We all have good ideas. Why are so few of these ever brought to light?

So, every now and then, an idea pops into my head. Occasionally, they’re good ideas. You know, ideas where you scratch your head and go, “hey, I’m not that smart, so if I thought of it, why hasn’t anyone else?”

Here’s an example. You may recall I wrote an article about the iPod interface in my Acura and how horrible it is. It got me thinking. There is a fair bit of standardization in car stereos… size, for instance. There …

Can Pascal’s Wager be applied to the Global Climate Change debate?

There’s a guy, apparently a science teacher, who has a series of videos out on the web where he tries to simplify the debate about Global Warming to a very rudimentary decision. Essentially, he purports, if we do nothing, then the possibility of global catastrophe exists. However, if we start immediate and widespread change against CO2 emissions, then the worst thing that could happen (complete economic ruin) isn’t that bad.

Search YouTube for “manpollo” and you’ll see a list of this guy’s (I have no idea what his name …

I think this country needs Darwin Laws.

Like, if the defense counsel can demonstrate that the harm to the plaintiff was done pro-actively because the plaintiff is stupid, then the case should be dismissed.

Think of how much better this nation would be if the government stops wasting time on lawsuits brought about by people being stupid.  Plus, dumb people will die off, or at least we will be able to tell who they are by their scars.  And businesses can spend less time and effort and resources trying to keep idiots safe, and redirect those resources to making better products that …

Recently, Amazon announced the release of it’s electronic book reader, the Kindle, to mixed reviews.  Here’s what I think about it.

Reading books in electronic format is nothing new.  eBooks have been around for several years now, as have dedicated electronic readers.  Sony, within the past year or so, released their latest eReader, and has very recently updated it.  The only thing new here is the use of eInk, which takes no power to display, so the battery last a very long time (thousands of page turns).

Amazon’s kindle is very similar, but with some notable differences.  Most notable, in my opinion, …

Over the course of my geek life, I have collected and used many gadgets.  Some have been good and some have been bad.  To shed light on what makes a gadget good in the eyes of a geek, I give you “The 10 Commandments of Geek Gadgetry.”

I. Thou shalt use a standard plug (preferably USB).  I cannot tell you how convenient it is to have gadgets that use standard plugs for power and to interface with a PC or other piece of hardware.  It just makes life so much better when something fails or if you have to, God forbid, …

Why does everyone insist on comparing Apple to Microsoft?  In my opinion, there is no comparison.  It’s apples and oranges… er, apples and flags.

I am neither an Apple fanboy nor a Microsoft fanboy.  In fact, I think both companies have done wonderful things for us personal users of technology.  But to say that one is better than the other connotes a competition, a head-to-head, mano-a-mano situation that simply does not exist.  Let’s look at what I’m talking about.

First of all, the competition just isn’t there.  Apple creates products for Windows.  Microsoft creates products for Mac.  In fact, Microsoft is one …

Is the music industry dying?  Is piracy killing it?

Confession time.  I don’t believe the music industry is dying.  Not in the least.  But I had to have a catchy title to get you to read, didn’t I?  Gotcha!

But seriously, what can be made of the music industry today?  The industry spokespeople are all up-in-arms because the sales of CDs is declining and the sales of online purchases aren’t making up the difference.  I recently had an email conversation with a friend about the current state of music and how it makes it onto our iPods.

First of all, it is my …

Okay, this is going to be a very controversial article.  I will offend some people and I will delight some people.  Realize this is opinion, and it is mine.  Take it.  Leave it.  Flame me.  Laud me.  Whatever you wish.

I just read most of an article about, well I am not sure what it’s about.  It started off talking about the dumbing down of America, which I believe is a sad, but albeit true notion.  This nation is getting way too complacent and easily-controlled.

But the article began to stray into odd territory, which is why I stopped reading.  One phrase …