News that Amused and Other Stuff

Hi again. My life is boring, so let's look at some interesting stuff that's going on!

Slashdot lead me to a piece "Defend yourself against the coming robot rebellion" which contained a great quote:

A tip for telling whether a new acquaintance is a real person or a humanoid robot: 'Does your friend smell like a brand-new soccer ball?'

You'll love the cover art. Now I have another book for the wish list.

In an IM from my SO that bemoaned the slow news day I got a link to: Bush’s pockets
And this one about Superman's package

Saw this in my email (I subscribe to C|NET tech alerts - yes I am a nerd) C|NETtech news.

Telecommuters employed by a company outside their home state may be at risk of having to pay extra taxes unless Congress adopts a bill protecting them, experts said Tuesday.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear the appeal of a Tennessee computer programmer who claimed that New York was violating his constitutional rights by forcing him to pay taxes on income he earned in his home state while telecommuting.

The New York tax provision, called "Convenience of the Employer," allows the state to tax nonresidents who choose to telecommute for their New York-based employers for their convenience, but not if it is at the convenience of the employer. The Supreme Court let stand the New York appeals court ruling in favor of the state.

So this guy is saving gas, reducing traffic congestion and pollution, and leaving valuable office space available for a New York company, but they're going to make him pay twice the taxes for it. I hope that the Congress passes that exception. Somehow, though, I think it will get ignored in all the other noise out there.

My laptop is giving me a lot of grief. I have to wait quite awhile for the cursor to catch up with what I'm typing. It may be on its last legs. I think I'll give it the night off now.