Perhaps the complete antithesis of The Kite Runner, the other book I read over this past Christmas holidays was "Aloha Magnum: Larry Manetti's Magnum, P.I. Memories." I've always been a big fan of Magnum, and some day I'll visit Hawaii. I enjoyed the book, but it's definitely for fanboys only.

AOL recently launched recently launched the following marketing phrase: "I AM Instant Messaging." Horribly offensive, isn't it? Well, yes according to Mr. Hypersensitive van Don Quixote. From an article by Natali Del Conte in the San Francisco Examiner:

An angry America Online instant messenger (AIM) user named Ian Millar is making a stink over AIM's latest advertising slogan, "I Am," leaving the San Francisco creative team behind the campaign scratching their heads.

Millar claims that "I Am" is the language of God used in many scriptures and the English translation of the Hebrew YaHWeH, meaning God. He claims using it in an advertisement is a marketing tactic sure to offend The Almighty.

"It's not that we don't care about religion, but this never occurred to us," said Beach. "If this is blasphemy, then Popeye is in a lot of trouble because he always says "I am what I am."

In addition to calling to raise the cap on H-1B visas, here's some more good news from Bush, from a story by John Markoff in the NY Times:

In his State of the Union message Tuesday evening, Mr. Bush called for a doubling within 10 years of the federal commitment to "the most critical basic research programs in the physical sciences."

The president's science adviser, John H. Marburger III, said Mr. Bush would request $910 million for the first year of the research initiative, with a commitment to spending $50 billion over 10 years.

Computer scientists have expressed alarm that federal support for basic research is being eroded by shifts toward applied research and shorter-term financing. But in his speech, Mr. Bush pointed to work in supercomputing, nanotechnology and alternative energy sources — subjects that were favorites in the Clinton administration but had not been priorities for the current White House.

In a speech to the National Academy of Engineering in October, in which he described the findings of the Gathering Storm report, Mr. Barrett [of Intel] said: "If you look at the achievement of the average 12th-grade student in math and science, which is of interest to us here, that 12th-grader in the U.S. ranks in the bottom 10 percent among their international peers. I think it is incumbent upon all of us to look at that report and help raise our voices collectively to our local officials, state officials and national officials."