The Dark Knight

Last night I was lucky to see The Dark Knight at the IMAX in Pinnacle. I want to say that if you have not seen this movie, you need to see it. Whether or not you are a Batman fan, this is and will be the best movie of the year. The casting, writing, editing, etc, etc was just excellent. Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, et all, put on amazing performances. In short, I just hope they have plans for another one!

Who do you want to Jott?

Recently I was speaking with my friend Steve Drevik and he turned me on to a program called Jott. I will say that I am in my "infant" stages of using this but in the last 2 days alone, I've used it successfully half a dozen times! I'm already a big fan of it and so far I recommend it. Jott has specific programs for the iPhone as well as the Blackberry. Below is a breakdown of what it does courtesy of "The New York Times".

A free service, Jott (www.jott.com) uses your phone as a voice-dictation machine. Once you set up an account, you simply call (866) JOTT-123 on your hand-held device to connect. After the call goes through, you will be prompted for whom you wish to “jott.” You reply with the word myself and wait for the recording tone. Now you can speak “Buy birthday present for Johnny before Aug. 5,” or whatever task reminder you need. Upon hanging up, Jott will transcribe the task and shoot it off in a e-mail message to the address you provided for yourself during setup.
The beauty of this service is that you can assign a speed-dial number to Jott’s service for a one-button call any time you need to send yourself a reminder. The approach can be used while driving or in other situations where text messaging or typing on a small device are less than ideal.
The uses for Jott as a productivity tool do not stop with reminders to yourself while on the go. You can dictate a message to other individuals or whole groups. You can even post an entry to your blog.

Below is a comment about Jott from the creator.

We feel pretty strongly about working hard to create something of value, and only then trying to pay the rent around here.
So yes, the Jott for Blackberry beta is free right now, and will be for awhile, but eventually we'll have to keep the business going. The plan is to make this appealing to a broad set of folks, and so we will try to keep the price very reasonable.
We're getting amazingly strong feedback on it, so hopefully we're on the right track.

John PollardFounder and CEO, Jott.com

Coming to a Country near you!

As most of you know, Barack Obama is on his "world tour" right now. I say "world tour" because this seems to be more like a concert than anything else. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad B.O. is going to visit a number of foreign countries as well as the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. I mean, this could be our commander in chief in 4 months and he's "now" seeing the troops face to face for the first time. I want to say "it's about time" but really, it just feels like a photo opp for me...

Free Speech, Political or are they in "distress"?

First Amendment to the United States Constitution:


"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."


While driving through my girlfriends neighborhood last week (leading up to Independence Day) I noticed this in a neighbors garden. As you can see, it is an American Flag purposely flown upside down. Now, my disgust immediately took over. However, before I knocked on their door and expressed my displeasure, I wanted to make sure what this actually meant....and here is why. You see, in my personal opinion, I look at this as a political statement. A statement that says "I am not patriotic, I am UN-American and I don't like America". But what is great about this country, the First Amendment gives us the freedom to do such an thing. However, earlier in the year I ran for County Commission in Knox County and was not allowed to put a political sign of mine in my girlfriends yard nor one of her neighbors. Here in lies my issue. What is free speech?
On the website, USFlag.org, they list the following with regards to proper etiquette of hanging an American flag.



"The flag should never be dipped to any person or thing. It is flown upside down only as a distress signal."



So, by this, should I really be knocking on the door to see if everything is OK on the home front? Or is this a distress signal to America itself?

You could try to say I'm confused between a love of government vs. a love of our country. No, I'm not. I love my country and I love our government. Good, bad, or indifferent. What I do not love is the fact that one can express their ideals by hanging an American Flag upside down while I can't even put a sign in a yard before the election.

Noam Chomsky states that:



"If you believe in freedom of speech, you believe in freedom of speech for views you don't like. If you're in favor of freedom of speech, that means you're in favor of freedom of speech precisely for views you despise."


Now, I never really agree with Noam Chomsky but his far left ideas have a point here. In order to appreciate the First Amendment, you have to take the good with the bad. Although they may not be happy where America is right now, I still have to right to knock on their door, complain and call the head of the HOA and have it taken down....just like my sign!