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Sunday, February 29, 2004
Long-term investments
As I was reading this article, I was reminded of a conversation I had with my brother Chris a few years ago. I was remarking on an article in Discover magazine (yes, I read Discover) on some of the newer theories on on the expansion/contraction of the universe. Chris' reply was essentially that such conjecture was a waste, and that he does not believe in "science for science's sake." I was actually flummoxed when I heard that, as I have usually assumed that most intelligent people (which both my brothers most definitely are) see the long-term benefits in such endeavors.
Now Ben Bova (the article's author) is admittedly one of my favorite sci-fi writers, and he here touches upon some of the advances we now use (and take for granted) everyday. It also strikes me how absurb our local/national/international priorities often are.
We spend a pittance on education, research, socialized health care and protecting the environment. But we spend astronomical (no pun intended) amounts on war, weapons of war, rebuilding countries of enemies, payouts to 'allies', Hollywood excess, political perks and corporate payola.
Now, I'm not a naive optimist and I do realize that human nature/instinct will always veer towards self-guttony, but honestly, it would be nice if, as a collective, we at least tried to put the right priorities first, instead of just rolling our eyes and saying 'well, that's just how the machine works' (an all too common saying in Chicago).
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Now Ben Bova (the article's author) is admittedly one of my favorite sci-fi writers, and he here touches upon some of the advances we now use (and take for granted) everyday. It also strikes me how absurb our local/national/international priorities often are.
We spend a pittance on education, research, socialized health care and protecting the environment. But we spend astronomical (no pun intended) amounts on war, weapons of war, rebuilding countries of enemies, payouts to 'allies', Hollywood excess, political perks and corporate payola.
Now, I'm not a naive optimist and I do realize that human nature/instinct will always veer towards self-guttony, but honestly, it would be nice if, as a collective, we at least tried to put the right priorities first, instead of just rolling our eyes and saying 'well, that's just how the machine works' (an all too common saying in Chicago).
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Saturday, February 28, 2004
Design Challenged? Here's your saviour!
Granted, this was written in 1998 (yeesh, is that already six years ago?!??), but it has been awhile since I have run across a better validation of paying for a quality applied art education.
Logos for the Design Challenged, Part I -- Logos and Business Cards
Although the title initially seems to be tounge-in-cheek, I realized the author actually takes himself seriously. Go ahead, peruse the whole collection of articles, I dare ya...
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Logos for the Design Challenged, Part I -- Logos and Business Cards
Although the title initially seems to be tounge-in-cheek, I realized the author actually takes himself seriously. Go ahead, peruse the whole collection of articles, I dare ya...
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Thursday, February 26, 2004
No Disassemble!!
Looks like somebody took apart their new toy. And managed to break it. The picture gallery is interesting. I really want one, but not for $250. And yes, I know what a wonderful deal it is compared to flash memory based players.
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Cowwuube!
Next time you're in a Subway happily munching on your sammich, you will think of this! (Moooo ha ha ha!)
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Not enough sarcasm? Perhaps some Rabbit...
Rabbit used to write for the late, lamented Suck, and now does some stuff for Salon (hey, by the way, why do they think that we'll pay for something we hardly read when it was free?). She does a nice job dismembering hate-mail, too. Go look. Flame her at your own risk.
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Wednesday, February 25, 2004
Meet Uncle Cecil
Being a Chicagoland dweller, I occasionally pick up our execellent independent newspaper, The Reader. Within these hip pages, I discovered Cecil Adams' The Straight Dope. Uncle Cecil is both a font of (mostly) useless wisdom and a possessor of the fabled Gift of Gab. Here's a taste...
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Asians and Poo
I'm given to understand that in certain countries in Asia, people feel differently about poo than Westerners do. I don't have much interest in it; personally, I'm a "fire and forget" person. This, however, may change my mind. It could be a lot more fun than I first thought. Maybe it's the different diet...
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That's right, it's Baboochi!
Found this bit on Underground Online listing the 10 most notable toys from this year's Toy Fair. Also, thanks to the UGO guys, I have a new favorite word this week.
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Hormones related to hearing loss?
As someone who has a substantial hearing loss (approx. 50% in both ears, both nerve damage and tinnitius), I am intrigued by this article on a study which links HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) to dramatic hearing loss in women.
Now the study is admitedly to small too be taken too seriously initially, but it does raise a question if hearing loss might be partially related to hormones. I am actually hopeful that this may lead to a new perspective on dealing with hearing loss, and perhaps even some breakthroughs down the road.
And before you sigh, and mutter 'who cares?', consider this tidbit from American Tinnitus Association:
NIDCD
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Now the study is admitedly to small too be taken too seriously initially, but it does raise a question if hearing loss might be partially related to hormones. I am actually hopeful that this may lead to a new perspective on dealing with hearing loss, and perhaps even some breakthroughs down the road.
And before you sigh, and mutter 'who cares?', consider this tidbit from American Tinnitus Association:
"The ATA estimates that over 50 million Americans experience tinnitus to some degree. Of these, about 12 million have severe enough tinnitus to seek medical attention. And about two million patients are so seriously debilitated that they cannot function on a "normal," day-to-day basis."another link that may be interest:
NIDCD
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Tuesday, February 24, 2004
TiVo New Features Survey, February 2004
I've espoused my beliefs on TiVo and HDTV in earlier posts, but thanks to PVRblog (a site I am really growing to like), I learned of a New Features Survey that TiVo is doing regarding portability of media to your cpu (and vice versa!).
Now, I honestly do not imagine they will actually do a whole lot with the portability issue, since Hollywood and the RIAA have shoved corporate rights so far ahead of consumer rights that no one remembers the word freedom anymore (when will the entertainment industry learn from its previously mistaken fears...? Casettes, VHS/Betamax, Blockbuster, etc, etc, etc?). But still, it might help to show them that you have a strong interest in such archaic freedom.
