Well, today is starting out better than yesterday did, but I’m still not real happy about the whole work thing. Good thing I have Friday off. I’m glad the Supreme Court gets to go on vacation too. Poor Fat Tony Scalia is all tired and grumpy. Hopefully killing “Obamacare” will cheer him up.

Here’s a pleasant thought for you this morning. Imagine Barney Fife (or Joe Arpaio) with drones, tanks, and M-16s!

Small police departments across America are collecting battlefield-grade arsenals thanks to a program that allows them to get their hands on military surplus equipment – amphibious tanks, night-vision goggles, and even barber chairs or underwear – at virtually no cost, except for shipment and maintenance.
[…]
Which means billions of dollars worth of military gear are in the hands of small-town cops who neither need the equipment nor are properly trained to use it…. At best, it’s a waste of resources (since the gear still has to be maintained). At worst, it could cost lives.

Yeah, but who could pass up a chance to have your own tank to play with (and who hasn’t always wanted a barber chair)?

If you use a Mac, Orbitz thinks you’re a sucker who’ll pay more for a hotel room.

Orbitz Worldwide Inc. has found that people who use Apple Inc.’s Mac computers spend as much as 30% more a night on hotels, so the online travel agency is starting to show them different, and sometimes costlier, travel options than Windows visitors see.

Speaking of Apple, they’ve decided they have to stop claiming that Macs “don’t get PC viruses.”

Up until just a few days ago, Apple’s website was keen to point out that Mac OS X doesn’t get PC viruses, and that the operating system “defends against viruses and other malicious applications, or malware” with “virtually no effort on your part”.

Now, Apple’s changed its tune a little….

Now Apple says their computers are “built to be safe.” They also used to say you could “Safeguard your data. By doing nothing.” But they don’t say that anymore, either. Now they say, “Safety. Built right in.” Which seems kind of redundant. But whatever.

…it’s pretty interesting that Apple has made this change to their messaging.

Clearly they’ve decided that pointing out the size of the Windows malware problem isn’t going to look terribly convincing unless they are also open about that Mac malware also exists.

After all, it was only a couple of months ago that it was found one particular piece of Mac malware had infected 600,000 Macs worldwide, including 274 in Cupertino.

In short, people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.


NBC is paying Ann Curry $10 million to leave her job on the Today Show.

I’m willing to leave my job for half that. And they can keep all the shit in my office, too.