These will be ready to drink this weekend. I definitely had some issues when it came to carbonation, but I found a nice calculator online that should help me avoid these in the future.

I opened up a few last week, and I have found that they have a distinct and pleasant apricot taste.

Delivered, March 08, 2010, 3:38 pm, QUINCY, MA 02170 Notice Left, March 06, 2010, 10:01 am, QUINCY, MA 02170
Out for Delivery or Available at PO Box, March 06, 2010, 9:10 am, QUINCY, MA 02170
Sorting Complete, March 06, 2010, 8:40 am, QUINCY, MA 02170
Arrival at Post Office, March 06, 2010, 8:04 am, QUINCY, MA 02170
Processed through Sort Facility, March 05, 2010, 11:47 am, SPRINGFIELD, MA 01152
Processed through Sort Facility, March 02, 2010, 8:37 am, BELL, CA 90201
Processed through Sort Facility, March 01, 2010, 1:09 pm, RICHMOND, CA 94804
Processed through Sort Facility, February 11, 2010, 5:13 am, HONOLULU, HI 96820
Acceptance, February 01, 2010, 12:39 pm, KAILUA KONA, HI 96740

Several decades ago, before the emergence of computing, if you wanted to start a new business and you had to set up an office to accommodate your employees. The office would have staplers, desks, lamps, etc. You might have wanted to get a mimeograph machine as well. These were all things that could be leased or purchased.

Over the last two decades, there have been rapid changes in the amount of computing resources needed to perform office duties. If you wanted to set up an office, you needed to purchase or lease computers. In addition, you needed to purchase licenses of software, hire expensive technicians, etc. The capital costs of opening an office skyrocketed. And you still needed to purchase a mimeograph machine, which they were calling a “photocopy” machine.

Out of this shuffle, there is now a general consensus about core hardware and software that is needed to successfully open a new office. For example, we know that each employee will have a computer with monitor, email, internet access, a word processor, a spread-sheeting program, etc. If you didn’t have the latest version of these software programs, you couldn’t do business with suppliers, partners, and customers.

So now the technology and bandwidth is available to host these office applications securely at a central site, and to provide employees with on-demand access to it. If you want to think about it another way, you can have someone else lease the package as a service. In addition, you can lease thin clients, and get the same services at lower monthly cost. This dramatically lowers the capital investment needed to open a physical office. You’ll probably still have to purchase staplers and lease a scanner or photocopier.

The true effect of Cloud Computing is to lower the cost of business for SMBs. Why SMBs? Because newer, smaller organizations will be better positioned to embrace this shift. They have the most to benefit, since capital costs for computing would have previously consumed a far greater percentage of their resources. Because of the complexity, older and larger companies will find it much harder to embrace this Cloud Model. Also, larger companies already have established IT budgets and it consumes far less as a percentage of their resources. Lastly, there is a false consensus that control over IT resources results in security or advantage.

In the past year, over three million Americans have lost their jobs, yet the Democratic Congress continues deficit spending, adding to the bureaucracy, and increasing the national debt on our children and grandchildren.

Most economists would agree that spending is necessary in order to end a recession. Calling to end spending now would put our recovery at risk. Even if you don’t believe in the Keynesian effect, you would still want to get out of a recession with some spending until you saw an increase in inflation. Thankfully, we don’t face inflation as a serious issue yet.

But most Americans do not want to turn over the best medical care system in the world to the federal government

This graphic would seem to indicate that we do not have the best medical care system in the world. Sure, we spend a lot of money, but our results aren’t all that great.

Americans were shocked on Christmas Day to learn of the attempted bombing of a flight to Detroit. This foreign terror suspect was given the same legal rights as a U.S. citizen, and immediately stopped providing critical intelligence.

Bob McDonnell seems to be arguing that the foreign terror suspect should have been stripped of his legal rights and forced to continue providing critical intelligence, perhaps through “enhanced interrogation techniques”. This is similar in nature to the stance that Scott Brown holds:

Brown, in response to a question, told reporters that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, the Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a passenger jet en route to Detroit on Christmas Day, should be treated as an enemy combatant, taken to the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, interrogated “pursuant to our rules of engagement and laws of war,” and not be treated as a civilian criminal suspect. Brown asserted that waterboarding does not constitute torture, but he did not specifically say Abdulmutallab should be subjected to waterboarding. — Link

I am increasingly concerned with the election of public officials who endorse torture.

The picture above was taken in Nice at a beach. The beaches there are very rocky and the stones are called “gallets”. It made for a beautiful picture.

I took this in a random town that we stopped in south-central France. We were on the way to Mont Ventoux to see the tour.

Also, I very quickly scanned in the first of the 35mm roll I took. I plan on using GIMP with a bunch of these images and then posting them to Darjix at some point. I think the photograph below might have been from Switzerland, but I need to double-check.

Oh, one more thing – I won’t be updating this blog for the next two weeks, since I’m heading to Hawaii to get married. See you in a bit!