brainrow :: 2009

The world of the future? It’s on the way:

The first-ever video advertisement will be published in a traditional paper magazine in September.

The video-in-print ads will appear in select copies of the US show business title Entertainment Weekly.

The slim-line screens – around the size of a mobile phone display – also have rechargeable batteries.

The chip technology used to store the video – described as similar to that used in singing greeting cards – is activated when the page is turned.
Each chip can hold up to 40 minutes of video.

I think Jetsons. BBC thinks Harry Potter. Either way, Pepsi will be getting a lot of buzz, and not just from poorly-connected batteries.

What If…

Cartoonist Tom Tomorrow asks what if Democrats behaved more like Republicans?

(Click the image to see the whole cartoon.)

Some polls show public support for healthcare reform dropping. I can’t help thinking it’s because Democrats — especially in Congress — are already acting too much like Republicans.

In November, voters elected Barack Obama and gave Democrats large majorities in the House and the Senate. Add one party-switcher named Arlen Specter, and Democrats now have 60 seats in the Senate, a so-called filibuster-proof majority. I don’t believe voters were hoping for the timid, corporate-interests-first policies that too many Congressional Democrats seem to be embracing right now.

Does the Democratic leadership think they’ll finally be strong enough to fix the healthcare mess only after the 2010 midterm elections? Do they imagine they’ll be in a stronger position then, if they can’t manage to get anything done now?

Bill Maher said of Obama, “He is Michael Jordan playing on a bad team. There’s nobody to pass the ball to.”

Congressional Democrats, you were elected to do a job. Stop running scared. Do the job. Do it right. Let the voters judge. The surest way to lose in 2010 is to fail to deliver the change voters demanded in 2008.