Another Scott and Laci?
For those of you who don't read the Fox News web site (that would be most of you), they are trying to push a new "Laci" story. Essentially a pregnant woman disappeared while jogging in Utah. Husband is acting weird, although there is some debate whether that is his normal sate.

This whole thing has a strange deja vu quality about it:

o This victim vanished while jogging. Laci supposedly vanished while walking the dog.

o Both husbands were doing supposedly innocuous things during the disappearance - Scott fishing, this guy "buying a mattress" (in addition, it would appear this guy perhaps tried a suicide, although authorities aren't talking)

o Husband is a "person of interest" at this point, but "not a suspect" (yet)

o This victim's name was Lori, the first one was Laci. (Ed: You're getting into Kennedy/Lincoln comparison territory)

I am next waiting for the husband to be found near the border with a goatee and lots of cash. From what Fox is reporting, I think we'll end up seeing yet another husband on trial for killing his pregnant wife.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 7:06 PM (Permalink)
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This Seems True to Me - Especially for Transactions Under $2
One of my pet peeves are people who make micro-transactions using plastic - like $2 at Starbucks or $4 for milk (in the cash-only line). These people always seem to do this when there is a long line behind them, and they pull out their credit card after they have been rung up - and they were already standing in line for 5 minutes. My main beef is that these people are totally oblivious of the time they are taking up of those around them - these small transactions take several minutes to swipe the plastic, get the receipt, sign, get their copy of the receipt, and put it in their wallet (these people rarely get out of the way while they stand there putting up their receipt). Forking over a $5 and getting $3 change takes a few seconds. As I sit there and wait, I always want to shout, "You don't have TWO DOLLARS on you?!?"

I understand everyone runs out of cash from time to time, so I would understand this happening every once in a while. But it seems to happen all the time: a whole line of people using plastic for $3 lattes. Turns out this hasn't been my imagination: Card Transactions Hold Majority in U.S.(no direct link to article)

For the first time, Americans used cards -- credit, debit and others -- to buy retail goods and services more often than they used cash or check in 2003.

The article does point out that some fast-food outlets, like McDonalds, have waived the signature requirement, speeding up the transaction, but it is still much slower than cash. The coming use of cellphones for an electronic purchase, however, does seem be the right model since in this case the transaction would be more immediate and take the same time as a cash purchase.

I'm one of those people who usually has a ready supply of cash on me for my day-to-day purchases, but I am definitely becoming a minority.


posted by Director_Mitch @ 8:25 AM (Permalink)
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A Good Canadian Beer Plus a Watery American Beer Equals???
Sort of interesting for us beer drinkers: Coors and Molson to Merge in $6B Deal

It's no secret that I am not a fan of the "Big 3" American beers - Bud, Miller, Coors - but of the three, I do consider Coors the least watery. My regular beer is American - Sam Adams - but I do enjoy Molson when I want a pilsner. This deal is not likely to bring any new products to the market, so this is just an interesting move as the alcoholic beverage market continues consolidation.

The article notes that this is a "merger of equals", a phrase I always find interesting. If business history teaches us anything about mergers, it's that one company will always gain supremacy in a "merger of equals". Eventually one side's management team will gain all the top spots, putting their company's managers in the primo positions while forcing the other side's managers into crummy spots or out of the company.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 9:05 AM (Permalink)
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But Ze Terrorists Wud Never Strike Zer Friends en France!
Eiffel Tower Evacuated After False Alarm

French police have evacuated crowds of tourists from the Eiffel Tower in central Paris after a telephone caller threatened to attack it, but police say the warning turned out to be a false alarm.

And Chirac was about to raise the country's terrorist threat level to "Collaborate".

posted by Director_Mitch @ 1:00 PM (Permalink)
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Oh...Never Mind
In a continuation of the strategy that has worked against the Philippines

A militant group said it had taken two Kenyans, three Indians and an Egyptian hostage and would behead them if their countries did not announce their intention to withdraw their troops from Iraq immediately.

But wait

However, none of those countries were part of the 160,000 member coalition force in Iraq.

