In no part of the speech did Tiger give any kind of declaration of love for his wife. Given that all indications are that she is slipping away, it is a bit curious. He talked plenty about marriage, selfish behavior, irresponsible actions, and tons of apologies.

Sure, Tiger is super private, doesn’t want to discuss his marriage and probably is not comfortable with getting all touchy feely in public. That is perfectly understandable. But given that he has more mistresses than major championships one would think he could give just a tiny shout out to how much he loves his wife and hopes to stay with her.

Unless he doesn’t. In that case, it indicates at least one potential factor to all the bad behavior.

Most of this is really not our business and has received entirely too much press coverage. But Tiger’s handlers are not serving him well if they want to keep him scripted and in control of all access. If Tiger wants the public to trust him again, he needs to do a lot better job of convincing the public what he means.

Despite its unfortunate name this new mobile operating system may actually hold some promise for resurrecting Microsoft in the mobile space.  For a company often criticized for it’s failure to innovate, Microsoft looks like it really got it this time.

However, Redmond may have to fight the too-little-too-late feeling from many consumers. Apple, Google and Palm all have mature operating systems with a couple of years’ worth head start. Android releases a new device hourly and has won the hearts of most major phone manufacturers an many users with a deepening collection of apps. Palm has developed a core group of followers. And we don’t even need to go into Apple’s success.

However, I still think there is hope for Microsoft in mobile by playing up to how our business and personal lives intersect. Steve Ballmer talked up this very idea at Mobile World Congress.  I know plenty of people who carry a BlackBerry for work but then an iPhone for personal use. The lines between work and personal contacts and tasks are often blurry, so having a device that can be your music player, Internet device, office contacts and documents (and if you’re into it, your Xbox Live friends) might be attractive.

Then again, many people already have such a device. They call it an iPhone. And even with some of its glaring omissions, it still offers the best mobile experience – with some new functionality likely coming before the new Windows phones even hit the market late this year.

While it is encouraging to see Microsoft take bold leaps forward, it’s time to be a major player in the mobile space may be winnowing. This year will tell us if this bold move will succeed.

I too am a bit skeptical, though I understand what Google is trying to do. Its bread and butter is indexing the Internet and getting everyone online through using Google services. The social networking explosion has, for better or worse, left a bunch of the web out of Google’s clutches.

Personally Google’s index-the-universe aspirations make me a bit queasy, but I am a heavy user of their services and generally happy with the experience. And Google does tend to listen to user feedback pretty closely – Buzz was already tweaked recently to account for some privacy concerns. But by making Buzz a permanent part of Gmail, Google is showing it has pretty heavy aspirations for this service and hooking in new users.

I’ll follow the Buzz for now, but I am hopeful there is a way to turn it off in the future if the buzzing gets too loud.

Awaken – This is a pretty cool app if you are bored of the alarm clock settings on the iPhone. I was especially a fan of picking any song from your music collection to wake up to.

Night Recorder – Part sleep aide, part spy tool. This app records even when your iPhone is on standby, meaning you can finally catch your partner’s snoring or those spirits that haunt the attic.

The Inferno – Dante’s Inferno is all the rage with the launch of the new video game, but this iPhone game avoids turning Dante into a weapon-wielding steroid mutant freak. It’s a nice puzzle game that I found to be quite addicting.

**Shameless self-promotion here: My web site performs quite well on your iPhone or Android device thanks to the WPtouch Wordpress plugin (The above logo is the button it places on your iPhone if you save the bookmark). If you run a web site in Wordpress and want a super easy way to create a great looking mobile site, I highly recommend it.

Sarah Palin speaks at a 2008 rally (Photo by Derek Walter)

When Sarah Palin took to the stage at last year’s Republican National Convention, she gave the best speech of the week and single-handedly resurrected John McCain’s fledgling campaign. At the time, I wrote a glowing review while blogging the convention for The Fresno Bee (I’m even ashamed to admit I used the phrase “Sarah Barracuda”).

During that week Palin seemed like the perfect vice presidential candidate to complement McCain. The buzz was that she was a popular, conservative governor who had worked with Democrats and fought corruption. The message was complete. It was the Reform Ticket.

Fast forward to last weekend. Palin’s speech to the tea party gang was simplistic, cliche-ridden, and just downright bad. Not to mention she ought to think twice about criticizing President Obama’s use of  a teleprompter given that she opts for a Sharpie. She had no issue sharing the stage with other buffoons like Tom Tancredo.

I have to believe that any ounce of Palin’s well-spoken deliveries or talking points were the result of the McCain campaign team. No wonder they muzzled her. If the Sarah we have now was acting like this back then, McCain would have lost by another 50 electoral votes.

She has evolved into a non-stop self-promotional machine. Which is fine for a celebrity. But another thing for a prospective stateswoman. If she wanted to convince us she was ready to be president, she would have put her head down and gone to work in Alaska as governor. How about some legislative accomplishments? Maybe even a state of the state speech or two?

