My one-word review for the Kindle Fire? Prettydamngood.

As I was waiting obnoxiously for my Kindle Fire yesterday, I remarked to my siblings that I was expecting "not quite an iPad, but better than just a big Android phone". My tech-loving friend whose Fire is due to arrive today also commented (my paraphrase) that he wasn't expecting an iPad but something good for $300 less than an iPad.

And by both of these standards, I can very readily recommend the Kindle Fire.

It's very sleek and surprisingly solid. It's got a bit of heft to it that I actually like but might be a little tiring to some. I've seen reviews with people complaining about lag, but I don't think our home wifi connection is anything special, and web surfing and streaming have been pretty zippy. Netflix, Pandora, and Amazon Cloud playing have been surprisingly nice, given that the cloud player on our laptop is a little on the slow side.

My biggest annoyance right now has been after downloading the Wired and New Yorker apps, I've been unable to sync up my subscriptions even after following the steps laid out in the app screens (and my username/password combos work fine online). I've got my e-mails into Conde Nast customer service right now because dammit, I want my instant gratification!

Also, the main screen, which shows stuff in the order you've used it, is a bit cluttery to me. They've got a little bar on the top where you can separate your content into books/videos/music/apps etc., but it seems like the front could be more clean.

And if you're not already a Prime Member, I'd strongly recommend it. Right now, it means an extra free viewing library that's decidely mediocre and unlimited cloud storage, but I find it hard to believe they won't be throwing more stuff up there in the coming months.

Looking forward to playing with this!

Vote, baby, vote!

And a happy election day to you all! The happiest thing to me is that I won't have to hear those goddamn Bryce Reeves/Edd Houck commercials on the radio anymore. It's not even my district!

State senator and state reps are foregone conclusions; based upon my interactions with candidates as well as the opinions of people whom I love, trust, and are smarter than me to a person, here was my ballot:

City Council: Smith, Collins, Fenwick
School Board: Kadija, McKee, Blount, Neale

I'm not linking or endorsing because I want these guys to win, AND I CAN'T HELP.

I'm gonna call it...Herman Cain will be the 2012 Republican nominee for President.

What happened? A new harrassment accuser has come forward...and she has hired Gloria Allred.

The only way this could have helped Cain more is if the unnamed woman had hired Nancy Pelosi. With this feminist icon to rail against, Cain is going to surf a tidal wave of outrage-and-false-victimization-fueled donations straight over Mitt's coif to victory!

Even Cain's campaign manager (does he have one?) can't fuck this up. The solicitation e-mail should be out by noon.

Another edition of "Things I Wish I Had Written"...

There's a reason bloggers everywhere want to have Charles P. Pierce's babies:

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I don't think it's too strident to demand at this point that David Brooks be hauled up before a jury consisting of everyone else in America and forced to defend himself against several million counts of being an insufferable twat in a public place.
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Just go read the whole brilliant thing.

Must...not...make...raising..Cain...joke...

I was amused by all the talk of the leak to Politico being a grand liberal plot; after all, the timeline and the subject matter screamed either Rove or Perry.

But after he's played a whole bunch of cards, including "liberal media" and "I'm the victim", I'm starting to think that this was just the thing Cain needed to capture the Republican nomination. What more do Repubs want than to get all warm and snuggly in a blanket of fake outrage?

The only thing is Dem ops usually aren't this clever...I'd love to be wrong, though.