We are told risk is one of the major reasons executives get paid more. In order to attract their talents and contacts and skills and money, businesses have to fork over cash. And “risk” is often also cited as the reason we should get rid of, or minimize, capital gains and other taxes on the [...]

Posted in Commerce 4 Comments »

Start My Game points out that Microsoft is putting more barriers in the way of XBox Live Silver users accessing content. (XBox Live Silver: the free online account.) I’m not really clear on what the XBox Live thing gives me, but it seems to primarily be access to multiplayer online gaming and downloadable demos. And [...]

Posted in Entertainment, Grumbles 11 Comments »

What would happen if we could replace sleep with drugs? DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency)-funded researchers think they’ve
found a hormone that resets the brain, making sleep-deprived laboratory monkeys perform as though well-rested.
Deane at Gadgetopia seems pretty excited by the idea:
I hate having to sleep so much that I asked my coworkers once [...]

Posted in Technology 3 Comments »

I’ve been reading Joe Hill’s novel
Heart Shaped Box the last several days, and it’s been an education in developing a story idea. The novel I started for NaNoWriMo this time (but didn’t finish) is still stuck in my head. And although it bears almost no resemblance at all to Joe Hill’s story, it does [...]

Posted in Art and Writing 2 Comments »

From the New York Times:

The new energy bill signed this week makes it official. When 2012 hits, stores can no longer sell the cheap but inefficient incandescent light bulbs that are fixtures in most homes. [
No Joke, Bulb Change Is Challenge for U.S. ]

Good news for the environment, I suppose, but really bad news [...]

Posted in Technology 9 Comments »