Posts you might have missed

You can put a USB connection on just about anything – even an amputated finger – and there are so many USB devices around that the “universal” is becoming a literal description rather than an indication of ubiquity. Here’s ten USB devices that should never have been made. Let alone sold.And where to buy them. Dance Dance Devolution Air conditioned neck tie The ChatterBot – this one needs describing.WowWee™ Chatterbots are fantastically fun animated computer accessories to have on your desktop.

I mentioned the ABC radio’s unique take on the stats released by the Centre for Public Christianity yesterday. Dan has helpfully shared a link to the ABC Radio transcript of the story I was listening to on the world today.The reaction to the statistics has been somewhat amusing. On the one hand 55% of the “non born again” community don’t believe in the resurrection. Which should be comforting to atheists, Muslims and the liberal church.The Uniting Church in New South Wales was one of the first organisations to put its own spin on the findings – claiming most of the 45% of (non “born again”) people who believe in the resurrection only believe it in a metaphorical sense.

Wow. Today I have 43 feed subscribers. This number fluctuates pretty dramatically. If you’re not a subscriber then maybe you should be if you don’t have a feed reader – try Google Reader on for size. If you are a feed reader then maybe you should stop by the actual page sometime to see what’s happening in the comments. Anyway, these are largely irrelevant observations tangential to the main purpose of this particular post. I’m trying out FriendFeed today – it’s a social networking aggregator/platform/rival to Facebook or Twitter.

I sometimes wonder why some people I respect in real life, and who show all the hallmarks of humility have such arrogant online profiles or personal webpages. I won’t link to them – but as a general rule they’re as good as they say they are. It just seems a little arrogant to claim to be as good as you are – though I was accused recently of being a typical Australian with tall poppy tendencies – so maybe that’s it.

Our legal system is built on the presumption of innocence. Things would be pretty messy if we changed things around – we’d have to lock up everybody facing criminal charges – and then who would handle our baggage at the airport or stimulate the economy by buying motorbikes and parts… It’s a central principle of life in a liberal democracy. And yet it is thrown completely out the window in one social occasion – the transaction that takes place when a man buys flowers from any retailer.

Discussion is ongoing on yesterday’s post about protectionism and misguided “buy local” campaigns. I didn’t mention the “sustainability” side of that debate – which is probably valid. It doesn’t make sense for major grocery stores to ship produce from North Queensland to warehouses in Victoria then back to North Queensland for sale – at that point I will join the brotherhood of sustainability and cry foul (fowl if we’re talking about chickens…). I didn’t mention it because it’s not the problem I have with “buy local” campaigns – which is that they don’t do what they claim to do, namely “protect local jobs”.

I got this email today, from a colleague.”Joe Smith started the day early having set his alarm clock ( MADE IN JAPAN ) for 6am . While his coffeepot ( MADE IN CHINA ) was perking, he shaved with his electric razor (MADE IN HONG KONG ). He put on a dress shirt ( MADE IN SRI LANKA ), designer jeans ( MADE IN SINGAPORE ) and tennis shoes ( MADE IN KOREA ). After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet ( MADE IN INDIA ) he sat down with his calculator ( MADE IN MEXICO ) to see how much he could spend today.

I often preface my posts on economics by saying “I’m not an economist” – I also often have discussions with my friend Ben – who is an economist – and based on his uni results and work history, a good one, before posting things. Today, rather than rehashing his comments on protectionism and the economics involved I’ll just reproduce them verbatim. _______________________________________Okay, you have a bunch of people working in for an Australian company in Australia.

What do you get when you cross a Segway with a smart car? A Puma apparently. The world has gone bonkers over this new announcement – and given my previous fixation with the gyroscopic transporter I couldn’t let this slide…Here it is in action. It’s like a golf buggy. Only crapper. If you’re reading this in the sidebar you may have to click the link through to the post for the video.

It’s nice when online T-Shirt vendors like SnorgTees keep up with modern pop culture references – like Flight of the Conchords songs.Also cool, and also from SnorgTees is this ninja shirt.