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Now, I honestly do not imagine they will actually do a whole lot with the portability issue, since Hollywood and the RIAA have shoved corporate rights so far ahead of consumer rights that no one remembers the word freedom anymore (when will the entertainment industry learn from its previously mistaken fears...? Casettes, VHS/Betamax, Blockbuster, etc, etc, etc?). But still, it might help to show them that you have a strong interest in such archaic freedom.
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Make your own field of dreams
Now I'm mainly posting this just to cheese off Robert, who I know despises baseball as much as I love it, but it can be fun for someone with younger children too (like my bro Chris).
Or, if you have grander aspirations, then you can blow it up by about 9000%, and start charging admission.
Only 40 until opening day!!
Psst, hey Roy, regular season ticket go on sale this Friday!
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Or, if you have grander aspirations, then you can blow it up by about 9000%, and start charging admission.
If you build it, will they come?Only 8 days until the spring opener!
Only 40 until opening day!!
Psst, hey Roy, regular season ticket go on sale this Friday!
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Monday, February 23, 2004
Survive turning off your TV
I can honestly say I have never ever seen an episode (bleh, reality tv...), so I have no qualms about posting the spoilers to the latest "All-Star Survivor". Sadly for some, it only lists the 'boot-ees' down to the last two, but again, I simply do not care.
So, feel free to use this to make bets with people.
Just send me 10% of whatever you win =;-p
And bill me if you lose.
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So, feel free to use this to make bets with people.
Just send me 10% of whatever you win =;-p
And bill me if you lose.
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Sunday, February 22, 2004
Total Information Awareness Obfuscation
Remember the Pentagon's Total Information Awareness (TIA) initiative? Computers mine public records (as well as those provided by cooperating corporations) and build profiles on everyone. The profiles that look suspicious result in investigations. Big Brother lives.
Congress defunded and disbanded the office in charge of TIA, but this article from AP raises the idea that all the TIA work was simply moved to other agencies and projects. Is this the intelligence community out of control, or did Congress just want to appear to have killed this? Take a look.
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Congress defunded and disbanded the office in charge of TIA, but this article from AP raises the idea that all the TIA work was simply moved to other agencies and projects. Is this the intelligence community out of control, or did Congress just want to appear to have killed this? Take a look.
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This can happen to you!
Some cowboy in in Winnemucca, Nevada got arrested a while ago. On the face of it, this doesn't seem like anything to worry you. However, the reason he was arrested is absolutely the most chilling sign of change in America that I've ever seen. Stay with me...
1. We go to another country and blow the hell out of it almost entirely on the say-so of less than 20 people. Billions of dollars are gone. Thousands of foreign citizens are detained or killed. Still, we don't seem to mind too much because it's far away, and it's supposed to be good for us.
2. American forces take hundreds of foreign citizens to Cuba and detain them indefinitely, with no chance at freedom or access to a justice system. Again, we're probably not too worked up about it because they're foreigners (mostly), and they're bad guys (we think).
3. An American citizen is detained by U.S. authorities in another country, while fighting against U.S. forces. This is probably okay because he was asking for it, fighting against the army.
4. An American citizen is detained by U.S. authorities in America, with no chance at freedom or access to a justice system. We might let this skate, though, since he was a bad guy with a bad history and he was probably going to do something bad soon anyway.
5. An American citizen is detained by local civil authorities in Nevada for no reason. He was leaning on his pickup truck talking with his daughter. A cop pulled up, demanded to see ID, and arrested him when he refused to produce it. The investigating officer cuffed him and took him to jail for failure to produce his identification when asked. That's it.
In the space of four years, America has gone from feeling safe to a place where everyone needs to get in line and watch their backs. As if foreign terrorists aren't enough to worry about, now we need to make sure we aren't just plucked off the street by our own cops, too. If you see me being arrested, will you please tell someone? I'd rather my wife and kids didn't just wonder what happened to me. Thanks!
Oh, and if you don't like where your country's being taken, be sure to vote while you still can.
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1. We go to another country and blow the hell out of it almost entirely on the say-so of less than 20 people. Billions of dollars are gone. Thousands of foreign citizens are detained or killed. Still, we don't seem to mind too much because it's far away, and it's supposed to be good for us.
2. American forces take hundreds of foreign citizens to Cuba and detain them indefinitely, with no chance at freedom or access to a justice system. Again, we're probably not too worked up about it because they're foreigners (mostly), and they're bad guys (we think).
3. An American citizen is detained by U.S. authorities in another country, while fighting against U.S. forces. This is probably okay because he was asking for it, fighting against the army.
4. An American citizen is detained by U.S. authorities in America, with no chance at freedom or access to a justice system. We might let this skate, though, since he was a bad guy with a bad history and he was probably going to do something bad soon anyway.
5. An American citizen is detained by local civil authorities in Nevada for no reason. He was leaning on his pickup truck talking with his daughter. A cop pulled up, demanded to see ID, and arrested him when he refused to produce it. The investigating officer cuffed him and took him to jail for failure to produce his identification when asked. That's it.
In the space of four years, America has gone from feeling safe to a place where everyone needs to get in line and watch their backs. As if foreign terrorists aren't enough to worry about, now we need to make sure we aren't just plucked off the street by our own cops, too. If you see me being arrested, will you please tell someone? I'd rather my wife and kids didn't just wonder what happened to me. Thanks!
Oh, and if you don't like where your country's being taken, be sure to vote while you still can.
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Saturday, February 21, 2004
"New Burger Starts" Up This Quarter?
While the Bush Administration is not necessarily directly calling a fast food job the same as manufacturing a car, they are hoping to use some fuzzy math.
According to a White House economic report and its main author Gregory Mankiw, "The definition of a manufactured product is not straightforward." It also asks, "When a fast-food restaurant sells a hamburger, for example, is it providing a 'service' or is it combining inputs to 'manufacture' a product?"
Around 2.7 million manufacturing jobs have been lost since Bush took office. Conversely 600,000 fast food service jobs have been created in that interval. Re-classifying these rapidly expanding but very low wage jobs as manufacturing work would make the statistics less devastating to the administration.
