slamboard

I bought my daughter a pair of counterfeit Converse sneakers.

Nobody died. I do feel a bit guilty knowing that there was no name brand corporation ostensibly overseeing the labor conditions and the environmental impact related to the creation of these less than marvelous replicas. I have read about lots of instances where real brand name products are produced without much regard for these concerns.

Counterfeit medicines have killed people. Counterfeit auto parts could conceivably have killed people.

In the wake of all the recalls from China it’s important to note that there will NEVER be a recall on any counterfeit product that you buy, regardless of the risks it may pose.

There are reports that counterfeit goods fund terrorism.

I am presently living in a country that has a flourishing counterfeit market. I am going to be very diligent about a few things that might pose a risk to my family, such as toothpaste and makeup. I am not going to lie to you and say that I will never again buy a fake pair of shoes.

A 2006 study said that 2% of the American workforce telecommutes full time while 9% do it at least part time. It went on to say that 25% of jobs could potentially be carried out at home and that the savings related to less commuting would be a whooping $3.9 BILLION. Since fuel prices have skyrocketed, it is safe to assume that the potential savings are much higher today.

George Bush asserted that reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil was an essential part of it’s plan for a more peaceful world. I think his angle was to press for more drilling in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico so his buddies could get richer. I don’t pretend to be an expert on US energy or environmental policies I just think he’s a weasel.

Governments could easily put legislation in place that would incentivize companies and employees to embrace telecommuting. They could probably glean the best strategies from companies like IBM.

If you are reading this post, you are a member of a very small group. I was somewhat surprised to see how quickly traffic dropped as soon as I stopped making posts that were relevant to my core readership.

My core readership for the last year has been been people with an interest in the Kimkins scam. I published Part I well over a year ago. I think I would be doing a service to those people by stating that it is very unlikely that I will have anything else to say on the subject.

I am fascinated by people who decide to become full time bloggers. Jimmy Moore is one example. He has a compelling personal story and an engaging personality, but I’m sure that he would tell anyone who asks that his blogging is HARD work. I like to think that I am smart enough and determined enough to become a professional blogger, but I am far too risk averse.

The image above has been transformed for the purposes of satire (I put the text version of air quotes in all by myself).

Scientology is paying for advertisement on YouTube. YouTube is owned by Google. Google has been criticized in the past for its cooperation with China. Tom Cruise pumped money into China while making Mission Impossible III. Supposedly scientology is committed to making human rights a reality around the World. That must be why their most famous member injected $10 million into a totalitarian country that is the most famous human rights abuser.

Just last week I sat in the car waiting for a ferry while Catherine sat beside me working on her laptop with a newly purchased 3G connection. It’s pretty cool. Since we work at home, taking a laptop on a trip is a carefully considered decision. If there are no anticipated waits, if there is no pressing business, then it could be like carrying around an 8 1/2 pound, three figure brick.

iPhone could go 3G soon and Nokia may beat them to the punch.

Source for this post: Washington Post

Seth Godin has at least one book that is basically a hardcover printed copy of dozens of blog posts. I may or may not have one of these. You see, I thought it would be a great idea to have it with me while I was in a long lineup at the bank. I accidentally left it there. While the information in the book was just like a blog, the hardcopy medium enabled me to leave it somewhere. Two things happened, this information is no longer accessible to me AND the information is sitting in the bank being readily accessible to its employees and customers. This is not how blogs work.

I have not expressed my opinion about auto racing very often. This very stupid story about the Greenest-ever International race car has pushed me over the edge. I think automotive racing should be made illegal. It is a pointless waste of fossil fuels. Trying to green-wash auto racing is just beyond the pale.

I think that fans would continue to watch the racing if they switched to pedal cars. They might have to add some drama in much the same way as professional wrestling.

I have two personality traits that are often at odds with each other. I am very curious. I am also very frugal. This means, for instance, that while I may have been dying to know how fast various objects were moving around in my life experience, I haven’t been spending hundreds of dollars on radar guns in order to find out how fast these things were moving.

I hadn’t noticed until now that they are marketing affordable radar guns. They are also easy to use and quite versatile. RadarGunSales.com has US made guns and ships them free in the US. On top of that, they have warranties. If you are doing unusual experiments with your radar gun, I would suggest you read the warranty carefully first.

Typical stuff that people like to clock include balls, pucks, boats, bikes and cars. I can imagine that some people like to find out how fast their dog can go. This is easy to find out if your dog chases cars because cars generally have a meter that measures speed (they are not very accurate).

It might be fun to gear up a radar gun to an unpopular politician and then throw pies at his face. Pies are not very aerodynamic, so I don’t think the numbers will be very impressive.

Aviary is an incredible web based suite of tools for creative people. I have to confess that I don’t even have a basic understanding of Photoshop, but I jumped on the beta bandwagon for this shiny new thing anyway.

One very interesting thing that I saw on my as yet unedited Aviary profile is that there is a default setting that states that EVERYONE can edit my uploaded images. That could get interesting.

I just got my beta invite and I am going to try not to let this really cool new thing become a major time suck for me.

I identified a deterioration in my eyesight about a year ago and I have been wearing glasses to read and while using the computer. I was told that it would get worse. So far, my prescription is holding up. My biggest annoyance is that I often forget my glasses in the car.

Some people are much worse off than me, to the point where glasses can’t do the job alone. There are several types of software available that serve to magnify computer displays for the visually impaired. A recent development involves putting this software on a USB drive so users can take the software with them to public computers. Even if you are just using this for installing on multiple computers among family and friends, the convenience of not having to key in license codes and serial numbers will please a lot of people.

When we moved a few years ago, we found ourselves without internet with no end in sight for weeks. My wife had to retrieve files related to her work and upload finished work. We had a USB drive with a Gig or two and we found out that there is a wide variation with regard to access to USB ports at internet cafes. God bless the people who could and would accommodate us. I don’t think Accessibility Software on a USB Drive is going to be the answer for people who are traveling.