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More thoughts on the Google Voice blocking. I wonder if anything will actually come of this frustration? The iPhone/App Store combo has a big headstart, but it's definitely not insurmountable. As much as folks have fun with $0.99 games, real killer apps that draw you to a phone exist at a higher price point, so any competing app store that can gain traction and attract quality developers still has a chance. If Apple ran the App Store like they gave a damn, it might be game over already for competitors.
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Interesting, the FCC is looking into the matter.
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There have been several tech thought leaders and Mac and/or iPhone software developers that have responded to Apple's removal and rejection of Google Voice apps from the App Store by saying "Adios, iPhone." This is a good summary of those stories, and some additional commentary.
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One of the better pieces I've read on the topic lately.
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The Atlantic's former China correspondent weighs in on the inane beer meeting (inane to me because can't we have one thing where there's not lobbying? "We need an American beer" blah blah blah) at the White House. I post because at the end he reminds us how lucky we are to have such tasty beers to choose from as compared to residents of China.
links for 2009-08-01
August 1st, 2009 § 5 comments
Convenient for Schilling he is now in the everybody-was-doing-it-lets-move-on camp. Costas is a prick. What are his metrics for saying Texas was the clear league leader in massive steroid abuse? And as far as his argument that you cannot devalue championships because Texas didn’t win anything during that period, Texas won the west in 96, 98 and 99.
You’re not being defensive because you’re a Rangers fan, are you? Jk, jk. Anecdotally, it sure seems like Texas was the epicenter of the steroid era, with Canseco, Palmeiro, A-Rod, Sosa as known offenders off of the top of my head. The argument against that is that we don’t know the full extent of who used roids, so the jury is still out on who the “clear leader” was. Perhaps a 30-way tie will be the outcome.
He’s making a big speculation which might be ok but his entire premise is flawed unless 99 is pre-steroid era (98 was the HR race) or unless you adopt the philosophy you win it all or nothing.
True each of those players played in Texas. Sosa was traded to the White Sox in ’89 so he’s definitely a stretch. None, except for maybe Palmeiro, will be wearing the Texas “T” if they were inducted into the HOF. According to wikipedia, there’s only two Texas players that have been suspended for PEDS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_players_suspended_for_performance-enhancing_drugs
True enough on Sosa. I had forgotten how little time he spent with Texas.
Not sure if you’re proposing a standard for whether you should associate a player with a particular team based on what the player would wear at Cooperstown. If so, that standard doesn’t work for me, given player movement.
One player came to mind that, I believe, has been left out of any smoking gun steroid conversations: Juan Gonzalez (Texas ’89-’99). Maybe he was clean, but more likely that just reflects the incomplete nature of disclosures to date. If we go off of that Bill James article that I sent you, perhaps 80% of players were using steroids at the peak. Even 50% would make you think that any power hitter was on something.
A guest columnist at Rob Neyer’s blog had this post today:
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/sweetspot/0-4-144/More-fuel-for-the-Yankees-Red-Sox-fire.html
Key quote: “There was a palpable sense of disillusionment for many Red Sox fans last week. Manny Ramirez was old news. But Ortiz, the lovable Big Papi, the organization’s greatest clutch hitter since Yaz, was something else. If Ortiz used PEDs, is nothing sacred?
The answer is: of course not. If Red Sox fans actually believed that the 2004 and 2007 championships were somehow “pure,” they were fooling themselves. How can you cherry pick a “clean” team from the last twenty some odd years with a straight face? I understand why they wouldn’t want to believe that Ortiz had used PEDs, but if anyone has a stat line that merits suspicion, it is Ortiz.”
Good points. With the hall of fame hat thing, I was just saying even those players played for Texas they are more associated with other teams so the fact they are linked to PEDs doesn’t mean you should focus just on Texas.