RANT: Another ripoff of the taxpayer

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

http://www.redstate.com/laborunionreport/2010/10/19/armageddon-what-democrats-are-hiding-why-they-are-really-scared/

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One example of a company that would likely go out of business is YRC trucking, which employs approximately 35,000 Teamsters. While the freight currently carried by YRC would likely be picked up by other carriers (many of which are non-union), the loss of members (and their dues) would be devastating for the Teamsters and the Democrats.

Right now, before November 2nd, Democrats don’t want voters to know that their union benefactors may further cause the economy to fall further or more companies to close and jobs to be lost. As a result, Democrats are not talking about it on the campaign trail. Instead they’re hoping they can work out a scheme during a lame duck session, sticking taxpayers with another $165 billion union bailout.

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Seems like every time you turn over a “financial rock”, there’s poop under it. That the politicians and bureaucrats have left for the taxpayer to clean up after. Argh!

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Posted by reinkefj

IPAD: Seems like the primary design principle is to sell the User “stuff”

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

https://www.defectivebydesign.org/macappstore

Fool me once, shame on you… fool me twice, shame on me.
Posted On: Fri, 2010-10-22 13:39 by mattl

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Well, it’s official. Apple has now announced it’s bringing the App Store concept to the Mac and it looks like they’ll be restricting apps with FairPlay DRM too for good measure. When we first began talking about the problems with the App Store on the iPhone and iPod Touch, people wanted us to drop it and stop talking about the DRM tricks being pulled by Apple on the grounds that the iPhone wasn’t a general purpose computer (it is, and the iPad is too) but rather an appliance.

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It really doesn’t do too much out of the box.

It does keep the User captive in the box. I’d call it more of an “appliance” than a computing platform. And, while the User Interface is intuitive, what happens when the User doesn’t “intuit” so well. Where’s the F1 Help button?

My first road block is how to delete an application.

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Posted by reinkefj

FUN: seasonally appropriate?

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

http://www.thegreenhead.com/2010/10/worlds-largest-gummy-worm.php

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All you need to know about the cool new World’s Largest Gummy Worm is that this completely disturbing edible ribbed invertebrate measures in at a massive 26″ long with a 5″ girth, weighs 3 pounds, has 4000 calories, is equivalent to approximately 128 regular gummy worms or 840 regular gummy bears, serves up to 34 people and even has a creepy smiley face.

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This disgusting thing just seemed seasonally appropriate?

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Posted by reinkefj

TECHNOLOGY: eBooks are the “books” of the future

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ja-konrath/ebooks-and-self-publishingb764516.html

eBooks And The Ease Of Self-Publishing J.A. Konrath Author of Jack Daniels thriller series Posted: October 16, 2010 10:29 AM

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Putting this project together was an exercise in speed and simplicity. We did the majority of the writing and the marketing within an eight week timeframe, while we were each working on other projects. By releasing it ourselves, we were able to maintain full control over the entire process, set our own price, eliminate DRM (which readers hate) and earn four times the royalty rate we would have through a publisher. By going ebook-only, we could add a bunch of fun supplements for no extra cost, while also releasing it super-fast.

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As I learned from “CHURCH 10●19●62” http://www.itstartedinchurch.com, it’s easy and cheap to publish a book.

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Posted by reinkefj

POLITICAL: Delusions and Depression

Monday, October 25, 2010

http://www.lewrockwell.com/quinn/quinn41.1.html

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The delusions continue. Unless American union workers are willing to work for $7 per hour with no benefits, the manufacturing jobs are not coming back from China. The corporate oligarchs and their bought off cronies in Congress sold the country down the river over the last 40 years. Mega-Corporation profits are at record levels as goods are produced by slave labor in the Far East at 80% lower costs than they could be produced in the U.S. With 86% of the U.S. workforce in the service industry, introducing tariffs on imported goods and devaluing the dollar will further put the squeeze on the American middle class who already have been systematically screwed by the ruling elite over the last 40 years. Our society took 40 years to dig this hole. It is now so deep, there is no way out. But, look at the bright side. At least we don’t have to watch bread lines stretching down the block when we are watching our 52-inch HDTV, holed up in our 5,000 sq ft McMansions, ignoring the monthly mortgage payment bill, and waiting for our unemployment funds to be direct deposited into our bank accounts. I get all teary thinking about it. This is the iDepression 2.0.

