Things seem to be going well for Joel and Fog Creek Software. They just moved into new office space, and had the place designed for programmers. Each coder gets their own window office with dual-screen LCD, UPS-powered outlets, and a network switch. The hang-out area reminds me of a dot-com startup … a kitchen, flat-screen HDTV, pool table, and game console. He has pictures with a write-up here.
The RIAA is really ticking me off with their “sue everyone, sue customers” campaign. I think the news that they sued a 12-year old girl for downloading music was the last straw for me. Everything from the price fixing, blaming finances on downloaders, lobbying for copyright law changes, underpaying artists, invading privacy, and bringing down file sharing networks has led to my final decision: I’m never buying another CD released by a member of RIAA again. Thanks to RIAA Radar, it’s easy to identify RIAA-safe music. Between the independent artists at Amazon, mp3.com, and the whole library at CDBaby.com, I should have no problem getting my electronic music fix.
I really like this artist Antinomie from France. Why do Europeans do techno so well? It makes so much more sense to support artists directly.
The infoporn section of Wired 11.10 shows statistics that CD prices have climbed 16 percent since 1997, after being adjusted for inflation. Listeners are paying more and purchasing less — sales sank 7 percent. Maybe if they made CDs cheaper, and they had a good online model for downloads, they could make some money.
I like this article from USAToday about the music industry not knowing how to handle file sharing. The history of disruptive technology is interesting. Electricity and the kerosene business, cars and buggies, movies and VCRs. Somehow, the industry involved has always adapted to make money a new way.
Rebates are a scam. Everything at Best Buy has a rebate. They put the price in bold big numbers that includes your rebate, with the price you pay at the register in tiny print. I don’t know why I keep sending these things in. They never send me a check.
I bought a Maxtor hard drive with a $50 rebate. I followed the directions precisely, sending in my original UPC by cutting it off the box. Today, they send me a postcard telling me that I won’t get my rebate because I dd not include the original UPC. No problem, they say, just send in the original and they’ll complete the rebate. Ha! How convenient that they “lost” the original. I should be impressed that they even replied instead of counting on me to forget after 3 months.
I needed the drive immediately, so I went to the store, but next time I’ll use the money I save online to FedEx what I need. I like to buy “white box” stuff from mwave. Mwave, I’m sorry I betrayed you!
Slate has an article called the “Great Rebate Scam,” but apparently its author has had some better luck than me.
I’m surprised the Star Wars kid hasn’t been on CNN by now. 
Or maybe I just missed it. If you haven’t heard of this, read an introduction to the story here. Basically, some 15-year-old kid made a private movie of himself pretending to wield a light sabre, and it got posted to the web and downloaded by millions. The movie has been edited to add special effects, music, and graphics.
Imagine the embarrassment for this kid. People have started funds to send him money, and there’s even a petition to get him a cameo in Episode III. Geez, in my days, if you did something stupid in high school, you only had the student body to contend with. Nowadays, your distress can be made known throughout the world in Internet time.
To reboot it, I just shake the screen. Thanks to Mike Kingzett (in background) for the “high tech” toy and to Dean Stautberg for snapping a pic with his Sony Clié handheld.
Old electronics, so-called “e-waste”, is increasingly becoming a problem. Lead, cadmium, mercury and other hazardous materials in electronic devices could leak from landfills into groundwater and endanger public health and the environment. 
A recent study found 2 to 3 pounds of lead on average in 18-inch TV sets and computer monitors. Some more scary statistics can be found here. Wired reports on some other aspects of the e-waste problem, like exposing prison workers to toxins when forcing them to recycle computers and shipping the junk to China because it’s ten times cheaper than recycling.
So, I had a bunch of broken electronics, and I didn’t want to send it to the landfill. Many of the manufacturers will recycle for you, but they charge a fee for shipping and handling each item. I found the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio website where they announce recycling drives around the city. In addition to household hazardous waste recycling events, they occassional do e-waste events. They made it really easy and it’s free. I just put my electronics in the trunk of my car and drove through a designated parking lot. They picked up my stuff and loaded it in a tractor trailer to transport it for proper recycling and disposal. Which probably means they shipped it to China — but I feel better thinking I tried to do the right thing (j/k). 
I was told by someone the other day that I shouldn’t use my cell phone at the gas pump because it could ignite gas fumes. They retold an e-mail they had received describing such an incident. This one comes close to believable, but it smells too much like an urban legend.
Apparently, a number of people believe this to be true. Shell Oil actually released a warning about cell phones, really spurring the issue. There’s even a U.K. law that says ALL battery-operated devices must have a warning label about use in explosive atmospheres. Rather than rewrite manuals for each country, these devices arrive in the U.S. with the same warning labels. Wired has an article that covers all the controversy and clears things up. Let me summarize for you: don’t worry about it.
If you want to worry about explosions, consider the documented occurrences of pump fires that were caused by static electricity. People let the pump run, get in their car, rub their butts on the seat, return to the pump, pull the nozzle, and the static shock ignites the fumes.
Now, there are NO documented reports of cell phones causing gas explosions. My cell phone has, um, maybe 12 volts. Household static electricity commonly has 10,000 volts. A spark occurs when there is an imbalance in charge between two surfaces. Where is this going to happen in my phone? Maybe the switch? So just to be safe, I’ll make sure my cell phone is already on before I fill up.
This article [abc.net.au] “Marriage may tame genius” just confirmed my fears. I am getting more stupid by the day.
I remember writing assembly code in 7th grade for the 6502 processor. I could smooth scroll text and play tricks with the display raster. Today, coding is infrequent and conducted in high level languages. My former 13-year-old self would laugh at my pitiful skillz.
Maybe the article should be renamed “Children may tame genius.” Raising kids takes way more time than just being married.
Joking aside, perhaps the author has cause and effect confused. Maybe people decide to settle down, start a family, and make that their priority. It’s not that marriage squelches genius, just that geniuses eventually figure out what’s important in life.
Ever play the Passing Game on the highway? I had several people playing this game during my drive to Akron for Independence Day. Here’s how you play. Find a long stretch of main highway, and set your cruise control. The best highways to use have curves and hills. Now wait for someone to pass you and begin playing. They will beat your speed by 10 mph and travel several cars past you. Then, they will slow down to 10 mph under your speed so you can pass them. Now repeat it again! Inclines in the highway add interest to the game. You will travel up the hill, maintaining precise speed, while the other players fall far behind. Once you pass the peak, the other players will zip past you. The worst players will cut in front immediately, sending a plume of exhaust through your ventillation system. Phew!
I wonder what thoughts go through these people’s heads? Do they realize they keep passing me? Do they think I am the one speeding up and slowing down? Do they think there are a lot of similar cars on the road? Do different songs on the radio make them drive faster or slower? Am I giving them too much credit about having thoughts?