Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Jan-u-riffic.

Yeah, I've got some work to do. But I'm gonna make an effort right now to get through all the things I marked DPworthy in January. Then maybe I can start getting to February's pile.

While technically from December (gulp, last year already?) I can't seem you junk this article about Corporate strategies for getting free solar arrays installed on top of their facilities. Basically you've got to find an investment company that will lay out for the installation and equipment (the prohibitive part of solar right now) and then essentially lock in a rate to pay for energy for the next 10 years. The investors have guaranteed a return and the consumer has green power now with no buy-in or rate hike. Of course as solar tech gets cheaper they might start wondering why they're paying a higher premium for old technology, but such is life when you invest in any tech.
I don't know why, but I assume guinea pigs have tiny bones that make them more trouble than they're worth.
Luckily, these guys aren't near any national borders cause repeated "accidental" invasions might get on your neighbor's nerves after a while. Also, I bet you could turf the crap out of someone's lawn with a 70 ton tank.
I first thought Canada was giving us a run for our money in the silly lawsuit department. Not since that old woman sued McDonald's over hot coffee have I seen something so seemingly crap-tastic. A drug addict has successfully sued her meth dealer for providing a substance that put her in a coma. Apparently he knew the substance was addictive and was only in it to make money. Wait. This is genius. Instead of trying to catch and jail the drug dealers, just have their clients sue them. That turns the old "make the drug trade unprofitable" tact on its head. Sure, you could sell $500 worth of smack to someone, but you'll just have a $50,000 lawsuit on your hands. Dammit, the Canadians have done it again.
TechDirt found a pretty cool site that helps connect business owners who are victims of protection rackets. Right now its a listing of those who defy the mob's intimidation, but they threw around a neat idea where members would compare protection 'rates'. It could be like shopping for car insurance online, and picking the best policy for the money. I just have one question: Does the mob cover water damage?
A while ago my brother sent me a link about double clutch transmissions. They seem pretty cool and now BMW is making them available to the masses. Well, the part of the masses who buy $65,000 German sports cars.
Sometimes a simple ad campaign is just what people need to explain complex concepts. F*&king Recycle seems to be just that.
Please, please, please... stop putting in speed bumps. You'll be my hero if you use chicanes as traffic calming measures instead. And my suspension will buy you a beer.
The joy of not being sold anything The economy is in the pooper and George is rushing a nice fat "please spend more money" check to an ass load of Americans. The only trouble is that I don't want to buy more stuff for the sake of consuming. I think I conversation I had with my house-mate sums up my pretty well. "I think we spend an appropriate amount on stupid shit". Part of it is the fiscal responsibility that, for some reason, runs deep in my veins. But I also feel a pang of guilt every time I open the trash can to throw away another piece of packaging. So even if I do get a sudden flood of disposable income I'm probably not gonna go buy an extra something I don't need.


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