July 2008
44 posts
“Can someone who never touches a computer truly be in touch with what is...”
– Lee Gomes, Note to Next President: Avoid Computers. By focusing on the President’s personal use of computers, Gomes shrinks the importance of Presidential technological literacy. We chide Sen. McCain for his mere awareness of the Internet, not because we want him skimming blogs all...
Zimbabwe Devalues Currency, 10 Billion-to-1
squashed:Zimbabwe, suffering from hyper inflation, is knocking ten zeroes off its currency. Every $100,000,000,000 will become $10, which still won’t be enough to buy a loaf of bread.
bg5000:Will this actually work? It seems like a pretty simple (read:stupid) solution to a complex problem.
I’m surprised this didn’t happen a long time ago. With inflation some estimates put at 12.5...
“When you see yourself doing something badly and nobody’s bothering you to...”
– Prof. Randy Pausch
Counter-Surveillance By Handicam
A commenter on this article about the assault-by-rookie-cop on the critical mass rider nailed it:
“If there was no video then this cop would still have his gun and badge.” - Bob M.
I often stretch to give law enforcement the benefit of the doubt. But I’m well aware that it’s nearly impossible to form a 50,000 member, less-than-median-salary, paramilitary force without a...
WatchThe ‘Virtual Army Experience’ stepped its…game up. I wonder how many recruits this yields? From: War Games: Army Lures Civilians By Letting Them Play Soldier.
Citi Pays Exec $28.8M to Not Work →
In an effort to make themselves the poster child for excess in the face of a down economy, Citi strapped a $28M golden parachute on the Investment Bank’s Chairman, Michael Klein, before letting him step out.
Klein gets $21M+ now, and $7.5M in early 2009 in exchange for not going to work for rival financial firms in the next 15 months. He will also net $5.5M under a prior retention deal,...
“Blakeley is straight? Not trying to be a smart ass, but I did not know or figure...”
– Pythias (via nudawn) (via blakeley) Don’t sweat it Blakeley, it takes one to know one!
Chrysler to Stop Offering Leases →
“…auto makers and their financing units have been piling increasing losses stemming from leases, mainly as a result of falling resale values of trucks, sports-utility vehicles and other less fuel-efficient models that many consumers now shun.”
You know times are tough when the trendy methods to bilk consumers out of ownership aren’t even profitable anymore.
“Crimes are more effectually prevented by the certainty than the severity of...”
– Cesare Beccaria, quoted in an article on Hawaii’s Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE) program. It features ‘flash incarcerations’ for any violation, emphasizing swift discipline over harsh discipline. Evaluation results show a desirable impact on recidivism.
Google To Turn Over YouTube User Data to Viacom →
Judge Louis L. Stanton ordered Google to fork over ~12TB of data: videos, user IDs, listings of what videos each user viewed when, along with their IP addresses. Staton dismissed privacy concerns as “speculative.” So if you used a login like firstname_lastname - all your freaky viewing habits will soon be out there for an army of summer associates to pour over.
The one, narrow bright...
Marco's Instapaper Mentioned In Today's WSJ →
“A handy way to store Web pages on your iPhone or Touch for reading when you’re offline. While on your computer, an Instapaper button added to the Web browser can snag Web pages for your personal Instapaper database. Then, when your iPhone or iPod Touch is online, it synchronizes with the Web-based Instapaper database. Later, when you’re offline, the pages are still there on the...
Dear Peter,
On behalf of myself, and the other men older than you - thanks!
Sincerely,
-Chris
“It’s funny, people’s attitude toward sex is so loaded — if you play a murderer,...”
– David Duchovny on playing a sex fiend in Californication [NYDN] (via peterwknox) True enough. But playing a murderer rarely involves anything close to actual murdering. Playing somebody fucking another woman, especially on premium cable, often involves something pretty close to actually fucking...
Computer Recycling PSA
fareastmeetswildwest asks “Anyone out there know of a good place in the city for me to recycle my old desktop computer? Thanks!”
NYC’s Department of Sanitation sponsors Fall/Spring cleaning events around the city and published an Electronics Recycling article with info about on-going programs.
For non-locals and over-achievers, check out UNICOR’s national capital...
