J-Walk Blog: June 10, 2004 Archives

10 June, 2004

Fender Is For Sale. No It's Not

From BBC News: Guitar maker Fender 'up for sale'.

Fender, supplier of electric guitars to top rock stars since the 1950s, has put itself up for sale, the Financial Times has reported.

But wait!

From the Phoenix Business Journal: Fender CDO denies firm is for sale.

"As you may be aware, an article has recently appeared in a number of financial publications in which there is reference made to the potential sale of Fender Musical Instruments Corp.," said Bill Schultz, chairman and chief executive of Fender. "I want to make sure that you hear this straight from me: This article is completely erroneous, and Fender is not for sale.

Posted on 10 June, 2004

Seem Smarter

Here's some advice: How to seem smarter.

The goal behind this painless four-step plan is to seem smarter without having to read any books, listen to classical music, or depend on crutches like word-of-the-day toilet paper. By making a few minor modifications to your behavior, you will give the impression to those around you that you are smarter--not only smarter than you were before, but, more importantly, smarter than they are.

The first suggestion, Say Less, makes a lot of sense to me. By and large, most smart people don't talk very much. For example, I rarely speak.

Posted on 10 June, 2004

R.I.P, Ray

Sad news: Ray Charles dies at 73.

Ray Charles, the Grammy-winning crooner who blended gospel and blues in such crowd-pleasers as "What'd I Say" and heartfelt ballads like "Georgia on My Mind," died Thursday, a spokesman said. He was 73.

One of my favorite albums of all time is his Modern Sounds In Country And Western Music. My parents played it all the time when I was a kid. I bought the CD about three years ago and it still sounds great.

I think he would have liked this joke:

Logical proof that Ray Charles is God:

1. God is Love.
2. Love is Blind.
3. Ray Charles is Blind.
Therefore: Ray Charles is God.

Posted on 10 June, 2004

Encyclopedia Britannica Replica

For $195 you can get a replica of the three-volume 1768 Encyclopedia Britannica.

Three complete volumes of the original 1768 Encyclopedia Britannica, First Edition. Painstakingly exact facsimile reproductions of natural age marks and watermarks. Duplicate of the original binding, down to the cherished imperfections.

(via Gizmodo)

Posted on 10 June, 2004

Average Jane

Every once in a while, I notice a link from the Average Jane blog in my referrer logs. I've visited the site 5-6 times, and every time I go there, I end up reading all of the new posts.

It's a personal diary-type blog, no links. It has a simple black-and-white design. The content matter can best be described as mundane. In her words:

This weblog is nothing more or less than the random observations of an "average jane" as she makes her way through life. My goal is that it be amusing much of the time, although I know myself well enough to expect the occasional rant to creep in now and then.

I usually don't read these kind of blogs, but there's something about Average Jane that makes it very entertaining -- and much better than the average blog. Part of the appeal is the titles to her posts. All of the entries have a title that refers to the author in the third-person (e.g., "Average Jane Bakes" or "Average Jane Works in a Meat Locker" or "Average Jane Herds Cats").

She has a link to this blog, so she must check in here occasionally. Hi Jane!

Posted on 10 June, 2004

Moving Sale: Excel 2003 Formulas

Yesterday's moving sale was a success. Selling stuff on a blog is a lot easier than using Ebay.

Here's today's item:

The Excel 2003 Bibles are gone. Now I have six copies of Excel 2003 Formulas for sale. Signed by the author. $27 each, including shipping (list price is $44.95). To order, send an email and I'll reply with credit card payment instructions. US orders only.

Update: Sold out.

Posted on 10 June, 2004

Ebay Catalog

From Glossy News: Ebay Catalog Mailings Mire Postal Service to a Crawl.

Ebay has been feeling the growing pressure from mail order catalog companies due to their revived success in recent years. Consumers often don't know what they want and having the luxury of flipping through pages was something Ebay just couldn't offer, until now.

The catalogs are organized alphabetically by category and mail out letter-by-letter each postal day of the month with "A" arriving around the first, "B" on the second, and ending with the special "Y-Z" issue arriving on the last day of 30-day months. Each catalog ranges from 900 to 1400 pages in length with tens of thousands of small blurry photos and vague or poorly worded descriptions.

Posted on 10 June, 2004

A Tale Of Two Real Estate Agents

Yesterday, escrow closed on our house. So we are now officially "homeless" (we're renting the house from the new owner for the next 30 days). A few weeks ago, escrow closed on a rental condo that I've owned for the past 11 years. So that means I've had recent dealing with two listing real estate agents. Although both of them sold their respective property quickly, their overall styles were amazingly different.

Jim

Jim was the listing agent for the condo. At our first meeting he had the sales contract completed, with a commission rate of 6%. The going rate in this area is 5%, so I had him change it. During the course of the sale, all communications I had were with his assistants. When the deal closed, he called me back to thank me for the business, but I sensed that it was actually a thinly veiled attempt to get referrals for more business.

He did his job, and the condo sold at the full list price. It was a satisfactory experience, but certainly nothing out of the ordinary.

Jim's grade: C.

