Monthly Archives: November 2008

Quietly Idiotic Xeni Jardin Post

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Over at Boing! Boing!Boin, Xeni Jardin links to an “interview” with Karl Rove by Deborah Solmon in the New York Times and says,

Meant to blog this when it came out, but it’s one of the funniest/creepiest things I’ve ever read in the Times: a really odd Q&A with Karl Rove. By the time you reach the end, you half expect the guy to bust out the chianti and liver and start hissing at you:

Well of course it is funny and creepy because Deborah Solomon subscribes to the Xeni Jardin school of journalism — she doesn’t care about truth or accuracy but rather feels free to hide and manipulate what actually happened in order to make her subjects appear goofier and creepier.

Solomon’s interviews are remixed to the point that then-New York Times Ombudsman Clark Hoyt once wrote that the Times,

. . . should publish with each column a brief description of the editing standards: the order of questions may be changed, information may be added for clarity, and the transcript has been boiled down without indicating where material has been removed. If such a disclaimer destroys the illusion, maybe ‘Questions For’ needs to be rethought.

But hell, why take responsibility for our words when we can simply remix and unpublish?

UK Regulatory Agency Warns Against Melanotan Purchased on the Internet

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The United Kingdom’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has warned against using Melanotan purchased on the Internet. I’ve written about Melanotan before — it is a drug that tans the skin, increases the libido, and suppresses appetite. It has been in testing for the better part of a decade, but is still not approved for sale in the United States or Europe.

This hasn’t stopped US-based Melanocorp from selling the drug just the same. In 2007, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning letter to Melanocorp to stop selling melanotan in the United States,

Melanocorp, Inc. advertises the product Melanotan II on its Web site as an injectable tanning product, with additional claims that it is effective in protecting against skin cancer and rosacea (a flushing and redness of the skin). These claims cause Melanotan II to be classified as a drug under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, as well as a new drug because there is no evidence that it is generally recognized as safe and effective for its labeled uses. This product does not have an approved new drug application. The product’s introduction and delivery into interstate commerce, therefore, violates federal law. The risks run by patients who use unapproved new drugs could include adverse side effects from inappropriately prescribed medications, dangerous drug interactions, and harm from contaminated, counterfeit or outdated drugs. The FDA cautions consumers about injecting any substance, particularly products that are not FDA-approved, into their bodies without the oversight of a licensed health care provider.

Issuance of this Warning Letter is consistent with FDA’s focus on fraudulent products marketed on the Internet for serious and life-threatening diseases. Individuals and firms that do not resolve violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act risk injunction to halt the illegal activities, seizure of violative products, and other regulatory sanctions.

Melanocorp stopped taking orders for Melanotan in the U.S. shortly afterward, but apparently still sells to consumers in other countries. According to The Guardian, there are at least 18 companies that sell Melanotan on the Internet.

Let GM Go Bankrupt

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Michael Levine lays out the case for letting General Motors enter into bankruptcy rather than get started down the path of bailing out every ailing industry. Levine outlines some of the bizarre costs that GM and other automakers are saddled with including state laws that force automakers to support a ridiculous number of car dealers,

Consider the costs of tackling GM’s problems with some kind of bailout plan. After 42 years of eroding U.S. market share (from 53% to 20%) and countless announcements of “change,” GM still has eight U.S. brands (Cadillac, Saab, Buick, Pontiac, GMC, Saturn, Chevrolet and Hummer). As for its more successful competitors, Toyota (19% market share) has three, and Honda (11%) has two.

GM has about 7,000 dealers. Toyota has fewer than 1,500. Honda has about 1,000. These fewer and larger dealers are better able to advertise, stock and service the cars they sell. GM knows it needs fewer brands and dealers, but the dealers are protected from termination by state laws. This makes eliminating them and the brands they sell very expensive. It would cost GM billions of dollars and many years to reduce the number of dealers it has to a number near Toyota’s.

. . .

And therein lies the problem: The cost of terminating dealers is only a fraction of what it would cost to rebuild GM to become a company sized and marketed appropriately for its market share. Contracts would have to be bought out. The company would have to shed many of its fixed obligations. Some obligations will be impossible to cut by voluntary agreement. GM will run out of cash and out of time.

GM’s solution is to ask the federal government for the cash that will allow it to do all of this piece by piece. But much of the cash will be thrown at unproductive commitments. And the sense of urgency that would enable GM to make choices painful to its management, its workers, its retirees, its suppliers and its localities will simply not be there if federal money is available. Like AIG, it will be back for more, and at the same time it will be telling us that it’s doing a great job under difficult circumstances.

The bailout of banks was bad enough (and completely clueless as Henry Paulson’s continual deer-in-the-headlights routine keeps revealing), but bailing out GM makes even less sense. Let GM face the music; let it enter into bankruptcy.

Star Trek Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Action Figures

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In the early 1990s, Playmates found itself in possession of both the Star Trek and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles licenses. Since the world demanded to see Star Trek Mutant Ninja Turtle figures, Playmates obliged. Hmm . . . maybe JJ Abrams will throw in a TMNT twist in his upcoming Star Trek film.

Tabula Rasa to Shut Down Feb 2009

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Richard Garriott may be reaching for the stars, but Tabula Rasa has been grounded almost since the day it was released. So it comes as no surprise that NCSoft is finally shutting the game down,

Last November we launched what we hoped would be a ground breaking sci-fi MMO. In many ways, we think we’ve achieved that goal. Tabula Rasa has some unique features that make it fun and very different from every other MMO out there. Unfortunately, the fact is that the game hasn’t performed as expected. The development team has worked hard to improve the game since launch, but the game never achieved the player population we hoped for.

So it is with regret that we must announce that Tabula Rasa will end live service on February 28, 2009.

WTF – ZDNet Registration

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Someone sent me a link to a story on ZDNet about the best netbooks to buy this holiday season, and all I wanted to do was post a short comment about the MSI Wind. So I enter my comment and hit the submit button, at which point I get a page from ZDNet telling me I need to register and provide all of the following information in order to submit a comment (and it is all required except for the Address 2 field).

Are they high?

HugeURL

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Okay, everyone’s heard of TinyURL, but what about HugeURL — the service that will take any URL and then make it arbitrarily larger. For example, rather than linking to http://brian.carnell.com/, you could link to,

http://www.hugeurl.com/?NGZmOTAxNmRlMTVkYmI0ZmUxNjJjNWNhMmE0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That is awesome. (Found this at Nethackz.com)