Friday Donuts

Dear Members and Constituents, Staring into their crystal balls, pundits see 3D TV as the next big step for the medium. A couple of steps down the road they envision holographic TV (like 3D TV, except the person sitting next to you sees a different angle of the image than you do). While both of these technologies sound pretty cool, neither can begin to do a donut (or any food for that matter) justice. To be fully enjoyed, a donut must be physically present. Unfortunately, none of the pundits are putting teleportation on the roadmap just yet. I can envision it now. Donuts for everyone (even on black Friday). Can you imagine the bandwidth it would take to deliver a donut to each of you (instead of this lousy 2D replica)? I’d speculate we’re talking terabits, perhaps even petabits (which, when added together, would make the term “exaflood” a laughable relic of the past). Granted, there would probably be “low resolution” teleportation available –which might be adequate for simple objects o...

Dear Members and Constituents, You may have heard Microsoft is launching version 9 of Internet Explorer. Nine! That’s a lot of versions. I will show my age a little by admitting that, at the time, I thought Microsoft could never take-on Netscape in the browser space. I suppose there is something to be said for giving your competitor’s lifeblood product away while integrating it to your dominant operating system. Then again, Nescape’s demise may have been precipitated by the shape of their logo. If you look at all the successful browsers in the market today, they all have one thing in common: their logos are fashioned after the donut. In hindsight, I suppose the writing was on the wall. I would understand if you’re a little skeptical. After all, how important can a logo’s shape be? Well, let us see… Ford and Toyota have donut-inspired logos. GM and Chrysler do not. JP Morgan Chase and the Bank of New York have donut-inspired logos (and have repaid TARP). AIG, BofA and Citi Group do not ...

Dear Members and Constituents, I’d like you to bear with me as I conduct a brief experiment. Ready? Close your eyes and… ok… just realized you need to keep them open in order to read this. So, with your eyes open, take a slow, deep breath. Hold it for a few seconds. That’s it. Now -yes- slowly exhale. Repeat. Did you feel it? If you humored me and followed my instructions to the letter, that means you’re alive. You’re alive! So what’s the big deal? (you may be asking yourself). Put aside the obvious fact that it beats the alternative and think of all the things being alive enables you to enjoy. Here are a few things on my list: • The taste warm oatmeal raisin cookies • Stimulating intellectual discussions • Lactic acid build-up the day after a longer-than-usual hike • Anticipation for a long-awaited encounter • The smell of freshly cut pine (speaking of which, my kids’ High School is having a fund raiser, so I’m selling garlands and wreaths again this year – sign-up sheet is at my des...

Dear Members and Constituents, “Why am I here?”, “How did it all begin?”, “What’s the best donut?” These are the big questions. If the answers were obvious and incontrovertible, the list would be comprised of other questions. Given the complexity, lack of hard evidence and subjectivity involved, it’s no surprise we don’t all agree on an answer (often, we don’t even have one). Over-simplification and false trade-offs only make matters worse. Case-in-point: the debate over science vs. religion. C’mon, really? Can’t they both be right? Science deals in the natural; religion in the super-natural. Two complementary –not contradictory—realms. With so many moving parts, it’s tempting to make a false assumption, cling to easy answers and avoid the topic. Once you’ve discarded the truth as a likely possibility, all you’re left with is a thick broth of wrong answers to stew in. It’s no wonder these questions have been around so long (some longer than others, after all, donuts were only invented...