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"Windows 7, it was my idea."

Yeah. I told them to stick it up their axx, and out came a turd. Yeah, I guess it was my idea.

Obama Voters:

So, how's that hope and change working out for you?

This article really captures how rapidly President Obama has fallen in the polls. Strategists mulling whether he should go to Massachusetts to aid the sagging Martha Coakley note that he still has good numbers in the state, but he generates such a negative reaction in opponents that any trip to Massachusetts could be counterproductive.

The intensity of voters who view him unfavorably, or who disapprove of his job performance, is so high that an appearance with Coakley could bring out more GOPers ready to vote for Brown than it could Dems set on their nominee. "Obama is radioactive in polls," said one senior Dem operative who has seen the campaign's internal numbers. "Every time they dropped his name in a poll, it was awful. So you just can't take those kinds of chances."

The Dems are staring at another potential disaster. First New Jersey and Virginia, and now they're looking at Ted Kennedy's Senate seat possibly going to the Republicans.

Oh, by the way, "It's not Ted Kennedy's seat, it’s the people’s seat."

UPDATE: Obama is going anyway.

This is what happens when the weak-minded get manipulated by the media to vote for a misguided ultra-liberal neophyte.

Jan 16, 10 - 11:03 am Comment from: breeze

So MDN finally sees some of the other benefits to Al Gore being on Apple's board...

Steve Jobs Doesn't offer board positions to idiots or anyone else that can't bring serious value and value to Apple...Don't doubt the man.

It's not 'hope and change'...

It's "Hoax and Blame"!

Inefficient and ineffective government starts from the top down... No amount of shiny new fast computers is going to help because you can't fix stupid!

And that is my 'PC' "Truth to Power" crap for the day!

If the Dems are having problems in Massachusetts with the bloated manatee in a suit's vacated seat, they're dead in 2010.

Thank the feckless Obama and Dem congress for that.

Four more years wasted, unless it gets the Republican party back on track to fiscal responsibility. If so, the pain will have been worth it.

Go Scott Brown!!!

Jan 16, 10 - 11:18 am Comment from: grognard

As more and more programs and software is web based, the actual hardware make little difference.

I regularly access Gov't sites on-line. The fact that that program has issues is another matter. Point is access by a Mac or Pc is easy with a internet connection. The only limitation is what browser you can use. Some site won't support Safari. So one starts over in Firefox....

Getting the government to switch over to Macs? Now that is change I could believe in!

Hussein, do it ... make the changeover happen on your watch. Then, resign and get the hell out of Washington before you bankrupt the nation, moron.

Jan 16, 10 - 11:29 am Comment from: TowerTone

I blame George Bush's computers....

I'm sure 1000s of lazy, stupid, ineffective, over paid federal employees have nothing to do with the inefficiency of the Federal Government.

Like the computers in education myth, computers aren't the problem, it's the employees.

Jan 16, 10 - 11:33 am Comment from: qka

While the government may have old, outdated computers, the real problem is that they have old, outdated, inefficient, ineffective people managing those computers.

Note I said managers, and not workers. The rank and file has to use what they are issued, just like the rank and file anywhere else.

Having worked on the development of a few government systems, I can tell you that the initial specification calls for all sorts of bells and whistles. As time goes by, they want changes made to the specification, which only slows delivery. So at some point, they start removing features (fortunately, they are usually the features yet to be implemented). Eventually, the system is declared complete, and is put into service.

A lot like how Microsoft transformed the system full of grand ideas that was "Longhorn" into the miserable pile of crap that they delivered called "Vista".

Jan 16, 10 - 11:33 am Comment from: Anim8me2

It amazes me to hear all this ridiculous anti-Obama, anti-Dem rhetoric.
People seem to forget that it was the last Republican administration that is responsible for our current positions on foreign soil and the economy. The Obama administration has been in office one year. What do you expect miracles? That is kind of what you are saying about the dems isn't it?
Dems have no illusions. The fixes we need are going to take time and some real political will. The current games we play are doing nothing but destroying this country.
Who do you have that could do better? There have been no solutions offered up by the other side of the aisle. Just more rhetoric. And what position would we be in now had McCain/Palin been elected? He is a tool of the corporations and she is an idiot.

Now, since this is a tech site can we stop turning every story that has even the slightest connection to government into a political gripe-fest?

Can you imagine the response if Al Gore got involved and the government announced some new initiative for Mac OS X? Angry rightwingers would cry foul because he's on the Apple board of directors and owns stock in the company. The libertarians who run MDN, clamoring for Al to "get on the horn," would be up in arms if Al contacted Obama and produced favorable results for any other company in which he had such deep ties.

Jan 16, 10 - 11:37 am Comment from: Tommy Boy

Just remember the era of Windows XP and the administration of George W. Bush occupy the same points in time with disastrous results for not just America, but the entire world.

Jan 16, 10 - 11:38 am Comment from: chaz

AND unlike Google on windoze, Apple has never been hacked for key intellectual property.

and inefficient, ineffective government computers were my idea.

Jan 16, 10 - 11:39 am Comment from: SKY LARK

This must be worth at least three pages of political bickering.

