Wishful thinking about Apple

(Advising other people how to spend their money is just silly. But here I go.)

Apple is now the largest corporation in the world. Bigger than oil companies. Bigger than Microsoft or Google. As of Tuesday, Aug. 9, they had $347 billion in the bank.

With their Apple stores, they are already employing quite a few people. Good for them.

What could Apple do with all that money?

I have a suggestion:

Apple should build manufacturing plants in the United States.

In the '90s they actually made quite a few of their computers in the U.S. They could do it again.

You can tell Apple is a little embarrassed that they make everything in China. On all their products, instead of just printing "Made in China" they put "Designed by Apple in California. Made in China." Sure, the design is important, but so is manufacturing.

Stand tall, Apple. Bring those jobs back. You could print on your computers and iPhones . . .

"Designed and made by Apple in California."

That would be nice, wouldn't it?

"Cars 2" movie review

Haven't seen it yet, but here's my movie review.

"Cars." Music by Randy Newman.

"Cars 2." Music by Michael Giacchino.

I like Michael Giacchino just fine. He does good stuff. He did a great John Barry impersonation for "The Incredibles." His "Lost" music is excellent. But he is a step down from Randy Newman.

Solar power

That sun will power its way through red and yellow inks faster than blue and black inks. "Go S Lar!"

Reasonable prediction

With each more-counterfeit-resistant redesign, American money is getting more colorful. (And one could argue, uglier.) I think it's reasonable to predict our bills will soon feature full-color renditions of our presidents.

(Thanks to Sandra Fj-B for the inspiration for this post.)

Guy in a dress

Note: This is my second try at this post. Not sure where the first one went. Anyway, I've decided to leave out the words this time around. I think it still works.

Cast in concrete

The lettering on the side of a Selby Avenue bridge. The letter "A" is -- unfortunately -- flipped.

Next to Norma

Sun and shadows and design conspired to change the name of this event at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. (As always, click for bigger.)

Last of the snow

At the Rosedale Mall in Roseville, Minnesota, they've leveled some snow piles to speed melting.

Mystery on Summit Avenue

I don't know what to think about this little still life on Summit Avenue. But it's interesting.

World Reserve Monetary Exchange $2 bills

"48-hour distribution: These seldom seen full uncut sheets of never-circulated $2 bills are being moved from the private vaults of the World Reserve Monetary Exchange for immediate distribution to St. Paul area residents."

Quote above and image below from a Universal Media Syndicate full-page ad in Sunday's paper (Sorry, the 48-hour distribution time for this offer has already expired!). This image of a vault could be completely realistic for all I know. But it looks completely fake to me. I've noted why in the second picture.

Click for bigger.

Big Futura Bold Condensed

I like this building.

And I like the big, hand-painted, weather-worn Futura Bold Condensed on the sign. And I like the snowman in the window. And I like the rabbit.

(Click for closer view.)

A couple more Ducks

Found a few more Wisconsin Dells Ride the Ducks postcards. Click for a closer view.




An earlier post on Ride the Ducks postcards.

When coaster brakes were sexy

Movie star Rita Hayworth sells the New Departure Coaster Brake. The ad is also promoting Hayworth's appearance in the 1940 movie, "Music In My Heart."



I took these pictures while visiting the Deke Slayton Memorial Space and Bicycle Museum in Sparta, Wisconsin. NASA astronaut Slayton was born in Sparta and there's a wonderful bike trail built on a railroad bed in Sparta. 2 + 2 = Space and Bicycle Museum.

A broken clock is not always right twice a day*

This clock on the corner of 6th and Cedar is valuable to bus riders. "Am I late?" "Is the bus early?" The clock will tell you. It also told you the temperature. Less directly useful, but still -- nice. But for month or so in December and January, it was broken and bus riders were left to their own devices.

But the clock was broken in an interesting way. Not just dark. It would be dark for the count of five and then quickly flash a -- usually -- non-number. Interesting! For a couple nights, I tried to count along and then snap a photo at just the right moment. The results were not great. Eventually I remembered (again) the camera can take video. So, over a couple nights, I took video to capture the different things flashing. There are actually more than I thought there would be.

Click the image for larger.

