thoughtcrumbs : january 2000

Choosing appropriate stock photos

TurboTax should perhaps choose its stock photo models more carefully. Martha Stewart is the last person I want tax advice from.

Moral condemnation by RSS

From Time's "Why Facebook is for Old Fogies":

We [the middle-aged] are lazy. We have jobs and children and houses and substance-abuse problems to deal with. At our age, we don't want to do anything. What we want is to hear about other people doing things and then judge them for it. Which is what news feeds are for.

Dude, this is a pleasure that knows no ageism. I get plenty of satisfaction judging others in my feed. And yes, if you're reading this, that probably means you.

But once those pictures from last weekend's "summer in February" party come out, you'll be judging me, too. C'est la vie virtual. I still hold that that bikini top was appropriate public attire.

From Sumo to Shanice

Review of Freakonomics over in Reading.

Thinking outside the box

From the profile of urban environmental leader Van Jones in the New Yorker:

When his parents gave him Luke Skywalker and Han Solo action figures, instead of arranging them to fight he would have them run for imaginary public offices.