Wednesday, January 15, 2003|
Apple a Little in the Red. The Mac maker reports a small loss for its latest quarter. But CEO Steve Jobs says a promising new lineup of products should boost results for 2003. I've seen so many comments in user forums about what Apple is doing wrong. They seem to forget that 8 million for a company Apple's size is basically breaking even. And given the state of the economy, especially the tech industry, breaking even is pretty damned good. [Wired News] 11:44:52 PM  comment []
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This afternoon while walking back from lunch, some soccer mom in her minivan honked at me for crossing the street. No kidding. She was making a right turn onto the onramp, and I had a pedestrian "walk light" to cross the street. Drivers are legally required to stop for pedestrians crossing at streetcorners. But she cut be off and then proceeded to honk at me and make obscene gestures. Honking at someone is very displacing when you're outside their car, and only a few feet away. Why do people get angry at me for crossing the street when I have the legal right of way? Perhaps I'm a bit pushy in crossing the street, if only because otherwise, a line of cars will continue cutting me off until the light turns red again, meaning I don't get to cross. I walk to work not because I'm "beneath" them and don't own a car, but because I feel it's better to walk than to waste fuel, pollute the environment, and strengthen our economic ties to terrorists. And 90% of the really rude and careless drivers who cut me off are SUV drivers. I've thought of various methods of payback, if not to spread the word then just for my own satisfaction. I have fantasies of carrying a baseball bat with me and breaking someone's windows, but that could escalate to an unfortunate point so I would never do it. I've considered walking to work armed with a copy of the driver's handbook (in case people wonder what I'm doing) and a couple of tomatoes. But then I thought about it and... I think the best thing to bring is my digital camera. I'll start recording drivers engaging in careless and illegal activity such as running red lights and create a Web gallery. If I'm lucky I can get Slashdotted and get some publicity.
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New ACLU report: "Growth of an American Surveillance Society". In a discussion yesterday someone brought up the fact that if you throw a frog in boiling water, they will jump right out, but if you throw it in cold water and gradually heat it, the frog will stay in the pot and boil to death. This seems an excellent analogy for Total Information Awareness. If the American government repealed the fourth amendment, the American public would go ballistic. So instead they're whittling away at it, undermining it piece by piece until it's totally gone. 11:37:22 AM comment []
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CNN: Trash talk encouraged at Iowa school. When I was living in Nebraska as a kid, they installed talking trash cans at the nearby Runza. I don't think anybody ever left their wrappers at their tables. (I miss Runza. It was the best fast food I've ever tasted. Too bad their chain is mostly Nebraska-based.) 11:21:03 AM comment []
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Last update: 9/3/03; 8:00:58 PM .
