Hillary Clinton Unites the Democrats

Hillary Clinton, with an inspired and inspiring speech at the Democratic National Convention last night, united the Democrats as she urged them to join together to accomplish their essential goals.

There were two great comic lines, but for the most part, Clinton eloquently epitomized the Democratic platform, and re-affirmed her support for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

The speech last evening resolves every doubt, in my mind, about the issue of whether or not women who supported Hillary will vote for Obama: they will. Skeptics may still murmur that Hillary wanted to be president to serve her own selfish needs for power. Last evening, these doubts as well were vanquished as Senator Clinton shined -- with courage, sincerity, and grace -- in the most significant moment of her career.

Read her speech here (NY Times log in required):
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/27/us/politics/27text-clinton.html

And/or watch the video here (courtesy of MSNBC.com):

Obama, Biden and Drama at the Democratic National Convention

Barack Obama has chosen Joe Biden to be his running mate on the Democratic ticket.

Watch the convention live, at MSNBC.com:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

Or watch here, at the bottom of the NY Times DNC blog:
Watch the Convention (via NY Times convention blog)

Learn about Joe Biden:
Joe Biden bio at the NY Times


Nancy Pelosi's DNC speech on Monday, August 25, 2008 (full text)

Michelle Obama's DNC speech on Monday, August 25, 2008 (full text)

The drama at the DNC continues on Tuesday afternoon at 3p.m., when the Democrats attempt to unify the party.

DNC coverage at the Huffington Post

Unfit For Publication - a free ebook from the Obama Campaign

Truth will set us free.

Unfit for Publication is a new ebook, written and published by the Obama campaign. This 40-page PDF document exposes the lies in a recent book about Obama, titled Obama Nation. Download this rebuttal today: it tells the truth about Obama's life and extraordinary work.

The goal of this ebook, of course, is to prevent the same kind of character assassination (now known as "swift-boating") that plagued the John Kerry presidential run in 2004.

You can download this ebook, free, from the Obama campaign website, via this page:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/invite/corsi

You will notice that the cover of the ebook shows the face of the author of the smear book. We at Epublishers Weekly could not stand to look at this cowardly face, therefore we covered it up. You will see the actual image of the author's face when you visit the Obama website, and download the free ebook.

The New York Times has written about this work:

NY Times article about Unfit for Publication:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/washington/AP-Anti-Obama-Book.html

Not everything that is written deserves to be published. It is shocking to learn that the smear-book was published by an affiliate of Simon & Schuster publishers. This is a blemish on their professionalism, one which lowers the prestige of that company to the level of a tabloid newspaper.

Yet it is encouraging to see that the Obama campaign is fighting back against fanaticism and cowardice in the world of mainstream book publishing. As the old proverb reminds us: "Heaven and Earth have sworn the truth shall be disclosed."

The Secret Pulse of Time by Stefan Klein

Now or never! You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.

— Henry David Thoreau, Journal, 1859

The Secret Pulse of Time
Making Sense of Life's Scarcest Commodity
by Stefan Klein

Reviewed by Michael Pastore

Why are we always in a hurry, ceaselessly suffering from self-made stress, and constantly whining that we need more Time?

Henry David Thoreau examined his brute neighbors and pondered these questions. Thoreau found answers — and renewal — in contact with Nature, in reading classic books, in walking, and by simplifying every aspect of his life.

Almost fifty years after Thoreau, the novelist Arnold Bennett wrote a minor classic on the subject: How to Live on 24 Hours A Day. Since then, the social, psychological and existential causes of our chaotic lives have been insightfully analyzed by authors and psychologists including Nikos Kazantzakis, Colin Wilson, O. Thoreau, Erich Fromm, Aldous Huxley, and Hermann Hesse.

While most modern books on the subject (of time and life management) lack substance and style, there is one brilliant exception, by the German science journalist Stefan Klein. The Secret Pulse of Time tackles the problem from a scientific perspective. The result is a book that is entertaining, thought-provoking, and filled with sensible advice. Klein is the author of the much praised The Science of Happiness; and All a Matter of Chance (not yet translated from German to English).

