Ohhhh! Now I get it!

For those who opt out of the inevitable table talk, here's some help.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Funny.

My kind of parking meter.

I hate cash. I never carry it. I don't go to banks, or to ATMs. I think it's a complete and total waste of time to use it when there's the friendly alternative: credit cards.

That being said, I will almost always pay the $10 to park in the garage for 20 minutes because I don't have cash to put in a meter. And I use my card to buy a $.99 pack of gum. And so on.

However, yesterday I had to pick-up a sandwich tray that I had ordered for a meeting. The store is downtown, and I figured I'd just wing it and put on my hazards. When I pulled up, I noticed that the street just so happened to have converted to credit-card accepting meters! I think these should be everywhere.

bk

a sign of the times

The above chart was taped to the pump at a local gas station. Airlines were among the first to pass along their rising operational costs to customers; if $.07 per gallon is what it takes to sustain your business, you may want to eat the cost and cut elsewhere rather than post your stinginess.

Undercover 3

I think it's about time to put the $49 into Undercover 3, a Mac security system that plays the same game as a Lojack for your beloved vehicle. Orbicule just announced last week that the latest version [3] utilizes Skyhook Wireless services in coordination with your Mac's WiFi to track your stolen machine within 10-20 meters! Impressive.

In addition, the program takes screen-shots at selected intervals -- to capture user-specific information such as email addresses, credit card info, etc. -- as well as photos of the thief at 6-minute intervals using your machine's camera (iSight capable).

Seems well worth the money to me. Deals for multiple Mac-owners are also available.

Your Email NameTag

If you're using your email for a purpose that could justify intentional anonymity, then you should probably reconsider your medium; otherwise, there is no excuse for not utilizing the built-in nametag function offered by your host.

If your email sits in my inbox with the sender listed as "skibunny3456@yahoo.com" or the ever-popular initials / birth year approach, "stl1965@gmail.com" -- please don't expect any undue follow-up on my end. Combing my archived mail for your unsearchable address is not a task I consider productive.

It's a little piece that could be more important than you think.

bk