Archive for 2009
« Older Entries | Newer Entries »Bernie Madoff “Smash Me Bernie” Doll
[ Comments Off ]Posted on February 18, 2009 by admin in Editorial & Opinion
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009It’s the latest in Piñatas
You know times are bad when Donald Trump files for bankruptcy and Warren Buffet loses 25% of his fortune in a single quarter. And to add to our woes, the banks we bailed out are lobbying against us, the war that bled us dry was making U.S. Military officers rich, and there are more stories than I care to link to about all the other ways that bankers have enjoyed the high life while we lose jobs, homes, and hopes. So where can a person turn to express some of the anger and frustration? Why, a Smash Me Bernie Madoff doll, of course. In their words, “This wonderful action figure capturing Bernie in the ‘I am about to stick this poker right up your ass and take the spare change out of your pockets’ position can be yours for just $99.95” You might want to order a few, because for a while they’re offering the doll with a limited edition hammer to smash it with. The only hope we have otherwise is that since Greenspan’s been so wrong in the past, his proclamation that the recession will surely be the longest and deepest since the 1930′s is dead wrong as well.
The High Cost Of Cheap Electronics
[ Comments Off ]Posted on February 17, 2009 by admin in Technology
Tuesday, February 17th, 2009High Tech Misery in China
 Chicken feet. It’s what’s for lunch |
Having a bad day at work? Next time you sit at your computer keyboard, typing e-mails to friends about how much your job sucks, pause for a moment and ask yourself if that very keyboard was assembled by people who get payed 40 cents an hour, and get 15 minute lunches to slurp down milky-colored rice gruel (Friday bonus: chicken feet!). High Tech Misery in China is a project created by the National Labor Committee to investigate the abusive labor conditions at a Chinese factory where keyboards are manfactured for American computer retailers like Dell, HP, and Lenovo. I’ll let you take a swig of your Coke while you ponder that, and then read about Colombia’s other Coke. That really puts a new twist on the phrase “dying of thirst”, doesn’t it? At least those keyboard factory workers appear to be getting paid, unlike the Chinese slave labor that builds the bricks that build the factories. Okay, quietly back to your cubicle now.
Monday Demotivators: The Presidents Day Edition
[ Comments Off ]Posted on February 16, 2009 by admin in Editorial & Opinion
Monday, February 16th, 2009Funny, he looks remarkably like his prehistoric ancestors. Although all you bankers out there have the day off anyway and don’t deserve any Monday Demotivators, we’re sticking to our tradition of doing our best to make you waste time and be late for work on Monday morning. Why DO they call it President’s Day, anyway? [...]
 Funny, he looks remarkably like his prehistoric ancestors. |
Although all you bankers out there have the day off anyway and don’t deserve any Monday Demotivators, we’re sticking to our tradition of doing our best to make you waste time and be late for work on Monday morning. Why DO they call it President’s Day, anyway? It should be called “No Banking For You ‘Cuz All The Lazy-ass Bankers Have The Day Off Day” or something. Anyway, in keeping with the holiday theme, let’s rob a bank. Although robbing a real one might be fun, let’s stick to pretend bank robbing with The Bank Robber, which took so long to load and had so many instructions that I didn’t actually try it. Let me know how that worked out for you, it looks pretty clever. For the more brain-dead (like me) here’s a simple shoot ‘em up bank robber game. You just, well…shoot ‘em up. On a presidential note, you could always revisit the glory days of Bush Shoe Tossing , or de-evolve ex-President (man I like the sound of that) Bush with Darwin’s Devolve Me. And for some completely unrelated random fun, try Shopping Cart Hero. Yeah, downhill shopping carting is all fine and dandy until someone LOSES AN EYE or something. And lastly, in what seems to be common theme with Flash games, shoot some cute, helpless Roly-Polies with a cannon.
Are You A Facebook “Friend Whore”?
[ 3 Comments ]Posted on February 14, 2009 by admin in Lifestyle & Culture
Saturday, February 14th, 2009Or are you just REALLY popular?
I was picking on a friend recently about the fact that he had over 300 friends on Facebook. I asked him “Honestly, how many of those people could you or would you call for lunch this week?” He had to admit the number was a little lower than 300 people. Which got me thinking: what is a normal number of friends to have on Facebook? I’m reasonably well-networked in real life and have done a fair amount of events planning, so I’m acutely aware that a reasonably sociable person has less than ten close friends, and a range of acquaintances that typically extends to around 150 people. I’ve only used my Facebook account regularly for a few weeks, have around 60 “friends”, and am about to start adding and deleting with a little more focus. According to various small-scale studies, having an excessively large number of friends on Facebook suggests that one may have poor social judgment or be narcissistic. Any attempt to establish an optimal number of Facebook friends will have to factor in things like age, social class, and whether the person was an early user, when Facebook was college-only. These early users may have hundreds of friends, in spite of the fact that they rarely use the site. And then there are trophy friends to consider. How many friends do you have? What are they really worth? Well, according to this article, about 37 cents.
Valentine’s Day 2009: Don’t Have A Black Saturday
[ Comments Off ]Posted on February 13, 2009 by admin in Holidays
Friday, February 13th, 2009Take control of your love life
If you haven’t finished your Valentine shopping by now, you may have a Black Saturday hot on the heels of your Black Friday. We’ve already offered up some Valentine Day suggestions here and here , but we have just a couple more thoughts. First of all, if you’re a woman, you might consider helping your man buy the gifts you want with a Control Your Man Talking Remote
