Journal of Post-Ralphaelite Thought

Well, tomorrow is my sister's birthday. It's also supposed to be the end of the world. That being the case, I've decided to put off doing my timesheets until Monday. Just in case. To be a bit more specific, tomorrow is Judgement Day (according to those in the know), a.k.a, the Rapture, when around 3 million of the Elect will be taken up to heaven, leaving the rest of us behind...just like in those "Left Behind" novels. It's always struck me as a bit presumptuous to assume one is part of the Elect. I'm actually sort of looking forward to seeing someone with one of those " In Case of the Rapture, This Car Will Be Unmanned ," bumper stickers driving around on the day after, so I can say, "Hey, asshole, what happened? Soul Train pull out of the station without you?" Now, I'll be the first to admit I won't be on that first flight out. No doubt I'll be undergoing some torment of the damned, but at least I'll be rid of ...

Okay, call me an idiot, but I just downloaded the Windows 7 beta, which is available to the first 2.5 million interested parties. Actually, I did this twice: once for the 64-bit version (for youngest son) and once for the 32-bit version (for me). We're both planning on installing on spare hard drives - him on his faster-than-shit gaming box, and me with my old(er) Athlon 2800 box (I do have a faster machine, but it's a Linux box and shall stay that way). First thing I noticed was that you had to download with IE so you could use some Microsoft download manager ActiveX components. I was tempted to try going in with Firefox and Linux but I decided I was more interested in just getting on with it. You also need to have registered with Microsoft (which I'd already done). Once you've satisfied their insatiable curiosity (thank god there is not an ActiveX component that does anal probes) you choose whether you want the 32-bit or 64-bit version, and are taken to a page where y...

Yeah, yeah -- your 401k is a joke, the market's been in free-fall, lay-offs are all around us. But did you miss the following signs we are truly in an economic apocalypse? NetZero is running ads asking if you really need broadband after all. Use dial-up and save $300 a year! Give up broadband for dial-up? Dial-up?? Billboards are appearing in the area advertising cut-rate cremation services for only $399.95. The funeral industry never advertises on pricing. Until now. Finally, the Dallas Morning News , ran the following on their editorial page this morning: If this brutal year on Wall Street (and, in turn, on Main Street) taught us anything, it's that our economic model is seriously flawed. Among the myths that didn't survive the year: Markets can be trusted to regulate themselves. Investment banking is the goose that can be counted on to lay golden eggs. You can't lose by investing in housing. Subprime mortgages are risky, but if they fail, the damage...