marchdecember

I haven't put any good new pictures up for like ever. Here's an assortment of neat picture recently uploaded to our Flickr.

Who knew how many evil red light runners there were in the City of Seattle? Apparently a lot, according to the Seattle Times.

Since July, 5,500 citations have been mailed to drivers after traffic-light cameras at four intersections snapped their photos. The fine is $101, and police say the one-year pilot program appears to be working just as it's supposed to: catching scofflaws while allowing police officers to spend their time preventing other offenses.

Just in case you weren't counting, that's over $550,000 in fines! Talk about bringing home the bacon!

I finally saw a new Chrysler Aspen today.

The Aspen is Chrysler's version of the Dodge Durango. I've always thought it was hideous, but actually it's not that bad looking in person. It's also a lot bigger in person than I thought it would be.

But why did they name it after the Dodge Aspen? I don't get it.

This cop tickets somebody for the terrible, terrible offense of cutting through a parking lot or gas station or something to avoid a traffic light. Yes, they shouldn't do it. But maybe the cop should be a little more understanding given his own inability to handle a motor vehicle.

(Warning: Naughty Cop Language)

I'm fascinated by the razor wars. After inventing a five (plus one!) bladed razor, what do you do next? What trick will Gillette use to make me feel like my Fusion is outdated and needs to be replaced. Can Schick get me to switch to a six bladed razor?

The Patent and Trademark office is always a fun place to find potential glimpses of the future. Gillette may be working on razors that use color to indicate when they need to be replaced. As the blade dulls, it would turn color and allow the user to know when the blade ought to be replaced.

Gillette has requested a few trademarks for their new blades as well: Malibu and Phantom. The Phantom could be the next iteration of the Fusion... possibly with a new innovation (like color-changing blades, though probably not). Probably it's just a black Fusion. Malibu looks to be a new disposable for women.

Meanwhile, Schick is coming up with new innovations to compensate for the fact that they can't credibly throw a few more blades on and call it the Schick Quattro X2. (Though that's not a bad idea.) They're working on a blade that includes a lubricating liquid (somewhat like the wet razors from Norelco) and a cartridge which includes a MOVING blade. That seems like a VERY, VERY bad idea to me, but whatever.

This all means one thing for you and me. Our razors are going to get even MORE expensive, and they probably won't shave any better.