:: grapefruit ::

A brief Daring Fireball impression

My comments here will surely soon pale in comparison to what I expect will be John Gruber's ever more eloquent and studied analysis, but until then, here's my take on a few bits from this article about Psystar.

Apple, the publicly traded company (not "Jobs" or some "executives" whom I don't believe issued some statement that the author is quoting), is in the business of making money. Apple must believe that it makes more money doing things the way it does them. Not licensing clones in that framework isn't because of a "threat," it's simply a business decision. The threat Apple might perceive in this context (as would any business) would be another company's illegally selling products with Apple's name on them.

Apple must like the "only-Apple-wins" business model of earning money better. A lot of other businesses in the capitalist system pursue this model also (instead of trying to help other companies make money). So far Apple has been doing pretty well I hear. I will leave the research in that area as an exercise for the reader.

Cacao

Theo Chocolate also happens to be delicious:

Theo Chocolate hopes to start cocoa revolution in the Seattle P-I.

Seatbelt or Band-aid?

"Click it or Ticket." You know what? Fuck you. I always wear my seatbelt to protect me from the incompetent, dangerous, reckless drivers you should be ticketing for incompetent, dangerous, reckless driving. I don't much care if they are too stupid to wear a seatbelt or not, or whether they get hurt or not when they hit me. They are going to hit me because they are bad drivers who shouldn't be on the road, and they wouldn't be on the road if you were out strictly enforcing driving laws instead of wasting effort (but making easy revenue!) pulling everyone over at random (UPDATE: I may be stupid, and they may not actually do this) to see if they are doing something that is (gasp) actually a personal responsibility for one's own safety. With that said, I'm still all for strict seatbelt laws, but I'll bet you could enforce them simply incidentally while you're pulling over all the flagrantly incompetent, reckless, dangerous drivers. And you'd actually protect everyone and make the fucking road safer by addressing the root cause of the problem. Should we enforce the clean-up of pollution sources that ruin our groundwater, or just issue everyone a personal water filter?

UPDATE 2: In order to appear less negative and more constructive in my pointless criticism, I suggest the following crappy-sounding alternatives:

• Provoke It and We'll Revoke It
• Cool It or be Unlicensed to Do It
• We'll Patrol It and Control It
• If We Pull You Over For Driving Like an Asshat And You're Not Wearing a Seatbelt, We'll Revoke Your Driving Privileges for the Bad Driving Part
• You Can Go Without a Seatbelt on Your Bike and the Bus From Now On, Since Your Bad Driving Has Cost You Your License

ArcMap Georeferencing Tools are grayed out

Apparently ArcMap's georeferencing tools become grayed out when the data frame is rotated (controlled in the Data Frame Tools toolbar), though nothing will tell you that is the problem as you poke around aimlessly and waste a half hour. The answer ("The data frame is rotated. ArcMap cannot apply a double-transformation to the raster") is here but I am adding this note here to try to make the solution more easily Google-able in the future when this stupid annoyance inevitably bites me again.

Only upon the right-hand roadway

Couldn't be simpler:

Per the local paper, Seattle Municipal Code 11.53.080 states that "every vehicle shall be driven only upon the right-hand roadway unless directed or permitted to use another roadway by official traffic-control devices or peace officers."

This means you have to drive all the way around traffic circles on the proper side of the roadway, just like any other driving situation. A logical, simple, un-misinterpretable rule.

Newman's Own High Fructose Corn Syrup

Does Newman's Own Lemonade contain HFCS or not?

Update: No HFCS. Revisit link above.

Fair weather

I found my short-sleeved self at quarter to six this evening in the rear of an eighteen-member peloton stopped at a light. I pulled over at the next light and watched another group of bikers stack up and surge forward, and yet another. I thought:

1. Way to go, everybody.
2. Come one, come all, racer and clunker, kiddies and sporties and fat guys. Come on and ride.
3. See you in January?

RCW 46.61.667

Hang up and drive.