Dell E and E Slim revealed, taking on the Asus Eee PC and Macbook Air

By Paul Miller
Engadget.com
June 12, 2008
Click here for the original article

We got a nice helping of slides dropped on our virtual doorstep this evening, fleshing out Dell’s upcoming netbook — which they seem to be calling the “Dell E.” Um, Eeenteresting name choice, but that doesn’t seem set in stone, and there’s plenty else going on here to ponder over. Dell’s breaking the Dell E into two device types, a 8.9-inch model clearly meant to take on the Eee 900, and the 12.1-inch “E Slim” which actually looks positioned to take on the MacBook Air and X300, at a mere 0.8-inches thick, though perhaps in a lower-end capacity. Even the 8.9-inch model will have some distinctions, with E Classic model for super low-end use, and E Video and E Video+ for more RAM, larger flash storage, webcams and Bluetooth in the + model. Rollout looks to be slated for August for the E, August / September-ish for the E Slim, and a followup for both of those in October of WWAN, with WiMAX after that. Dell even has a second version of both devices slated for Q2 2009, but that’s all we know about those so far. Perhaps most interesting is that all of these run Linux and Windows XP, and while it’s not clear if there’s a full-featured Linux OS onboard, there does seem to be an instant-on, Foleo-esque Linux included on all of them called BlackTop. We’re not sure if there’s any relation to Splashtop, but the janky-ass interface and email / calendar / contacts apps seem to be telling us no. BlackTop will support WWAN and WiFi, and Dell plans to move the 2.0 version to the Latitude and Vostro lines in a year or two. Peep the slides below for all the gory details. Oh, and the price? Dell E starts at $299.

If Politicians Used Their Facebook Mini-Feeds

From GiantLists.com…

#01   Barack Obama has invited Hillary Clinton to use the Career Search application.

#02   John McCain just wrote on Cindy McCain’s wall: “Trashy make-up wearing c*nt.”

#03   Hillary Clinton has updated her status: “bored… lol…. just waiting by the phone…”

#04   Want to be the first to write on George W. Bush’s Wall?

#05   John McCain needs help updating his profile picture.

#06   Welcome, Barack! Hillary Clinton has poked you.

#07   John Edwards updated his status: “just back from the stylist and feeling sexxay!!”

#08   Bill Clinton is now single.

#09   Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton are now friends. They found each other in the “VP Hopefuls” group.

#10   John McCain turns 102 today!

#11   Barack Obama terrorist fist-jabbed Michelle Obama.

Tim Russert.. a Journalist’s hero

This video will come to be known as one of the last yet most influential reporting Russert ever did. You know he meant a lot to the journalistic and political worlds when his open declaration that Obama won the nomination actually made news on its own. I don’t think anyone could ever replace him.

Official response from Barack Obama:

“I’ve known Tim Russert since I first spoke at the convention in 2004. He’s somebody who, over time, I came to consider not only a journalist but a friend. There wasn’t a better interviewer in TV, not a more thoughtful analyst of our politics, and he was also one of the finest men I knew. Somebody who cared about America, cared about the issues, cared about family. I am grief-stricken with the loss and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family. And I hope that, even though Tim is irreplaceable, that the standard that he set in his professional life and his family life are standards that we all carry with us in our own lives.”

NBC’s Tim Russert Dead at 58… He Was One of the Best Journalists Ever

By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 13, 2008; 4:10 PM

Tim Russert, the Democratic operative turned NBC commentator who revolutionized Sunday morning television and infused journalism with his passion for politics, died this afternoon.

Russert suffered a heart attack while working in his office on Washington’s Nebraska Avenue. Details were not immediately available.

Russert served as NBC’s Washington bureau chief and the host of “Meet the Press,” the top-rated Sunday talk show, which had an enormous influence on politics and was marked by his aggressive style of interrogation. As a frequent commentator on the “Today” show, “NBC Nightly News” and other shows, Russert wielded such clout that when he declared that Sen. Barack Obama had wrapped up the Democratic nomination last month, his pronouncement was treated as a news event in itself.

Russert’s television career was marked by a voracious appetite for politics and a shrewd understanding of how politicians interact with the media. He also wrote a book about his father, titled “Big Russ and Me.” Last week, he moved Big Russ to a nursing facility.

Former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw gave MSNBC viewers the news of Russert’s death at 3:40 p.m.

“He worked to the point of exhaustion so many weeks,” Brokaw said, adding: “This news division will not be the same without his strong, clear voice.”

Brokaw said Russert had just returned from a family trip to Italy with his wife, writer Maureen Orth. Their son, Luke, graduated from Boston College this spring, Brokaw said.

Russert served as host of “Meet the Press” longer than any other person and was “one of the premier political analysts and journalists of his time,” Brokaw said. He began hosting “Meet the Press” in 1991.

The Buffalo native got his start in New York politics, working for then-senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and then-governor Mario Cuomo.

New information regarding Obama’s potential Vice Presidential pick

From TheHuffingtonPost.com
June 10, 2008
Click here for the original story

From NBC’s Chuck Todd and Domenico Montanaro:

So you think you know who’s on Obama’s veep short list? Well, think again. According to sources on the Hill, Obama veep vetters — specifically Jim Johnson and Eric Holder — have been asking Dem members of Congress this week their input about potential running mates. The conversations are free-flowing but one name the vetters are inserting in the conversations is one that is not a household name… Ret. Gen. James Jones, the former Marine-turned-NATO Supreme Allied Commander. …

Besides Jones, the other names on the list bandied about with congressional Dems include (and not in any order): Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, John Edwards, Evan Bayh, Kathleen Sebelius, Ted Strickland, Mark Warner, Tim Kaine, Jim Webb, Bill Nelson, Jack Reed, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Tom Daschle, and Sam Nunn. You’ll notice a few names NOT on this list (that’s not my exclusion — hint hint). Besides Jones, I’m told the two other names that invited extended discussion were Biden and Strickland.

The World Is Awaiting President Obama

By Alan Fram
for the Associated Press
June 12, 2008
Click here for the original article

WASHINGTON — People around the globe widely expect the next American president to improve the country’s policies toward the rest of the world, especially if Barack Obama is elected, yet they retain a persistently poor image of the U.S., according to a poll released Thursday.

The survey of two dozen countries, conducted this spring by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center, also found a growing despondency over the international economy, with majorities in 18 nations calling domestic economic conditions poor. In more bad news for the U.S., people shared a widespread sense the American economy was hurting their countries, including large majorities in U.S. allies Britain, Germany, Australia, Turkey, France and Japan.

Even six in 10 Americans agreed the U.S. economy was having a negative impact abroad.

Views of the U.S. improved or stayed the same as last year in 18 nations, the first positive signs the poll has found for the U.S. image worldwide this decade. Even so, many improvements were modest and the U.S. remains less popular in most countries than it was before it invaded Iraq in 2003, with majorities in only eight expressing favorable opinions…

Click here for the full story