However, Egypt has volunteered to send troops into the country so that they can then pull them out again in order to meet their demands.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 8:43 AM (Permalink)
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Geeks:1, Pencil Necks:0
Hey, congress actually gets something right: House Votes to Block Stock Option Mandate
 
Here's why:

1. The only result of this rule would be to stop stock options to rank-and-file workers.  Corporations have already demonstrated that they are willing to put up with expenses connected to pay at the upper ranks, so all this would do would be to take away a benefit that the lower ranks actually enjoy.
 
2. Options are the life-blood of small companies, especially in tech.  Having to expense options would make the statement of companies about to go public look horrendous (what do you think Google's books would look like if they had to expense their options?).
 
3. The data is already out there.  Anyone who is interested can calculate the result of options on the bottom line, assuming they knew how to do the expensing, which brings me to the next point. 
 
4. How are options valued and expensed against earnings?  The options I received when I started my present job are WAY under water, with the good chance they will remain worthless until the time they expire.  If my options expire worthless, what expense did my company incur and how did it effect its bottom line?

As the article states, this overturn actually has bipartisan support in Congress, most likely due to the left-wing techies in NoCal, who are liberal as long as they can keep stuffing their own pockets.




posted by Director_Mitch @ 2:23 PM (Permalink)
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These Guys Ever Heard of Kamikazes?
And I don't mean the drink: Zarqawi Demands Japan Withdraw from Iraq

Looks like the Muslim extremists are underestimating yet another country (the first being the U.S. itself). Japan today might seem like a nice pacifist country, but this is the place that invented Bushido and introduced suicide attacks into modern warfare. Behind those bows, smiles, and business suits, you'll find a nation of Samurai. And as the U.S. found out 60 years ago, they are a very, very bitter enemy that doesn't run away from a fight.

Update: The Japanese are holding to form. Their response: “For the rebuilding of Iraq, we must continue our support and not give in to terrorism.”



posted by Director_Mitch @ 9:37 AM (Permalink)
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It's a Phone...No, A Camera...Wait, I Mean a TV...And it Plays Music
A slew of 3 megapixel camera phones are being introduced overseas as camera phone image quality slowly but surely catches up to that of stand-alone digital still cameras. The latest one has everything but the kitchen sink. Check out the antenna:

Pantech & Curitel releases PH-S5000V and PH-K1000V, 3.1-megapixel camera phones equipped with an external TV receiver and a mechanical shutter. The two models adopt the company’s world first 3-mega CMOS camera module and receive TV and FM radio signals, the company added.

Users can also download up to 20 music files from their computers by using the built-in MP3 player. The camcorder allows up to 160 minute continuous recording of moving images.

This is in addition to two other 3 megapixel camera phones that were introduced this month: the Samsung SPH-S2300 and the Lucky Goldstar SD350/3500, both of which use CCD instead of CMOS imagers.

These will take time to reach stateside due to our older, slower wireless system, which takes a lot longer to transmit a 3 meg picture than the systems in Korea and Japan.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 8:59 AM (Permalink)
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It Would be Nice if They Gave Reeve a Cameo
I see that Hollywood is planning a remake of the movie Superman. It seems like the Reeve version wasn't that long ago, but it's been over a quarter of a century since that release (I'm getting old) so a whole generation of people aren't familiar with the original.

It would be a classy thing to do to somehow give Reeve a tasteful cameo in the new version. It's the role he was really known for.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 6:49 PM (Permalink)
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They Certainly Whine Like Girly Men
I got a good laugh after hearing Ahnold lambast the democratic controlled legislature by calling them girly men - a phrase taken directly out of the Saturday Night Live sketch of Hans and Franz from about a decade ago that made fun of Ahnold. 
 
Now, in typical democratic form, instead of laughing at it and dishing it back out in a clever repartee (I can think of several), they whine like the bunch of girly-men they are:

Democrats said Schwarzenegger's remarks were insulting to women and gays and distracted from budget negotiations. State Sen. Sheila Kuehl said the governor had resorted to "blatant homophobia".

Like you needed another reason to hate California dems - they have no sense of humor, aren't clever enough to come up with a clever response, and go crying to their usual constituents by trying to raise the flag of victim-hood.

The good news is that Ahnold definitely isn't is a girly man himself and won't back down from the statement.

Update: Thanks to a link from Just Procrastinating, I find that Blind Camel offers our governor an alternative phrase he should have used in these serious times.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 10:36 PM (Permalink)
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