Over the past few months, I’ve occasionally posted photographs of anti-war protests held in downtown Kalamazoo every Tuesday and Sunday. Those protests are sponsored by a local group called Kalamazoo Non-violent Opponents of War. The group was formed to protest the war on Iraq but their politics go into a wide range of left wing causes and issues.

For example, their web site endorses three left wing candidates for the seven-seat city commission: Don Cooney, David Juarez and Elizabeth Forest, which certainly helps me figure out better who not to vote for (not that I usually vote anyway, but should I have nothing better to do next Tuesday . . .)

Here’s how the city commission election works around here. There are only seven seats and they are all up for re-election. Anybody registered votes for up to seven of the candidates listed on the ballot, and at the end of the day the top seven candidates win. The person with the most total votes is also the mayor.

What is interesting about KNOW’s endorsement is that they are not only recommending that people vote for these three candidates but they are recommending that people vote only for those three candidates. According to KNOW,

Please note that although you are ABLE to vote for SEVEN candidates, you are NOT OBLIGED TO. If you vote for a full slate of seven candidates, YOU ARE
DILUTING YOUR VOTES FOR DON, DAVID, AND ELIZABETH. Let’s do all we can to re-elect Don Cooney and to insure that he will no longer be so often a lonely dissenter in his votes and his support for the poor and the voiceless, and for the way of peace and non-violence. Our recommendation: VOTE FOR THREE, AND LET IT BE!

Of course there’s nothing inappropriate going on here and KNOW can advocate any sort of voting strategy it likes, but it’s a bit odd to see a group dedicated to a rather radical version of democracy on the other hand tell its members that voting on the other four commission seats is a Bad Idea(TM).

Plus this is exactly the sort of strategy that usually gets criticized in left-liberal publications when it has been used, say, to elect anti-abortion candidates to local office so they can use their position as a platform for their views.

I’m kind of mixed about the election itself. On the one hand, Kalamazoo has had a lot of economic problems and the election of these three would likely signal to businesses that are fleeing the city that they might want to move out even faster. On the other hand I’d like to buy a house in this area and that would further depress home values, so it’s really a wash there.

This ClickOnDetroit.Com article had me laughing out loud. Sterling Heights, Michigan, recently fired City Manager Steve Duchane because he had repeatedly lied about has academic credentials — basically he lied about receiving degrees from various institutions.

Interestingly, he also lied about his degrees on his application to Oakland University where he taught a class thre years ago. The topic of that class? Ethics.

The other day on E-Bay, I saw a pretty good deal for a Roadwired Podzilla bag to go along with the Roadwired MegaMedia Computer Bag I bought a few months ago and couldn’t resist. It arrived a few days ago and, just like the Media Bag, is simply a gadget freak’s dream come true.

The Podzilla was actually even smaller than I thought it would be — significantly smaller than the smallish camera bag I had been using — but once you open all the pockets, etc. it’s just amazing how much you can cram in a 9.25″ X 9″ X 6.5″ bag.

The other day I took it along with me on a business trip. I was easily able to bring along in this single bag my digital camera, digital camcorder, PDA, cellphone, GameBoy Advance SP, batteries, blank mini-DV tapes, half a dozen flash memory cards of various flavors, and still had a few empty pockets.

Okay, everybody loves Christmas, and what goes better with Christmas than H.P. Lovecraft? Nothing, of course, which is why the A Very Scary Solstice is a must have for the coming holiday season.

This contains classics like “I Saw Mommy Kissing Yog-Shothoth” and Awake Ye Scary Great Old Ones (MP3).

Yeah, it’s $20 but they throw in a Singalong Songbook that includes tidbits on the stories behind these classic Holiday hits.

I think I’m going to buy this to play at my office to see if anyone notices.

Over the past couple years I’ve written several pieces and a few reviews of laptop alternatives — essentially portable keyboards with small LCD displays, memory and USB/serial ports such as the AlphaSmart 3000. I haven’t written anything in awhile about such devices, however, and I get a surprising amount of e-mail asking for information/opinions about the current set of laptop alternatives.

First, I should make it clear that I no longer use any of the laptop alternatives I’ve used in the past — I’ve got my Alphasmart and Quickpad boxed up somewhere in the basement. They both certainly did what their respective manufacturers advertised, but at some point what was lost in not having a laptop was just not worth it for me anymore. Part of the problem is the form factor — you still need a keyboard-sized bag or backpack to carry these things around in. So if I’m going to be carrying around a bag that size, why not throw a laptop in it anyway?

I would have used these more if I had an application where a) weight and b) battery life were serious issues. If I were a student spending 6 hours on campus, for example, I would have found the laptop alternatives much more useful.

As for products out there today, I know a number of people who swear by their Alphasmart Dana which uses the Palm OS (and there’s even an 802.11b version at a slight premium). It certainly is a creative solution to some of the limitations of the Alphasmart 3000.

To be honest, though, I’d just go with a PDA-oriented solution. The Dana Wireless is $429. You can buy a very nice PDA for that price and add a portable keyboard. Yes the screen size is smaller, but for my money that is more than offset by the bright color LCDs of today’s PDAs as opposed to the monochrome screen you’re stuck with on something like the Dana.