Quick Hitts

My disdain for Consumer Reports started in the late 70’s, when I was an audio salesman. They frequently gave lousy products a “Best Buy” rating. Back then audio was getting better on an almost daily basis.  All receivers and amplifiers had Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) down to a fraction of a percent.  It was amusing […]

Minnesota is really going overboard with their smoking restrictions. H/T to the always entertaining Fail Blog.

It’s difficult for the human brain to comprehend the extreme distances in astronomy.  Can you really envision a light year?  How about the difference between a hundred light years and fifty parsecs? This video, by George Hrab, should help clarify things, and make it easier for you to understand astronomical distances.

A couple of weeks ago I noted a new tactic from Obamacare fans: writing off the arguments against it, and the people making those arguments, as stupid.  The Sunday Times Union, known to locals as the Times Useless, featured an article berating questions about socialized medicine (of course he didn’t call it that) as dumb […]

Yet another installment in what has become the most commented on feature of Quick Hitts – a list of things done in the name of religion, from the asinine to the atrocious. A new law in Afghanistan allows men to demand sex from their wives every four days, and to keep them indoors as long […]

About a year ago I signed up with Mozy, an off-site backup service.  For five bucks a month they back up your files on their servers, so you can restore them if you lose something. The few times I’ve needed them it’s been a simple process.  I’d click “restore” on their software and it showed […]

Once again Big Brother is mucking around in the market, and once again the consequences are horrible.  Trade in your old gas guzzler for a new car and your Uncle will suck money out of your fellow tax payers’ pockets and stuff it in yours. For cars a 4 MPG increase gets you the $3500 […]