Rotten Apple??

(Justin Sullivan, Getty Images /October 22, 2013)

Despite continuing to use an iPhone, I must admit that' I'm still an old-school Apple hater.  So today Apple released information on their latest refresh of the iPad and touting it as being 2 millimeters thinner and two thirds as heavy.  For that to be one of the main selling points is just plain ridiculous.  Nevertheless, they'll probably sell like crazy because that's what Apple products do whether they're worth it or not.  And then of course the typical Apple fanboy article extols the "wonderful" features of the Mac OSX while criticizing Microsoft.  Yes Apple charges much less for it's OS upgrades, but they've had nearly 10 OS updates in about as many years.  At least Microsoft releases service packs for it's operating system's instead of releasing brand new versions every year or two.  Make no mistake Apple does make quality products, but they're not an innovator so much as a perfector of other's ideas.

Pokedon't do it!!

Another day and another new Pokemon game(s) that I probably shouldn't buy, but probably will.  I know that this is a long running game series that has evolved at a glacial pace over the years and yet that is what makes this series so great.  It never totally forgets its roots, but each iteration seems to be able to advance a better story, add tons of new Pokemon, and does improve upon it's predecessor's graphics.  Again, these changes take place very slowly, but you don't have the issues you currently due with some series like Final Fantasy where the solution seems to be making each game radically different from the last and at the same time making multiple sequels to each new entry in the series.  What you end up with is a series that fans don't even recognize anymore with an increasingly watered down, convoluted story and no real connection to the other games.  I don't want to hate on Square Enix too much as I'm currently engrossed in FFXIV, but I'd say it's a fluke compared to the last couple of main entries into the series.  Back to Pokemon though- I still haven't beat Pokemon Black 2, but as soon as I do Pokemon X/Y is on my radar:)

Yay, we have a compromise....and another short term deadline!

Video Source: Wall Street Journal

So the government is funded for another couple of months before we are again looking over the edge of the seemingly bottomless abyss.  Nothing dire happened as I predicted might happen, but I did expect that if there was a compromise that it would be very short term and that's exactly what we got.  Running a country three months at a time is no way to put individuals or the markets minds at ease.  The market did react positively, but is this something that we should have to experience every couple of months?  Of course the answer is NO, but perhaps this is the new norm?

Apocalypse How?

Source: www.americapictures.net

So there are two things happening on Thursday- my birthday and the deadline for congress passing a debt limit deal (and a looming Apocalypse as the media would constantly have us believe).  At that point, I am going to find out what omen my birthday might portend.  No, I don't believe I have any special ability to sway the future one way or the other, but it's fun to speculate nonetheless.  So why exactly are we at this crossroads to begin with?  Is there any logic behind these reasons?  Where do we go from here?  The reasons are several, the logic-possibly non-existent, and the path forward as I see it is uncertain.  My thoughts after the jump...