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The delusions are going to lead to a very hard landing!

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Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: Calorie count finding

Monday, October 25, 2010

http://web.docuticker.com/go/docubase/61231

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Compared with meals and snacks prepared at home, food prepared away from home increases caloric intake of children, especially older children. Each food-away-from-home meal adds 108 more calories to daily total intake among children ages 13-18 than a snack or meal from home; all food from school is estimated to add 145 more calories.

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I guess the implication is that “do it at home” will make you skinny?

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Posted by reinkefj

POLITICAL: Don’t vote; is just encourages them?

Sunday, October 24, 2010

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/shaffer1.html

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Is there a case to be made for voting? Indeed there is, if one believes that social order is a quality that can be instilled, by violence and other coercive means, by political authorities. I do not accept this proposition. To the contrary, I believe that social order is the product of unseen, spontaneous influences of which most of us are not consciously aware. The study of economics helped me to understand how we respond, marginally, to fluctuations that are continuously generated by one another’s self-seeking pursuits. I also came to understand that politics – like a rock thrown through a spider’s web – disrupts these informal processes as well as the existing patterns of interconnectedness upon which any social order depends.

*** end quote ***

Don’t vote; is just encourages them?

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Posted by reinkefj

IPAD: Island Dictatorship or Bridge Appliance

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder? IPAD apps have to come from Apple. Without the cloud, it’s really limited. A grand for the pad, capital cost. 250$/year for the 3G, with a bandwidth cap. So far it’s a very small expensive island. We’ll see if it can bridge anywhere.

It has to have a huge value equation if it’s just an island; a bridge can open new worlds.

Jury’s still out imho.

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Posted by reinkefj

NEWJERSEY: Base salary of $73,469 earned $321,985. Where do I apply?

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Speechless!

http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/traffic/traffic_news/audit-excessive-perks-for-nj-turnpike-employees-20101019-apx

Audit: NJ Turnpike Wasted Millions On Perks
Updated: Wednesday, 20 Oct 2010, 8:55 AM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 19 Oct 2010, 10:27 PM EDT
BY LUKE FUNK

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MYFOXNY.COM – Auditors say the New Jersey Turnpike Authority wasted $43 million on unneeded perks and bonuses. In one case, an employee with a base salary of $73,469 earned $321,985 when all payouts and bonuses were included.

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No one should ever have a salary greater than the President or the Governor.

In this case, it’s fraud. If I was the executive or the auditor, I’d want to see time sheets. Did this person ever get sick? It’s at best abuse. Worst, fraud!

Shameful!

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Posted by reinkefj

IPAD: Opening a new research effort

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Ok, maybe I am a “fanboy”. Of new technology. Maybe it’s supplanted my love of new cars. Just maybe.

What attracted me to the IPAD, and made me spend a lot of money imho, was the idea that it is a game changer for children. I’ve seen the stories of younger and younger human beings making use of it. Even those with different abilities seem to be able to deal with it. If they can, why not a fat old white guy injineer?

If it’s that good, then maybe this is more important than a cell phone for children?

At the very least, instead of children hauling a Herculean load of books, they carry an IPAD.

I was interested in the fellow who had the whole Talmud on an IPAD with translations and expectation. You ever seen all the books of the Talmud?

And, how does this change the ability to deliver dikw (i.e., data, information, knowledge, wisdom)?

And, is it a closed infrastructure? Or is it a computing appliance?

And, is it a good Christmas – Birthday – Every Occasion For The Rest Of Your Life type gift?

And, does it need the 3G option?

FIrst blush, after a day out of the box, it’s a game changer. It’s virtually brain dead without the cloud. (Or am I?)

There are a lot of design flaws or tradeoffs I don’t care for.

But, we’ll see if it grows on me.

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Posted by reinkefj

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