Steve Jobs wants to tear down his home. But there's a problem. It's a George Washington Smith-designed 1926 Spanish Colonial Revival house (mansion?) in Woodside, California, and preservationists feel it has historical significance. Jobs replies that he'll build something that will eventually become "more historically interesting" than the present property. (Given his penchant for the steel and glass of I.M. Pei, that seems questionable.) But should he not have the right to do what he wants with his property? Tear it down, paint it purple, or fill it to the roof with Jell-O; whose business is it other than the homeowner? note: first link leads to NYT, registration required
posted to MetaFilter by emptyage at 1:01 PM on July 15, 2004 (35 comments)

Google says: Don't mess with Malcovich After Anita Roddick called actor John Malcovich a "vomitous worm" on her Web site (in response to his statement about shooting journalist Robert Fisk), she received a message from Google noting that her AdWord had been pulled. Google sent a message to Roddick stating: "policy does not permit the advertisement of 'Sites that advocate against groups or individuals (even John Malkovich)' on our website. We also do not permit sites that sell these products to advertise on Google." How extensive is this policy? Has anyone else run up against it?
posted to MetaFilter by emptyage at 11:21 AM on May 21, 2002 (29 comments)

Californians, did you feel the quake? This 5.2 quake was near the surface which, according to the San Francisco local news, allowed it to travel farther than usual. Did you feel it? If so, where? Did it create any problems? Was anyone at the Sharks game?
posted to MetaFilter by emptyage at 10:28 PM on May 13, 2002 (40 comments)

The phrase "Let's Roll" has now been trademarked by quite a few companies. We touched on this once before in the State of the Union thread, but the current list of trademark's goes far beyond what was previously discused. You can now get all manner of brickabrack emblazoned with a "Let's Roll" logo. Is it patriotism, or profiterring?
posted to MetaFilter by emptyage at 1:53 PM on April 10, 2002 (18 comments)

Did you hear Michael Greene's speech at the Grammys? At first it seemed like it was going to be just yet another recording industry weasel with an obligatory goatee congratulating himself on stage. But it quickly turned into a lesson on the harms of the illegal Internet downloads. "This illegal file-sharing and ripping of music files is pervasive, out of control and oh so criminal. Many of the nominees here tonight, especially the new, less-established artists, are in immediate danger of being marginalized out of our business. Ripping is stealing their livelihood one digital file at a time, leaving their musical dreams haplessly snared in this World Wide Web of theft and indifference," says Greene. Was this appeal-cum-address effective or appropriate? Were you more sympathetic to the RIAA or artists afterwards?
posted to MetaFilter by emptyage at 11:49 PM on February 27, 2002 (79 comments)

Phantom Patriot attacks Bohemian Grove. I'm no conspiracy theorist. I don't believe that the world is ruled by a secret cabal consisting of the Queen of England, The Bushes, The Sultan of Brunei and the ghost of Red Foxx. But Bohemian Grove is pretty freaky. I mean, a 40 foot owl statue? The Cremation of Care? Obviously, the Phantom Patriot is a little, well, off. But why do the rich and powerful need secret societies and kooky rituals anyway?
posted to MetaFilter by emptyage at 8:51 AM on January 24, 2002 (27 comments)

Phew! It's okay to drive stoned in Idaho now. Assuming you can pass a field sobriety test, that is. To quote the attorney, "just having smoked marijuana doesn't give somebody cause to arrest you for that when driving." This seems to be a technicality, and you have to assume it's going to be overturned. If not, anyone up for a road trip to Boise?
posted to MetaFilter by emptyage at 12:25 PM on January 15, 2002 (10 comments)

And you thought vampires were effete. Obviously Ann Rice never met the Redneck Vampire, aka Michael Ray Vanmeter. The gasoline huffing undead from Alabama claims to be 211 years old. Don't believe him? Check out those teeth.
posted to MetaFilter by emptyage at 4:53 PM on December 5, 2001 (8 comments)

Has anyone read "Swimming Across" by Andy Grove? It appears to be pretty far from the traditional "look-at-me, revel in my vision, I'm an uber-CEO," self-promotional book; he never even gets into his Intel career, apparently. Instead it's an account of Grove's childhood in Hitler and Stalin's Hungary and the story of how he came to America. The book has been getting great reviews, from people as diverse as Tom Brokaw, Elie Wiesel and Monica Seles. Still, the cynic in me says that no matter how dramatic the tale, when you're a Fotune 500 CEO, you always have other motives. Perhaps I'm just too cynical. So again, has anyone read it? What did you think?
posted to MetaFilter by emptyage at 1:16 PM on November 26, 2001 (3 comments)

The leaflets dropped over Afghanistan are online now for your viewing pleasure. There are two designs, and they come in both English and Arabic. But my question is, can anyone actually read the things?

According to the CIA World Factbook the languages spoken in Afghanistan are "Pashtu 35%, Afghan Persian (Dari) 50%, Turkic languages (primarily Uzbek and Turkmen) 11%, 30 minor languages (primarily Balochi and Pashai) 4%, much bilingualism" And the country has a literacy rate of less than a third. I mean, the soldier shaking hands is somewhat obvious, but the radio tower?
posted to MetaFilter by emptyage at 10:36 AM on October 16, 2001 (24 comments)