3D Desktops: Not a Great Idea

I think the 3D desktop concept is beginning to go too far. I was looking at this video today of the “BumpTop” 3D tablet PC type interface which mimics the way documents are “organized” in a real-world desktop. As pretty as the interface might be, it suffers from a fatal flaw: The cluttered real-life desktop [...]

The Rant

A few moments ago, I was filling out yet another pathetic chain-mail survey, but one question got to me. The question goes as follows:
30. Who is getting on your nerves right now?

Dude, Where’s My Music?

I wasn't around in the Sixties and Seventies, but I'm pretty sure that mainstream recording artists and their fans weren't too terribly preoccupied with reliving (and rehashing) music from the Fourties or Fifties. They were too busy creating a generation of groundbreaking music to worry about that. So, why, since about the time "grunge" came [...]

Family Trees

Consider the following scenario:

You're born in England.
You marry an Englishman/woman.
You decide to move to Puerto Rico (perhaps its the sun).
There, you have a child.
The lot of you move to the U.S.

Digital On-screen Graphics: Pop-ups for Television

Have you noticed your screen real-estate shrinking?
Years ago, networks began placing their network IDs as digital on-screen graphics, nicknamed "bugs", small watermark logos that often appear in the lower right-hand corner of the television broadcast. These began as innocuous, only mildly obtrusive logo watermarks which popped up infrequently during broadcasts to remind viewers which [...]

The Annotated Guide to Customer Service

Below is a recent AP article which I've taken the liberty of annotating:
Annoying Quotes From Sales Clerks Listed
By The Associated Press
Wed Oct 5, 6:44 AM ET
"Uh, that's not my department." Ever hear that in a store? Did visions of fiendish violence against the clerk flash through your mind? "Not my department" topped the list of [...]

iTunes uSuck

Today, I deleted iTunes from my system.
I've always been a die-hard PC user and thus fairly ambivalent to the Apple crowd, despite the fact that I'm usually in-line with other "hipster" brands (case in point, I drive a Volkswagen). Note, however, that I do not shop at Urban Outfitters.

No Gas Day (Bollocks)

I recieved the following nonsense message yesterday:
—————– Bulletin Message —————–
From: [a sheep]
Date: Aug 20, 2005 9:14 PM
august 31 no gas day!
Body: august 31 no gas day!
Due to the outrages increase in gas, August 31(Wednesday) has been declared a NO GAS DAY!
DON'T BUY GAS ON THE 31st! SEND THE OIL COMPANIES A LESSON! SPREAD THE WORD!

GSAVE

The Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism. That’s right, the war on terror ain’t just for terrorists anymore! And it’s no longer a war either, it’s a struggle! Against violent extremists! So, when are we due to send troops to kill off every abortion clinic bomber in the United States? They’re violent extremists.
I guess the term [...]

Parking Garage Labyrinth

Parking lots are amongst the least aesthetic and most strictly functional of buildings, and they are by design not unlike the modern Colosseum of suburbia, where soccer moms in SUVs and eco-kids in Priuses are forced into a gladiatorial bloodbath. With one, sometimes two entrances and exits, narrow driveways, tight turning spaces, and enough room [...]