Monthly Archives: February 2012


What could be more fun than getting paid to go to a toy fair 1

My friend +Alex Nunez got his first piece in the NY Times today with a story on car related toys.

I wonder how my wife would feel about that bed?

Embedded Link

Virtual and Analog Car Culture at the International Toy Fair
Even in an age of touch screens and avatars, toy manufacturers still expect kids to covet a Hot Wheels car or a Lego set.

Google+: Reshared 1 times
Google+: View post on Google+

Post imported by Google+Blog. Created By Daniel Treadwell.


One of my biggest problems with supposedly pious politicians like Rick Santorum,…

One of my biggest problems with supposedly pious politicians like Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and so many others, not to mention the religious leaders who support them is how they like to selectively pick and choose the teachings they will support.

What makes this worse is that all of these people so often stand and preach about how people can't just pick their beliefs a la carte but take all of the teachings or nothing at all.

Santorum and Gingrich are particularly egregious examples of this. University of Michigan history professor Juan Cole lists his top ten examples of catholic doctrine that Santorum ignores, all of which apply to Gingrich. On top of this Gingrich who converted to catholicism is also a serial adulterer and two-time divorcee.

#politics #indecision2012 #hypocrisy

Embedded Link

Top Ten Catholic Teachings Santorum Rejects while Obsessing about Birth Control
Juan | Uncategorized

Google+: Reshared 3 times
Google+: View post on Google+

Post imported by Google+Blog. Created By Daniel Treadwell.


It's long past time for not only judges but lawyers and politicians to be educated…

It's long past time for not only judges but lawyers and politicians to be educated on the modern world of communications and intellectual property. There is far too much muddle-headed thinking and a complete lack of proportion and common sense.

If a judge can't look at a case like Paul Chambers with some reasonable context and immediately dismiss it, they should instantly removed from the bench. Similarly, a prosecutor that would even bring such a case should be fired.

#modernworld #law

Reshared post from +Jeff Jarvis

Embedded Link

Where are the judges fit for the internet age?
Nick Cohen: Twitter and Facebook are having a transformational effect on the nature of secrecy and access

Google+: View post on Google+

Post imported by Google+Blog. Created By Daniel Treadwell.


Why is it those who are often the most vocal about shrinking the size of government… 1

Why is it those who are often the most vocal about shrinking the size of government and reducing taxes are also often the biggest beneficiaries of government largesse?

The human capacity for "Do as I say, not as I do" is quite remarkable. Take the case of Ki Gulbranson, a Minnesota shopowner that makes $39,000 a year. According to a story in the New York Times today, he says he doesn't need any government help and he's a staunch supporter of the Tea Party movement but he seems to ignore everything he gets from American taxpayers.

Yet this year, as in each of the past three years, Mr. Gulbranson, 57, is counting on a payment of several thousand dollars from the federal government, a subsidy for working families called the earned-income tax credit. He has signed up his three school-age children to eat free breakfast and lunch at federal expense. And Medicare paid for his mother, 88, to have hip surgery twice.

Similarly senior citizens that benefit hugely from social security and medicare might want to consider the abject poverty that their elder forebears lived before complaining that taxes and entitlements are too high.

The states Alaska, Alabama, Mississippi and more that are most likely to hate the federal government also tend to be same ones that receive more in federal spending for roads, bridges, medicaid, education and more than they pay in taxes. They seem to ignore the fact that if the federal government collected as little in taxes and provided as little spending as they do at the state level, poverty levels would be far worse than they already are.

I certainly agree that there is a lot of waste in government and much of it goes to the military and subsidies to huge businesses like the oil, agriculture and finance industries. We need a restructuring of the payroll tax system to shift the burden from lower income Americans up the wealth scale. But if we simply slash the way Tea party supporters want, they are actually the ones most likely to be hurt by it.

#taxes #teaparty

Embedded Link

Even Critics of Safety Net Increasingly Depend on It
The government safety net was created to keep Americans from abject poverty, but the poorest households no longer receive a majority of government benefits.

Google+: View post on Google+

Post imported by Google+Blog. Created By Daniel Treadwell.


About a dozen years ago I first noticed a turkey vulture sitting on the side of the… 1

About a dozen years ago I first noticed a turkey vulture sitting on the side of the road having a snack as I was on my way home from work. At first I didn't realize what this huge bird was but I pulled over and took a closer look. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me that day.

