Dream Tools

Suppose there was a tool that enabled anybody to determine the medical condition of an individual, without the knowledge, consent, or authorization of the individual.

• Determine what illnesses one has;
• What medications one is taking;
• One's prior medical history;

Who would be allowed to use it?

Now suppose that tool was used for hiring people.
And that the medical exam it provided was done without the knowledge, authorization, or consent of the applicant.

How long would it take for the use of that tool to be declared illegal under existing ADA regulations?

That tool has been used for roughly 100 years in the United States. Thus far the EEOC has not issued any formal statements about it. It has not been subject to any ADA-related court cases.

Probably the major reason for this state of affairs, is that the vast majority of users of this tool haven't bothered to learn how to use it.

Linux, Microsoft and Patents

Microsoft claims that Linux violates some of their patents.
Microsoft claims that OpenOffice.org violates some of their patents.

Microsoft refuses to list the patents, because they fear that the affected FLOSS software will either be rewritten, or the patent will b e invalidated.

Translation:
Microsoft knows that all of their patents are invalid;
Microsoft knows that any patent related lawsuit will be treated as if it is a SLAPP;
Microsoft knows that their net worth 5 years after filing the lawsuit will be a negative number;

Golden Mile

Last night, on the way back from the grocery store, I detoured through Motor Mile. This is a strip of road roughly a mile in length, that is dominated by car dealerships.

The used car lot had an Aston Martin, and a Lotus Esprite.

Across the street is the Rolls Royce dealership. I didn't even know that they had a dealership in town. Next to it is a Lamborghini dealership. Next to that is the Bentley dealership. Then comes the Jaguar dealership. Across the street is the Land Rover dealership. And on the other side of the street is the BMW dealership. Somewhere along there was a Mercedes dealership.

With those dealerships as the anchor, it should be called "Golden Mile", not "Motor Mile".

Intermixed with those dealerships was a bicycle shop. One of the most efficient, and ecologically sound transportation devices known to man.

Can you say Pyramid Scheme

It seems that Sean Kelly has issued a challenge to Mary Kay consultants.

The challenge: Purchase 13% more inventory during December 2006, than was purchased during December 2005.

The reason: Prove beyond any reasonable doubt that Mary Kay Corporate encourages front loading of inventory by their consultants.

Misleading subject lines

In today's Google alert I noticed an interesting headline " THE LUBAVITCHER REBBE ON GRAPHOLOGY"

So I wandered over to seen what the Rebbe had written about Graphology.

The only thing about the Rebbe on that page was the headline. It was a schedule of fees for graphological services that that blogger offers.

Anything else I write will be לשון הרע.

Mary Kay Date Codes

Not really worth blogging about, but when your Mary Kay consultant sells you a product with a date code of 4D14 you'd like more than her assurance it was manufactured in 2004.

The date code is four alphanumeric characters long.

• The first alphanumeric character indicates the year;
• The second alphanumeric character indicates the month;
• The final two numbers indicate the day of the month;

Character: Year

0: 1990

1: 1991

2:1992

3:1993

4:1994

5:1995

6:1996

7:1997

8:1998

9:1999

A:2000

B:2001

C:2002

D:2003

F:2004

H:2005

K:2006

M:2007

R:2008

Character : Month

A: January

B: February

C: march

D: April

F: May

H: June

K: July

M: August

R: September

T: October

V: November

X: December

The final two characters are numbers, and are the day of the month.

This code represents when the product was manufactured. It is not an expiration date. Stored under ideal conditions, Mary Kay products have a shelf life of up to ten years.

And yes, that product with the 4 D14 date code was manufactured 14 April 1994, and should be tossed out. And yes, that product was sold in October 2006.

About this blog.

This is my general purpose blog.

For counter-intuitive reasons, I expect to post more often to my topic specific blogs.

I have deleted some of my older blogs. As I remember names, and logins, I will delete all of my non-topic specific blogs.