- TubeGnosis has almost one hundred, free, mind-expanding documentaries to watch. I’m warning you, some of them are batshit crazy. But interesting nonetheless. I’m a massive William S. Burroughs fan (I think he’s one of the best American writers of all time) — as you may know if you’re reading this — and the doc they have on him is very insightful for fans of his, and probably non-fans alike. I have not yet watched the Charlie Mingus doc but I’m sure I would dig that too.
Again, the link.
- Here’s a disgusting statistic: since 2007, almost 50,000 people have died in Mexico via drug-related violence. It’s a goddamn war zone down there. According to the BBC, the “Zetas” cartel has now overtaken their bitter rival, the “Sinaloa” cartel. Here’s an interesting tidit:
“The Zetas control much of eastern Mexico, while the Sinaloa cartel has its stronghold in the west of the country. The authors also point out their differences in strategy. They say that the Zetas whose leadership is composed of ex-special operations soldiers, resort to extreme violence. The Sinaloa cartel, although also ruthless, prefers to bribe and corrupt people, as well as providing intelligence on rivals to the authorities.”
Of course, there’s one way to make cartels completely impotent and insignificant. I would hope we all know what that is.
- Apple sued the Galaxy Tab 10.1 (Samsung) in a Dutch court, claiming it infringed on the iPad design. Apple lost, like it did when it tried the same thing a year ago. German courts are reviewing the a similar case.
It explains that the Hague-based judges noted that the backs and sides of Samsung’s tablet differed from the iPad’s, and that the two firm’s models differed in thickness – allowing informed users to distinguish between the companies’ devices. It said Apple had sought a wide definition of its design rights, based in part on the idea that its model looked like a “mirror-smooth lake” onto which an image appeared.
“This ruling again demonstrates that Apple’s products simply do not warrant the intellectual property protections that it believes,” a spokeswoman said.”Samsung will continue to take all appropriate measures, including legal action, to ensure continued consumer access to our innovative products.”
Apple said it had nothing specific to say about the ruling.
Apple posted record quarterly profits in the 2011 holiday season, a massive 13 billion dollars. During a recession, mind you. This news coming behind news that when Steve Jobs sat down with Obama, he was grilled about how many non-American jobs Apple has, and how those can come back to the United States. Jobs’ response: “Those jobs aren’t coming back.” According to UC Irvine, the iPod created around 15,000 US jobs and about 30,000 overseas jobs. To date, Apple has about 60,000 American workers (10,000 bartending at the genius bar). In comparison, HP has 350,000 American jobs and Dell has 100,000.
Then there’s this article, explaining how the average cost of an iPad is about $250. Looking at Best Buy, I’m seeing that they range from about 5 to 8 hundred dollars. The laptop manufacturing costs vs sales costs are even greater.
Cheap, overseas jobs? Cheap production costs? Being able to charge essentially however much you want because your fans will never leave you? It’s no wonder Apple is competing with Exxon Mobile as the wealthiest company in the world.
[/AppleRant]
- Experiences Are Better When We Know They’re About To End.
Even if the experience is painful or negative, but concludes on a pleasant note, people will consider the event a more positive experience, says Ed O’Brien, a graduate student in the U-M Department of Psychology.
“Endings are powerful,” he said.
-Sonny