The acid test for a manufactured good is some semblance of durability. You cannot for example buy and re-sell a fast-food burger assembled at the restaurant any more than you can re-sell the dry cleaning of your shirt or cleaning of your house. The moment you accept 'delivery' of your #2 meal, it ceases to have any value on the marketplace. There were chemicals and materials involved, but the general upshot of going to a fast food restaurant is to have a meal prepared, therefore it is a service. Frozen White Castle hamburgers or bottles of cola at your grocery store, however, are manufactured non-durable goods.
Perhaps counting the average salary of the jobs created would be a better indication of the economic status of the average American worker. I suspect this is data that no politician wants to know, let alone publish.
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According to a White House economic report and its main author Gregory Mankiw, "The definition of a manufactured product is not straightforward." It also asks, "When a fast-food restaurant sells a hamburger, for example, is it providing a 'service' or is it combining inputs to 'manufacture' a product?"
Around 2.7 million manufacturing jobs have been lost since Bush took office. Conversely 600,000 fast food service jobs have been created in that interval. Re-classifying these rapidly expanding but very low wage jobs as manufacturing work would make the statistics less devastating to the administration.
The acid test for a manufactured good is some semblance of durability. You cannot for example buy and re-sell a fast-food burger assembled at the restaurant any more than you can re-sell the dry cleaning of your shirt or cleaning of your house. The moment you accept 'delivery' of your #2 meal, it ceases to have any value on the marketplace. There were chemicals and materials involved, but the general upshot of going to a fast food restaurant is to have a meal prepared, therefore it is a service. Frozen White Castle hamburgers or bottles of cola at your grocery store, however, are manufactured non-durable goods.
Perhaps counting the average salary of the jobs created would be a better indication of the economic status of the average American worker. I suspect this is data that no politician wants to know, let alone publish.
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Ralph Nader ready to screw you (again)
According to this bit in the Chicago Tribune, Ralph Nader is likely to annouce an independent candidacy in the 2004 presidential race. He claims to be "exploring" the "role for an independent candidate to play," but comments made recently by a representative from the exploratory committee seem to indicate he's in.
Recall the 2000 elections when his candidacy leached away just enough Democratic support from Gore to make possible the Bush "win." Pundits are already calling America equally divided, and my sense is that this race will be close: it's too early to tell whether America's naked hatred of the Bush machine is enough to take out Karl Rove and $130 million of media presence.
This is the point where I would encourage you to contact Ralph and ask him to pursue his attention-getting scheme in a less important venue, but, unfortunately, he has provided no method for public comment on his web site. It seems that his "exploration" doesn't hinge on whether the public is interested in his candidacy, but more likely on whether he can get someone to fund his run.
Great. A man who insists on thrusting his opinions into public, regardless of the willingness of an audience to hear them. As a bonus, he may throw the Republicans another four years of environmental disaster, job loss, needless war and stacking every committee, judiciary and lobbying office in Washington with more freaking Republicans. For a guy who claims to advocate for the people, he seems much more interested in making you hear his opinions regardless of the cost. Stay home, Ralph.
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Recall the 2000 elections when his candidacy leached away just enough Democratic support from Gore to make possible the Bush "win." Pundits are already calling America equally divided, and my sense is that this race will be close: it's too early to tell whether America's naked hatred of the Bush machine is enough to take out Karl Rove and $130 million of media presence.
This is the point where I would encourage you to contact Ralph and ask him to pursue his attention-getting scheme in a less important venue, but, unfortunately, he has provided no method for public comment on his web site. It seems that his "exploration" doesn't hinge on whether the public is interested in his candidacy, but more likely on whether he can get someone to fund his run.
Great. A man who insists on thrusting his opinions into public, regardless of the willingness of an audience to hear them. As a bonus, he may throw the Republicans another four years of environmental disaster, job loss, needless war and stacking every committee, judiciary and lobbying office in Washington with more freaking Republicans. For a guy who claims to advocate for the people, he seems much more interested in making you hear his opinions regardless of the cost. Stay home, Ralph.
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Friday, February 20, 2004
Now Preening on the Coffee Table
An interesting article from the NY Times (which I believe you need a subscription to see, but it is free) regarding the unseen importance of quality product and user design in our lives.
I wish more corporations would allow actual designers and real-life usability testing on their products, rather than churn out items that never see any testing other than from a CAD program.
[rant]
On a side note, the article liberally quotes Jakob Nielsen, like he is an expert of any repute. While for some inane reason he actually has a good public reputation, please realize he is an idiot! Just go look at his website to realize he is not an expert in design at all, and barely understands true usability in relation to applied arts. Just read some of his 'expert' articles to realize he is the master of stating the completely obvious (or completely unrelated), which somehow qualifies him as an expert. Sheesh.
[end rant]
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I wish more corporations would allow actual designers and real-life usability testing on their products, rather than churn out items that never see any testing other than from a CAD program.
[rant]
On a side note, the article liberally quotes Jakob Nielsen, like he is an expert of any repute. While for some inane reason he actually has a good public reputation, please realize he is an idiot! Just go look at his website to realize he is not an expert in design at all, and barely understands true usability in relation to applied arts. Just read some of his 'expert' articles to realize he is the master of stating the completely obvious (or completely unrelated), which somehow qualifies him as an expert. Sheesh.
[end rant]
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Dog-gone funny!
Now I was genuinely amused by Rob's post last month about a French, um, musician, but this video has got to be one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time!
[About 800k, in Window Media format (blech)]
Props to my cousin Jeff for swinging this one my way.
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[About 800k, in Window Media format (blech)]
Props to my cousin Jeff for swinging this one my way.
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Wednesday, February 18, 2004
Head Gear / Head Case
Here I was, thinking about wearing something just like this as a fashion statement, and it turns out that it actually has some psychotronic benefits as well! Sah-wheat!
