So when they went to the 2013 CES show, they introduced a concept jacket video with a lot of really cool ideas for expanding on the tech-friendly nature of their current jacket designs and incorporating a lot of the wearable tech that is just starting to emerge in the market. Have a look at their video and see if it doesn’t spark some ideas. I personally like the inclusion of solar panels and kinetic sensors to charge batteries. Now if only they would make a motorcycle jacket…

The show is called You Kids Today, and it is going to be an episodic series, grouped into seasons. Season 1 starts on January 13, 2013, so go check it out, subscribe on iTunes and all that cool stuff. I really hope you enjoy the show and participate with your comments and feedback.

Pay the site a visit (youkidstoday.com) and let me know what you think.

Until then, you can check it out here.

Oh yeah, you are also keeping up with the Gentleman’s Kitchen blog, right? No? Linky-link.

Josh Agle (aka SHAG) greets the public at the opening reception for his newest works. I’m glad to see him returning to happier subjects, as his last few shows have been pretty dark. Some great pieces on display, great popping color. You rarely get the backstory on a piece, but this show had little QR codes next to each one that brought up a little detail to the milieu. Fun stuff!

I looked up the tax tables. It was pretty clear that people making $350k+ should be paying 35% in taxes. I myself am in the 28% bracket, and am pretty sure I made less than Warren last year. It would seem to me that many of the wealthiest Americans have their own little loophohes. For example, Bill Gates gets most of his income in Microsoft dividends, which enjoy a special tax rate of only 15%.

So my proposal would be to classify all forms of income, “income”, and enforce the tax tables that the rest of us scrubs have to adhere to. That means inheritance, lottery winnings, dividends, the money you made selling “medicinal” pot out of your garage – all count as plain old “income”, and let the existing tax table tell you where you stand.

That, or I’m going to have my boss start writing “dividend” on my pay stubs.

Over the years, I’ve owned a number of vehicles, and have been to spray wash places all over this great country of ours. The way they work is, you pull in, spray/brush your car, rinse it off, then pull forward to the vacuum stations to dry off the car and vacuum it out. You’ve been to one, you’ve been to them all, right? Not so for the one down the road from me.

This magical facility adds an extra degree of angst and frustration to the drying process in that what could arguably be the world’s most overfed and incontinent pigeons bomb the hell out of your car while you’re drying it off. Not just talking a little plop, but a giant gooey purple splat. As soon as you clean it off and make your way to the other side of the car, you discover another. Cleaning that and returning to the original site of the carnage, you discover a fresh one. This stupid game goes on at least four or five times over the course of drying off your car…at which point you’re tempted to just back up into the relative safety of the spray area and just start over with another five bucks of quarters.

I’d be mildly upset if this was an isolated anomaly, but this has happened all three times I’ve been to this place. It has never happened at any other spray wash place I’ve been to.

But here’s the kicker – It wasn’t happening to the lady with the Camry or the guy in the wood paneled station wagon next to me. No – just the guy with the white BMW. Which brings me to the conspiracy part.

Pigeons can be trained. There are residential areas and rooftops that could house coops and spotters on three sides of the vacuum area of this car wash. It doesn’t take much to figure that a spray wash owner could likely bilk more quarters out of the owner of a nicer car who gives more of a shit about it’s cleanliness and appearance. Run it through the wax cycle, the rinse cycle, use the funky tire cleaner setting, etc. Time is quarters for these guys, and they know that people like me are willing to spend a little extra time to get the car looking just right. But for guys with a BMW who spend the minimum amount for one spray cycle just to get the leaves and sap off the hood – that’s not good enough. He calls the mobile of his partner on the adjoining roof, with instructions to deploy the bombers. If the hapless victim is still not backing into the bay and fishing out more quarters, send another wave. And another.

Sounds crazy, right? Maybe – maybe not. If you have a nice car, try the place out and see if I’m just being paranoid. Bring extra rags.

Date: Nov. 1, 2010

Subject: missed robot meeting

Pat,

You missed the robot meeting this past Monday 11/1 for both your team and the combined meeting. What happened?

No one from Cedar Park showed up, so I am trying to figure out what went wrong.

Thanks,

Mr. ********

Computer Science Teacher

CPHS Webmaster | UIL Computer Science Coach

Cedar Park High School

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Photo Trends. Disturbing new trend is for people to do the “duck lips” thing. What the hell is that? I’ll tell you what it is – a warning sign that you only date douchebags, and are one of those people who keeps Jersey Shore on the air. Pass.

New Business:

Winks. I personally don’t mind the wink thing. Sending or receiving. Take the wink for what it means: “I think you’re cute from your photo, but don’t know enough about you to strike up a meaningful cold conversation.” Now I could write that out in an email, or just send a wink and see if there’s a response. You can even wink back. It is not rude to ignore a wink. It is also rude to keep firing winks at someone. Oh, and if you’re one of those people who haughtily explain how you “don’t respond to winks”…be glad there’s not a “fart” button.

Who Viewed Me? Match and a few other sites have this feature. It is usually triggered by someone who clicks through on your photo or username and opens your profile. You can use this effectively in conjunction with the wink. Send a wink, see if the person checks you out. If you don’t get a response, move on. It is also interesting to just log on and see who’s checking you out. A narcissistic way of stalking yourself.

Can’t Believe I’m Doing This. People who rant in their profiles how embarrassed they are to be on the site, or that their friend put them up to this are like vegans who come to the barbecue and preach about how meat is murder and cows have rights. Seriously, STFU. How is someone supposed to respond to that? “Hi, I can’t believe I’m here with all these losers either. We should get together, delete our accounts, and take a Silkwood shower of shame together. I feel so unclean.”