Its the concept that needs to change not computers otherwise all they get is expensive updated versions of the very incompetent technology that they already use. Those named companies only back up the fact that the President and his minions increasingly seem to be all froth and no substance when it comes to making real change. Technology for its own sake has never been the best option and leaders who are talked into throwing good money after bad simply to give the impression that they are committed to apparent change instead of real change are usually the worst of all. The signs so far don't bode well I have to say.

Jan 16, 10 - 11:44 am Comment from: TowerTone

"Angry rightwingers would cry foul"

Some might, no matter what the choice. Same with the left.....who bitch even when they get their way.

Moderate Democrats who feel 'burned' by his stupid AGW initiative probably wouldn't give him the time of day.

Apple would be better off finding someone else to pitch to the Feds.

I'd say off hand he's right. I've been preaching for years as long as our government infrastructure was Windows based it's outdated and vulnerable right out of the box.
Spend some of the trillions of dollars borrowed from the Chicoms and buy Macs.

BREEZE says . . . "So MDN finally sees some of the other benefits to Al Gore being on Apple's board...

Steve Jobs Doesn't offer board positions to idiots or anyone else that can't bring serious value and value to Apple...Don't doubt the man."

Right!? Al Gore said recently on the ill fated Conan O'Brien show "Al: It definitely is, and it's a relatively new one. People think about geothermal energy -- when they think about it at all -- in terms of the hot water bubbling up in some places, but two kilometers or so down in most places there are these incredibly hot rocks, 'cause the interior of the earth is extremely hot, several million degrees, and the crust of the earth is hot "

Of course he is only off by several million. All of his climate talk is pure lunacy. He makes it up as he goes. But he has gotten rich on it - so there is some intelligence there. As for equipping GOVT workers with Macs - totally dumb idea. It would be better to make working for the GOVT as unattractive as possible. Current economic woes are due to the GOVT making private sector Evil while making GOVT jobs cushy, highly paid, and with rich pension plans and total job security. So - this should all be ended. Being a bureaucrat should be nobody's goal in life. Al Gore is a good example of this

Jessica, amen, sister!
We need another President like Lincoln, my cousin.

Jan 16, 10 - 11:48 am Comment from: MacTony

and the government has done the right thing when??? Never. They will probably buy $500 computers from Dell. Then next year sometime, we will hear how the Chinese hacked their computers through an unknown Internet Explorer exploit. How sensitive information was stolen. But hey, they saved money on those $500 computers :(

Jan 16, 10 - 11:59 am Comment from: Superior Being

Oxymoron of the early 2010s: "Obama budget director."

You need to call a summit for that??? Puleeze!!!! Where in the ____ is AlGore when you need him????????

I got a great idea: Have President Taxula tell the Fed to print some more money to facilitate payment for bloated salaries, obscene benefits and now, new computers (hopefully Macs). And, and, and, pass the bill on to the people.

So its Obama to blame for all the old computers still used in the US Government?

Their are two kinds of Merrycans. The Fox News morons and the others who can intelligently weigh facts and evidence.

Given how much the gov't spends on tech, it's sad.

"Windows 7 was Apple's idea"

After all- it is a ripped of backwards version of OS X. . .

Jan 16, 10 - 12:25 pm Comment from: TowerTone

Mark S.
Your cousin was a founding father?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twosydbZIjI&feature=fvsr

Soothsayer
That is stretched so thin I can see through it.

How much do spyware and viruses cost each month in our government? Cyber Terrorism anyone?
I am sure they can do a study.

Macs win hands down with just that calculation.

I didn't vote for you but I like your pluck.

Change the world....

Jan 16, 10 - 12:28 pm Comment from: heartbreak

I work for a government agency, and trust me, anything that makes common sense, the government does the OPPOSITE!

i work for the city university of ny and have been trying to convinvce my boss' to switch the dells to macs all i do is input and send bills to albany to make checks to companies and let me tell u to start up the damn computer i can take a 30 min lunch break and the dells are only 2 years old. they cant handle a damn thing lets not talk about running the internet on them the browsers crash or freeze its a pain in the a$$ but hey dells contract with the city saves us a ton of money!!! but has my department frustrated cuz u know the citys supposed to go with the cheapest contract at times i wanna bring my mac from home and put it on my desk and throw out that damn dell ahhhhhhh

Jan 16, 10 - 12:54 pm Comment from: ron

People, don't forget that Obama is a socialist, and as such he's used to mediocracy and leveling the playing field downwards. He'll allow one of his czars to plot the course and it won't be towards Apple. Acorn is more likely.

Jan 16, 10 - 12:56 pm Comment from: lurker

Just because the fix for something is obvious doesn't mean it can be made to happen in Washington. Look at what happened to health care reform.

"unless it gets the Republican party back on track to fiscal responsibility."

If only... However, it'll just go from "tax and spend" back to "spend and spend and spend".

Even when the article isn't saying anything about political policy, it still breaks down into partisan mud-slinging. Jebus people, it's about replacing crappy technology in government.

Sadly it's not just government either, most people these days have better PCs or Macs at home in comparison to the what their employer has, myself included. How times have changed, it used to seem the other way around some years ago.

