Yearly Archives: 2003

Marketing Peripherals

This entry was posted in Marketing on by

Eric at the Fireant Gazette is not sold by this Kensington add on the back of the September isse of MacWorld:

The tag line on the ad reads “Suddenly, Jennifer realized she forgot her Kensington Car/Air Adapter.” The “snicker, snicker” is implied……
I suppose this ad is appropriate if your demographic target is 13-year-old males, but last time I check Apple’s price list (and it’s been pretty recently, you know), most of them don’t have the kind of folding cash needed for Apple’s stuff.

Does anyone know on which airline this is common?

Lead Poisoning

This entry was posted in Health Care on by

The aptly named Mercury News reports this bad news about lead poisoning:

Now, however, findings published in April in the New England Journal of Medicine strongly suggest not only that any amount of lead is harmful to a child’s brain but also that greater damage seems to occur at levels below 10 micrograms than above that.
In other words, there is no threshold for lead’s effects on the brain, and just small amounts seem to have relatively large effects.

Lead based paint is still an issue:

One-quarter of American homes with children younger than 6 contain lead-based paint.

This 1999 report suggests that blood lead levels are declining but also notes that mean blood levels are 1.7-2.3 micrograms for 1-5 years olds which makes the new study even more ominous.
Eliminating lead poisoning would probably do more to improve eductional performance in our schools than all the batteries of tests being engendeer by the all children left behind act. (and, no, I don’t know the marginal cost of eliminating the last vestiges of lead poisoning).
A cursory search did not turn up any studies on lead poisoning as a factor in political party selection.

State of the Economy

This entry was posted in Economics on by

Rob Schaap at Blogorrhoea pretty much sums up the latest economic news:

A blogorrhoeaic summary: Shrubya’s promised job splurge ain’t coming, rather direct investment is down, unemployment is up and wages are all but static in real terms. Excess capacity stalks the manufacturing sector and the information technology is having trouble growing demand – and we must doubt that clever marketers can entice consumers to ignore their mounting debt for much longer.

Go here to read the rest.

Late Night Reading

This entry was posted in Late Night Reads on by

Idols of the Marketplace links toWhiskeybar and Talkleft on the upcoming ashcroft concert tour.
Scott Wickstein at White Rose has some examples of Big Brother hard at work.
BLAH3 hammers War on the Cheap and supports Al Franken’s use of Fair and Balanced. And from the other side Kim takes Fox to task as well.
There is a discussion of Afghani Snow Leopards from a Libertarian perspective at Samizdata and Catallarchy.
Will Wilkinson has some thoughts on the false alternative of a forced choice between intrinsicism and subjectivism.
Good Night!