Marketing
“One of the most frustrating things in the world is when you see immense amounts of money, energy and resource being spent on marketing campaigns. that absolutely do not attract the target audience.“ -jackieheartsb
(My sanctimonious edits, intending no offense to Jackie.)
Shock Value: Taser C2 Personal Protector →
Clipped this article on the changing marketing/design of stun guns in May. The progress of Taser confounds me. I can’t understand a society so accepting of a weapon manufacturer intentionally designing their wares to pass as fashion accessories, or in some twisted cases, more like toys (to avoid looking like guns). Alas, the customers have spoken:
“We finally listened to the customer,”...
“If you can’t get your kids to eat vegetables, why is it my job?”
– Jim Skinner, CEO of McDonald’s, in SmartMoney.
Annual NYC Underwear Run Tonight! →
Location: Central Park at Dead End Road, 7:30 PM
Dress Code: Boxers, boxer briefs, or tighty whities, sports bras or full coverage bras encouraged. No thongs or sheer materials please!
Moms and Strollers: Moms, wear your finest and dress little Jesse in the cutest diaper you can find!
Finishers receive a pair of Nautica boxers free Chipotle eats.
What exactly...
asie:
lissak06: Does “wet behind the ears” mean?
Eww, yeah, what does that mean??
It means young and inexperienced, and has it’s origins in the “wetness” of a newborn.
Community Disease-Prevention Programs Pay Off Big... →
“An annual investment of $10 per person in community-based disease prevention programs could save the U.S. $2.8 billion each year in health care costs in one to two years, according to a study released today by the Trust for America’s Health…”
What If Obama Made 'The Call'...?
What if eventual-President Obama, after some months probing society’s ills away from the obscuring effect of campaigns, climbs up to a podium and tells us with characteristic rhetorical flair and urgency: we are in serious trouble.
A sober review of his various policy points convinced even him: they won’t be enough. The best laid plans, in the face of an ambivalent nation, won’t...
The long way around to nothing.
him: I am so tired
ElleBelle: What did you do last night? cocktail party?
him: Lot of magic-mouth activity; you know how it is. I should have worn knee-pads
ElleBelle: shut up...
him: Got drunk, which made me think it was a good idea to get high, which made me think it was a good idea to steal a car. I am so exhausted I can barely carry the body to the incinerator
ElleBelle: liar you were reading a book or talking to fatmanatee...dish sucka
him: I just read like a loser!
BoutOfContext [in head]: Did you two just say that talking to fatmanatee was as losery as reading a book? Ouch!
“When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be...”
– P.J. O’Rourke’s quip should be kept in mind at a time when, however well-intentioned, law-makers are hastily discussing various emergency market controls, let alone the non-emergency ones.
McCains to Profit on Anheuser, InBev Deal →
“Mrs. McCain’s company owns between $2.5 million to $5 million in Anheuser stock, meaning it will earn $800,000 to $1.6 million premium on the pre-deal stock price…could leave the McCains with hefty capital gains, which would be taxed at a rate of 15% under the Bush tax cuts that John McCain opposed and now supports.” (emphasis added)
McCain’s flip-flop, like his...
“Just bored and looking for entertainment.”
– Andrea delivers an effortless Six Word Memoir.
“One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily...”
– Bruce Lee. Via thedaytheytriedtokillme and mills who added:
…This quote makes it clear he would have found our present cultural drive towards accumulation and reproduction, online and on computers, problematic; I suspect that the incessant coveting, hoarding, arranging, transcribing,...
Jackie Wilson “Reet Petite.”
For my...
AT&T: Apple Glitch Delays IPhone 3G Activations →
“There’s a worldwide issue with iTunes that Apple is working to resolve,” AT&T spokesman Mike Coe said.
Maybe time for one last Fake Steve Jobs post before retirement, Dan?
An Eye for An Eye...
jakehurwitz pondered:
“the death penalty seems to mainly be about justice, you take a life, the government takes yours. But it’s not really an eye for an eye. A murder victim doesn’t usually get to have a last meal of his or her choice, they don’t get to say goodbye to loved ones, they don’t have the opportunity to leave the world with thoughtful final words. I don’t know that there’s any...
Presenteeism
(prez.un.TEE.iz.um) n. The feeling that one must show up for work even if one is too sick, stressed, or distracted to be productive; the feeling that one needs to work extra hours even if one has no extra work to do. [Wordspy via Metro]
“….”
