Letters to the Editor
Penner
Published Letters: 18 Editor's Choice: 2
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Here's to Inconvenience
[Read the article: An inconvenient bottle cap]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm with you, Mr. Leonard. Speaking only for myself, I prefer using an opener on my beers. It gives one that anticipatory, masculine frisson. If you can twist off the cap, it might as well be a cream soda. But who am I. I have been known to get up and change DVDs with my bare hands, and I even leave my car in the driveway if I'm going somewhere less than two miles away.
In addition to inconvenience, the thing we Americans hate most is preparedness. We can't stand thinking ahead, for example having a beer opener around or remembering to take one with us to the beach / park / drive-in. These are two big lessons we need to learn as a culture: A little inconvenience is no big deal, and thinking ahead can save you a lot of inconvenience later.
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Specious Reasoning
[Read the article: Honk if you want to stop global warming]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The argument seems to rest on the notion that I will replace any calories expended walking with beef. What kind of assumption is that? If I've deliberately walked to the store instead of driving, it's more likely that I'm trying to lose weight and get in shape, or am already fit and simply live an active lifestyle. In either case, it's likely that losing those calories was part of the point of walking, and therefore I shan't look to replace them. And if I do, I probably won't choose beef, which isn't a very good choice for people trying to lose weight and get healthy (at least not that often). On the other side, those who drive to the store when they could walk are more likely to be consuming all those extra calories already (including my share) on top of using the car for any number of other short trips that could easily be accomplished on foot.
The bottom line, for me, consists in choosing which energy source to use when I go out: I could use the energy in my car's tank, which is a finite resource we should conserve, or I could use the energy in my blood and muscles and (mostly) fat, of which I have far too much and isn't doing anyone any good.
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How Does This Help Universal?
[Read the article: Universal decides to unlock its music (except on iTunes)]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Isn't Apple's share of iTMS profits minuscule? I have read that Apple sees iTMS mainly as a "loss leader" to spur iPod sales, handing over most of the proceeds from music downloads to the labels. And since a single digital file can be downloaded (i.e. sold) any number of times, that means that having your music for sale on iTunes is a virtually cost-free revenue stream. Why end that? Universal just seems to be sulking now, pissed that Apple has done this so well that many music fans never buy any music anywhere else. So their reaction is simply to thumb their nose at Apple and take their marbles elsewhere. The "experiment" is going to be worthless if it is enacted on sites that total less than 10% of the download market. Besides, the results are already available: Let's just see how EMI has been doing since it went DRM-free, or how eMusic has been doing since its inception (that would be the #2 music download site, BTW).
So conversely, how does this petulant behavior hurt Apple? Now that the iTMS is dominant, customers may be pissed that their BEP or 50 Cent tracks are not there, but they're still going to get the rest of their downloads from iTunes. Apple will continue to sell iPods and iPhones and whatnot, and Universal will only have denied itself the profits that come with being part of that.
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My $0.02
[Read the article: What will YOU do with your fiscal stimulus check?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think I'll send it to my mortgage lender.
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Welcome Back
[Read the article: The most left-wing president since Nixon?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Welcome back Mr. Leonard. We missed you!
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So That Means...
[Read the article: Hewitt lives to propagandize another day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If "McCain has been preparing his whole life to be Commander-in-Chief in wartime," then he can't possibly allow the "war" to end, can he?
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So how's the beer?
[Read the article: A taste of North Korean beer propaganda]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Oddly, the thing I want most in the world right now is to try some Taidonggang beer. C'mon... how can beer be anti-American??
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So, it's just iSync for Windows?
[Read the article: What the hell is Microsoft's Live Mesh?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Am I missing something, or is this just a Windows version of iSync and the "Back to My Mac" feature that Apple introduced (without fanfare) a while back? Of course, Apple's system isn't cross-platform, but neither is Live Mesh at this point.
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Not to be a nag or anything...
[Read the article: Quote of the day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...but "unambivalent" is not a word.
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A Naive Question...
[Read the article: Larry Di Rita's responses to questions about the "military analyst" program]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Why did the DoD bother to release all this incriminating material? I'm sure I am naive and am missing something here. But heck. They're already lying, already keeping secrets, already breaking the law. When news breaks about an illegal propaganda program, they turn around and provide us with proof of it? Why not just clam up and deny us access to this info, the way they do with everything else? Is it because they know that no one's paying attention (except for you, Glenn)?
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Let's Keep This One in Mind
[Read the article: Lieberman confirms he's still speaking to Hagee's group]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Let's remember that Lieberman "believes that a person should be judged on the entire span of his or her life's works" the next time he says anything about a flag pin, a haircut, or an offhand remark. Just sayin'.
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What the Heck is Windows 7?
[Read the article: What to expect in the next Windows: The iPhone]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Is Windows 7 really what they're going to call this thing? Have they abandoned the fancy-sounding name paradigm? Or is it a "working title?" Have they been secretly counting the version numbers ever since Windows 3? Does that even work out? Windows 95 = 4; Windows 2000 = 5; Windows XP = 6; Windows Vista = ...er, huh? Maybe one of those doesn't count?
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Take Them at Their Word
[Read the article: Comcast's efforts to protect members of Congress who, in turn, protect Comcast]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If they hadn't broken the law, they wouldn't need amnesty, would they? So let's hear Comcast come out against this bill on the grounds that passing it would imply they had broken the law -- wouldn't that be defamatory too?