nature of the GPS device itself explains this prohibition. I hope that the GPS device is powerful enough to support an application like Nike+. I am hoping for an upgrade to the Nike+ service that would allow the iPhone to use the built in GPS in place of the existing shoe chip and iPod nano system it currently uses.

The LA Times is reporting that Vice-President Cheney’s office pressured EPA officials to alter their testimony related to the impacts of global warming. The upshot appears to be that states will use Cheney’s interference as proof that EPA’s relaxed emissions standards should be set aside, and that states should be allowed to impose more stringent emissions limits for themselves.

Here is a very cool implementation of Google’s street view. Look for the yellow line in the picture below. You might have to use the controls to pan the image a little, but once you see the yellow line you can click on it to follow the individual stages of the race. You can find and follow the other stages of the 2008 Tour de France course using Google’s street view site devoted to the race.

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Consortium News reports that the Reagan administration carried out a domestic propaganda campaign supported by the NSC and the CIA. It was uncovered by a congressional committee investigating the Reagan era covert operation, but not revealed as part of a compromise to get Republican votes for the committee’s final report.

Back when the September 11, 2001 attacks were still fresh in the public’s conscience, President Bush stated publicly that Osama bin Laden was public enemy number one and that he was wanted “dead or alive.” According to a New York Times article published Monday, the Pentagon has been facing resistance from other agencies in Washington, including the White House, in its efforts to put together a Special Forces unit to target areas in Pakistan where bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders are suspected of hiding. Pathetic.

This morning after trading opened Apple, Inc. passed HP in market cap again. Following the release of the iPhone in June, Apple’s stock took a dive and is just now getting back to where it was.

Update: HP has passed Apple again! Apple is up today, but so is HP. It looks like they’ll be back and forth for awhile now.

This morning when trading opened on Wall Street, Apple, Inc. passed HP in market cap for the first time. Earlier this year, Apple passed Dell in market cap and now stands 6th overall in the technology sector.

Office 2007 is introducing new fonts that will change the way most documents will look and feel. It’s nice to see that Redmond is starting to focus on design at this level. Poynter Online has an interesting article detailing the fonts to be introduced when Office 2007 debuts.

Found on the Freakonomics blog:

The Monkey Chow Diaries

Can a human subsist on a constant diet of pelletized, nutritionally complete food like puppies and monkeys do? For the good of human kind, I’m about to find out. On June 3, 2006, I began my week of eating nothing but monkey chow: “a complete and balanced diet for the nutrition of primates, including the great apes.”

As of Day 3, tester Adam Scott’s poop smells bad and he’s craving open-faced turkey sandwiches.

Update: Adam Scott’s also got a blog where he has a bit more detail on his monkey chow diet.

There’s a great article in today’s New York Times about a lawsuit between Dale Chihuly and a former employee cum competitor. Chihuly contends that Bryan Rubino is knocking off his glass designs and wants him to stop. It’s an interesting portrayal of Chihuly’s glass empire and contains such interesting bits as this: due to a surfing injury, for the last 27 years Chihuly hasn’t blown any of his own glass creations! I’ve seen a number of Chihuly installations, and really like his work, but I agree with one of the “experts” quoted in the article: Chihuly is bound to come off poorly in this endeavor. I imagine the public feeling a little bit like Dorothy when, after pulling back the curtain, she discovered the Wizard of Oz was someone rather ordinary.