Yearly Archives: 2013

Showrooming

Speech bubbles for Right and Wrong

“Showrooming” is a fairly new word, and I admit to having showroomed. It’s when you enter a store to research a product, which you then buy online (probably from Amazon). Best Buy is a popular showrooming spot, and their well trained and knowledgeable staff are extra helpful in providing what you need to make an informed purchase…somewhere else.

One store in Australia has started charging people $5 for “just looking.” If they buy something, the $5 is refunded at checkout. The store owner said, “I’m not here to dispense a charity service for [large supermarkets] to make more money.” He’s got a point.

Think it’ll catch on in the USA? Will we have to deposit $5 at the door before entering Big Lots or Dollar General?

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Palm Sunday Afternoon at St. Francis U

I'm pretty much hidden behind Aaron Vergon, clear over on the right. But I'm there, keyboarding away.

I’m pretty much hidden behind Aaron Vergon, clear over on the right. But I’m there, keyboarding away. (click to enlarge)

On Palm Sunday, 4pm in the afternoon, Anchor Church did a service on the campus of St. Francis University, about a mile down the road from us. Several churches in our zip code had done this, each service a month apart, as a way for Protestant students at St. Francis (a Catholic school) to get acquainted with some of the nearby churches. Palm Sunday was our turn.

Associate Pastor Kevin Whitacre did a great job with the sermon, starting off with a drama in which he put himself in the position of one of the thieves crucified with Jesus. It was very effective.

The Anchor worship team led the music. We greatly enjoyed the big auditorium and spacious stage (compared to the little cubby hole we have at the front of Anchor’s sanctuary). It required carting around and setting up a lot of equipment, but it was fun.

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TurboTax to the Non-Rescue

turbotax-deluxe-2005-with-state-winmac-old-version-pictures-1Interesting piece on Propublica.org about tax return filing. The IRS already knows how much they they think you should pay. Why not just tell you upfront? With “return free filing,” the IRS sends you a tax form already filled in with their numbers, so you know in advance what THEY think you owe. You then have several choices:

  1. Accept it as is and return it to the IRS.
  2. Make adjustments and then return it.
  3. File a return in another way (TurboTax, H&R Block, whatever).

For many people, they can file their return in five minutes–and for free. Other countries do this effectively, and it’s been endorsed by presidents going back to Ronald Reagan.

So why haven’t we done it? Partly because of heavy lobbying by Intuit, which sells the Turbotax software. Intuit doesn’t WANT the government making it easy for people. In 2011, their lobbying killed two bills which would have allowed taxpayers to file pre-filled returns for free and make the entire system more efficient.

So don’t be upset at the IRS for making tax returns difficult. They WANT to make it easy and free. Blame the selfish, greedy folks at Turbotax instead.

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From North Korea’s Silicon Valley….

North Korean computer

This newly released photo from North Korea shows Kim Jong Un inspecting some “new” military technology. Now, doesn’t that look like one advanced piece of equipment? Note the state-of-the-art trackball. I would love to see the monitor. I’m guessing amber. And is that a North Korean wifi antenna in the background? They all seem very proud.

Tom Gara of the Wall Street Journal tweeted, “North Korea appears to have crossed a dangerous threshold and developed a fully-functioning calculator.”

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Out of Every 100 People in the World

This is a fascinating graphic.

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It’s What He Does

I’m with Dave Barry on this, though in my case, it’s all pleasure and zero guilt.

My guilty pleasure is tough-guy-loner action novels, like the Jack Reacher series, where the protagonist is an outwardly rugged but inwardly sensitive and thoughtful guy who, through no fault of his own, keeps having to beat the crap out of people.

This is from the New York Times Book Review. He also says makes a statement about the Twlight books which is hard to argue with:

I’m not a big fan of the “Twilight” series. I can’t get past the premise, which is that a group of wealthy, sophisticated, educated, highly intelligent, centuries-old vampires, who can do pretty much whatever they want, have chosen to be . . . high school students. I simply cannot picture such beings sitting in a classroom listening to a geometry teacher drone on about the cosine. I have more respect for vampires than that.

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Not Gonna Go There

atopburj580

burjkhalifa580

This photo was taken by National Geographic photographer Joe McNally in Dubai, after climbing atop the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. Looking at it for more than a few seconds can trigger my vertigo.

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The Most Expensive School Wins

awl-midwest

A website filled out an NCAA bracket using an interesting criteria: tuition cost. With each matchup, the school with the higher tuition is picked to win. The final four comes down to Duke ($40,665), Georgetown ($40,920), Notre Dame ($42,464) and eventual NCAA champ Bucknell ($45,132).

In this scenario, top seed Louisville ($8,903) is trounced in the first round by Liberty ($17,806). Indiana loses in the opening round to Long Island University.

Of course, most of the actual basketball players enjoy full ride scholarships, so they aren’t paying a dime of tuition. But hey, it’s an interesting twist.

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Green Chopsticks?

plastic-chopsticks

China is urging its people to carry their own tableware when they go to restaurants. The country goes through 80 billion sets of throw-away chopsticks every year. That comes to 20 million trees, per year. China is the world’s largest consumer of wood, and demand for imported lumber has tripled since 2000. So Americans can properly display an aire of superiority for our reusable metal forks and spoons.

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Intermezzo: the Wonder Drug for Stupid People

intermezzo

One of the funniest ads on TV isn’t meant to be funny. It’s for Intermezzo, a drug for people who wake up in the middle of the night and have trouble getting back to sleep, a condition which is the scourge of Western Civilization. A woman with a soothing voice explains the benefits of Intermezzo, and then, as we watch happy pictures, soothingly gives all the possible risks of taking Intermezzo. Including:

Severe allergic reactions, some of which could be fatal. Hives. Difficulty breathing. Headache. Nausea. Fatigue. Swelling of your face lips, tongue, or throat. Having no memory of something you just did, like driving or making a phone call. Confusion, hallucinations, and agitation. Increased aggressive behavior. Impaired thinking or reactions. Suicidal thoughts. Drug dependency. Withdrawal symptoms if you’ve used it a long time. And if you stop using Intermezzo, your insomnia may be worse than before. Also: don’t take it unless you have four hours of sleep time left.

Instead of that soothing woman’s voice, I think New Jersey governor Chris Christy should do the voice-over. It would go something like this.

“Do you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep? Then do what I do, for goodness sakes–read a book or watch TV for a while. But if you’re impatient and totally stupid, you can try a dangerous and habit-forming drug called Intermezzo. Just don’t blame me if you break out in hives, have debilitating headaches, and your tongue swells up like a balloon. You might drop your kids off somewhere, and totally can’t remember where. This stuff can kill you, and if it doesn’t do the job by itself, it might drive you to commit suicide. Then, if you try to quit, you’ll discover–surprise!–that you’re hopelessly addicted. And even if you DO manage to quit, your insomnia might be worse than before.

“I mean, this Intermezzo drug is a total joke, and you’ve gotta be stupider than a dirt clod to take it. But hey–if you find it annoying to wake up in the middle of the night, and if you routinely engage in such activities as Russian Roulette or running blindfolded across freeways, then by all means try Intermezzo. It may be just what you, and the human gene pool, need.”

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