Now that the latest iPhone model includes voice control, I’m inching away from “That’s a mildly interesting device,” and closer to “Hmm, I might like one of those myself.” I’ll probably wait for reviews to learn how well the voice control actually works. I’m hoping the recognition algorithm has enough flexibility to accommodate the quirks of my gimpy accent. Back-of-the-throat consonants like “guh” and “kuh” are a little tricky for me and, when I’m feeling lazy, I sometimes drop them. But as long as I don’t have to call too many people named Gavin or Coco, I might be okay. 

First, the important stuff. I fixed the link to the picture in yesterday’s post. Scroll down and get your puppy fix.

And according to the Times, I’m way overdue on abandoning my blog. Apparently, one should consider giving up this hobby if one doesn’t land a book deal or cultivate a devoted and readership. I’d be lying if I didn’t have similar dreams back when I started doing this back in 2002, otherwise known as the Internet’s Cambrian Era. But now it’s become habit. It’s weird; I’m not nearly as rigorous about anything else in my life. Just ask the first draft of the novel sitting on my hard drive; the one slowly dying of neglect. And if I stopped doing this, I’d most likely start talking to myself. And I’ll still be doing this even when this blog is a creaky, rheumatic corner of the Internet that never gets any visitors except for the occasional spambot or renegade artificial intelligence looking for a safe place to hide.

And just to show my appreciation for my readers–all 7 of you–here’s another picture of Mollie and one of her sisters. Mollie’s the one on the left. Or is she on the right? Whatever. Puppies!

The web is getting more Hollywood all the time. Last year, Joss Whedon made some waves with Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, the quite funny web-based musical that had geeks everywhere humming along. Now Ridley Scott is planning his own web series set in the Blade Runner universe. It’s already got a cryptic but catchy title: Purefold. Scott doesn’t own  the rights to Blade Runner or the Philip K. Dick novel on which the movie is based, so this will all be done with a wink and nod. The Tyrell Corporation will instead be called [insert vaguely ominous-sounding name for a futuristic conglomerate here] and replicants will be instead be called [insert your favorite synonym for “robots” or “clones” here]. What remains to be seen is whether the characters will spout paraphrases of William Blake poetry.

Scott plans on releasing the series under a Creative Commons license, which means that anyone can edit, mash, or otherwise play with the original video to create something new and share without fear of getting sued into oblivion. It won’t surprise me at all if the remixes are better than the original.

According to Senator Baucus, the health bill that eventually clears the Senate will probably include a public plan option. Wow, so this is what newfound political clout can accomplish. Considering that Baucus was initially cool to the idea of a public plan, this is a big deal. Of course, nobody has actually seen a bill yet and plenty of political shenanigans could still occur. We could see a neutered public plan that offers only bare bones coverage. Or we could see some kind of “trigger” nonsense, where a public plan remains inactive unless private insurers fail to provide affordable coverage after a vaguely defined length of time.

There are still a thousand ways that a public plan option could be excluded from a final bill or watered down, but Baucus’s statement is a hopeful sign that Obama’s promised health reform will be truly progressive. 

Governor Pawlenty announced earlier today that he will not seek a third term. Most of the local pundits assume that he has ambitions for national office, although he’s going to have to work hard to keep himself in the spotlight. Mike Huckabee was a former governor when he ran for president and things didn’t turn out so well for him. Pawlenty might also try challenging Amy Klobuchar for her Senate seat, but he’ll have a tough time toppling a political figure who is generally seen as likeable and competent.

Pawlenty will finish his term having done little to make Minnesota a better place to live. He’s mostly muddled through, keeping his promise not to raise taxes (sort of), but otherwise demonstrating no real vision for the state. He did launch some promising initiatives to address homelessness and mental health, but those eventually had to be sacrificed at the altar of his anti-tax zealotry. Not even a collapsed bridge in downtown Minneapolis could convince him of the necessity of an incremental tax increase to fix our roads and improve our transit system. His last major act as governor, the coming unallotment, is going to hurt a lot of people who are already struggling. Not exactly a strong finish.

And whoever in the GOP candidate next fall is likely to be just as conservative as Pawlenty, if not more so.