Archive for April, 2008

Starbucks and ‘Laissez Faire’

The Wall Street Journal’s David Boaz has ignited a tempest in a coffee cup by revealing that Starbucks, which now offers customized gift cards emblazoned with a phrase or statement of your choice, rejected the phrase “laissez faire“. In response the blogosphere has launched an irony and awe campaign.
Consider for a moment the source of […]


Samuel Mockbee and Rural Studio, Following Function

For evidence that there are few things more beautiful than good choices, boldly made read Clay Risen’s article Following Function in The Morning News, about the late Samuel Mockbee’s Rural Studio.


Video: Amazing Bike Skills

Video: Amazing Bike Skills
I can, um… pop a wheelie.


Apple, Stop #$@&#@! harassing me to download Safari

You’ve asked me about a dozen times now on my various computers. I’ve politely told you no each time. I don’t want your stupid browser. I like Firefox just fine thank you. Now I’m starting to wish I didn’t have iTunes so you would stop pestering me to download Safari at every update. I expect […]


Can’t Beat Something with Nothing, South Park Free Online

Rampant proliferation of television shows on YouTube and its ilk have created headaches apace for legal departments caught in a copyright version of wack-a-mole. Fan-driven sites like AllSP posted or aggregated episodes of the show available for free online.
An outbreak of sanity has apparently caught hold in South Park land, who have finally realized that […]


History is Written by the Wikipedia Defenders

According to Eve Fairbanks whose excellent article, Wiki Woman, appears in next weeks New Republic.


Favorite Near-Word of the Day: Pajamahadeen

Yes, Pajamahadeen, which I learned about in Sarah Boxer’s excellent article, Blogs in the New York Review of Books. Do not dwell on why I did not know about this word before hand (I am ashamed) but be glad I am sharing it with you now. It is a frightfully interesting mental image.