– Jesse Jackson, on Obama. As soon as he realized the microphone was on, he called the campaign to appologize. His son, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. has said, “I thoroughly reject and repudiate his ugly rhetoric.” Of course, CNN has not yet reported what exactly Jackson said—so this is currently the...
Minnesota Politics and the Dark Alley Doctrine
NoraLeah spit hot fire in a skim-daringly-long post on MN state politics. Starting with that fateful morning in ‘98 when a small band of Minnesotans, hopped up on Maple syrup and Lutheranism elected ‘the Body’ Governor, she provides anecdotal analysis up to present-day.
In response, I’d like to offer some random, name-droppy tidbits of limited interest:
I support Al...
Right of Reply and American Infotainment
The US Supreme Court unanimously ruled against ‘right of reply’ statutes for print journalism - mandating publication of subjects’ replies to editorial criticism, usually contemporaneously - in Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo. Then-Chief Justice Burger’s opinion, which left open the door for libel claims and retraction mandates, states:
“The choice of...
iPhanatics Line Up A Week Early For 3G Release →
While grazing in an Atlanta Apple store on Saturday, I overheard one employee tell a customer about “people already lining up in New York,” for the new iPhone. I thought he must have been kidding. A week’s a long time to camp out even by die-hard fan standards. Sure enough:
…on July 4th, no less, about 10 people decided to get in line at the 5th Avenue Apple store for the...
Time: '10 Questions' for Arianna Huffington...
Mike Kovanda, DAVIS, IL: Conservatives complain that the media have a bias to the left. Do you believe that this is true?
Huffington: The problem with the media is not that they're veering to the left or to the right but that they have an addiction to presenting two sides to every issue, even when the truth lies on one side or the other. I'd much rather we make our preferences and points of view transparent than pretend we don't have them.
Kevin Judge, CHAPEL HILL, NC: What is the biggest story that the traditional media have completely ignored?
Huffington: Here's an interesting thing about the traditional media: very often they break great stories, and then they ignore them. It takes the blogosphere to pursue the story, to do all the things that turn a story into a major event.
UK Court Rules: Pringles Aren't Potato Chips →
The judge allowed an appeal by manufacturers Proctor & Gamble against a VAT Tribunal decision that Pringles should be standard-rated at 17.5 per cent as falling within the definition ‘potato crisps, potato sticks, potato puffs and similar products made from the potato, or from potato flour, or from potato starch.’ … Most foodstuffs are zero-rated for VAT, but Revenue and...
“Proponents of biosocial learning models indicate that individuals with HPD have...”
– Histrionic personality disorder - BIOSOCIAL LEARNING CAUSES. (via codery) Jesse posted a set of quotes about HPD last week that, in addition to convincing me I’m afflicted, could easily be rearranged into a guide-book for attaining a certain type of Web 2.0 microfame.
Patricia Handschiegel Wants A Boyfriend...Sort Of
patriciahandschiegel’s post (condensed, below) is very topical. The NY Times ran articles the other day on the subordinate role more husbands are playing in their entrepreneurial wives’ professional lives -Would You Hire Your Husband? - and the roles they aren’t playing - The Wife’s At Work, So…. The Journal Women’s blog weighed in on both articles.
Yesterday,...
“Bloggers had a special role in talking up the [‘Long Tail’] theory,...”
– Lee Gomes, buzz-killer & author of Study Refutes Niche Theory Spawned by Web in today’s Journal. He cites research by Anita Elberse in the latest Harvard Business Review indicating shopping patterns online are vastly similar to offline. There’s some evidence the web increases the...
On Patriotism
squashed talked with a few people about what patriotism meant in America and wrote, at length, about it. I’m excerpting spottily here, please refer back to his post:
Contrast [patriotism of pursuing shared ideals] with what Jonah Goldberg wrote in a USA Today opinion column: “We might need to change this or that policy or law, fix this or that problem, but at the end of the day the...
United States Tax Law v. Swiss Privacy Law →
The Justice Department is petitioning Swiss bank UBS AG - and seeking a court order - for names of US clients suspected of tax evasion. Swiss banks are legend for maintaining clients’ privacy (by statute and tradition), which the Journal understates: “The matter places UBS in a bind between U.S. tax authorities and a Swiss law that prevents banks from disclosing confidential...
