Old news, but still interesting and new to me. Companies get huge tax breaks by giving options to employees. So huge, in some cases, they pay no income tax.Quoted:
When an employee exercises an option to buy stock, the difference between the strike price (what the employee pays) and the market price (which is almost always higher) becomes taxable income for the employee and a tax deduction for the employer.
Why should the company get to write off the difference? Presumably because they shared the profit with the employee.
http://googleblog.blogspo…ent-flyers.html
I suppose if you were sitting on a plane, then death would likely come to you in one form or another, but that’s not what this is about.
A recent article on the Google blog reports that long flights can lead to blood clots in the legs, which can lead to an embolism, which can lead to death.
One of the article’s hints for travellers: “Avoid surgery 30 days before and after travel.” I just thought it odd the hint wasn’t: “Avoid travel 30 days before and after surgery.”
I have this sneaking suspicion that doctors rarely recommend treatments that conflict with work.
http://www.pccnaturalmark…504/goldie.html
I hope you’ll join in me in a boycott of world-famous Cougar Gold cheese this holiday season, until they get their act together and stop using milk from cows that receive rBGH*! How long do we have to wait for organic Cougar Gold?
*recombinant bovine growth hormone
http://adammonsen.com/maps/seattle/biodiesel.html
A lot of people seem to be interested in biodiesel, but are concerned that it would be tough to find. In Seattle, there are relatively many locations from which biodiesel can be purchased. I made a Google maps hack showing exactly where they are.
Thanks to Andrio Abero for the gas pump icon, and Alex Wetmore for compiling the addresses.
http://www.metaefficient….le-created.html
For those of you that asked: yes, there is at least one TDI motorcycle. And it looks pretty cool! 150mpg? You must be joking.
I also came across this risky looking “bike” that reminds me of the “it” vehicle in a South Park episode.
http://the.standard.net.a…6982034295.html
Sometimes it seems like the daily news is taking a lesson from the tabloids. Case in point: Power-dressing man leaves trail of destruction. Luckily, The Standard is running a more level-headed version of the story.
http://today.reuters.co.u…ERMANY-CATS.XML
As much as the media wants it to be true, Christian Koch doesn’t make biodiesel with dead cats. Not that it matters–as someone on Slashdot wrote–we’ve been using dead animals to run cars for years.
Quoted:
A spokesman for Bild told Reuters the story was meant to show that cat remains could “in theory” be used to make fuel with Koch’s patented method.
This topic is also elsewhere in the blogsphere.
Slashdot has also covered this story, with some pretty hilarious comments resulting, like: “How about fuel from dog farts? I know a Labrador Retriever who could probably fuel a moped with his daily output.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/w…rative_software
Groupware enables businesses, families, or other groups of people to
collaborate using features like email, calendering, and address books. The
canonical example of groupware is Microsoft Outlook. A business will typically
purchase an Exchange server so employees can use Outlook on their desktops to
schedule meetings, send/receive email, and maintain a company directory of
names, email addresses, and phone numbers.
However, many decent free alternatives to the costly Outlook/Exchange
combination exist today.
Linux Journal recently published a review of Linux Groupware that
might be worth checking out.
Groupware is one type of collaborative software. Wikipedia has a fairly
complete list of
collaborative software, including many F/OSS (and non-F/OSS) options.
I’d love to know if anyone has successfully implemented one of these free
alternatives to Exchange/Outlook.