soapbox

I generally think that he’s an egomaniacal idiot who has made a lot of his fortune the old fashioned way (inheriting it). His business decisions are questionable at best and I think he’d still been in bankruptcy if he and his siblings hadn’t sold off the last of their father’s assets.

I like him even less now after reading a yahoo news story which states that he’s been in talks with Playboy about having Miss USA pose for the magazine. Despite the fact that she just got out of rehab for alcohol and cocaine problems, even she “feels it [posing for playboy] is inappropriate.”

WTF? He’s trying to pimp out Miss USA now?

1. The astronomer in the office next to me just said “I don’t want to know how my computer works. I just want someone to set it up for me.”

2. The speaker at colloquium said “the energy released is 10% of what happens in other situations… so the stars are given a kick that’s only 40 km/s instead of 400 km/s.”

Number one just pisses me off. There are a lot of people like that here and, as a result, the solution has been to go for the least common denominator and set up the computers so that the end users can’t change anything at all.

The problem with number two is left as an exercise for the reader. Points to the first person who posts a comment with the problem identified.

That’s the shocking result of a survey of people with an average net worth of $89 million, and who make more than $9 million per year.

“The majority of men and women credit their private wealth with achieving a better sex life. When viewed separately, a larger percentage of women agree with the statement, perhaps indicating that females derive a greater degree of empowerment from their financial independence than their male counterparts,” according to Hannah Shaw Grove and Russ Alan Prince, two well-known researchers on the habits of the rich and famous.

(They have middle names so they must be very knowledgeable when it comes to rich people.)

More surprising (or not) items (after the break):

(more…)

check out the list of upcoming Apple products. Highlights include the

iPuff, with customizable filters,

and iMug, in brown or brushed metal.

For those who care, I recommend Dan Wetzel’s piece for “sports column that made me say ‘hell yeah’ more than once” of the new year. It’s a good read and has a useful perspective, bitter yet still passionate about the NHL.

Bettman is set to begin his 15th year as commissioner Thursday, and like most hockey fans I feel the need to mark the occasion by popping a bottle of champagne, chugging the entire thing in an effort to drown my misery and then smashing the empty bottle over my temple to black out the memories.

To all the Alaskans out there in blog-land (*ahem* John), could you please shed some light on this?

Seemed pretty nutty to me, but the locals are treating it more like a regular weekly thing.

Sorry for the lame link-post, but the results kinda speaks for itself - over 90% voted to begin cooperating with the Northern Ireland police. Amazing victory for peace, and for Gerry Adams - the process obviously isn’t over, but this is a start, and a step that many thought they’d never see.