Ski bikes! The spooky thing about this video is that I recognize the bike and the terrain. I have a feeling I was riding a snowboard just behind the bike in the first sequence:

Full suspension has arrived. Just like mountain bikes the suspension on snow should give far more control and safety compared with using the body to absorb impacts. Note how one rider says he can no longer sky because of damage to his knees, but he can ride a ski bike all day.

Newsweek says foreign entities compromised computers of both McCain and Obama:

Officials at the FBI and the White House told the Obama campaign that they believed a foreign entity or organization sought to gather information on the evolution of both camps’ policy positions—information that might be useful in negotiations with a future administration. The Feds assured the Obama team that it had not been hacked by its political opponents. (Obama technical experts later speculated that the hackers were Russian or Chinese.) A security firm retained by the Obama campaign took steps to secure its computer system and end the intrusion.

Maybe they were after position papers, or maybe they were trying to get data on who would win so they could place bets with more certainty. If nothing else, it brings to light that physical security of the candidates was top notch whereas cyber security apparently was more of an afterthought.

I often deal with questions about Sarbanes-Oxley and how information security helps a company keep accurate books so an executive can sign with confidence. Palin presents the American public with the opposite vision — shop ’til you drop and do the numbers later. Note this update on the Palin clothing story:

NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin’s shopping spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain’s top advisers privately fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor, who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that she spent “tens of thousands” more than the reported $150,000, and that $20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of clothing have apparently been lost. An angry aide characterized the shopping spree as “Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast,” and said the truth will eventually come out when the Republican Party audits its books.

Those are GOP aides complaining about Palin’s ethics. Clothes for her husband, her kids…missing clothing; she appears so careless and aloof that the idea of humility or ethics are completely lost. Again I am reminded of Imelda Marcos and her shoes.

The magazine goes on to say that McCain almost never spoke with Palin during the campaign and refused to let her join him in his final speech.

Why again was she nominated to be a candidate?

The lack of communication might have contributed to another problem:

Palin launched her attack on Obama’s association with William Ayers, the former Weather Underground bomber, before the campaign had finalized a plan to raise the issue. McCain’s advisers were working on a strategy that they hoped to unveil the following week, but McCain had not signed off on it, and top adviser Mark Salter was resisting.

Make your own conclusions but it appears to me this woman was not fit to be in the White House, and may even be unfit to serve as Governor.