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Archive for the 'Social Commentary' Category

Volunteer Filters

Sunday, March 18th, 2007

Recently I’ve started to not volunteer for things directly. Instead, when I tell someone that I have whatever special skill they are looking for that they should email me or call me the next day and “remind me,” otherwise I’ll forget or think they have it covered. Normally I’m a pretty self-starting guy. If I [...]

Where’s My Wireless Laptop (and My Flying Car)?

Sunday, January 14th, 2007

So much for “wireless.” This is the cluster of cables stuck to the side of my iBook. Note that one of them has another splitter on it and that the power cable is on the other side. Since I’m out of USB ports, I’m hot swapping between devices. I’m too cheap to buy a hub. [...]

No Last-minute On-line Shopping This Holiday

Friday, December 8th, 2006

Normally, on-line shopping is my last-bastion of hope for shopping during the holidays. Federal Express is my friend. This year, however, I’m seeing signs of retail supply chain stretchmarks, even though there are more than two shopping weeks left. My advice is that if you have any on-line shopping to do, do it right away and here’s why:

Paying with Pennies Works! – Causes Change

Wednesday, September 27th, 2006

The Tax Commissioner’s office has finally linked up the insurance and emissions databases and allowed us to do the paperwork on-line. They did charge me a $4.60 fee, but usually there is a $1.00 mail-in fee anyway. The $3.60 is about what it would cost me to send it certified mail, so, since I’m running late this year it seemed to make sense.

Waiting to Develop my Digital Photos

Thursday, July 6th, 2006

In the midst of moving, I have misplaced the USB drive that reads the memory sticks from my camera. This means that I can’t really look at the Space Shuttle photos I took until I get a new one, find it, or borrow another one this weekend. It’s kind of retro to think I now [...]

“An Inconvenient Truth” Review

Monday, June 26th, 2006

A few friends and I saw the Al Gore An Inconvenient Truth film last night.

I think they did a good job explaining what global warming is and how we can use ice core samples to judge temperature and CO2 levels back thousands of years. While the film focuses on “consequences” of our inaction, Gore does remind us that there is plenty of time to act and that we have reversed our environmental damage before – the elimination of chlorofluorocarbons, for example.

The visuals do a good job keeping the audience’s attention, and I was excited to see them using an Apple computer. At the same time, there were several statistical flaws.

Whether you believe in global warming or not, I think it is easy to see that our society’s pollution is not a good thing. If you don’t understand what us environmentalists are talking about, seeing this film will help you understand our perspective. I recommend it, but you might want to wait for it to come out on DVD.

First Week In My First House

Monday, June 19th, 2006

So, I picked up the keys to my house a week ago. This being my first house, the process continues to be a little different. Here are the main points: Unlike an apartment, they don’t repaint between tenants. They don’t clean either. Oh, and furniture tends to cover damage to the walls and carpet. So [...]

Thoughts On Buying My First Home

Saturday, June 10th, 2006

I just purchased my first home.

Chase Sends Multiple, Slightly Different Credit Card Offers

Sunday, March 26th, 2006

I’ve been getting a ton of credit card offers lately. It’s now to the point that I don’t even bother to send all the crap back in the business reply envelope – there’s just too many! My shredder is giving up the ghost and I’m now burning them because it is faster. I’ve received offers [...]

Mystery Gas Prices

Thursday, September 22nd, 2005

I saw a gas station today that has stopped publishing their gas prices. Their sign is now blank. They got tired of changng it all the time. They are trying to compete based on location and shorter lines. It’s an interesting strategy, but they are a no-name operation and I don’t think any competitors will notice and follow through. Anyway, save 5 cents a gallon and use the BP across the street.

                  

 
     
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