Anyways, I wouldn't mind my tax dollars going toward purchasing Macs for government. I have a few friends working for the state and the laptops they provide are horrible, clunky, Windows XP-laden pieces of... you get the idea.

I'm tired of the Dems and Obama cultists blaming Bush for the economy. Electing Obama and Democrats has exacerbated the problem. BTW, the Obama campaign fooled many independent voters and that's the reason he got in. Nothing to do with the country being more liberal/Democrat. What you we saw in NJ and VA is a political "market correction" you could say. The correction should continue in 2010 with Scott Brown.

The problems we face now are far worse than when Bush was Pres. and Democrast all seem to forget that Obama as Senator supported the Wall St. bailout by voting for it. So stop the BS and quit watching Keith Olbermann, Chris Mathews, Jon Stewart, and quit reading the Huffington Post. The blame goes to them and the MSM for not doing their jobs as journalists in reporting the truth.

Here are a few links that may help you misinformed liberals and democrats.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/warning/view/?utm_campaign=viewpage&utm_medium=grid&utm_source=grid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SdtoKeFTi0&feature=player_embedded

Again, please stop watching the liberal media and get informed so you don't make the same mistake.

Ah, but things are looking up for federal workers. Of course, ALL of their pay comes from the taxes the rest of us pay.

"From USA Today: "The number of federal workers ... making salaries of $100,000 or more jumped from 14% to 19% of civil servants during the recession's first 18 months -- and that's before overtime pay and bonuses are counted. Federal workers are enjoying an extraordinary boom time -- in pay and hiring -- during a recession that has cost 7.3 million jobs in the private sector." "The number of federal workers ... making salaries of $100,000 or more jumped from 14% to 19% ... during the recession... [T]he average federal worker's pay [is] $71,206" a year.

"1000s of lazy, stupid, ineffective, over paid federal employees"
Is it really the assumption of many federal employees are less effective than, say, Microsoft employees? Or RealNetworks employees? Or Psystar employees? or Goldman Sachs employees?

Just sayin'. A loser's a loser regardless of whom he/she works for

"I work for a government agency, and trust me, anything that makes common sense, the government does the OPPOSITE!"

I work for a Fortune 500 company and trust anonymous internet me, anything that makes common sense, they do the OPPOSITE!

Baseless claims for errybuddy! Amirite?!?

Wrong Again: ""I work for a government agency, and trust me, anything that makes common sense, the government does the OPPOSITE!"

I work for a Fortune 500 company and trust anonymous internet me, anything that makes common sense, they do the OPPOSITE!"

Maybe you two should just switch jobs.

Baseless claims for errybuddy! Amirite?!?

I tell you, i was never a fan of GWB but he's looking pretty good now. Heck, even Bill Clinton would be better than this tax and spend lefty statist.

We need a new revolution and it starts again in the birthplace of American freedom.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nEoW-P81-0&feature=player_embedded

2010! Vote liberal/socialists out! Do it for your future and your kids future.

OK, I'm done.

@kenh

Let's follow up your quote with another quote from the same article, whydon'twe!!

"the federal workforce is highly paid because the government employs skilled people such as scientists, physicians and lawyers. She says federal employees make ---26% less--- than private workers for comparable jobs."

For anyone that wants the complete picture, the article's here.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-12-10-federal-pay-salaries_N.htm

Jan 16, 10 - 01:14 pm Comment from: Macdoc

Al Gore has Zero credibility! Global Warm Kiss My A$$!

Do you really want the government to be more efficient at carrying out its evil ends?

Be GLAD that you are not getting all of the government you are paying for.

Kabayo

@kenh

LOL! No, I couldn't change jobs with anyone from the government. To do the same job, I'd have to take a 20% pay cut!!! I'll just continue to work with the high paid losers

""the federal workforce is highly paid because the government employs skilled people such as scientists, physicians and lawyers. She says federal employees make ---26% less--- than private workers for comparable jobs."

OK, assume that is true, although it is absolutely not true in my experience, and I live in an area with a relatively high proportion of federal jobs. I doubt that 26% number, would love to see the source.

But..........the big question. Why the huge increase in federal employee numbers? Why the increase there, and the decrease in the private sector that pays for it all?

"it still breaks down into partisan mud-slinging."

Unfortunately, yes. If it was productive enlightening mud, that would at least be worth it, but it's garden variety mud that barely clings together under it's own misrepresentations and hyperbole.

I long for the days when Congress did a halfway horrible job at pissing everybody off, but still did some actual work for the money they got paid.

Yeah, OK, Bush was bad because he kept us in a bad war and spent like a drunken sailor. So, if Bush was bad, then Obama...

Still in a bad war, except now we're deep in Afghanistan.

Terrorism is coming back.

Obama is spending MUCH MUCH more than GWB - of course with the help of Reid (Mr. Dialect) and Ms Pelosi.

It's been proven that the Stimulus didn't work - and yet he wants to do another.

I guess the only question that remains is how much damage can Obama do before he and other statists get flushed out in 2010 and 2012?

Riiight....

Government is inefficient because of computers. Uh huh...