Since that time I've come to realize that these magnificent scavengers are remarkably common around here and I see flocks of them soaring overhead all the time.

In July 2007, my son and I were heading down to the Transportation Research Center track near Columbus Ohio to witness the first tests of the Ford Fusion 999 http://green.autoblog.com/2007/07/17/video-fords-hydrogen-fusion-999-hits-the-track-for-the-first-t/ when we spotted a flock of vultures gathering for lunch.

Thankfully this time I had a camera and grabbed some photos.

#photos #vultures

In album Vultures in mid-Ohio (23 photos)

Google+: Reshared 1 times
Google+: View post on Google+

Post imported by Google+Blog. Created By Daniel Treadwell.


For all of Verizon's flaws I've never 14 years paid an upgrade fee 3

If my contract is up and they want to keep me as a customer, they damn well better give me a discounted phone in exchange for an extension. If Verizon follows AT&T's lead I'll be looking to move elsewhere.

#at&t #wireless #badfees

Reshared post from +Jeff Jarvis

AT&T doublespeak as it doubles its "upgrade" fee, arguing that as phones get more sophisticated, it's harder to upgrade. How the fuck do they figure that? It's harder to charge us more for a more expensive phone? How fucking stupid do they think we are? Stupid enough to use them.
(signed) Stupid AT&T customer

Embedded Link

AT&T Upgrade Fee To Double On February 12
Got your eye on an iPhone 4S? What about a Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket?

Google+: Reshared 1 times
Google+: View post on Google+

Post imported by Google+Blog. Created By Daniel Treadwell.


A number of years ago, I wrote a blog post about my then 11 year old son encountering… 1

A number of years ago, I wrote a blog post about my then 11 year old son encountering a rotary dial phone for the first time.
https://sam.abuelsamid.com/2007/04/01/feeling-out-of-time-and-place/

Needless to say, the rotary dial phone was not an intuitive human-machine-interface and things did not go well. Too bad he didn't get to watch this training film first. Interesting to see how little the format of the the phone book has changed since 1927.

#phone #technology #rotarydialphone

Google+: View post on Google+

Post imported by Google+Blog. Created By Daniel Treadwell.


When Maggie Gallagher said on +Up with Chris Hayes this morning that she was not…

When Maggie Gallagher said on +Up with Chris Hayes this morning that she was not opposed to "marriage equality" just to "same-sex marriage" that was a distinction without a difference.

How can you have marriage equality if any two individuals that want to be together can't get married. Does she maybe favor polygamy as long as its one many and any number of women?

I applaud states like New York, California, Iowa, Massachusetts and others that have decided that it is just plain wrong to say that two men or two women can't be legally married.

#samesexmarriage

Embedded Link

Saturday's Guests & Suggested Reading (Feb. 11)
Updated Friday Feb 10 @ 3:45PM.
Here are a few pieces to help you get familiar with our Saturday topics, plus a list of guests scheduled to join Chris on "Up" starting Saturday at 7AM EST on MSNBC:
– …

Google+: View post on Google+

Post imported by Google+Blog. Created By Daniel Treadwell.


Paulo Coehlo is living proof that we don't need more anti-piracy laws

He made a very healthy living after "pirating" his own book by posting it on thepiratebay.org. Once readers had the opportunity to experience his writing for free, word spread and people actually started buying his books and made them bestsellers.

#acta #sopa #pipa

Reshared post from +Paulo Coelho

Google+: Reshared 2 times
Google+: View post on Google+

Post imported by Google+Blog. Created By Daniel Treadwell.


I really expect better from David Kiley, but I guess in the current environment of…

I really expect better from David Kiley, but I guess in the current environment of AOL/Huffpo I should know better.

I'm not going to support what they have done today with a link, but I fail to see the point of running a post with an embedded video from Fox News featuring a woman with an absurdly large surgically enhanced chest. The woman who ran her car into a tree while not wearing a seatbelt claims to have been saved by her silicone.

To top it off, Kiley has posted the story over on that other social network under the status update "We are ashamed, Yes"

Sorry Dave but if you are so ashamed, you should not have run the story in the first place.

Google+: View post on Google+

Post imported by Google+Blog. Created By Daniel Treadwell.