I know as a public company they have a fiduciary responsibility to maximize profits, but most of these organizations are nothing but mouthpieces for the billionaire class like the Koch brothers and do nothing to contribute in any positive way to the political discourse.

If this is just a way for Google to ensure they don't have to pay more in taxes, it's the wrong thing to be doing. Stop it now Google!?

Reshared post from +Mike Elgan

Web site keeps track of Black Friday deaths and injuries!

Black Friday shopping can be hazardous to your health. One web site is keeping score. 

http://blackfridaydeathcount.com/?

Shockingly given the huge array of stuff they stock, the building looks surprisingly small from the outside but they have provided me with parts for everything from my lawnmower to my furnace to my clothes dryer to the dishwasher. ?

I did however make one brief excursion today to visit the folks RepairClinic.com for a pressure switch for the dishwasher. Unfortunately this crapped out yesterday during one of the few days a year that they are closed. I turned on the dishwasher to do a load before Jules started on Thanksgiving dinner only find that the drain pump was running but it never filled with water. 

After some googling I traced the problem to either the float switch or pressure switch. After opening up the side of the dishwasher and checking the electrical switches I found them fine and it was actually a float within the switch that was contaminated and stuck. One $32 part and about 20 minutes of labor later, the dishwasher was running through  a cycle.

Had I not been the type of person that prefers to fix things myself whenever possible, this would easily have been a $200-250 service call. 

Now if only this had occurred 24 hours later or sooner, Max and I could have avoided half a dozen sinkloads full of handwashing yesterday. ?

I've been a user of Swiftkey since it was in its initial beta phase and gladly paid for it. I also use Lastpass to manage passwords across all of my devices including my phone. Unfortunately, using LP on the phone can be a bit of a kludgy process unless you set it as your default keyboard.

However, the keyboard built into the LP app blows chunks. I would love it if Swiftkey and LP found a way to collaborate, exchanging APIs so that I could use LP from within Swiftkey. Come on guys, bring your great features together.?

The deals are rarely worth the nonsensical behavior you have to put up with and the fact that stores are now opening on Thursday trying to entice people to buy crap at cut-rate prices is ridiculous. The only way this will stop is if we all band together and don't support this behavior by staying home. 

Take a break from spending money this Thanksgiving!?