Friday, December 9, 2016

Amazon to Collect Sales Tax from Utah Residents


Sadly, Governor announces deal with Amazon to collect sales tax on Utah purchases (KSL.com). Starting January 1st, 2017, sales tax will apply to all purchases.

Technically, "Utah law requires residents who aren't charged sales taxes on their online purchases to pay them with their state income taxes. But few comply, and efforts over the years to pass a federal law forcing companies to collect the taxes have faltered."

The speculation is that, in the past, Amazon has agreed to voluntarily collect sales tax for states when they have planned to build a physical presence in those locations.

Amazon is also reported to keep 18% of the sales tax collected for Utah.

Amazon already collects sales tax from several other states.



Saturday, October 15, 2016

Adventures are just tales



"Adventures are just tales of someone else being miserable far far away."
-- B. V. Larson (Star Force Series)



Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Reorganizing

"We tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing.  Reorganizing is a wonderful method for creating the illusion of progress while actually producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization."





Saturday, July 2, 2016

Stephen Colbert's Super Coin Toss



Board Games are making a comeback, but in shorter versions, because kids just don't have enough time.  So Stephen Colbert designs a board game called Super Coin Toss.

Super Coin Toss
"It all takes place in the enchanted realm of Quarteria. Each player has farmers, soldiers, merchants, and bandits, and the object is to cultivate enough grain that the merchants can sell to pay the soldiers to protect you from your opponent's bandits. And of course, there are two giant robots who box.

To start we put our tokens one space from the finish line.  Whoever goes first wins the game.  To determine that we flip the Medallion of Fate, which is designed to look like a US Quarter, sold separately, for $5."





Thursday, June 30, 2016

You have no cookies and no friends


What do you get if you divide 0 by 0?

"Imagine that you have zero cookies and you split them evenly among zero friends. How many cookies does each person get? See? It doesn't make sense. And Cookie Monster is sad that there are no cookies. And you are sad that you have no friends."


A friend pointed out that if you ask Siri to divide 0 by 0 you learn how many friends you have. Snarky, eh?  :-)




Wednesday, June 1, 2016

My Terrible Spending Habits


I learned a few things about myself today. I was just checking my credit card, and noticed I have some spending habits that I am terribly ashamed of. So admitting it this is the first step in the 12 step program, right?

  • $14 - 5/29 Miracle Mile, Las Vegas, NV
  • $12 - 5/30 Jamba Juice, Salt Lake City, UT ***
  • $92 - 5/30 Twin Peaks, Las Vegas, NV
  • $578 - 5/30 Louis Vuitton, Las Vegas, NV
  • $600 - 5/30 Hotel Operations, Las Vegas, NV
  • $1,115 - 5/30 Hotel Operations, Las Vegas, NV
  • $243 - 5/30 Hotel Operations, Las Vegas, NV
  • $15 - 5/31 Jamba Juice, Salt Lake City, UT ***
  • $1,362 - 5/31 Luis Vuitton, Las Vegas, NV
  • $573 - 5/31 Hotel Operations, Las Vegas, NV

  1. First, I have a thing for high end leather from Louis Vuitton. You should too.
  2. Second, I learned that I like to fly back and forth between Las Vegas and Salt Lake, just because I can? Don't you wish you could too?
  3. Third, I really really like Hotel Operations to service me. One can't say enough about the room service!
  4. And most importantly I secretly (or not so secretly) have desires to do many unspeakable things to some unknown individual out there.


But really, I do have a Jamba Juice addiction.



Thursday, May 19, 2016

The Great Philosophical Shuffling Debate - Can I Shuffle One Card?


The Great Philosophical Shuffling Debate: "If you play a game with cards, and the game instructs you to shuffle your deck, and your deck only has one card in it, can you do it?"

Deep Thoughts.

My favorite responses:

"As a computer scientist, I can shuffle a deck with zero cards."
"If I can shuffle a deck of 52 identical cards, I can "shuffle" a deck of one card, which has exactly the same effect."



Thursday, May 5, 2016

Don't Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford




Don't Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford

In this commercial parody, a married couple (Steve Martin, Amy Poehler) are confused by their money woes, so a spokesperson (Chris Parnell) presents them with Don’t Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford, a guide to prevent financial debt. [Season 31, 2006]



Don't Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford Script

Wife.....Amy Poehler
Husband.....Steve Martin
Spokesman.....Chris Parnell


[ open on couple trying to balance their checkbook ]

Wife: (sighs) I just can't get these numbers to add up.

Husband: Like we're never going to get out of this hole.

Wife: Credit card debt, does it ever end?

Spokesman: [walks in] Maybe I can help.

Husband: We sure could use it.

Wife: We've tried debt consolidation companies.

Husband: We've even taken out loans to help make payments.

Spokesman: Well, you're not the only ones. Did you know that millions of Americans live with debt they cannot control? That's why I developed this unique new program for managing your debt. It's called [presents book] "Don't Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford."

Wife: Let me see that... [grabs book, reads] "If you don't have any money, you should not buy anything." Hmm, sounds interesting

Husband: Sounds confusing.

Wife: I don't know honey, this makes a lot of sense. There's a whole section here on how to buy expensive things using money you save.

Husband: Give me that... [grabs book, looks at it] And where would you get this saved money?

Spokesman: I tell you where and how in Chapter 3.

Wife: Ok, so what if I want something but I dont' have any money Spokesman: You don't buy it.

Husband: Well let's say I don't have enough money to buy something. Should I buy it anyways?

Spokesman: No-o-o-o.

Husband: Now I'm really confused!

Spokesman: It's a little confusing at first.

Wife: Well what if you have the money, can you buy something?

Spokesman: Yes.

Wife: Now take the money away. Same story?

Spokesman: Nope. You shouldn't buy stuff when you don't have the money.

Husband: I think I got it. I buy something I want, and then hope that I can pay for it right?

Spokesman: No. You make sure you have money, then you buy it.

Husband: Oh, THEN you buy it. But shouldn't you buy it before you have the money?

Spokesman: No-o-o-o.

Wife: Why not?

Spokesman: It's in the book. It's only one page long. The advice is priceless and the book is free.

Wife: Well, I like the sound of that.

Husband: Yeah, we can put it on our credit card.

Spokesman: [shakes head]

Announcer: So get out of debt now, write for your free copy of "Don't Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford." If you buy now you'll also receive, "Seriously, If You Don't Have the Money, Don't Buy It!" Along with a 12-month subscription to "Stop Buying Stuff Magazine." So order today!



Happy Cinco de Mayo




Have a Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone - Cinco de Mayo is a most excellent American party!  If you thought it was a Mexican celebration, you would only be partially right.  "Cinco de Mayo is a bigger celebration in the U.S. than in Mexico."  Wouldn't it have been been epic if Cico de Mayo also landed on Taco Tuesday this year?  Cinco de Mayo is also a great time to recover from the Star Wars May the 4th Be With You celebrations (or dig yourself further in depending on your choice of activities).



Monday, April 25, 2016

International TableTop Day



Geek and Sundry Announces this Saturday, April 30th, 2016, is the International TableTop Day.

In celebration, Amazon has huge discounts going on for TableTop games:

"For a limited time only while supplies last, up to 40% off strategy board games for TableTop day. Discount is only applicable to items sold by Amazon.com. Also, for an even greater value, take advantage of FREE Shipping (restrictions apply) and Prime (restrictions apply)."
 List of retailers observing International TableTop Day.  Find Community Events near you.




Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Sunday, January 31, 2016

Optical Illusion Dance


Optical Illusion Dance - if you watch the steps are very simple, but the illusion appears much more acrobatic.