Well, that sure didn't take long!

NBC has unveiled their Fall 2006 lineup, and while we have to applaud the deletion of "Fear Factor", "Joey" and other subpar fare, I was surprised to see that yet another Law and Order spinoff has bitten the dust, as the axe was taken to Conviction, after only one season of the promising show, which, in my mind anyway, had become more interesting than the standard L&O fare.

With the conclusion of West Wing just yesterday night, it clears up yet another Season Pass slot on our TiVo - but neither one of them had been requested.

TVSquad argues that they had in fact expected curtains for Conviction, saying, "The storytelling style on Conviction was so complicated that it was virtually impossible to feel anything for any of the characters." I'd argue that's not the case, but if people were looking for simplicity, they were coming to the wrong show.

I'm tired of enjoying professional shows that make complete sentences and use words that contain more than five letters every once in a while, only to be reminded that the typical American prefers their shows to have bare midriffs, fan voting, celebrities exposed, and gun shots every 4 minutes.

Isn't there some way that shows like Conviction and West Wing can continue on a more-intelligent network? God knows we have enough TV channels.

Listening to ''Prosac'', by DJ Tomcraft (Play Count: 7)

At times, it's hard to remember that politics is a lot more than rooting for your favorite party, in the way we cheer on our favorite sports teams - hoping that good will triumph over evil. Unlike professional sports, a major tenet of our government is the idea of democracy, that people can both vote and govern, and provide influence to see their policies and leaders enacted. And for me personally, while I've suffered through the last several election cycles, watching the Republican-dominated majority embarrass themselves and our country, I've done little but rant, complain and vote when asked.

But there remain key issues that are plaguing the Democratic Party that are exposed and analyzed in Crashing the Gate - an insightful piece penned by Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos and Jerome Armstrong of MyDD. The two bloggers change the medium, but not the message, as they pick apart how the Democratic Party, once united, has devolved into isolated factions of splinter groups, who favor their own single issue platforms, even when it may mean the downfall of party candidates.

While the Republicans have certainly made a mess of things, we can't expect for them to fall on their swords, and for the Democrats to swoop in on the carcass to wrest away victory. That simply won't happen - not with the Republican donors continuing to come out in full force, rallied by morality-based issues that extend well beyond traditional politics. Instead, we as a party need to cohesively determine a platform that isn't an amalgam of edge issues - one that can be defended beyond the party base, even when you may see one or two items that don't meet with your ideal agenda. Instead, we must take a long-term view, as the Republicans have, and recognize those who embrace the party's core values and despise the cronyism and hatred espoused by the Republican party. We must do all we can to support party candidates and issues, locally, regionally and nationally, so that we don't endure four more years with characters like Schwarzenneger, Bush, Cheney, DeLay, and Frist.

One of the first steps is to make sure you've read Crashing the Gate. It's been on my to-do list for a long time, and I've finally managed to break into it (from San Jose to Chicago). You won't be sorry you did, and neither will the party.

Listening to ''Zeta Reticula - EP2'', by Dave Clarke (Play Count: 5)

Since the fall of 2004, I've made it to Chicago four separate times, including this week. Three times, it was for the same trade show, and a fourth time, we were forced to stay over one night, as our plane had been delayed leaving San Francisco, and we missed our connection to Baltimore...

But this week, the forecast is that it will be raining throughout the week we are there (through Thursday), and if memory serves, that would make it three out of four times I've visited the Windy City, only to encounter rain. In 2005, during our visit, an entrepreneurial salesman made good business out of selling umbrellas for $5 a pop, immediately in front of the revolving doors to our hotel. As we've already got enough umbrellas at home, I'm hoping we don't have to repeat that fate.

On the one trip we got away rain-free, we managed to stop at Wrigley Field to catch a Cubs game. With that "crossed off the list", we're not planning on heading back to the ivy-covered ballpark in this trip, and though we looked, and hoped in vain, the White Sox are actually out of town, so we won't get to see the less-historic US Cellular Field (seriously, that's almost as bad as McAfee Coliseum!)

Hopefully we do find something entertaining in this trip, and manage to get out of the hotel and off the show floor for a bit, but since that's not our main goal, work will come first.

Listening to ''Live at Amnesia From Ibiza'', by DJ Tiesto (Play Count: 2)

More in an irregularly occurring series...

The A's are still suffering from a confluence of injuries, despite their win at the Yankees earlier today. Among the most banged up is the team's bullpen. To help satiate this problem, they've acquired left-hander Steve Karsay from the Cleveland Indians, in exchange for an undisclosed amount of cash. Trivial note - Karsay went 3-12 for the A's in 1997 with a 5.77 ERA, as a starter. Yet somehow, he was unstoppable for me in MLB 98 for the Playstation. Simply put, the A's sucked back then, and he's all I could use.

Microsoft investors are unhappy that the company seems so unfocused, and they fear they will never see a return on the company's investment, as the software giant is now looking to take Google head-on. Instead, they'd prefer to get a share of Microsoft's $60 billion cash horde. Of course, who wouldn't?

Guy Kawasaki extends his "Top Ten Lies" series, taking it beyond mere engineers and marketers, and to corporate partners. Having recently interviewed a few candidates for a business development position at the office, their own take on what makes a good partnership and what doesn't has been interesting.

You've heard a lot about Web 2.0, and some are now saying all the talk is overdone. Well-read RedEyeVC and GigaOM are claiming that some of the newest companies are simply clones of other pre-existing services, or could become extensions to already-successful products.

Listening to ''Tyrantanic'', by Sasha & John Digweed (Play Count: 3)