And here's an excellent testimonial from a user... man, you can't buy better publicity!
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And here's an excellent testimonial from a user... man, you can't buy better publicity!
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Monday, February 16, 2004
Everybody, together now!
Just in case anybody was wondering what to get me for my birthday....
yeah, I know the b-day is in October, but you can never lay down hints too early!
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yeah, I know the b-day is in October, but you can never lay down hints too early!
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Friday, February 13, 2004
50% off at Belkin.com
From the peeps at DealMac.com, here's a pretty sweet deal...
50% off, with NO minimum, at Belkin Corporation's website.
Unfortuately, it will not apply to refurbished products...
Still, I may use this to finally get the UPS I've put off getting for far too long...
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50% off, with NO minimum, at Belkin Corporation's website.
Unfortuately, it will not apply to refurbished products...
Still, I may use this to finally get the UPS I've put off getting for far too long...
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Thursday, February 12, 2004
White House finally reveals brilliant plan to revive staggered economy!
Finally, after saving each and every one of us from multitudes of fanatical, non-conservative/non-Christian heathens bent on killing us in horrible, wretched, unimaginable ways, the Cheney-lead White House (c'mon, who really thinks Bush decides anything in there) took a bold and daring step forward to help out all of their constituants through these incredibly tough times...
Another stunning insight...
Seriously.
Besides the voter-friendly (notice I did not say economy-friendly) tax break, what has Cheney-House done? If anyone can seriously answer that with a rational response, please post it in the comments...
[notice the link is even to the 'conservative' Fox News]
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"Outsourcing is just a new way of doing international trade."'Nuf said... (unfortunately)...
- N. Gregory Mankiw (2/10/04)
Chairman of Bush's Council of Economic Advisors
Another stunning insight...
"The President is strongly committed to creating jobs here at home. I think that's reflected in the actions we have taken and the actions we're calling on Congress to take in addition to that."Okay, I have to interject here... exactly what has the White House done? What actions??
- Scott McClellan
White House spokesman
Seriously.
Besides the voter-friendly (notice I did not say economy-friendly) tax break, what has Cheney-House done? If anyone can seriously answer that with a rational response, please post it in the comments...
[notice the link is even to the 'conservative' Fox News]
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American's Way
Chaos Digest was finally graced with a reply from American Airlines' press person, Mary J. Fausneaucht. Mary advises us that American is committed to doing "everything possible to make [their] service welcoming and comfortable for all [their] customers." Apparently this includes everything except reassuring the public that 1) American is making an effort not to put aircraft and passengers into the care of someone with demonstrably terrible judgement; and 2) pagans, Scientologists, Branch Davidians, Moonies, atheists and, oh, say, Muslims are as deserving of a peaceful, unmolested flight as Christians.
Of course, Mary also mentions that this whole thing will be handled "in accordance with [American's] internal policies and procedures." That's PR code for "Shhh! Stop asking! Go away!" I get the impression they'd prefer this whole thing just went away, rather than take any sort of stand at all. That's probably a mistake. They need to find a way to send the message that religiously-fervered pilots are unacceptable, without stating a religious preference. That ought to be easy. Say something about the melting pot, that American's employees reflect America itself: 200 million opinions that have learned to get along day-to-day without the need to menace anyone.
They need to do something, or the American Airlines brand will start to slowly, quietly erode. People don't just ignore zealots on airplanes anymore.
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Of course, Mary also mentions that this whole thing will be handled "in accordance with [American's] internal policies and procedures." That's PR code for "Shhh! Stop asking! Go away!" I get the impression they'd prefer this whole thing just went away, rather than take any sort of stand at all. That's probably a mistake. They need to find a way to send the message that religiously-fervered pilots are unacceptable, without stating a religious preference. That ought to be easy. Say something about the melting pot, that American's employees reflect America itself: 200 million opinions that have learned to get along day-to-day without the need to menace anyone.
They need to do something, or the American Airlines brand will start to slowly, quietly erode. People don't just ignore zealots on airplanes anymore.
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Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Go ahead and call State Farm
Remember that EU Mars mission, Beagle 2? It's not just pinin' anymore. Apparently, it has really, truly passed on.
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Tuesday, February 10, 2004
Fair Use
Lately I‘ve been hearing a lot about DRM and copyright violations, the RIAA, and whatnot (those damn kids and their mp3s). Supposedly in response to complaints about pricing, the record companies have been cutting prices to discourage online piracy ("Don't waste time downloading it when you can get it for $9.99, kids!"). This is apparently easier than producing music that is not crap.
Now, what does this mean? Is all the 70’s and 80’s music (the soundtrack of my youth) that’s been selling for $9.99 these past few years finally going to get cut to an even lower $6.99? I don’t think so. They're gonna milk it until long after its dry.
We can't pay royalties forever. I’m all in favor of artists getting paid, but not their corporate owners. Corporations abusing copyrights for financial gain will eventually stifle "new" music, if its not happening already.
I understand that the music industry would like to have all the money (hey, me too), but endless copyrights don’t lead to endless revenue. Imagine the lawsuit: William Shakespeare Estate (Romeo and Juliet) v. United Artists (West Side Story).
I’m willing to pay to hear the same art performed in different ways by different people. But there are only so many ways to tell the same stories or play the same songs before we need to forget them for a while. I think the folks at the RIAA need to read Spider Robinson's Melancholy Elephants.
I think most of us remember getting turned on to the music we really love today riding around in somebody’s car listening to a mix tape (remember those?) or a CD full of different tunes. Fair use says that’s ok, but if the RIAA had their way you’d be dragged off, roughed up, intimidated, and fined silly. We need to be able to share and discover and forget and rediscover music without being force fed it or bled dry for it. Music is meant to be fun and loved, made by artists for patrons; not produced in factories for consumers.
-Todd
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Now, what does this mean? Is all the 70’s and 80’s music (the soundtrack of my youth) that’s been selling for $9.99 these past few years finally going to get cut to an even lower $6.99? I don’t think so. They're gonna milk it until long after its dry.
