Why does the champion of cloud computing and cheap unlimited storage require members of its affiliates program to self-host product images?

Really?

TR is still holding down #4, but damn if the competition ahead of him isn’t outstanding.

I have a feeling that number 36 will be slide a bit when the next edition comes out. Though, there’s still a deep-seated fear that somehow he lucks out and pulls a Truman.

“As we renew our schools and highways, we’ll also renew our information superhighway. It is unacceptable that the United States ranks 15th in the world in broadband adoption.”

Amen.

And the digital push for medical records is long overdue. No matter where you stand on the provider argument for healthcare, I think we can all agree that the information management model is about four decades out of date.

—-

In other economic news, you’re doing it wrong, Zimbabwe.

They have agreed to allow inspections again and in exchange, we’ll no longer call them a terrorist state in public.

I suppose there’s one silver lining in the collapse of world financial markets: if the US, England and the other big boys are hurting, you know these guys are in trouble. With winter coming, we finally had a little leverage.

While Congress and the administration were trying to hammer out details of the largest bailout since the Great Depression, another bank bit the dust and was sold on the cheap to Jamie Dimon.

Dimon’s swag is phenomenal

The deal, valued at $1.9B, was another bargain for Chase (consider that Bank One was only slightly larger than WaMu and in some trouble of its own when it was acquired by Chase for $58B in 2004) and all of a sudden, Chase is the 800lb gorilla in the room when the dust settles and we start to work our way out of this.

I was a Bank One employee with Dimon as its CEO when the Chase acquisition went down. His leadership skills were a huge part of the deal even happening in the first place as a provision of the purchase was for him to eventually move into the Harrison’s CEO spot.

He hit the ground running and the handover took place a half year early. But it wasn’t all roses. There was much gnashing of teeth over the cuts in perks such as car services, health club memberships and even extraneous newspaper subscriptions. He even had the audacity to move Chase’s IT HQ to Columbus, Ohio, where the same work could be done a lot cheaper. His constant focus on the bottom line and the fortress balance sheet is the reason Chase has been able to snatch these banks during a time when other banks are dropping like flies.

There’s obviously some risk in this deal — as there was with the Bear Stearns acquisition — but when the dust settles, Chase is well-positioned to be the 800lb gorilla in the banking room. And you have to wonder if despite the distortion field-weaving abilities of Steve Jobs, whether Dimon isn’t in fact, the best CEO in America.

A demonstrator holds up a sign behind U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson (L) and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke (R) during a hearing before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee September 23, 2008 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The Bush administration officials were testifying about a proposed $700 billion bailout that they hope will stabilize the faltering U.S. financial system. (Getty | Chip Somodevilla)

With Biden’s announcement a mere days before the Democratic party convention and the GOP expected to follow suit with their own announcement, how far off are we from seeing running mates revealed live on stage?

The next logical step being Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson there to approve of the candidate, of course.

This might be some of the best stuff David Brooks has ever written:

This transition has produced some new status rules. In the first place, prestige has shifted from the producer of art to the aggregator and the appraiser. Inventors, artists and writers come and go, but buzz is forever. Maximum status goes to the Gladwellian heroes who occupy the convergence points of the Internet infosystem — Web sites like Pitchfork for music, Gizmodo for gadgets, Bookforum for ideas, etc.

These tastemakers surf the obscure niches of the culture market bringing back fashion-forward nuggets of coolness for their throngs of grateful disciples.

I feel dirty.