> I do agree with Dan that indexed mutual funds are the way to go,
> and I also like Vanguard (as did Gordon, if I remember correctly).
Yes, you remember correctly. (And Gordon, I don't know if I ever thanked you
for the advice, so, thanks!)
And Dan, thanks for the recommendation. I've heard about this book for years
(but I never cared about investing before). I've used Adam's URL to order
myself a copy, but thanks for the offer to get me a copy!
> Please, in this ongoing holiday season, let's not lose the spiritual
> message that Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, and Mr. Hanky have given us:
> CONSUMPTION IS GOOD! NOW GO OUT AND BUY, BUY, BUY!!!
Hey! I've been doing my part! Juliet and I have broken all our previous
spending records...
> I go to a lot of movies. There's something about a big screen, a dark
> room, sticky floors, and stale popcorn that's qualitatively better than
> watching a movie at home, no matter how big your television is (or how
> sticky your floors are). But, perhaps I'm just a dupe, programmed for
> consumption.
> -- Jamie Zawinski
You're quoting Jamie Zawinski? How has that come to pass?
One of the real delights of doing grad school at Carnegie Mellon was reading
the Opinion bboard. The Opinion bboard was sort of like FoRK, but more
graphic, more violent, and with a greater emphasis on (dark) humor than on
bits.
At any rate, I invite you to sample the wisdom on
http://people.netscape.com/jwz/gruntle ... God I really miss a really good
flame now and then. I mean, I haven't even seen any good Microsoft bashing
on this list for a LONG time. And what easier target could you ask for???
:-) So in particular, at least read
http://people.netscape.com/jwz/gruntle/phones.html , or at least this
excerpt:
> Of course, since I never answer the phone directly, this means that I have
> to interact with our Corporate Voice Mail System (it's not just an
> answering machine any more!) more often than I would like. It sucks so
> bad that I only do it about once a week.
> Where did these pinheads find their user interface designers? Did some
> masochistic CEO go home one day, try to program his VCR, and say,
> ``hey, this really sucks! I've got to hire this guy and see if he can fuck
up
> my telephones this bad!''
> In case you've been living under a rock for the last two decades, let me
> refresh your memory about how every god damned telephone in every
> god damned home in America works: it rings. If you don't answer, then
> the answering machine answers it for you. When the time comes for you
> to listen to the messages, you press play. You then listen to every god
> damned message. You then press rewind.
> END OF FUCKING STORY.
- Joe
PS. You'll note that Jamie works for the Dark Side (no, not that one, the
other Dark Side). But at least he realizes the truth about San Jose and San
Francisco: http://people.netscape.com/jwz/gruntle/cesspool.html
> The farther south of San Francisco you get, the worse. It's like San
> Francisco and San Jose are the poles on some weird life-force magnet.
> Or perhaps it's like the geography in Journey to the Center of the Earth,
> where the farther north they traveled, the more highly evolved the
> creatures they encountered were.
Joseph S. Barrera III <joebar@microsoft.com>
<http://research.microsoft.com/~joebar/>
Phone, Office: (415) 778-8227; Cellular: (415) 601-3719; Home: (415)
588-4801
The opinions expressed in this message are my own personal views and do not
reflect the official views of Microsoft Corporation.