Michelle Wie Getting Set to Turn Pro

Uh-oh. Two back-to-back golf posts... Well, on one hand, I'm interested in Michelle Wie from the sports business point of view... Specifically, how does a 15 year old who has never won a professional tournament become that highest paid woman golfer in the world? And, on the other hand, I love her from the "spiritual roots" in Hawaii passion and enthusiasm that I share with many golf fans, especially those from Hawaii, for this young, charming charismatic star. Or maybe it's just because she has one of the most beautiful golf swings that I've ever seen? Or the fun of seeing a 15 year old girl beat seasoned professional male players? Anyway, she's a treat and makes the great game of golf even more fun to watch. I personally hope she gets to live her dream and play in the Masters.

If you're interested in more details, here's a good overview of Michelle Wie's apparent decision to turn pro very soon.

The Grand Mr. Gore is Great for Golf

You gotta love it when nice guys finish first. Also, as a "big man," it would be less than full disclosure if I didn't point out that I also like this guy because, like me, he's not as buff as Tiger Woods. But he still got the job done.

The future of golf is brighter today because of his victory. And, as a fan, I'm pleased to have someone that's this fun to watch making his mark. Keep it up, Jason. Click here to read a feature interview with Jason Gore about his win. Or, click here to accept my personal invitation to visit Media Mall's "Golf Club"

Finally, A Fine Apple QT Webcast

When I was writing for Videography, among other events, I used to go to every Steve Jobs MacWorld keynote in San Francisco, and LOVED the show. (If you haven't seen Jobs in action, even if you're not an Apple fan, it's worth the experience to see perhaps the most masterful presenter, well, er, salesman in corporate America.) But, since I've been trying to tune in via QuickTime from my home office, I've been grossly disappointed in the quality of streaming QuickTime.

Finally, with the latest Jobs webcast using MPEG4, QuickTime is delivering a very watchable experience of Jobs' "special event" announcement of the new iTunes, the new iPod Nano and the new Motorola iTunes phone. Click here to check it out. (QuickTime 7 recommended... Yes, you can get that for Windows too.) ;)

JotSpot Wiki App for the Rest of Us

The techno dweebs among us (and apparently I'm in that category) know that a "wiki" is a kind of free form web-based collaboration environment. The only limitation that I know of is that they have required a certain degree of techno savvy, perhaps even a programmer's aptitude, in order to make good use of them. I've been interested, but intimidated.

Then, I saw a ZDNet whiteboard video, "What is a Wiki?" with JotSpot CEO, Joe Kraus; and I checked out JotSpot. What I discovered was an ASP (application service provider) or what the company calls "The Application Wiki." It's extremely user friendly, totally web based (no downloads), comes complete with a WYSIWYG page editor, and all kinds of plug-in modules from a blog to a calendar, the ability to email pages, as well as to email content TO a page, etc. I'm impressed, pleased and having fun using it (already) as a collaboration tool for my team with virtually no start up learning curve. VERY useful!

If you're new to wikis, the whiteboard video above is a good intro. For more info, JotSpot has an online tour (another reflection of their user-friendliness), and there's also a good interview with Kraus on C|Net.

Why the Levee Broke: The Cost of the Iraq War Gets Uglier

Like most Americans, I am horrified by the Hurricane Katrina disaster and its follow on challenges of health and downright survival issues. It's heartbreaking, the magnitude of the human suffering; and, for me, it comes "home" also because my father was a proud native of New Orleans, and I spent a bit of time there as a child.

How could this happen in such a great American city? Well, here's one explanation: With the cost of the Iraq war and the Bush tax cuts, something had to give. Apparently, Federal funding for Louisiana flood control projects was one of those things. Read the AlterNet explanation

Would completion of the funding for the Louisiana flood control projects that were under way for years have been enough to shore up the sagging levees and completely prevent the disaster on top of disaster that we are now witnessing? We'll never know. Certainly that would have helped.

What was it that grandma used to say? "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Or as the NY Times' Paul Krugman says in his 9/2 column, we have "A Can't-Do Government." To quote him, "This time we need accountability." Recommended reading.