Random Frivolity 

Every now and then I like to just blather on about a whole bunch of completely disparate and random topics. This is one of those posts. I will frame my topics somewhat like you might see on the The McLaughlin Group... The SNL parodies of that were always hilarious in my mind... I miss Dana Carvey.

Issue Number 1. Why do computer programmers think they are a bunch of namby pamby know it alls? I had to install some software this morning at work. So I closed down my programming stuff because that was being modified, and just started reading some news. All of a sudden, everything starts closing and my computer reboots without even asking me. Excuse me? You want to reboot my computer, you ask first. Don't think you know everything. Maybe I wanted to install several things one after the other (which I did), and would just like to reboot once thank you very much. God damn programmers!

Issue Number 2. Today was the day of reckoning at Starbucks... yes they raised their prices by 11 cents. They of course claim that its because coffee prices have gone up, etc. Of course when it only costs them 65 cents to make a $3.00 latte, I can't say as I buy that excuse. I do feel badly for the baristas since most people simply throw their change in the tip jar, and now there will be less. They're really the ones who will suffer. But the funniest thing was watching the 10 o'clock news last night when they interviewed some customers about the increase. One woman actually said "They shouldn't be allowed to do that". Why the hell not? The very fact that people think that scares me. If you don't want to pay the extra 11 cents, then try going to Caraboo Coffee, or Altera, or Jitters. If it bothers you, then make Starbucks feel the need to lower their prices to compete for your business. That's the beauty of capitalism. Starbucks is in it to make as much profit as they can, and they have every right to. Starbucks coffee is not an entitlement.

Issue Number 3. I wonder how many times something like this has happened before while searching through someone's bags?

"It was rather disconcerting when the rubbish bin started humming furiously," Lynne Bryant, manager of the cafeteria at Mackay Airport, told the Australian Associated Press. "We called security and next minute everybody was being evacuated while they checked it out."
...
Bryant admitted that that's what the buzzing device had sounded like all along, but added that these days, "you can't afford to take chances."

That's right... a vibrator left in a garbage can shut down an entire airport in Australia. Question... who throws away a vibrator? Well I suppose you do when it stops working... but that obviously wasn't the case here. On a side not... I love how Australians speak. Very sexy. Same goes for the British.

Issue Number 4. The Veep debate last night. Just some quick comments as I didn't watch the whole thing. They both got in some dingers... but I think Cheney hit the mark more often than Edwards. Personally I like Cheney's speaking style. It's very calm and confident. He always looks like he's put significant thought into what he's saying. Moreover, he looks like he's always speaking with you, not at you like a stump speech. So the current score is that Kerry probably won Debate 1 (though not by enough to make a huge dent), and Cheney probably won Debate 2 (though not by enough to make a huge dent). Basically it boils down to this... most people aren't going to be swayed from their current positions by the debates. So why does anyone watch them?

Issue Number 5. Gmail has added some nice features, which reminds me that I still have 6 Gmail Invites to burn. If you're interested, either drop a comment or send an email to my Gmail address (which you can find to your right) and you can have it. Obviously they're on a first come first serve basis. I'd also like to take the time to point out that I don't post my email address using plain text on my blog. That's because viruses can very easily pick them up that way and boom... you get flooded with crap. I actually use a javascript encoder that works very slick... and I highly recommend it to those of you who want to put your email address on your site.