9-11, Apple Announcement and a bit more

9-11

The big news of the day is that it is, once again, the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attack on the US by Al Qaeda. Twelve years ago I watched in horror as the planes crashed into the Twin Towers.

The USA was never more solidified than the months following 9-11. I loved that about our country.

We swore we'd never forget. We didn't forget the incident, but we've certainly forgotten the binding influence.

For many young people, 9-11 is simply an historical moment. For the rest of us it remains a painful scar on our hearts.

God bless every person that died that day or was affected by the deaths that day, the victims in the towers, the brave first responders and all the victims who never saw a loved one again. God bless everyone affected by the deaths of our brave military men and women since then.

God bless us all.

Off the Cuff

I started my day with a bowl of chicken soup. I don't know. I was just hungry for chicken soup, so I ate my lunch for breakfast. I'm not sure what I'll have for lunch, though. I saved the crackers. Maybe I'll eat those.

My friend Kelly has a son in the Corps at A&M. It's hard, but he's a bright kid and feels prepared for all the tough stuff that comes with being in the Corps. The food, for instance: he told his mom the food was okay, that her cooking prepared him for institutional food. (Hmmmm. I'll have to think about that one.) He also mentioned he might be bringing over twenty cadets to stay at their house so they can attend Wings Over Houston on October 26-27. She's a little panicky about that one. I'm not sure where I'd put twenty kids at my house. Even our back yard is too small…

The Apple™ Announcements

Frankly I was underwhelmed and don't have much to say. The iPhone 5, sweet as it was, is now history, replaced the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5S. The low-end phone remains the iPhone 4S. The new iOS is not really news. The 5S has improvements in the camera, an upgraded chip, a dedicated movement chip, and a fingerprint scanner. Other sources cover the details so much better than I can.

Wired gives some advice on which is the phone to buy - I don't agree, but that's okay.

They also have more photos.

There are some hands-on reviews, and I liked those.

One nice thing is that Apple™ makes the iWork Suite free for anyone who buys a new iOS device. That's nice. I already own them all and like them when I use them.

PC Magazine feels the iPhone 5c is just the iPhone 5 in a colored, plastic shell. I think they make a good point.

TheiPhone 5S, however, they call "the most luxurious mainstream phone on the market." It still doesn't mean I won't jump ship and buy a Galaxy phone. Let's face it, the A7 chip is fantastic for gaming - but who wants to do fantastic games on the tiny screen the iPhone has? And, yes, Apple, I consider the iPhone screen to be tiny now. The ONE thing people wanted was a larger screen. Fail. And I like Apple™ products.

USA Today has the best summary - all in pictures. I notice they'd make a good pop-up book.

This doesn't have anything to do with the iPhone. This software will make a 3D model from a photograph. It isn't perfect, by any means, but it is cool.

I said near the end of my blog post on August 30 that "Eventually they'll make a scanner that will take a 2D image and convert it to a 3D printing model." Apparently, we're much closer than I thought we were.

AutoDesk just came out with a circuit simulator that is free to use. Maybe I'll go design a different kind of iPhone.