We can't pay royalties forever. I’m all in favor of artists getting paid, but not their corporate owners. Corporations abusing copyrights for financial gain will eventually stifle "new" music, if its not happening already.
I understand that the music industry would like to have all the money (hey, me too), but endless copyrights don’t lead to endless revenue. Imagine the lawsuit: William Shakespeare Estate (Romeo and Juliet) v. United Artists (West Side Story).
I’m willing to pay to hear the same art performed in different ways by different people. But there are only so many ways to tell the same stories or play the same songs before we need to forget them for a while. I think the folks at the RIAA need to read Spider Robinson's Melancholy Elephants.
I think most of us remember getting turned on to the music we really love today riding around in somebody’s car listening to a mix tape (remember those?) or a CD full of different tunes. Fair use says that’s ok, but if the RIAA had their way you’d be dragged off, roughed up, intimidated, and fined silly. We need to be able to share and discover and forget and rediscover music without being force fed it or bled dry for it. Music is meant to be fun and loved, made by artists for patrons; not produced in factories for consumers.
-Todd
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Homework Assignment
If anyone can find a comprehensive list of all the National Alert Level changes since it was implemented, leave us a comment. I'm interested in plotting changes in the "terror" level versus Bush's national approval rating over time. Wouldn't it be interesting if the Alert level changed in some relationship to the administration's popularity level?
If someone else has already done this, drop us word on that, too. Thanks!
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If someone else has already done this, drop us word on that, too. Thanks!
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Off the case...
Willow Designs, long a maker of excellent quality backpacks and laptop cases for Powerbooks, has been done in by overseas competition. They're having a final sale on their web site. If you know their stuff, the prices they're asking will strike you as amazing deals. Go take a look.
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Feedback: n. A terrible screeching sound...
We're trying out the free comment service from Haloscan. Please feel free to offer your insights, opinions, and tips. Ideally, you'll manage to avoid comment spamming and needlessly harsh language. We reserve the right to delete. Kudos to Greg for "discovering" this one.
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This Just In: Bimbos down against the Euro
In a yet another stunning display of it's economic tour de force, the Euro has reached an all time high against the Bimbo. Bimbos around the world were quoted as saying, "Ummm, like, that sucks."
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Football Game Gets to Second Base
Enough about the freaking breast already! It was not all that remarkable given the content of the whole halftime show. Her middle-aged flop was in keeping with the rest of the choreography. I want desperately to boycott the news until the Jackson family’s misadventures in youth advocacy are safely past. To Mr. Timberlake in his shock and horror: spare me. I am sure it was a perfectly innocent bodice ripping.
The only great part about the show is that my otherwise very religious brother yanked one of our unused TV aerials and put it on his church so that the SuperBowl could be an event in their little religious community. I was already suspicious about broadcasting this event in a church. I am so delighted that even in my relative heathenness I was on to something... I want to know if they turned it off or kept watching the game.
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The only great part about the show is that my otherwise very religious brother yanked one of our unused TV aerials and put it on his church so that the SuperBowl could be an event in their little religious community. I was already suspicious about broadcasting this event in a church. I am so delighted that even in my relative heathenness I was on to something... I want to know if they turned it off or kept watching the game.
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If we have any insane pilots on board today, please raise your hands...
And now, this message of faith from our friends at American Airlines. Must have been a nice moment, no? Looking around at a hundred-some shocked faces, all flashing back to a September not too long ago. Enjoy your free, um, nuts.
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...And Be Sure To Tip Your Waitress (You Cheap Bastard)
I have a favorite cause. No, not diseased children or saving trees in the Amazon. My victimized and underserved population is waiters and waitresses. Especially career waiters and waitresses, not the average shlub kid whose parents made him get a summer job. As a further subset, I am focusing on the single women and moms who waitress. From here on I say "waitresses," you picture a single mother. Okay? Here we go: These people are the victims of an insidious kind of robbery, every day.
The average waitress makes, if she's lucky, five dollars an hour. This means that even after grueling hours of hot plates, rude people, disgusting comments, endless walking, unreasonable requests and expectations and taking the fall for the limitations of the cooking staff, she can’t afford the average meal served by her employer.
Let's hear some applause for restaurants that insist that a meager 15% gratuity is added to the cost of the meal automatically when the group number exceeds a certain threshold. I can’t tell you how many times I watch a group divide up a tab: "But Jim had the full salad, not the side, and Rob had a second martini," or "I know I had the filet mignon but I didn’t get coffee or dessert." Not only does the most generous member of the party normally get stiffed in this scenario, but so does the wait staff. Jeez, add 20%, divide by 6 and get on with your lives, people! I feel like adding useful comments like, "Yeah, but Rob and I were the most entertaining, so really the second Martini was worth it for all of you," and "So-and-so barely had two words to say, so really he should pay a we-tolerated-you penalty."
I have other friends that whip out a calculator, subtract sales tax and multiply by 15% or less if the decor of the restaurant failed to please. The exact amount is meticulously counted out and hidden under the salt cellar. Okay, if you are genuinely poor, you are excluded from leaving more. I have heard that the wealthier you are, the more likely you are to stiff.
My formula is significantly different than the standard straight percentage. If Rob and I sit and drink endless cups of coffee for two hours, I pay for two hours of labor. An attentive and pleasant waitress deserves to make closer to a living wage. If she only had us to attend to, I leave more. If she had a few other people paying her something for that two hours and we didn’t ask that much of her, I might leave a little less. If four of us had the fish fry and jawed for four hours, she is gonna earn more like $30 to 40 from us; sometimes more if we have it to give. I also recognize that we kept her table from being filled by, oh, say, a billionaire philanthropist with a waitress fixation, so I try to cover her opportunity cost, too. If I see her stiffed by the businessmen or elderly couple at the other tables, I leave even more.