No, instead we have a Fox News studio in her house in Wasilla and $100,000-a-pop speeches. Trips to Oprah’s couch and an unending feud with her grandchild’s father. The reality show has finally come to American politics.

Palin and the Tea Party group are going to hang around, but their influence won’t be that fruitful. Just as it did in 2008, the battle for the middle will dominate elections in 2010 and 2012. It was independents that helped put Scott Brown in the Senate in Massachusetts. These voters aren’t that interested in someone who speaks in 1980s conservative rhetoric, misspeaks, and has the same tired attack on Obama. She’s going to have to develop some actual ideas and policy points, or people may get bored and tune out.

I already have.

Apple’s unveiling of its unfortunately-named iPad this week was a major letdown for mostly one reason: openness. By opting for the iPhone operating system on the iPad, Apple maintains an iron-like grip on the device. Applications must go through the App Store. Want to get work done? You are stuck with iWork. Steve Jobs’ hatred of flash means lots of Lego icons when surfing the web.

Probably the most crippling limitation is that in its current form the iPad can only handle one app at a time. While this is moderately annoying on the iPhone, it is ridiculous on a computer with a 1 Ghz processor.

In fact, the iPad unveiling probably leaves more questions than answers. Will developers start making more in-depth applications specifically for the iPad? (For example, imagine a full-blown version of Office or more detailed magazine and newspaper apps) How well will applications sync between your iPhone and iPad? Will AT&T’s network be able to handle even more connected devices?

It would be unwise to call the iPad a flop. Even with some quirky restrictions, you can never count out a device that comes from One Infinite Loop. The Apple fanboys and geeks will line up to get one of these. The question is if the masses will follow.

But what most of the country is looking for is something we have not yet seen a lot of out of No. 44: leadership.

Take health care reform. Instead of building consensus and seeking concessions from Republicans, the whole matter was outsourced to Congress. And surprise! They created a bloated, unpopular bill that even voters in Massachusetts don’t want.

His plan for Afghanistan? Fight a war that is a must-win – as long as we can do it in 16 months. There is a duality in many of the messages that go beyond nuance and land in doublespeak.

He needs to be the kind of president he said he would be during the campaign. He said in his inaugural speech we would enter a “new era of responsibility.” That he would change the culture of partisanship in Washington. He has done neither.

Tonight he must reassert his role as the nation’s leader. He must take control of his legislative priorities and tell his party how it’s going to be and hold some olive branches for Republicans. If it’s change he wants, he must reach out and take charge of it.

The unanswered question facing the President is: can he lead? Tomorrow is a place he should start.

When these rumors began (somewhere in the middle of the Bush administration) I thought I would never have use for such a device. I’m already happy with my laptop (a Toshiba tablet running Windows 7), iPhone 3GS, and a brilliant 23-inch Samsung monitor attached to my desktop. Seems like another gadget is the last thing I need.

But it looks like this Apple tablet thing is less a replacement for these other devices than what may turn out to be an excellent companion device. We didn’t know we “needed” an MP3 player until Apple made the iPod franchise a hit. My suspicion is that this device will be an eReader/music/video/Internet device on steroids that could over time change how we engage with multiple types of content. 

Many people, myself included, have dropped newspaper subscriptions for reading news online. Some similar movements are happening with television. Full programs and highlights are available on sites like YouTube or Hulu. Most of the college basketball I watch during the week is on espn360.com. And while I haven’t made the leap to an eReader because I am not a fan of the black and white eInk screens, I am intrigued by the idea of a small reading device with access to my books, magazines, newspapers, and other media.

While I am firmly in the Windows camp for my desktop computing, the iPhone is the most compelling smartphone around with an excellent ecosystem attached to it.  A touch-screen slate device that could revolutionize my media choices is an intriguing concept. When that black turtleneck appears Wednesday I will be watching.

10. People will stop calling the iPod touch an iTouch.

9. I will never again hear a voicemail from Tiger Woods.

8. Sarah Palin will stop speaking. Not lose her ability to speak, but just realize most of what she has to say is not that bright.

7. The Episcopal Church will brush up on 1 Corinthians and stop suing churches that have left this apostate mess. For an organization that is always shouting about inclusiveness and accepting others, it sure is quick to bring out the lawyers and make threats and intimidation against those who do not follow their beliefs. Here is hoping to a successful 2010 for the Anglican Province in North America.

6. The exclusivity agreement between AT&T and Apple will end. AT&T’s coverage has been abysmal, and maybe some competition from Verizon for iPhone fans will get them to right the ship.

5. The GOP will kick Michael Steele to the curb. He is an embarrassment at a time when the party needs leaders.

4. The Seahawks will fill their team holes: quarterback, offensive line, running game, secondary, and a run defense.

3. An actual television news agency will spring from the ashes of the right-wing Fox, left-wing MSNBC, and often-clueless CNN. (Hey, remember it’s a wish list).

2. Apple will finally introduce this magical, mystical wonder tablet so we can stop listening to rumors.

1. The TSA will get a clue about security. Making people hold their bladder longer on flights is not a viable solution to stopping chemical bombs.