Needless prognotication?

Philosophers are expected to argue some silly shit. I had a friend earnestly describe God as a pizza pie. Thinking outside the box about weird things is a great way to stretch those critical thinking muscles. It is more suspect when law students start crowding in our well earned turf. Adam Chodorow wanted a solid argument on how to deal with Zombies. Not in the usual fashion, rather for the purposes of taxation. That's right kids, when the zombies come Uncle Sam needs to know which arm and leg to take from them. This utterly useless academic endeavor should have most normal people wondering why law school costs so much. This paper is on par with Hermione Grangers' midterm scrolls. I recognize it as the most amusing strengthening of a lawyers critical faculties -- case law and problem solving. While I would be worried if my lawyer espoused crazy theories in actual practice but school is supposed to be about expanding your mind and trying new, difficult things. Arguing whether estate taxes apply during a zombie apocalypse is one of the cooler things you can do at University.

Death and Taxes and Zombies

(Via io9)

That time of the year again

Rather depressing state of Fark lately, must be an election year. What with WorldNetDaily (refuse to link to them; i will link to the Fark thread) going off on Sherif Joe Arpaio and the Birther movement going in full effect, it's enough to drive a sane person mad! Why so many people insist the President is not an American is astounding. In 30 years I can't wait to read the psychological studies about why so many people thought this, or more importantly why so many supposedly smart people let the idiocy carry on for so long. One of the darker times, same can be said for the laws being passed banning gay marriage. Sorry for letting the libertarian flag fly.

An Alternate Smart Watch

A significant number of nerds put their money where their watches are with the Pebble Smart watch, with good reason. It is useful, in a geeky way. Currently on kickstarter is an alternative that tries to find the middle ground between proper wrist watches and technolusty gear that requires constant charging. With a pile of electronics requiring nightly charging clutters my nightstand, I resent the fact I can keep my watch in a desk drawer with nary a second thought. Poor battery life hinders smart watches. People don't want to have to charge their watches weekly when a $9.99 plastic watch can last years on a single battery. The same could have been said in 2007 about cell phones. When properly ignored, a Nokia brick would last 2 weeks on a single charge. The idea of having to charge your phone nightly or during the day harkened back to the dark times of the mid 80s and the Zack Morris phone (for a show set in the 90s it sure had a lot of the 1980s in it). Apple, with the iPhone, proved the burden of daily charging disappears with the benefits of running a personal computer in your pocket. With the cookoo their answer to the battery problem is one of diminished capacity. In order to get a battery life of one year they eschew the fancy e-ink displays and share only the barest information across bluetooth. Whether this watch will be the best one is for the kickstarter community to decide. But, if the cookoo could let a person do half of what they can with the Pebble for half the price, all the while keeping the nightstand clear of yet another gadget, would you purchase one?

cookoo™ — Kickstarter

(Via Cult of Mac)

It prints money

Everyone talks about how Nintendo makes money re-releasing their classic titles every time a new system comes out. This is often spoken of chidingly. However, since it gives the younger audience a chance to play these classic games, I'm willing to let it slide. Kojima does the exact same thing with their Metal Gear Solid games, and I'm positively thankful for it! They started with Metal Gear Solid by having it re-released on the Gamecube. By everyone's estimate the use of the MGS2 Sons of Liberty engine ruined the gameplay of the original. When it came time to offer up the game for portable and PS3 they returned to the original. It's telling that MGS1 did not get the HD upgrade like all the other games in the Metal Gear Solid pantheon. Despite owning the original collectors edition of MGS for the Playstation 2, I gladly purchased the new HD release, if only so I could play in its new up-rezed glory. I'm also not ashamed to say that my PS2 (fat) is a little long in the tooth -- it doesn't even play PS1 games unless it's standing on end. Persnickety doesn't begin to describe it! In 10 years when I'm using the PSn+1 they'll release a new compilation of the Metal Gear Solid games, with all sorts of nifty new things that will undoubtedly justify the price of entry. I'm not ashamed yet of Kojima doing this, though I fear the day I do.

The internet is the place to be.

It really isn't much of a secret I lived in western Kansas for too many years to be considered healthy so it may come as a shock that I finally bit the bullet and moved to an actual city. The only reason I was able to do it was due to the wonders of the modern era. Telecommuting isn't just for coffee shop writers anymore. It ensures that so long as you can afford the trip, moving isn't limited to whether you can get a job at your final destination. An interesting side effect of this is, assuming you can handle the surroundings; moving to an area with inexpensive cost of living can lead to a quicker retirement. That's just an absurd aside. So long as you have a stable social base outside of work I would absolutely suggest trying out the work from home. The coffee is better, traffic will never be a concern and you never have to worry about missing a package delivery ever again.