This formula has pathetically made us pretty popular at the restaurants we frequent. At one rural diner, a waitress we have tipped before comes over to greet us, whether we are one of her tables or not. She has memorized our child’s name and is genuinely glad to see us. Waitresses at this place negotiate on who gets our table each time we visit. How sad is that?
We have had tearful waitresses follow us to the parking lot to thank us. What does this say about the majority of humanity when all we did was pay her a fair-but-low wage? Don’t tell me you don’t steal. Cheating these poor people is stealing and worse, the crime has a victim with a face and a name. It's not just downloading a free tune by millionaire bimbo number twelve.
Now, this is not to say that I will not leave a lackluster tip for dull service. If we had to get our own silverware, request everything twice and our coffee was nearly always empty, I’ll deduct for our time. I find that this is a pretty rare event and was never done by someone really trying to make a living. Usually it is the kid who needs yet another speaker for the back of his truck.
So, if you are thinking about going out to eat, beware! The waitresses are striking back. When you are deciding what you can afford on the menu, ADD A FAIR TIP before you order. Remember that the smiling person enduring your demands needs to eat and pay her bills, too.
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The average waitress makes, if she's lucky, five dollars an hour. This means that even after grueling hours of hot plates, rude people, disgusting comments, endless walking, unreasonable requests and expectations and taking the fall for the limitations of the cooking staff, she can’t afford the average meal served by her employer.
Let's hear some applause for restaurants that insist that a meager 15% gratuity is added to the cost of the meal automatically when the group number exceeds a certain threshold. I can’t tell you how many times I watch a group divide up a tab: "But Jim had the full salad, not the side, and Rob had a second martini," or "I know I had the filet mignon but I didn’t get coffee or dessert." Not only does the most generous member of the party normally get stiffed in this scenario, but so does the wait staff. Jeez, add 20%, divide by 6 and get on with your lives, people! I feel like adding useful comments like, "Yeah, but Rob and I were the most entertaining, so really the second Martini was worth it for all of you," and "So-and-so barely had two words to say, so really he should pay a we-tolerated-you penalty."
I have other friends that whip out a calculator, subtract sales tax and multiply by 15% or less if the decor of the restaurant failed to please. The exact amount is meticulously counted out and hidden under the salt cellar. Okay, if you are genuinely poor, you are excluded from leaving more. I have heard that the wealthier you are, the more likely you are to stiff.
My formula is significantly different than the standard straight percentage. If Rob and I sit and drink endless cups of coffee for two hours, I pay for two hours of labor. An attentive and pleasant waitress deserves to make closer to a living wage. If she only had us to attend to, I leave more. If she had a few other people paying her something for that two hours and we didn’t ask that much of her, I might leave a little less. If four of us had the fish fry and jawed for four hours, she is gonna earn more like $30 to 40 from us; sometimes more if we have it to give. I also recognize that we kept her table from being filled by, oh, say, a billionaire philanthropist with a waitress fixation, so I try to cover her opportunity cost, too. If I see her stiffed by the businessmen or elderly couple at the other tables, I leave even more.
This formula has pathetically made us pretty popular at the restaurants we frequent. At one rural diner, a waitress we have tipped before comes over to greet us, whether we are one of her tables or not. She has memorized our child’s name and is genuinely glad to see us. Waitresses at this place negotiate on who gets our table each time we visit. How sad is that?
We have had tearful waitresses follow us to the parking lot to thank us. What does this say about the majority of humanity when all we did was pay her a fair-but-low wage? Don’t tell me you don’t steal. Cheating these poor people is stealing and worse, the crime has a victim with a face and a name. It's not just downloading a free tune by millionaire bimbo number twelve.
Now, this is not to say that I will not leave a lackluster tip for dull service. If we had to get our own silverware, request everything twice and our coffee was nearly always empty, I’ll deduct for our time. I find that this is a pretty rare event and was never done by someone really trying to make a living. Usually it is the kid who needs yet another speaker for the back of his truck.
So, if you are thinking about going out to eat, beware! The waitresses are striking back. When you are deciding what you can afford on the menu, ADD A FAIR TIP before you order. Remember that the smiling person enduring your demands needs to eat and pay her bills, too.
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Monday, February 09, 2004
Young Women Devalue Rare Commodity
This article on Slate observes the women on that new Donald Trump game show, noting that women keep winning it. The reason the girls keep beating the boys, it says, is that they flash their ta-tas at every opportunity. Stretching a little, the author goes on to point out a growing conflict between feminism and this new bimb-ism. It seems that sex is power and young women, in particular, have decided to tap it for personal gain. I'm (yawn) shocked.
Japanese schoolgirls have known about this for a while. Casual prostitution for pocket money and status toys is once again increasing in poularity among (female) teenagers there. Why the comeback? The ugly fact is that it works, both here and there.
What's bugging me is that this is being examined as though it were an emerging new practice in the business world, instead of the cynical stupidity of youth. The Slate guy seems to be suggesting that this might catch on, and we'd better learn to cope; what are the boys going to do to beat it?
Easy. We wait. Young women exposed to this particular idea see a vast pile of shiny freebies just waiting to be grabbed. They just never seem to anticipate the obvious ending.
First, this trick only works for young women. There's an awkward transition for every bimbo, when a she tries some "hottie" stunt and it doesn't work; who wants to be that girl? Worse, who wants to be thought of as that girl?
Second, the guys who buy into this are often ethically bankrupt and can toss away a woman like a used condom. Can you imagine what it must be like to face Donald Trump once he's lost interest in you? And what does the descent down that particular totem pole look like? I have to believe that the guys sniffing around billionaires for sloppy seconds aren't all men of the finest character.
Third, "sexy" (which is different from sex; the girls at Hooters aren't going to sleep with you) as a trade good depreciates fast. Women have to keep pushing the envelope to get the same response. I think it's even possible to accidentally get into the porn industry this way. I'll bet this is how the Ann Heche "pop Lesbian" thing got rolling. Remember a couple years ago? Every starlet had a girlfriend for a while there...
