Archives for January 2003

Kmart Files Plan of Reorganization and Announces Investment Agreement [PR Newswire: Retail]

Malcolm X. “The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.” [Adam Curry: Adam Curry’s Weblog]

Oddsmakers: Gut Hunch Over Tech. Bettors will wager more than $70 million on Super Bowl XXXVII. In many ways, the chief oddsmakers at Caesar’s Palace have their jobs down to a science, but ultimately the opinions of two guys are what matters. Steve Friess reports from Las Vegas. [Wired News]

Not sure how I feel about this…

Doctor to a young man, just 27 years old. “I have bad news, good news, and bad news.”

First the bad news. You have a terminal disease. Without treatment, you will die.

Now the good news. There’s a drug that will hold back the disease. Unless there’s a cure, you will have to take it for the rest of your life.

Now the bad news. The drug costs $700 per month. Your insurance will cover it. But if you get fired or laid off, eventually you will have to pay for it out of your own pocket, or die.

This is a real story.

[Scripting News]

An excellent Jamie Zawinski rant on Linux usability. [Scripting News]

Yet another reason that I prefer Linux for most things…

MS SQL Server Worm Wreaking Havoc [Slashdot]

Friday: Cell Portage. Reuters reports that cell service operators want telephone phone portability — but only if it applies to both wireless and landline phone numbers. It’s hard to argue that that’s a bad thing. The cell industry cites a huge cost — $1 billion in this article — at providing full wireless number portability, or allowing their customer to keep their phone numbers when they switch providers. It’s a road to hell, of course, because the cell companies are already engaged in mutually assured destructive commerce in which the discounts they charge pretty much are guaranteed to lose them money. Add the ability to switch and retain numbers, and you’ll see the kinds of migrations that are typically associated with species of birds. It doesn’t have to be this way: the companies have all failed to learn the lesson of the race to the bottom. They’ll all wind up bankrupt or albatrosses around parent companies’ necks or serving their customers horribly. But that’s what happens when the only differentiator they can think of is price and Catherine “expose that flesh” Zeta-Jones versus the “can you hear me guy” guy … [GlennLog]