As a longtime fan of the Sonos (see here, here, here and here), I’ve been wondering ever since the launch of the iTunes AppStore when Sonos would release software to turn my iPhone and iPod Touch into a Sonos controller. Well, today was the day, and having just installed the software and played around with a bit, I have to say that Sonos has done an excellent job. I have a feeling the iPhone is going to become my default controller for my Sonos now. One big bonus over the Sonos controller with the iPhone app is the ability to use a virtual keyboard to search for music — on the scroll-wheel-based Sonos controller, text entry is a bit cumbersome. Way to go, guys! Finally, I have to give Sonos props for making it a free app, a very classy touch.

Update: I should point to a nice in-depth blog post over at Zatz Not Funny! for folks looking for more information, and also will embed the youtube video that appeared on that post. One excellent point the readers over there made is than Sonos really needed to do this — since a user armed with a mac, and a couple airport expresses and the Apple Remote Application on their iPhone could get pretty close to the same functionality that Sonos provides.

That being said, I still give Sonos the victory nod by a wide margin — access to internet radio, and the ability to consume services like Last.fm, Rhapsody and Pandora (now FREE on Sonos, BTW) without the use of ANY computer give the Sonos a distinct edge. It is just a more complete and well-integrated solution, IMHO.

And, here’s the youtube demo.

Of late my blog appears to have been less about technology and VC and more about politics. Oh well, ’tis the season, and this is my soapbox. I’m voting for Obama, and being in a battleground state, I’m sincerely hoping I’ll be able to convince some McCain supporters to change their vote, or, if they can’t bring themselves to vote for a Democrat, abstain from voting. There are many ways in which I disagree with McCain’s platform, but perhaps the most troubling to me of all is his selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate. I just read the New Yorker’s excellent endorsement of Obama, and I couldn’t agree more. One of the points that really stood out was their trenchant observation about McCain’s VP choice:

Perhaps nothing revealed McCain’s cynicism more than his choice of Sarah Palin, the former mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, who had been governor of that state for twenty-one months, as the Republican nominee for Vice-President. In the interviews she has given since her nomination, she has had difficulty uttering coherent unscripted responses about the most basic issues of the day. We are watching a candidate for Vice-President cram for her ongoing exam in elementary domestic and foreign policy. This is funny as a Tina Fey routine on “Saturday Night Live,” but as a vision of the political future it’s deeply unsettling. Palin has no business being the backup to a President of any age, much less to one who is seventy-two and in imperfect health. In choosing her, McCain committed an act of breathtaking heedlessness and irresponsibility.

Remember folks, this guy is 72 years old with a history of cancer, and there are fairly strong odds (some actuarial tables put them as high as 30%) that McCain could die in the next four years. As damaging as I believe a McCain administration would be for my country, the prospect of a Palin presidency is truly disturbing to me, given how profoundly unqualified she is. She represents everything that is rotten in the Republican party, which is now dangerously close to promoting ignorance and disdain for facts and reason as virtue. This was McCain’s first presidential-scale decision and he blew it. His irresponsible and cyncial choice of her as his running mate should make anyone question his motives and decision-making abilities, and should lay out in black and white the disastrous consequences of the Republican party’s unholy alliance with the Christian right.

McCain’s generation and party have had their run, and look where we are now. I’ve had enough of the old white guys – it is time for someone with the intellect and even-handed disposition necessary to take on the presidency in a time of remarkable upheaval. The old tactics are simply not going to work any more. Vote Obama.

So it turns out that Colorado provides $300m in annual tax subsidies to the oil and gas industry. And it turns out that Colorado is the only state in the country that provides these subsidies. This subsidy was put in place in 1982 to help jumpstart oil and gas development in the state – when gas cost less than $1 per gallon. Today, the industry is very healthy and is enjoying record-high petroleum prices and, hence, revenues and profits. This is clearly an industry no longer in need to state support. Additionally, these kinds of subsidies distort the “free” market and provide dirty, cabon-heavy petroleum-based energy sources with a structural market advantage over the deployment of clean energy technologies that we so desperately need to encourage. It is hard enough for new technologies to establish themselves in the marketplace when the playing field is far from even.

Governor Bill Ritter and A Smarter Colorado are supporting Amendment 58, which will end these out-dated and unnecessary subsidies and use the savings to fund scholarships, wildlife habitat preservation, environmental cleanup for areas damaged by gas and oil development and fund renewal energy development.

Not surprisingly, the opposition is well-funded to the tune of about $10m, with most of the funding coming from oil and gas companies. Call me naive, but I’ve been pretty disgusted with the ads the opposition is running — they are full of bald-faced lies, and claim that Amendment 58 is a tax-increase., which is just completely untrue. All it is doing is removing an outdated tax-break that was handed out to energy companies nearly three decades ago, something that IMHO has no place in the state’s constitution. Given the blatant falsehoods the opposition is willing to spread and the fact that the election is coming up in less than a month, I decided to donate money to the cause and to blog about it as well. Tell a friend, and don’t be fooled by the opposition’s ads.

If you’re interested in learning more about why you should vote yes on Amendment 58, check out the FAQ here.