Vicki

Vicki was the listing agent for our residence. When she arrived, the sales contract had a 5% commission rate written in, with an additional clause: the rate would be reduced to 4% if she sold the house herself (i.e., no seller's agent would be involved). As it turns out, the house never even made it to the multiple listing service. Vicki sold the house within two days at the full asking price. But after about two weeks, the buyer got cold feet and backed out of the deal. Amazingly, Vicki re-sold the house the very next day for $2,000 above the asking price.

Although she has an assistant, Vicki has kept in constant touch with me. She even sent her handyman husband over to fix a few things that were discovered during the inspection (no charge). Last night when she delivered the check, there was a nice surprise: A thank-you card with a personal check from her for $500 ("for dinner on me").

Based on my experiences over the years, my general opinion of real estate professionals was not very high. But this experience was so above and beyond what's expected from a real estate agent, that I was flabbergasted. If anybody in the San Diego area is looking for a real estate agent, let me know and I'll hook you up with Vicki.

Vicki's grade: A++.

Posted on 10 June, 2004

Candy Wrappers

Check out the Candy Wrapper Museum...

... where wrappers are to be enjoyed as art, nostalgia, and humor.

Shown here is a candy wrapper created by R. Crumb.

(via Pop Culture Junk Mail)

Posted on 10 June, 2004

Lifecasting

Everything you need to make replicas of body parts: Life-Casting.

Lifecasting or bodycasting is the art of taking molds directly from the human body. It is an ancient art form dating back to the time of the Egyptians where body casts were made as a means of transport to the next world.

Here you will find the largest offerings of lifecasting art, body cast kits, life casting supplies, casting and sculpture tools, videos, books and instruction found anywhere. We have many unique bodycasting items that can be found nowhere else and all at great prices, too.

Shown here is an example of what can be done with the Face Casting Kit.

(via Information Junk)

Posted on 10 June, 2004

Drunk Simulation

For $99 you can get a pair of goggles that simulate drunkenness: Drunk Busters Impairment Goggles.

Dunk Busters Impairment Goggles simulate effects of impairment, including reduced alertness, slowed reaction time, confusion, visual distortion, alteration of depth and distance perception, reduction of peripheral vision, poor judgment and decision making, double vision, and lack of muscular coordination.

Caution: Do not operate a motor vehicle while wearing these goggles.

(via Steel White Table)

Posted on 10 June, 2004

Virtual Pet Cemetary

At the Virtual Pet Cemetery, people submit stories about their pets who have passed on. Here's one about Snowy:

Snowy is the most adorable chicken, everyday we let her out and let her go wherever she went, she will come back to us every night, sometimes when she is home a bit late, she will knock on the window with her beak. She is the most clever chicken. But she fell of the roof once and broke her neck, she did not survive that fell. I here by wish her a good time if their really is a animal heaven, she would be happy there.

And here's one for Chaya, a leopard gecko:

My beloved Leopard Gecko, Chaya, passed away today February 3, 2002. I woke up this morning, she had been sick and I found her dead. I love you, Chaya, I'm sure you're someplace better. You used to love crickets and would chase my hair, thinking that my auburn curls were crickets. Since you had leopard spots and most of the upholstery in my room was leopard print, you'd blend in perfectly. I will always remember and love you and you will always be my little dragon.

I'm not sure why, but reading these pet obituaries is more touching than reading obituaries of dead humans.

Posted on 10 June, 2004

Murphy's Laws

Lots of Murphy's Laws lists at the Murphy's Laws Site. Here are a few examples from the Technology list:

Technology is dominated by those who manage what they do not understand.
If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization.
If mathematically you end up with the incorrect answer, try multiplying by the page number.
Computers are unreliable, but humans are even more unreliable. Any system which depends on human reliability is unreliable.

Posted on 10 June, 2004

America Needs Dirt

An Web site that's actually an ad for Wisk: America Needs Dirt.

Posted on 10 June, 2004

Petals Around The Roses

This has been making the rounds lately: Bill Gates and Petals Around the Roses.

The name of the game is Petals Around the Rose, and that name is significant. Newcomers to the game can be told that much. They can also be told that every answer is zero or an even number. They can also be told the answer for every throw of the dice that are used in the game. And that's all the information they get.

I think the name itself is a dead give-away. It took me exactly one round to figure it out.

Posted on 10 June, 2004

An Interview With America

This is an interesting way to present the results from opinion polls: Voice of a Superpower.

The 2004 U.S. presidential election may be the first in decades to center on the candidates' foreign-policy views. So what do most Americans really think about Iraq, terrorism, North Korea, and free trade? Herewith an "interview" with the American people, with each answer reflecting majority positions in recent opinion polls. Americans' surprising preferences offer insight into what voters want from their next president.

Posted on 10 June, 2004

Baby Birds

Here's a nice gallery of baby chickadee photos.

One of the bluebird boxes I monitor opens in such a way that it's easy to take pictures of the nest. This is a daily log of the Carolina Chickadee family that's nesting in this box in April-May 2004.

(via Triple-S Blog)

Posted on 10 June, 2004