I just noticed a ton of Mac related news. Here are the ones that caught my eye:
Things are shaping up for Mac world.
Woody Harrelson has some excellent things to say in his Guardian article. Go read it. Now.
Here are just a few bits I liked.
The history taught in our schools is scandalous. We grew up believing that Columbus actually discovered America. We still celebrate Columbus Day. Columbus was after one thing only - gold. As the natives were showering him with gifts and kindness, he wrote in his diary, "They do not bear arms ... They have no iron ... With 50 men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want." Columbus is the perfect symbol of US foreign policy to this day.
Same old story. Must conquer. Modern business is the same way. Grow. Exploit. Profit. Repeat.
In a country that lauds its freedom of speech, a word of dissent can cost you your job.
Yeah, it's sad to see how many people have forgotten how to think--preferring to let the talking heads on the TV tell them what to believe.
I read in a paper here about a woman who held out the part of her taxes that would go to the war effort. Something like 17%. I like that idea, though in the US it would have to be more like 50%. If you consider money as a form of energy, then we see half our taxes and half the US government's energy focused on war and weapons of mass destruction. Over the past 30 years, this amounts to more than ten trillion dollars. Imagine that money going to preserving rainforest or contributing to a sustainable economy (as opposed to the dinosaur tit we are currently in the process of sucking dry).
Someday, somehow I hope we'll figure out how to elect someone that actually gives a shit about progress--for the whole planet, not just the bank accounts of his campaign donors.
*sigh*
And no, I'm not just saying that because I work there. It's because it keeps crashing. Presence and status messages are often out of sync. And my friends keep asking my why AOL is so much better than Yahoo at making this work.
Well, I don't know but I'm getting sick of it. Messenger just crashed again on me. Grr.
I hope the folks who work on messenger don't take this personally. I have no idea whose fault it is.
Update: It seems that Russ agrees.
I know this has been going on for a long time, but I generally shop for everything (except food) on-line. So I haven't had to deal with it for several years. I was just at Office Max looking for whiteboard on which I could draw diagrams (figures for my book). I found one I liked and headed to the register to pay for it.
The checkout guy asked "Can I have your zip code?"
What the fuck is with retail establishments asking for my zip code? I know why they want it, but it bugs the hell out of me. How much of their work do they expect me to do?
"No," I said, "you can not have my zip code. Can I have your home address?"
He wasn't happy. But I don't care. He insulted me, so he deserves it.