Fourth, it's very difficult for anyone to take a woman seriously once they've seen her in full-on bimbo mode. She dons the tight T-shirt, heels and skirt, and that's it: everyone has that image burned into their brains. There's no way she's coming back as a legitimate businessperson after that. This is also the best reason to behave yourself at office parties - impressions are indelible.
Young, pretty women have the rare opportunity to play in a way that many of us will never know. But play is all it's for; you can't build a lasting career on it, and relying on it to keep you safe and happy in the long run is naive. Men who reward women for becoming bimbos are just trying to cop a feel, and deserve to lose what it costs them to get it. The smart boys won't worry too much about it; girls who bim in business tend to burn brightly, but quickly.
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Japanese schoolgirls have known about this for a while. Casual prostitution for pocket money and status toys is once again increasing in poularity among (female) teenagers there. Why the comeback? The ugly fact is that it works, both here and there.
What's bugging me is that this is being examined as though it were an emerging new practice in the business world, instead of the cynical stupidity of youth. The Slate guy seems to be suggesting that this might catch on, and we'd better learn to cope; what are the boys going to do to beat it?
Easy. We wait. Young women exposed to this particular idea see a vast pile of shiny freebies just waiting to be grabbed. They just never seem to anticipate the obvious ending.
First, this trick only works for young women. There's an awkward transition for every bimbo, when a she tries some "hottie" stunt and it doesn't work; who wants to be that girl? Worse, who wants to be thought of as that girl?
Second, the guys who buy into this are often ethically bankrupt and can toss away a woman like a used condom. Can you imagine what it must be like to face Donald Trump once he's lost interest in you? And what does the descent down that particular totem pole look like? I have to believe that the guys sniffing around billionaires for sloppy seconds aren't all men of the finest character.
Third, "sexy" (which is different from sex; the girls at Hooters aren't going to sleep with you) as a trade good depreciates fast. Women have to keep pushing the envelope to get the same response. I think it's even possible to accidentally get into the porn industry this way. I'll bet this is how the Ann Heche "pop Lesbian" thing got rolling. Remember a couple years ago? Every starlet had a girlfriend for a while there...
Fourth, it's very difficult for anyone to take a woman seriously once they've seen her in full-on bimbo mode. She dons the tight T-shirt, heels and skirt, and that's it: everyone has that image burned into their brains. There's no way she's coming back as a legitimate businessperson after that. This is also the best reason to behave yourself at office parties - impressions are indelible.
Young, pretty women have the rare opportunity to play in a way that many of us will never know. But play is all it's for; you can't build a lasting career on it, and relying on it to keep you safe and happy in the long run is naive. Men who reward women for becoming bimbos are just trying to cop a feel, and deserve to lose what it costs them to get it. The smart boys won't worry too much about it; girls who bim in business tend to burn brightly, but quickly.
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The Grrr Heard Around the World
Don’t ask me how I got this link. It was one of those Google moments like the one that lead me to the Head Performances of Oolong the pancake rabbit. Geez, I am already off topic...
I grew up in a very Finnish household. So Finnish that I am going to get my dual citizenship once the haggling over price is resolved. I did hear some fairly negative rhetoric about Swedish people (spoiled, lazy) that does not match this chart, but I found it funny anyway. I did not hear any bad comments about the other nations, but my Finnish relatives are pretty upset about the Latvia/Lithuania/Estonia job drain the same way we are upset about the Mexico/Canada/India one here. I found the stuff about Albania pretty funny, but I hope its not true...
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I grew up in a very Finnish household. So Finnish that I am going to get my dual citizenship once the haggling over price is resolved. I did hear some fairly negative rhetoric about Swedish people (spoiled, lazy) that does not match this chart, but I found it funny anyway. I did not hear any bad comments about the other nations, but my Finnish relatives are pretty upset about the Latvia/Lithuania/Estonia job drain the same way we are upset about the Mexico/Canada/India one here. I found the stuff about Albania pretty funny, but I hope its not true...
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Sunday, February 08, 2004
Adolf's owner in doghouse
Now honestly, why do some morons have this obsession with Hitler? Screw the jail, just give him a lobotomy.
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Up TOO close and personal...
Now you CAN count every single pimple on his hairy ass! (Editor's note: What does "HD" stand for now?)
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By reading this, you agree to pretty much everything...
Friday, February 06, 2004
Look where the magician isn’t pointing…
Microsoft is up to something. This is probably a safe bet, regardless, but I think I actually see them at it this time.
Look at their recent willingness to continue service for Windows 98. Windows 98 deserves to die; most IT consultants and experts agree. It was fine for it’s time, but the world has moved on to more stable, more secure operating systems. Windows 98 should go the way of the Vic 20. Why didn’t it?
Two obvious reasons, and some less obvious ones suggest themselves. Easy ones first.
One, the older hardware running Win 98 in business settings is very well suited to running most current Linux distributions. Fedora (nee Red Hat), Knoppix, and Mandrake would all work happily on most dinosaur PCs, interoperate well with Windows, and are much easier to secure. The fact that they put Win 98 out to pasture and then brought it back would imply that they missed this, and moved fast to correct the oversight. Not very Microsoft-y. Perhaps they got smacked by a customer who announced they were going Linux on their old hardware. ZDNet seems to have caught this, too.
Two, Microsoft desperately needs to buy some good will. Product upgrade sales have been slow this year, and recurring revenue sales are down (nobody wants to get locked into “Software Assurance”). They’ve got Longhorn in the pipeline and they’re going to need you to buy it, or they’re in trouble. So, they get on your good side with a two-pronged promise: commit to making Win 98 secure (until Longhorn comes along), and promise to make spam go away (when Longhorn finally arrives). Forget for a minute that spam zombie PCs and massively destructive viruses are only thriving because of Microsoft’s insecure products in the first place.
