Easily digestible tech news... http://www.techdirt.com/ en-us http://www.techdirt.com/images/td-88x31.gifhttp://www.techdirt.com/ Fri, 14 Oct 2011 17:00:00 PDT Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110408/03243213823/dailydirt-eating-like-king.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110408/03243213823/dailydirt-eating-like-king.shtml

The National Archives has a historical record of, among other things, the favorite foods of many US Presidents. Richard Nixon's last meal at the White House was some pineapple slices with cottage cheese and a glass of milk..? [url]

Airlines have tried to offer healthier food options for travelers, but a lot of flyers are sticking to salty snacks and comfort foods. Alaska Airlines' best-selling meal is a quarter-pound cheeseburger. [url]

Texas has recently ended its tradition of offering a "last request" meal to inmates on death row after a state lawmaker complained about a meal request that seemed excessive. The last meal that did it: two chicken-fried steaks with gravy and sliced onions; a triple-patty bacon cheeseburger; a cheese omelet with ground beef, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers and jalapenos; a bowl of fried okra with ketchup; one pound of barbecued meat with half a loaf of white bread; three fajitas; a meat-lover’s pizza; one pint of Blue Bell Ice Cream; a slab of peanut-butter fudge with crushed peanuts; and three root beers. (The meal wasn't eaten.) [url]

To discover more food-related links, check out what's cooking at StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can also recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20110408/03243213823 Mon, 4 Aug 2008 15:10:02 PDT Kevin Donovan http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080803/1514421872.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080803/1514421872.shtml attempting to use computers more often, a bigger question remains unsolved: should the President of the United States use a computer?

Lee Gomes at the Wall Street Journal seems to think the best policy is to "avoid computers." Among such significant insights as any computer should remain outside the Oval Office "since it wouldn't match the furniture," is a recommendation that the President be limited to 20 minutes of computer time "to keep up with the common folk" by reading blogs, playing Solitaire or watching YouTube. But, don't get carried away! "The severe time rationing is necessary because a computer, far from making you more productive, instead loads you down with things to do, and it's important for the machine to know who is boss."

It is slightly shocking that the WSJ would have you believe that computers are only good for keeping up-to-date on the latest cute cat videos (as long as you don't get bogged down in pop-ups -- which Gomes warns is how most computer users waste away their time). Of course the President should delegate menial tasks to staffers, but Gomes and others who think that technology is peripheral to the role of the Commander-in-Chief miss the point. Computer literacy isn't about "being in touch" with the "common folk," it is about understanding the foundation of the knowledge economy. The next administration will need to correctly address important policies with technology at their root, and if the leader doesn't understand the fundamental potential and differences of digital technology, the results will be much more catastrophic than wasting time deleting spam.

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