*You could argue that this clock was right once a day if you're using a 24-hour clock. But this clock -- when working -- is a 12-hour clock.

Snow Light Heat

This video can also be seen at YouTube, but I like Vimeo better.

Levi's tag, now on Roku

Levi's jeans have a little cloth tag on the back right pocket. They've had this tag for . . . well, forever, as far as I know.

It's a cool visual thing. Distinctive.


That little tag has now been adopted by Roku -- the Netflix-streaming, media box thingy! There's a Levi's-style tag on the Roku's remote control and on the unit itself! I find that to be mind-boggling. Sure, it's accepted that a piece of electronic equipment would have its name embossed into the surface or raised out of the surface or printed on the surface or stamped out of something that looks like chrome and stuck on the surface. But to have the name on a cloth-like tag sticking out of the surface? Boggling.


The little tag -- which is some kind of plastic-cloth with the name on it (unfortunately, I think, printed on rather than woven into the cloth) -- makes the remote stick out on the coffee table. Also, the little tag hits the hand holding the remote and reminds the user that, indeed, this is the Roku remote.



Unrelated, but also cool -- the remote opens to access the batteries through a solid-feeling end cap, not a flimsy little door. The remote opens and closes with a satisfying snap. Good job, Roku!

Grand Theft Garage Logic

Joe Soucheray, the Twin Cities newspaper columnist and radio personality, has written a book based on his radio musings. I'm certain his book has nothing to do with the video game Grand Theft Auto, but the choice of typeface suggests it is so.


Update: Type aficionado and type designer Mark Simonson mentions in the comments that the font in question is "Pricedown" and it's designed by Ray Larabie. The font is based on a font named "Pinto Flair" that was probably used in the design of the logo for "The Price Is Right" game show. If you want your product or event visually associated with "The Price is Right" or "Grand Theft Auto" or both -- you're in luck. "Pricedown" is available for purchase at Myfonts.com.

And your point is . . . ?

I'm familiar with people writing phone numbers on bills and putting mustaches or lipstick on George, and there's the bill tracking website wheresgeorge.com that follows bills around the country.

But what is the reason for this stamp on the dollar bill?

There's a gun owner out there with a rubber stamp? Okay, not really a surprise.

"Let them take arms." My response would be, "Hey, knock yourself out."

Hand-lettered yard signs

Happy to see a local sign painter is getting some business. Usually this kinda stuff is just scrawled in marker on posterboard or laserprinted and stuck to posterboard. This way an actual artisan is getting some money. Good for the economy -- good for small businesses.



(Notes: The signs are referencing the following people, all, coincidentally, are Democrats. Betty McCollum -- the current U.S. Rep in this neighborhood -- is up for reelection. Her lawn signs read "Vote Betty!" The exclamation point seems to lather people up. Mark Dayton is running for governor of Minnesota. He's wealthy -- and he wants to raise taxes on the wealthy (and apparently kill jobs, too). The last sign is about Mark Richie, who is running for reelection as Minnesota's Secretary of State. Richie presided over the Coleman/Franken recount from the 2008 election. And because Coleman lost, the Coleman backers believe the recount was rigged by Richie.)

Charty charts

Charts -- like photos -- can lie. Not that this chart is lying -- but I think the secondary point it's making is a little misleading.

To me, this chart is saying the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is spending a lot of money for Republicans in this year's election. But the secondary point is: But look how much money the Democrats are spending on their side -- more than the Chamber by far!

I think the secondary point of the chart is Republican party supporters are spending more than Democratic party supporters. And that is obscured by the NY Times' chart.



So, I spent some time with Adobe Illustrator to remake the charts.

First, remaking the original chart, but using a straight bar chart. I occured to me that the Times was doing some kind of area chart/ bar chart combo where the bars are different widths. So the height of the bar is not representative of the amount. Odd.


Next, I grouped the bars by party, giving you something of a sense of the different amounts being spent by each side.


Next, the classic pie chart.


And finally, a stacked bar chart which puts an emphasis on the amount spent by both. Just under 110 million for the Republicans and just under 60 million for the Democrats.

The same data. A fairer chart? Maybe. A different secondary point? Absolutely.