Archive for January, 2008
Dear Wisconsin : Wake up!
I live in the fair state of Wisconsin (in the fair city of Milwaukee, for those of you playing along at home). Having grown up next door in lovely Minnesota, I’ve enjoyed exploring the various similarities and differences between these two Midwest neighbors.
Recently, I’ve become extremely frustrated with the short sighted approach taken by my state legislators when considering a state wide smoking ban. Minnesota, Illinois, and a handful of municipalities in the state have gone completely smoke-free for indoor workplaces. The state legislator is stuck on this issue and it doesn’t look promising for this session.
Here’s the flaw in their logic, and the reason I’m scolding them for being too short sighted:
Instead of promoting Wisconsin as a progressive, dynamic state and enticing young professionals like myself, the legislature is bending over backward to protect the economic interests of the small bars in northern Wisconsin. Net effect : Minnesota & Illinois look a whole lot more appealing!
Yes, I am drawing a clear line here. I firmly believe that there is more economic benefit for the state as a whole to promote and encourage a health-conscious agenda that appeals most to today’s professional adults. Even if that comes at the expense of a few bars up north. Of course, every state that has gone smoke free has discovered that the bar owners generally increase revenue by attracting more customers, but I’m sure there will be at least a few hole in the wall bars that will suffer. So be it.
The times are changing. Wisconsin needs to wake up and meet the change head on!
Filed under Milwaukee, culture, politics : Comments (5) : Jan 31st, 2008
Jan 31, 2007 : Never Forget
One year ago today, we learned just how far the Boston police could overreact to a harmless advertising prank.
In honor of the anniversary, makers all over Boston put up similar LED artworks.
Filed under culture : Comments (0) : Jan 31st, 2008
State of the Union 2008
Someone, please hand that man a calculator.
As far as I can tell, Bush’s final State of the Union address can be summed up thusly:
Cut taxes. Increase government spending & programs. Never leave Iraq. God bless America.
Not exactly the sort of message we’re looking for, and certainly not the sort of message you would expect from the party that once stood for fiscal conservatism. It’s pretty clear that those days are long past when Bush starts trumpeting his economic stimulus boondoggle plan that’s likely to do no good at great cost.
Cato Institute: Pressroom — Cato Scholars Comment on Bush’s Last State of the Union Address via kwout
Filed under economics, politics : Comments (0) : Jan 29th, 2008
USPTO is broken
In another example of capitalism-gone-wrong, the US Patent Office just issued an extremely vague patent for “A mobile entertainment and communication device in a palm-held size housing” (Read: smartphone).
The company filing this patent is a group of patent-trolls who prey on the success of others by filing patents for products they didn’t invent, then suing everyone with a bank account once it proves to be commercially successful.
Gigatec – Home via kwout
Patents are a crucial legal tool to protect innovators & inventors. When abused in this way, everybody loses. [Read more at Engadget]
Filed under technology : Comments (0) : Jan 26th, 2008
Fun with Google
I’ve never invested much time or energy into promoting tadfad.com, so it’s always a little surprising when Google picks up on one of my pages. Using their webmaster tool kit, I stumbled upon this today:
For all those Volvo radio hackers out there, I’m #1 in Google results. [Small victories must be celebrated.]
Filed under Uncategorized : Comments (0) : Jan 25th, 2008