Now, here's the less obvious reason. Follow me on this: Microsoft's suddenly willing to incur the extra expense of carrying Windows 98 (5 years ago, Microsoft would have said "upgrade or die"). They're giving up Unix Tools for free, re-evaluating protocol licenses, and working with vendors to make it easier for them to bundle their own drivers on new systems. What's causing all this good will? It isn't Linux, the anti-trust suit, or market pressures.
It's because they're about to make it all irrelevant. I'm betting literally every piece of Microsoft software written before 2004 is quickly going to disappear once Longhorn is set loose. Microsoft watched enviously (again) as Apple migrated their faithful from OS 9 to X. In the course of three years, Apple's entire market has essentially upgraded every bit of code they run. It was amazing! If they could do the same thing, Microsoft could render the anti-trust judgement irrelevant, and as a bonus leave behind every bug, loose end, and bad decision they ever made.
It's too good a disappearing act NOT to try it. I'm predicting a very aggressive attrition schedule for old Microsoft products beginning in 2005. Better get out the checkbooks (or start bugging Apple to get serious about enterprise products).
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Look at their recent willingness to continue service for Windows 98. Windows 98 deserves to die; most IT consultants and experts agree. It was fine for it’s time, but the world has moved on to more stable, more secure operating systems. Windows 98 should go the way of the Vic 20. Why didn’t it?
Two obvious reasons, and some less obvious ones suggest themselves. Easy ones first.
One, the older hardware running Win 98 in business settings is very well suited to running most current Linux distributions. Fedora (nee Red Hat), Knoppix, and Mandrake would all work happily on most dinosaur PCs, interoperate well with Windows, and are much easier to secure. The fact that they put Win 98 out to pasture and then brought it back would imply that they missed this, and moved fast to correct the oversight. Not very Microsoft-y. Perhaps they got smacked by a customer who announced they were going Linux on their old hardware. ZDNet seems to have caught this, too.
Two, Microsoft desperately needs to buy some good will. Product upgrade sales have been slow this year, and recurring revenue sales are down (nobody wants to get locked into “Software Assurance”). They’ve got Longhorn in the pipeline and they’re going to need you to buy it, or they’re in trouble. So, they get on your good side with a two-pronged promise: commit to making Win 98 secure (until Longhorn comes along), and promise to make spam go away (when Longhorn finally arrives). Forget for a minute that spam zombie PCs and massively destructive viruses are only thriving because of Microsoft’s insecure products in the first place.
Now, here's the less obvious reason. Follow me on this: Microsoft's suddenly willing to incur the extra expense of carrying Windows 98 (5 years ago, Microsoft would have said "upgrade or die"). They're giving up Unix Tools for free, re-evaluating protocol licenses, and working with vendors to make it easier for them to bundle their own drivers on new systems. What's causing all this good will? It isn't Linux, the anti-trust suit, or market pressures.
It's because they're about to make it all irrelevant. I'm betting literally every piece of Microsoft software written before 2004 is quickly going to disappear once Longhorn is set loose. Microsoft watched enviously (again) as Apple migrated their faithful from OS 9 to X. In the course of three years, Apple's entire market has essentially upgraded every bit of code they run. It was amazing! If they could do the same thing, Microsoft could render the anti-trust judgement irrelevant, and as a bonus leave behind every bug, loose end, and bad decision they ever made.
It's too good a disappearing act NOT to try it. I'm predicting a very aggressive attrition schedule for old Microsoft products beginning in 2005. Better get out the checkbooks (or start bugging Apple to get serious about enterprise products).
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Thursday, February 05, 2004
All Music Guide:The 13th Warrior
Saw this on allmusic.com, which I frequent too often... not sure how true this is (I coulda swore Tom Petty had at least one #1), but still interesting nonetheless.
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"Among the legendary artists never to have a number one hit single on the Billboard pop charts: Little Richard, James Brown, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Parliament, Funkadelic, Jimi Hendrix, the Isley Brothers, the Kinks, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Tom Petty, Talking Heads, and Jackie Wilson"
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For Better HDTV Displays, It’s All About the Chip
A pretty interesting article in the NYTimes regarding the evolution of HDTV, some of the terminologies, and what to look for in the near future.
Even though there are only a few choices (plasma, LCD, rear-projection), it can be very confusing when trying to the weigh the pros and cons of each. While this article does not try to compare/contrast in that fashion, it does fairly clearly explain some of the underlying issues regarding them.
For example, since I have been looking to get and HDTV for about, oh, 3+ years now, one of my wife's chief request was that it be as thin as possible. Well, that always meant plasma, since rear-projections were still pretty bulky, and LCD were (and still are) outrageously priced. But now, rear-projections have thinned-down so much that RCA has a 61-inch set that is a wafer-thin 6.85 inches deep. Yowza!
Of course, this still does not negate MY main issue... the insane costs of HD converters! When it still costs $400-800 to unscramble an HDTV signal, on top of the cost of the TV, that is fucked up. Especially when each different signal you might get (antennae, DirecTV, cable) requires their OWN converter. So if you have, say, cable, and you move somewhere where you can not get cable (or it is incompatible with your current converter), you have to get another one! That is not chump change, my dear.
And add to the fact that the corporations who control the majority of the airwaves have successfully bullied Congress to keep pushing back the supposed "deadline" of having all programs broadcast in HDTV, we have virtually no HDTV content!! DirecTV, which we have (and I love, especially with our integrated TiVo receiver), only has FOUR freakin' HD channels! Two of which seem like mere padding. And they want me to pay an extra $10.99 for it too! You can also get HBO and Showtime in HD, but even HBO HDTV only broadcasts the HD signal 65% of the time (and, of course, HBO costs an extra $12 a month).
So yes, if you buy a sweet HDTV set (say $1500), the correct converter (say $500), and have a kick-ass sound system (like my bro), your DVDs will look and sound spectacular! You just will not get 98% of your normal television viewing in HD.
And all this for a couple K? Maybe in a couple of years when the content gets more tolerable (like 30% at least), but for right now, methinks that I'd rather go see 300-400 movies in a movie theater instead.