Archive for August, 2009
Proposers versus Producers
Posted by thak in business, economics, government, philosophical, politics on August 28, 2009
Proposers versus Producers | Foundation for Economic Education. An interesting question. Should make you think…
Unchain our office computers
Posted by thak in business, jobs, philosophical, security on August 27, 2009
Why corporate IT should unchain our office computers | Slate Magazine. A-freaking-men. It’s hard to quantify–or even describe–the amount of lost productivity due to the chains inflicted on the corporate work force. How much creativity is squashed? How many time-saving innovations are just not possible due to ridiculous restrictions?
There are a lot of reasons I’m not in IT any more, and this is a major one. The inability to affect change in the organization after 15 years was just too much to take. I can do far more good as “just another engineer” than I could writing major systems. And because I’m not shackled by all of the inane paperwork, I can get stuff done 100x faster.
The FDIC is broke
Posted by thak in economics, freaky, government, philosophical, politics on August 24, 2009
WorldNetDaily | The FDIC is broke. It’s pretty stinking depressing. But this is precisely why depending on the government to “save” you is not a reasonable plan.
Don’t believe the lies–and make sure you’ve got your finances under control. Because it sure looks like it’s going to get really bad really quick.
Tech Support Cheat Sheet
xkcd – A Webcomic – Tech Support Cheat Sheet. This is way too true.
Obama’s Health-Insurance Cartel
Posted by thak in economics, government, health, philosophical, politics on August 21, 2009
Foundation for Economic Education » Obama’s Health-Insurance Cartel. More on the health-care debacle.
If this thing gets passed, we’re all completely screwed. No two ways about it.
And I’ll be shouting “I told you so!” within 10 years.
Bendable, transparent LEDs
Scientists make bendable, transparent LEDs—without organics – Ars Technica. This is a seriously awesome breakthrough. The options are…well…astounding.
VirusTotal
VirusTotal – Free Online Virus and Malware Scan. This is a seriously cool service.
Interview with Ian Wishart
Posted by thak in freaky, government, green, philosophical, politics on August 18, 2009
Vox Popoli: Interview with Ian Wishart. A great interview that talks to the global warming scam. Pretty amazing stuff–but you’ve got to think, instead of just believing the hype…
The Overlooked Solution for Health Care
Posted by thak in business, economics, government, health, philosophical, politics on August 17, 2009
This is just a snippet from the fabulous article:
The libertarian may never convince the statist, but the first (and perhaps the last) thing to be discussed should be whether medical care is a right. Of course, it can’t be a right. In the absence of a contract, no one can have a right to anything that must be provided by someone else’s labor. It really is that simple. The alternative proposition is in essence a slave proposition. Most people will never be persuaded by the excellent efficiency arguments against nationalized medicine — the fact that bureaucratic rationing and triage are inevitable with government in charge — if they cling to the medical-care-is-a-right theory. So we may as well have the debate there.
No Right, No Service?
The libertarian must also head the statist off at this pass: the inference that if you don’t believe health care is a right, you must believe that people of modest means would be — and even should be — without adequate medical attention.
Of course, this is ridiculous. Opposition to nationalized agriculture or housing doesn’t imply that people of modest means should starve or go homeless. When you consider how concentrated wealth was throughout history, it is astonishing how competent market-oriented society — despite all the State’s efforts to cripple it — has been at delivering necessities and one-time luxuries to the masses. From the Industrial Revolution onward, to the extent people have been free to engage in enterprise, it was regular people whose living standard increased by orders of magnitude.
via Foundation for Economic Education » The Overlooked Solution for Health Care.
Five Futuristic Interfaces on Display at SIGGRAPH
Technology Review: Five Futuristic Interfaces on Display at SIGGRAPH. This is some of the craziest stuff I’ve ever seen…