Comment - This article says that huge light shows are especially popular in the South, where there's not much snow to make people feel like it's the Christmas season.

I'll have to admit, I used to really enjoy the big Domino Farms display in Ann Arbor (since cancelled because of the traffic problems it caused.) But think of the electricity pouring into the sky, and the thousands of dollars that could be going to poor people instead of the utility company.

Even the homemade neighborhood Christmas light displays make it impossible to do any sky gazing during December, especially when there is snow for the light to bounce off of.

News - James Cameron TV show about the Bismarck is not that big of a deal: http://slate.msn.com/?id 75372

Comment - This article says that Cameron claims the Bismarck was "the Death Star" of its time. That's nonsense. The article rightly points out that by WWII, battleships were obsolete and, if unsupported by air cover, very vulnerable to dive bombers and torpedo bombers.

What follows is copy that should have been posted Friday, but operator error (me) goofed it up:

News - Porsche owners mad about new Porsche SUV -- http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/13/automobiles/13PORS.html?8hpib

Comment - Apparently they are incensed by the idea that soccer moms might loads their kids and groceries into a Porsche.

This dispute reminds me of an advertising class at MSU, where the prof taught us that advertising and branding can add to the perceived value of a product. In the case of Porsche, their image is "the ultimate sports car." Will selling an SUV reduce the value of their image?

When we were in Palo Alto and Carmel-by-the-Sea, Porsches were as thick as fleas.

News - Google launches a new Web site to help you find products on sale -- http://www.froogle.google.com/

Comment - Froogle focuses specifically on products for sale, displaying pictures of the items and their prices at various merchants. It lets users narrow a search by the category of product and the price. "Froogle" -- as in "frugal". That's pretty clever.

I wonder why they didn't kick this off earlier in the Christmas buying season?

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11:30:52 AM