The Secret Pulse begins by distinguishing between clock-time — the time of calendars, schedules, and deadlines — and inner time, the natural rhythms and inclinations of the body, brain, and mind. The questions he explores are fundamental: How long does one hour last? ... Why are there morning people and night people? ... Why does time seem to race or crawl? ... How long does the present last? ... Why does life seem to speed up as we grow older? ... Why is it so difficult to stay focused on our important tasks?

So many anecdotes, so little time ... One of my favorites bits in the book is the story of Linnaeus's flower clock. Klein writes:

"Carolus Linnaeus ... set out to plant a flower clock in his garden. By arranging a circular formation of selected species of twelve flowering plants that opened and closed at different times, his "clock" told the time accurately to within a half hour."

An Epilogue — A New Culture of Time: Six Steps to a More Relaxed Life — epitomizes the book's theory into an action plan of six practical steps.

Do not be discouraged by this book's number of pages: almost 20% of the work is notes, bibliography, and index. Making time to read The Secret Pulse of Time is a superb investment. By following this book's advice you might find more time in your life, and more life in your time.

Big Book of Apple Hacks (book review)

Here is a book that could renew your passion for technology.




Big Book of Apple Hacks
Tips and Tools for unlocking the power of your Apple Devices
by Chris Seibold
Published by O'Reilly
Paperback, 627 pages, $ 34.99

You've probably already read about the stunning success of Firefox. In the past month since the latest version 3.0 appeared, this pop-star of web browsers has been downloaded more than 28 million times. Along the way, it set a Guinness Book of World Records record for the most downloads in one 24-hour period: more than 8 million. Here are four reasons why I use Firefox: It works; it has 15,000 improvements; it's free; and I can customize it, to get the browser that is perfect for all my needs.

Move into a new house or apartment, and you know that you don't need to keep those ugly green rugs or the yellow polka-dot wallpaper in the kitchen. You fix it up the way you want it. Why not do the same with your hardware and software? Seibold writes:

"This is the essence of hacking: getting your stuff to do what you want in the manner you want. Fortunately, tech stuff tends to be near infinitely hackable, customizable and extensible, which means that you can truly be the unbending overlord of your Apple gadgets."

This is a truly a big book, that explains how you can make changes to your Mac desktop, laptop, Leopard operating system, iPod, web browsers, iTunes, iChat, iWeb, Apple TV, and many more products in the Apple universe. Some of the hacks are simple to do, a few of the hacks require a daring streak of geekness, but almost all of the hacks can be done by anyone who has patience, and can follow the very clear instructions in the book.

Take a look inside Chapter 8, at hack number 69, called: "Move from Windows to Mac OS X Painlesly." The pages that follow succinctly explain the essential similarities and differences between these two operating systems. (This information is available from the Internet, of course, but it would have taken me hours to find it and assemble it as efficiently as the material presented here.) So in addition to the stellar hacks, there is an unadvertised feature of the book: you'll get a deep education about the inner workings of your computer, your software, and your gadgets.

Hacking can be habit-forming. The book made me think like a hacker, in other words, ask the simple and all-important question: How can this software or hardware be improved? ... Last night, when the new Firefox location bar dropped down websites I had no interest at all in seeing, it took less than a minute to edit some code to fix that pesky bar. Would I have tried that without hesitation, if I had not read the Big Book? ... Maybe yes &mdash but maybe not.

A heavy reference book that's fun? ... Yes, somehow the author and the contributors and the editors have managed to make a big useful book without the boredom factor. The Big Book of Apple Hacks is a big winner. Read it, back up your essential files, and then go forth and hack your Mac.



Story Links:

MAKE magazine ... http://www.makezine.com
Maker Faire ... http://www.makerfaire.com
Hacks ... http://www.hackszine.com