I am a gadget freak. There, I've said it. I love gadgets, but oddly enough, I like there to be a certain simplicity, or if not simplicity, then maybe clarity or standardisation to how they work. This should not come as a surprise to anyone who knows me, such as some of the others here who have been involved in a radio show called Little Brother a few years back.

That said, there is one thing I have learned to despise greatly, and that is all of the extraneous software that comes bundled with every gadget.

Now, I'm not talking about drivers and such. These are an absolute necessity. I'm talking about the stuff that "customises" the look and feel of your computer to "complement" the gadget you have purchased. Most of the time, you don't actually need this crap, because your computer has enough software on it as part of the operating system to take care of things all by itself. That's what the drivers are for, after all.

Sirius and XM have finally anounced their agreement to merge their respective satellite radio services. I've been wishing for this for a while.. sort of..

The satellite radio industry first made the collective mistake of not standardizing the methods of transmitting and receiving digital satellite broadcasts. The FCC didn't do it, I suppose, because they were too busy with Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction. This meant a different proprietary radio for each service. This meant getting two radios if you want to, say.. tune into both NFL and MLB games. Not that I particularly care for spectator sports, no less listening to some one else describe as they spectate, but still..

I just hooked my video projector up to the HD output of my cable box..

And the first thing to pop up in HD? ABC's "The View"..

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My life flashed before my eyes in 1080i..

But all near-death experiences aside, I found a great way to do HDTV on the cheap. I happened to have a video projector that already did SVGA computer resolution and found out, after some reading, that I could convert the YUV output of the HD cable box using a $25 cable.

Voluntary Exchange

The key idea of a free market is voluntary exchange. If an exchange takes place under coercion or fraud, then that exchange is not considered a free market exchange. For example, if a seller lures in a buyer by advertising a product or service at an unprofitably low price, but then reveals to potential customers that the advertised good is not actually available, but instead offers some other substitute good, this is not a free market transaction. This is purely an example of fraud known as a 'Bait and Switch'. However if someone looking to make a purchase needles, nags, hounds, badgers, harrasses or henpecks a seller incessantly until they finally give up an available product or service at an unprofitably low price in order to cease the unending abuse from the customer, that is the pinnacle of the free market system.

This came up a week or two ago.. But it's been in the back of my mind and just got me thinking.

The MPAA wants to put a tariff of sorts on individuals' home theatre systems. MPAA head Dan Glickman offered a nice summation and a chuckle when he said, "Just because you buy a DVD to watch at home doesn't give you the right to invite friends over to watch it too. That's a violation of copyright and denies us the revenue that would be generated from DVD sales to your friends. Ideally we expect each viewer to have their own copy of the DVD, but we realize that isn't always feasible. The registration fee is a fair compromise."

So I needed a new paper-shredder. My $12 one was not cutting it (pun intended). The forces of procrastination and unsharpened metal were driving the pile in my mailbin skyward.



I went looking on the STAPLES website and found this one under weekly deals.