Recent Comments:
Psych: American Duos (season premiere) {TV Squad}
Jul 14th 2007 1:51AM This show is quickly becoming one of my favorites (the fact that it's premiering over the summer when a lot of other shows are on reruns doesn't hurt I'm sure).
I usually find characters like Shawn annoying in a tv show, I think it's a testament to his acting that I actually find his antics endearing. And Gus really is the perfect straight man, I think's he helps the show from spinning out too far into farcical territory.
And how cute is Maggie Lawson? Watching her dance around in warmups dressed like Olivia Newton John was one of the hottest things I've seen in ages.
Left lane drivers of America want you to move over. You know who you are {Autoblog}
Jun 13th 2007 11:21AM Actually Massachusetts is one of those states where it's illegal to drive in the left lane if you're not passing someone. It's enforced more on some highways than others, but I remember when I used to drive home from work on the Mass Pike and I'd see at least two people a day get pulled over by the cops for driving in the left lane. During rush hour they police it more.
Self-Service Shredder kiosk enables pay-per-use shredding {Engadget}
May 30th 2007 5:15PM This would be the greatest scam device ever if it just kept the stuff you put into it and had a few reams of random paper in another slot which is shred. Then you just come by after a few days and have people's sensitive information.
We can't all make $39.4 billion: Chevron earns only $3.77 billion last quarter {Autoblog}
Feb 6th 2007 3:14PM @matt
because costs don't remain the same; costs increase as the price of crude goes up, as well as through development. As gas companies pay more for the crude and have to pay to keep digging for more sites, those costs increase year over year. The problem is that:
revenue - costs should both be increasing at the same rate, ie: the only additional revenue should be from the higher cost of the crude and development (in a perfect world).
but in reality profit is increasing in a completely different direction than revenue (one is exponential, the other is linear).
Again, they're out to make as much money as possible, so I'm not saying they're vultures or anything, but they argue that their increased costs are what is making their revenue so high, but that doesn't explain why their profit margins are increasing at a completely different rate. I think there's a little of that "selling toilet paper and milk right before a hurricane" phenomenon going on.
And like I said, that's their right, but it won't sustain itself, and I don't want to listen to them complain when they're looking for bankruptcy protection after the oil economy collapses.
We can't all make $39.4 billion: Chevron earns only $3.77 billion last quarter {Autoblog}
Feb 6th 2007 11:14AM @Matt
Evian might cost 4.80/gallon, but not all water does. In fact, if the government didn't subsidize gas prices, we might very well pay more than 4.80/gallon (like much of the rest of the world).
I'm not some tree-hugging granola-eating hippie. so I don't get all offended by energy companies making record amounts of money. There are two things about the current state of gas that irritate me though:
1.) That by subsidizing gas prices I firmly believe the government is doing more long-term harm than good. If people had to pay 5/gallon for gas, they might seriously reconsider some of the choices they make. More people would investigate public transportation, and more people would buy cars with better gas mileage (which would prompt automakers to put more effort into designing more efficient cars, including maybe hybrids that don't look ridiculous). It's not a silver bullet, but I think it's the only way alternate engergy will ever be a viable option (there has to be economic incentive for people to do it).
2. That the argument gas companies make about their record revenues is that the rising price of gas obviously makes it more expensive, and as the demand doesn't decline, their revenues go up. This is true, but the rising cost of gas would only increase their revenue, not their profit. Their profit would go up linearly if this was the case. It is not, however; as their profits have been going up exponentially. This means they are using the rising cost of gas to their advantage, so their rationale is a little disingenuous.
All of that being said, Exxon and Chevron exist for the sole purpose of making as much money as possible for the shareholders of their companies, they are not human beings with a moral perrogative. Not to sound cold, but I don't expect them to do anything other than screw everyone over as much as they're able to get away with. They're not some evil entity, they're just a corporation that wants to make money. While it's nice to read about corporations with altruistic intentions and a "kind-heart" and all that nonsense, it's not the norm. This is capitalism, pure and simple.
So props to Chevron on making all that money. I'm not losing any sleep over it, just like I won't lose any sleep when the gas economy finally collapses and these companies start hemmoraging money. That's the beauty of the invisible hand...it giveth and it taketh away.
Stretching the Zune's battery life to 14 hours {Engadget}
Oct 21st 2006 1:30PM I have to agree there. I'm not a big fan of the zune (with the exception of when I'm at work I use a Mac predominantly) but I really don't see the Zune's battery life as a big issue.
All things equal, I'd love for devices to have super long batteries, but I realize that all things are not equal. Battery life currently equates to a trade-off in size, and I'm willing to accept that trade-off. The number of times my iPod Nano's battery has died before I've had a chance to recharge it is almost none (I can think of one or two times I've been at the airport all day when by the end of the night it's died).
So that being said, while I have no intention of buying a Zune (I've spent entirely too much money on the iTunes Music Store over the past couple years), I'm glad it seems like a good product. Competition is healthy, and Apple could certainly use some.
The Office: Gay Witch Hunt (season premiere) {TV Squad}
Sep 27th 2006 10:18PM I thought the entire episode was hillarious. I'm always nervous with season premiers because it seems like as a season goes on, the writers get in a zone, and things sort of mesh together well; and sometimes when there's time off, they start up awkwardly.
I didn't think that was the case for this premier though, I thought it followed really well with last season.
"That's what she said...or he said" made me laugh my ass off.
