Ulanism

My world has changed. Now I hope to change the world.

Good luck Barack =)

Google really knows what they are doing! Congrats =)

YVOD had a great development lunch today!

This is my favorite Obama video to date. Says it all…

Wassup 2008

Its been eight long years since the boys said wassup to each other. Even with the effects of a down economy and imminent change in the White House, the boys are still able to come together and say…

Wassup (Original)

A conservative friend recently sent me a link to the video above. I think it is well edited to make a point: Republicans wanted to reign in Fannie and Freddie and other GSE’s.

Fannie Mae
Freddie Mac

F&F have “played an integral part in the development of the most successful mortgage market in the world which has allowed U.S. citizens to benefit from one of the highest home ownership percentages in the world.”

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Fannie and Freddie (F&F) were created to encourage home ownership. Historically folks of color and poor people have had a very difficult time owning the homes they occupy. F&F were tasked with making that easier.

Once these special new ways of lending started taking hold (sub-prime mortgages, et al), F&F were not keeping up WITH THE OTHER lending institutions. Congress saw this as a failure of their secondary directive – to make money. (The theory went: the more money they make, the more money they can lend.)

Congress then passed laws making it legal for F&F to buy up these new “products”. (Note: F&F have historically been more conservative in the loans they purchase and there has been a constant push, primarily by Democrats, to free them up to allow more risky activity.) When these new products were shown to make the other lending institutions profitable (with little risk), Congress had strong enough argument to allow F&F to get into the increasingly risky but highly profitable business.

Let’s be clear here: F&F were at fault for showing poor judgement. They never should have been able to purchase the loans they did. They are participants in half of all home loans in the USA and it is amazing to me that anyone with that breadth should be as lax as they were allowed to be.

BUT!!! F&F were FOLLOWING the other lending institutions. They were trying to get folks into homes AND make money doing it. The fallout of this madness is just beginning. Wachovia just lost $23 Billion – in one quarter!!! And they are projecting more next quarter. We have seen very little of the pain so far.

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I will end by saying I agree with the goals of F&F. Lending in this country has historically been extremely discriminatory and unfair. F&F were designed to help change racist/classist policies. I am sad that they took on a second goal of making a profit as I believe it is in our country’s best interest to get as many people owning homes as can afford them.

In the past, even if you could afford it, most institutions would not lend to you if you did not fit a racial/class profile. I think this is another classic example of how many poor Republicans vote against their own interest. Sure F&F sounds good to rag on… but without F&F, many folk who now own homes (and pay their mortgage) would not be in them now.

So here I am watching Angel Heart and they cut into this blue tune by Brownie McGhee called Rainy Day. Needless to say I gotta have it. Below is the clip from the movie followed by the MP3. Enjoy =)

 

 Rainy Day by Brownie McGhee: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Rainy Day by Brownie McGhee

I hate
Hate to be alone
It’s on
On a rainy day

I remember (so well)
That’s the day my woman
Walked away

It was on
Oh it was on
On a rainy day

The night before
We were so loving
And then
She broke the news

Brownie I don’t love you (I’ve been jivin’)
People that’s way
I sing the blues

You know on
Oh Lord on
On a rainy day

You know the wind
Winds were blowing
People and the clouds
They were moving slow

She says our love life
Our love life is ending
She says Brownie, won’t
Won’t be the same no more

She had two
Two cups of coffee
I had one
One small cup of tea

She just walked (out of my life)
Left those old low down dirty
Blues with me

Kings of Old
by Prince Buster

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My ancestors
Were kings of old
They ruled this world
And all of its gold
But just look at me
Just you look at me
I’m as poor as can be

My ancestors
Would fight the sun
Before they’d bow down
To any man
But just look at me
Whoa just you look at me
Just you look at me

Just look at me
I’m a stranger in this land
Just watch me stand
And what me be a man
I’m going to fight now
For liberty
And I’ll achieve
Freedom, justice and equality like…

My ancestors
Were mighty and strong
They would not bow down
To any man
And that’s the way I’ll be
My children will be proud of me
I’ll diminish slavery

My children
Will be mightier than me
They will correct
Mistakes made by me
They’ll be mightier than me
Yes! They will be stronger than me
Every eye shall see

Jacqui Naylor has a new album coming out in November called You Don’t Know Jacq which includes Rise Up, a song she and Art Khu wrote for the presidential election.

She sent me an early release copy with a request for my good friend and amazing video artist Jules Kobelin to make a quick YouTube treatment using images of Barack Obama. Below is the finished product. I think it is excellent =)

Well done Jacqui and Jules!!!

Rise Up
by Jacqui Naylor
You Don’t Know Jacq

Re: I think its really a shame, Apple dropped the Firewire bus. There are still a lot of people that require Firewire to digitize camera data. I believe Apple dropped Firewire because of their endless greed to get more money. Now people will have to by the the MacBook Pros! I am very disappointed in Mr. Steve Jobs. What a policy… What image you will get from this announcement…

I do not agree. Read John Gruber’s post about Tim Cooke. I think Apple is making business decisions based on the data they have. They say repeatedly that they are listening to their customers. Well just because you and I might want Firewire does not mean the MacBook folks are demanding it.

Here is the thing: Apple may be wrong. But it is not smart to bet against Apple. They have been correct far more than they have been incorrect.

Or another way to think about it is this: The diff between the low end MacBook and the low end MacBook Pro is $700 ($200 between the high end MacBook). If I need Firewire will I be impressed with the OTHER advances of the MacBook Pro (larger screen, higher resolution, extra graphic chip, larger hard drive, Express Card slot and illuminated keyboard)?

My thinking is Apple knows what it is doing. I do not like their choice to drop Firewire because I LOVE recommending the $1100 current MacBook for most folks (cuz it fits what they want to do perfectly). But every single one of them knows that if you get a cheaper (non-Pro) model you will have to give something up. Me thinks most folks will not mind giving up Firewire.

Side note: The film people I advise all require Firewire (Note: This is the much faster Firewire 800) and will now have to drop $2k instead of $1.3k. More money for Apple cuz those folks are >>NOT<< going to be purchasing any PC laptops.

zoho.com

Zoho for the iPhone

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Wow!!! Fantastic news!!!

They have a very nice set of applications. I will be very interested to find out how they fare…