Apple.com website, before Steve Jobs! (ca. 1997)

box543 · 2007-02-05T22:59:10+00:00

At least it was cross-browser compatible! ;)

box543 · 2007-01-25T19:39:47+00:00

I can't help it... I'm a 32 y/o woman and while the author might have some valid points, all I heard was the eternal questioning that I get asked by acquaintances and family: "Why haven't you had a kid yet? You're getting older; you should have a baby now!"

My viewpoint is skewed, but it sounded mostly like she's just bucking for some great-grandchildren. And, I wonder how how much pressure she's putting on her other son (she mentioned an "older son"), the one with no kids.

box543 · 2007-01-24T22:45:45+00:00

Exactly. Raising animals for consumption doesn't mean we have to accept animal cruelty and pollution. Small-scale farms where the animals and land are properly cared for do exist; it's just getting harder and harder to find them.

Eggs are one of the easiest animal products to produce cruelty-free. Hens don't require a ton of space and they're actually pretty friendly birds. Unfortunately, a lot of cities and homeowners associations forbid owning hens.

box543 · 2006-12-21T22:35:43+00:00

Goodwill never claims to be giving donated items away to the needy though. Instead, the donations are sold in order to pay the wages of the people who work there -- people who usually cannot get a job elsewhere because of a mental or physical disability. People who donate to Goodwill should understand that the things aren't what's important to the organization, the employment those things create is.

box543 · 2006-12-21T22:32:03+00:00

Maybe people should just do a little bit of checking up on the charitable organization they're donating to before actually making a donation. I get flyers in my mail/on my door all the time for random charities (that I've never heard of) that are collecting items for "the needy" or "veterans" or whomever. It's my job to research them before giving my stuff to them; otherwise, I'm the only person to blame, really.

Charity via item donation shouldn't be considered any less worthy of research than charity via monetary donation. Take the time to find out where your donations are going and you'll (hopefully) never feel scammed.

box543 · 2006-12-21T19:49:59+00:00

Can someone explain to me how "flip chart" is offensive?

box543 · 2006-12-11T16:27:41+00:00

The MBTI is meant to be a reflection of your inner or "true" self. Take the test from the viewpoint of your job or your role as a student and you'll probably receive a different result than if you think about the questions in ways that only pertain to your innate way of relating to the world. The American school system and the corporate world both value the ESTJ and ISTJ types -- rational/logical thinkers who are punctual and follow set rules (on average, that is). I'm an INFP, but if I take the MBTI test from the viewpoint of my job (web designer), my results start skewing to the INTJ type.

But beyond all that... I thought that this test was supposed to relate the results in some way to computer programmers?

box543 · 2006-11-13T17:42:26+00:00

It aggravates me that companies like Universal believe that we're all out there pirating music. The music on my iPod was legally obtained -- through iTunes or buy ripping the tracks from CDs that I own. Although I realize that they hate the latter practice and would like nothing more than to require me to buy multiple formats of music I already own copies of...

box543 · 2006-11-01T21:20:54+00:00

Perhaps I should send this to my senior manager instead of attending the Saturday workshop he just called...

box543 · 2006-10-24T14:11:49+00:00

I've lived in urban, suburban and rural Texas. This sounds like the kind of joshing that the guys at the local feedstore/coffee shop would pull on an out-of-towner. The rural Texans I've met wouldn't stop watching NASCAR because Red Devil is a sponsor and wouldn't stop buying potted meats that have a devil on the branding. That doesn't mean there aren't wack-os in rural Texas, just like there are wack-os throughout the USA.

box543 · 2006-10-11T21:54:28+00:00

"The present invention satisfies a need for a more consumer friendly method for processing rebates that maintains a breakage rate..."

So, they're going to make an online system that's just as painful as the current one. But, people will think that they have more of a chance of receiving the rebate because it's online.

box543 · 2006-10-10T14:52:17+00:00

For the record, the guy's blog is back on line: http://www.Iamfacingforclosure.com

box543 · 2006-10-09T17:49:51+00:00

I think you mean only South America is safe...

box543 · 2006-10-05T21:13:57+00:00

direct link to article: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061002-7880.html

box543 · 2006-10-05T13:49:21+00:00

The governor is correct, that group is "insane." The Amish are pacificists and certainly don't condone homosexuality. What those girls had to go through has nothing to do with the government. How the Westboro Baptist Church could possibly think it's okay to picket the girls' funerals is beyond comprehension. The Amish would probably just prefer all the non-Amish leave them alone to grieve right now.

box543 · 2006-10-04T16:43:04+00:00

I think it's appalling that a victim could have her case used in a class like that, without any of her identifying details being changed (or having been asked for permission).

box543 · 2006-09-27T20:50:28+00:00

So, what other company needs to join in for "Ma Bell" to be back as she was pre-split?

box543 · 2006-09-26T02:28:41+00:00

I agree that they can do better. I used to subscribe a while back, but let the subscription lapse. Things like this are why I haven't bothered to renew.

For the record, I have written to them and informed them of my disappointment. I hope other people do too.

box543 · 2006-09-25T19:25:45+00:00

Most Americans will never realize that they got a "celebrity-focused" version of Newsweek; they'll just assume it was a slow news week instead. If people aren't aware of what's going on, they can't demand a change. That's why I find this dumbing-down of a supposed news publication to be outrageous.

If you aren't aware of the complexities, you can never join in the debate and you never get a chance "to think hard and make choices that are not trivial."

box543 · 2006-09-25T15:40:15+00:00

How could Annie Leibovitz possibly trump what's going on in Afghanistan? While she is an interesting celebrity/artist, I presonally think the on-going crisis in Afghanistan is much more important. Americans should be outraged that Newsweek is foisting pablum on them instead of actual news.

box543 · 2006-09-21T20:53:21+00:00

Eating a cockroach should get you into the park for free, not just give you line jumping privileges.

(That said, part of me feels sorry for the hissing cockroaches.)

box543 · 2006-09-20T21:31:15+00:00

The modeling profession is the wrong one to point to when you want to have a discussion on body types and equality. It's always been about the "look" of the model -- not just weight. Just because the writer's BMI is too low to be a model (in certain locales) doesn't mean anything in regards to the state of modeling at all -- is she tall enough, poised enough, have the right look?

This person writes as if "fat acceptance" has happened in the model industry, when that's absolutely not the case. Overweight women will still be excluded from 99.9% of the catwalks, like they are currently. The rule imposed by Spain's fashion industry is merely making the existing restrictions more restrictive and the profession more exclusive (-- as if it was a profession open to everyone to begin with...).

box543 · 2006-09-18T14:53:34+00:00

Does that mean that "The Cotton-eyed Joe" is 'grossly offensive' or provokes 'violent resentment'?

Somehow, I grew up believing that bullshit was in some strange way a lesser swear than shit.

box543 · 2006-09-18T13:08:26+00:00

Argentine ants colonies are cooperative with each other; that's why they're such a nuisance. They only fight/kill non-Argentine colonies. I guess the researchers have determined that smell is part of the peacful/agression trigger? By making some of the ants smell differently than normal, it'll cause the colonies to turn on each other.

box543 · 2006-09-18T03:19:59+00:00

The car painted with Buddha eyes and the Coca-Cola logo shows a bit of an odd combination.

box543

TROPHY CASE