November 23rd, 2007
$620M for Quebec manufacturers hit by loonie rise
If you’re too lazy to read, the Liberal government is issuing tax cuts and other beneficial adjustments to help struggling Quebec manufacturers whose business has been negatively affected by the rising value of the Canadian dollar. Real cute.
While all of us consumers are enjoying the strong dollar (at least in theory, because importers are mostly pocketing the exchange), these factories are suffering. Why are they suffering ? Maybe because they rely too much on exports; if their income were coming primarily from within Canada, they would be somewhat indifferent to the exchange rate. A smart business would adjust to the changing economic climate, taking measures to use the strong dollar to their advantage. Considering how quickly this has happened, I can understand a reasonable amount of lag, but I’m not particularly impressed by this governmental ass-kissing. Businesses come and go, and every time the government gets involved to artificially protect something, someone else has to foot the bill.
I say let the businesses suffer, because if and when they fail, lessons will be learned and a newcomer will rise where its predecessor fell.
September 5th, 2007
Apple cuts 8GB iPhone price to $399 - Engadget
And people are pissed off about it! And I’m pissed off at these people!
The same brainwashed idiots who stood in line two months ago to get a goddamned iPhone are now bitching about the price drop, whining about resale value and how they feel “insulted”. Forums are abuzz with angry socialites who somehow feel entitled to a $200 refund. If it was worth $599 to you back then, why is it suddenly worthless today ?
To me, a person that stands in line for hours to buy an… Read the rest of this entry »
June 9th, 2007
Who is Bill ? At one point I was defined as “an angry coagulate of superior intellect and vast technoculture”.
Well yes, I am those things. More importantly, I’m a guy who has hardly ever cared for tradition. One time-honored tradition of the human race is to work until you’re very old and/or dead. Give 40 years to a company, build up a retirement fund, and hope to have enough life in you to enjoy it. I consider that mentality obsolete in the 21st century… Read the rest of this entry »
May 28th, 2007
Domain tasting, from Wikipedia
This is a throw down. The practice known as “domain tasting” or “domain kiting” must be put to an end. It is unethical and just plain sneaky… Read the rest of this entry »
May 21st, 2007
Optimus Maximus: 113 keys, ready to pre-order - Engadget
If you’ve been paying attention at all, you’ll know that the overhyped design shop known as Art Lebedev has been teasing the world with this outrageous keyboard for years now. After a few pre-pre-pre-releases just to remind us they’re still attention whores, they’re now accepting pre-orders for the notorious keyboard where each key has its own personal OLED display… Read the rest of this entry »
May 5th, 2007
On Friday, Brazil decided to bypass a pharmaceutical patent in order to get better AIDS treatment for its people. They were in negotiations with Merck, creator of the Efavirenz drug, but couldn’t reach an agreement on the price. Brazil’s president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (I call him Louie) made the decision to break the patent and put his citizens first… Read the rest of this entry »
May 5th, 2007
Hey boys and girls, does anyone remember AllAdvantage ? The advertising plugin that paid you to surf the net ? Lots of people made good money with that program, which paid out over 120 million US dollars over in just a few short years. AllAdvantage closed down after the dot.com crash, as the chances of a successful IPO at that point were slim to none.
Well they’re back!… Read the rest of this entry »
May 4th, 2007
I’ll be attending the Future of Online Advertising in New York City on June 7th and 8th, a two-day event for online advertisers and bloggers, featuring an all-star panel of speakers including Jay Adelson of Digg fame, Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.net and many many other top dogs of the industry. If you plan on going, email me for a 10% discount code ;)… Read the rest of this entry »
