Red China Realignment

Paul Krugman opines on the Chinese announcement this week to de-link the Yuan from the Dollar. Krugman's analysis provides some interesting perspective on the perverse policy underpinning the nearly decade-old Chinese dollar fixation and its effects. He warns of discomfort ahead in the housing markets if interest rates rise on a falling dollar.

Read for yourself -- but there is significant possibility of dislocation if the Chinese currency is revalued too quickly may send cause a spike in consumer prices in the US. This could destabilize the US economy and thus, the world economy. Bad things could happen.

What Took Them So Long?

I wonder why this iPod clock Radio, soon to be available from iHome Audio

Bubbles, Bubbles, Toil and Troubles

A cousin of mine just got a plum new job and is thinking of buying a house. When he approached a trusted family friend in the mortgage industry, the broker told him to sit back for a year an continue to rent. A mortgage broker. Told somebody with a really good job to continue renting. Why? Because he perceives that housing prices in that area are unsupportably high and will come crashing down.

This industry professional is not alone. According to a column at MarketWatch, 86% of respondents to a poll see a credit-inspired real estate bubble. Further, "Comments by real estate pros stood out because the housing bubble is likely to be the lead domino triggering a global economic meltdown. Real estate respondents expressed virtually unanimous concerns about this bubble."

At least this column is constructive, though. It does provide sample portfolios to help you get through any bubble-popping-induced recession.

Mozilla for Mac OS X x86 Posted

Josh Aas, the chief developer of Mozilla, posted on his blog about his experience in porting the browser to OS X for Intel. He added a detailed description of the process, in which Apple heavily participated. If you have an x86 developer box, you can install it from this disc image.

iTunes Phone Under Your Tree

The much-anticipated iTunes cell phones from Motorola and Apple are due to roll out by the Christmas shopping season, according to Businessweek. There is no doubt in my mind that the iTunes phones will are a necessary extension of the iTunes empire. What I don't agree with is the following analysis:

The longer Cingular, Motorola, and Apple wait to get into the market, the more they risk a rival catching fire. On June 15, Napster (NAPS ) and telecom-gear maker Ericsson (ERICY ) announced that they would offer a wireless music service for operators to use.

Meanwhile, startup Mercora, headed by a cofounder of antivirus-software maker McAfee (MFE ), already allows cell-phone users to listen to songs for free. And satellite radio operators XM Satellite Radio (XMSR ) and Sirius (SIRI ) are looking to offer music radio for cell phones. These are just some of the services that could roll out within a year.

As long as iTunes for Mobiles is introduced within two or three months after the startup music stores, Apple probably won't have to worry too much. Why? It seems that the stores that BW touts as iTunes competitors aren't even off the ground yet. It'll take months or perhaps years for them to get online, establish a brand and capture significant market share. Apple and Motorola's tie-up with Cingular will have an established brand, marketing muscle and be leveraging existing infrastructure. If Apple gets this off the ground by 2005Q4, it will absolutely kill competitors.

By the way, it is nice to see Apple and Motorola playing nice. And it is really nice to see Motorola rewarding Cingular for its past loyalty with the V3 RAZR.

Apple Distributing Pr0n

Apple joins major corporations like Time Warner, Comcast and News Corp. as a porn distributor.



Those companies sell pornography through their cable and satellite affiliates. Apple gives it way (for now) through its podcasting feature on iTunes. And, unlike those television services mentioned above, Apple's sultry podcasts go unlabeled according to iPodLounge.com. I'm sure Apple will catch on and either start labeling them (preferred and probably most likely) or try to filter them (not preferred and tough to police).

P.S. Yes, "porn" is intentionally misspelled in the title.

Atlanta Firm Caught in Southern Company/Mirant Spat

Mirant, the Southern Company's energy trading and supply spinoff, is now in bankruptcy and suing its former parent for allegedly dooming its existence by failing to properly capitalize it. What's bizarre is that the prestigious Atlanta firm of Troutman Sanders represented both the Southern Company and Mirant in those negotiations. I don't know enough about the deal or remember enough from my professional responsibility class to remember if this type of representation is actually unethical. But such representations can easily spiral out of control and create an appearance of impropriety. I know greed is good and greed works, but shouldn't law firms think twice or thrice about representing both sides in the same transaction?

Revised Mac HD Video Ripping Tool

While it sounds obscure, those who have been using their Macs to archive and transcode HD content from a Motorola DCT-6xxx DVR should happily note that Apple has updated the FireWire SDK. The SDK (short for software development kit) contains software that allows Macs running OS X to record content stored on the increasingly common Motorola-brand high-def set top box.

The SDK contains a program called VirtualDVHS, an uncreatively-named virtual DVHS deck. Connect your mac's FireWire port to one of the two on the back of the DCT and fire up VDVHS and you can record whatever show is playing, whether it is live TV or DVR content. This recording is digital, in high definition and beautiful.

And, thanks to the DC Circuit, sans Broadcast Flag!

News Flash: Iraq Insurgency Not in 'Death Throes'

In what should come as a shock only to W, the Dick, Rummy and their band of Merry Men, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said that the Iraqi insurgency is at best as strong as it was six months ago. Flanked by high-ranking field commanders, Rummy testified before a Senate committee today on recent goings on in Iraq.

General John Abizaid, the commander of the multinational forces in Iraq, told members of the committee that he believed "more foreign fighters (are) coming into Iraq than there were six months ago." Repeatedly pressed to confirm or deny the Dick's assertion a few months ago that the insurgency was on its last legs, another top U.S. general in Iraq stated "There's a long way to go here. Things in Iraq are hard."

Teddy Kennedy asked Rummy whether, after hearing his generals' reports, it sounded to him like the insurgency has entered the "last throes" stage. Noting that he had not uttered the "last throes" line, an obviously exasperated Rumsfeld said of Cheney's choice of words: "I didn't use them, and I might not use them."