Category Archives: Uncategorized

Its been an tough 2 weeks for the fantasists of “unfettered” free market capitalism. Volkswagen admitted they had written their diesel engine’s control software to detect and cheat on emissions testing.  Actual particulate emissions were 40 times higher than the EPA allowed.  Done deliberately and … Continue reading →

GOP candidate Scott Walker’s abrupt departure from the race is more interesting for the likely machinations behind it.  They show the perversions and risks of a campaign finance system based on a small, interlocking group of individual contributors.    General risks to American Democracy yes (see … Continue reading →

Many winters past, when paper still existed, Conde Nast or the like tried bundling ALL of selected household’s magazine subscriptions into one convenient bill.  Some bright spark’s idea was that would lower billing collection/delinquency costs for the publisher.  The result? … Continue reading →

Getting the blog back up and running.  Been buried in work and getting the personal life sorted out, but feeling the itch to bitch.  Watch this space…

It took me about a year and a half to have a pathetically elementary insight about Google Fiber.   Like a lot of people, I’d been thinking mostly about the impact on incumbent providers and the market.  It took me this … Continue reading →

A short conversation today crystallized the unease I feel around the whole “Apple” phenomenon.  I can already hear the barricades going up.  But hear me out for a moment.  Keep that drawbridge open a crack.  I am here to parlay. … Continue reading →

Sitting in the sun (wearing a coat) at a Starbucks in Oklahoma City.  Next stop (hopefully) Alamogordo NM.  Had really good authentic Korean in Missouri for lunch (next to an Army base in the Ozarks that must deploy units there … Continue reading →

So we hit Best Buy yesterday to buy my mother some new tech toys.  The outcome is a microcosm of where Android is slowly encircling and, (I think) eventually enveloping Apple. My mother’s specific request was for a device to … Continue reading →

Apple just sold $2B dollars of 30 year bonds paying 3.45%.  In technical terms, they have managed to get $2 BILLION REAL DOLLARS for a some cash up front followed by Monopoly money, magic beans, snake oil, Imperial Russian railways bonds, and … Continue reading →

Google is reported to be launching a wireless service in the US based on both the Sprint and T-Mobile networks.  This could be another failed Google half-effort.  But it could also be “the” disruptive event in wireless.  On par with AT&T’s One-Rate … Continue reading →