Wow... cannot take a week off

So, I did take a week off, sorry for all you faithful readers!

I managed to ignore the signs of an incipient stroke for quite a while last Sunday morning, but when I finally realized what was happening, my wife got me to ER, and they in turn 'did their thing'.  The net result was gratifying, stupendous, awesome.  I am a believer in high tech medicine!

The situation was dire in terms of mobility, eyesight, and speech; the clot dissolved somehow within three hours of my first discovery -- what do you say, viva la Rat Poison?

Anyway, after two days of tests, observation, and plenty of commentary about medications, exercise, and diet, I was pronounced 'okay' without significant impairment of anything.  When the docs told my wife there was no evidence of cognitive impairment, she rolled her eyes and said, "how can you tell?"

So... back to the daily grind, maybe a little more slowly for awhile, but glad to be here, healthy.  For sure!

So, what happened re HP this past week?

Well, for starters Meg Whitman went public supporting the overthrow of Prop 8, lending HP support to the chorus led by Google, Apple, Facebook, Oracle, Cisco, eBay, and Qualcomm.  Meg herself going public was nice to see; first time she's used her 'bully pulpit' for a social cause in some time (and actually a much more progressive stance than she conveyed in the Governor race way back when...).

And HP launched its newest version of the TouchPad.  Did you just love the headline for CNN Money, "HP takes cautious step into Android waters with new tablet"?  Called the Slate, which was the original name for the TouchPad as I recall.

Tepid response from the marketplace.   One editorial seemed to me to get it mostly right -- "HP's bid to rejuvenate its flagging business is the Slate 7 -- which is not a premium-grade tablet, nor a remarkably cheap device. ...  While it's not obnoxiously cumbersome, it is bigger and heavier than many ....  This latest offering is a tad bit perplexing."

As Dave Packard or Bill Hewlett used to say, "What's the contribution"?