An Additional 10 Thoughts for April 2, 2014

1. Amazon took the wraps off its set top all-in-one media box, the Amazon Fire TV.  IDK though, because AIO devices tend to require compromises, and in the case of Amazon, it's once again a curated apps / games ecosystem.  With Chromecast you don't get the same capabilities, but it sure is a lot cheaper over the life of the gadget.
2. Microsoft just made a major decision to set Windows free in price, for mobile (phones / tablets) and IOT devices.  But the real problem has always been the dang tiles.  I hate those tiles with a passion.  I've mocked them for years as simpleton devices of a more robust information delivery GUI.  You can't turn a Windows Phone / Tablet into a beautiful GUI as you can with Android -- that's what our Windows desktops used to be like.  Well, you can still do that in the W8 desktop environment, but wasn't the point of those tiles UI to drive mobile adoption?  FAIL.
3. So now, naturally Microsoft brings back the Start button (some 30 months after the first complaints trickled in following the first pre-release), and what do you see in their updated Start menu?  Frigging tiles.  I kid you not, these people are total fools.
4. CBS 60 Minutes got caught screwing up again.  This time, it's about dubbing in fake motor engine sounds with videos of Tesla's all-electric chassis.  Sad, just sad.
5. Washington signed DeSean Jackson.  It's a 4-year deal, but the way it was structured, it essentially is a 2-year deal, as dead money = 0 after the second year ($16M total paid out = $16M guaranteed) and clears over $9M in cap space for the remaining two years.  Curious to know what the motivation was, behind this.
6. More Feds coming to realize that disinflation isn't a good thing.  Slowing of QE may be...slowed.
7. SCOTUS ruled that Congress cannot limit, in aggregate, how much money one gives to candidates.  Even though this is being played up as a victory by conservatives, as the decision came down to a 5-4 majority split by ideology, past elections have shown that donations and spending is bilateral.  In other words, get ready for the rise of the progressive technie.
8. I'm wondering why Chromebooks don't have detachable keyboards.  If you think about it, a screen that is a distillation of a browser window, should be usable as a touch-enabled tablet.
9. That earthquake in Chile triggered a tsunami that reached Hawai'i.  The biggest wave reached Hilo, at 1.9'.  That 1.9' tall wave (above normal surface level and not trough to crest), is not like a tidal wave, as a 1.9' tsunami means that the water just keep coming and coming with very long periods measured in minutes whereas the tidal wave has extremely short periods of just a few seconds
10. You know, someone really screwed up at the Archdiocese of Portland.  Over a hundred people associated with them have had their personal information stolen and used to file fraudulent IRS returns.  Which brings me back to why I was very upset with my friend the other year, when she used an online service to issue my W-2.  Once a company has your SSN, there is now one more point of vulnerability waiting to be attacked.  EVERYONE says that they have solid security practices.  Bullshit.  The only safe system is one that is fully isolated.