Stupid Business from Planck's Constant Archives

Posted on November 15, 2011 11:24 PM

There is an empty store on Broadway in my hometown and it has remained empty for almost a decade.

Read the Rest: When Not Renting Is Sheer Lunacy

Posted on June 2, 2011 07:58 PM

In the Cold War days if I were a Soviet tactician charged with the task of introducing Trojan horses into the US economy for the sole purpose of destroying the American way of life and its technological and productive capacity, I could do no better than to get our politicians to create agencies like the EPA, the FTC,

Read the Rest: When Morons in Government Interfere in Business

Posted on May 7, 2011 10:08 PM

Devout Muslims cannot live or work in America because Islam prohibits their assimilation and integration into our way of life. If they cannot assimilate, if they cannot adopt our culture, if they insist that we must make accommodations for their religion then they should not come here.

Read the Rest: Veiled Muslim Women Are Deaf

Posted on May 2, 2011 05:38 PM

It amazes me that we still pay people to stick their hand out and collect money.

Read the Rest: Finally They are Going to Get Rid of Toll Takers

Posted on April 27, 2011 10:46 PM

The Motor Vehicle Services Regional Service Center in Wayne

Before 2003, the former New Jersey Division of Motor Vehicles was perhaps the worst run service in the country. After it was reorganized as the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, customer service improved greatly.

Read the Rest: The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission is Run by Idiots

Posted on February 15, 2011 09:48 PM

In every regard except one, DirecTV sets the price for their services well. Where they screw up is in charging too much for watching films on demand: $3.99 per movie even for many older films.

Read the Rest: How Stupid is DirecTV

Posted on August 12, 2010 10:35 PM

Before there was Disney, amusement rides were generic affairs. A kiddie ride was just a kiddie ride. Disney turned the ride into a themed whole with the architecture, landscaping, and even the food supporting a specific movie and set of characters. More often than not the ride exits into a store selling the themed products.

Read the Rest: Disney Shops Need More Man Chairs

Posted on August 8, 2010 08:44 PM

One of the fastest ways to Newark Airport requires going on the New Jersey Turnpike and so I was shocked to see our driver getting into the cash lane instead of the EZPASS lane. The driver said his boss didn't want his drivers getting EZPASS. It took us an additional ten minutes to go through the toll than it should have taken.

Read the Rest: Stupid Taxi Companies

Posted on July 16, 2010 12:29 PM

Finally under intense pressure they did the right thing: Apple will offer free rubber "bumpers" to anyone who bought an iPhone 4. Now was that so hard?

Read the Rest: How to Simply Fix Your iPhone4 Reception

Posted on May 17, 2010 10:40 PM

These are the same morons who fought tooth and nail to keep VCRs from coming to market, thinking they would destroy the film industry because of pirating. Beginning in 2002, American consumers spent more on DVDs than on movie tickets except for 2009. This past year, 3D movies which are 3 to 5 dollars more per ticket have helped increase box office numbers by 10%. So for a while we may see box office sales doing, well, box office. As soon as more homes have TV sets capable of displaying 3D, DVD sales should start to overtake theater revenues once again.

Read the Rest: Movie and TV Studios are Idiots

Posted on July 13, 2009 02:53 PM

I often come across well-meaning bloggers who exhort their readers to buy only American-made products. However, it is a futile gesture for a number of reasons:

Read the Rest: I Do Not Buy American

Posted on May 1, 2009 11:35 AM

As a computer programmer since 1975 I have always followed one simple rule: "Be the Client." That is to say, forget about programming principles and nonsense such as make a plan, break the problem down, etc. A good programmer already should know how to save storage space, reuse subroutines, etc. These are merely techniques that can be applied to all programming problems. What I am talking about cannot come from techniques; I'm talking about what is unique to the program at hand.

Read the Rest: Credit Card Automatic Payments

Posted on April 16, 2009 05:05 PM

Yesterday a group of postal union employees and Soho residents protested the closing of the neighborhood’s only post office after it was announced that the location would shutter due to the economic crisis.

Read the Rest: Idiots Running the US Post Office

Posted on March 26, 2009 09:15 PM

This is another entry in my category of "Stupid Businesses" and certainly when it comes to idiots running a business, no one does it better than eBay. I know, how can I criticize a business that does billions of dollars of business every quarter and is the leading auction venue on the Internet? Inertia.

Read the Rest: Ebay`s Stupid Policy on Optional Insurance

Posted on November 29, 2008 06:38 PM

How stupid can the execs at Wal-Mart be to allow a mob to get into a stampede. 28 years ago I saw the dangers of long lines and took actions to manage large groups of people. Wal-Mart should know better. Especially if the crowd is lower income blacks.

Read the Rest: Controlling Chaos

Posted on October 27, 2008 05:21 PM

Sometimes big companies just have not thought their policies all the way through. Take for example Amazon's former Post-Order Price Guarantee

Read the Rest: Getting Around Amazon`s Post-Order Price Guarantee

Posted on May 21, 2008 08:16 PM

Amazingly, the largest ethnic group reading my blog is Hispanic. It is likely the simple reason is that I have written a number of articles on South American beauties

Read the Rest: Pamela David Photos n Images - Argentianian Model

Posted on October 26, 2007 03:13 PM

The other day I got an email from Blogrush dropping my site from their listings

Read the Rest: Blogrush is run by Idiots

Posted on October 8, 2007 09:37 PM

The only reason that the big corporations in America are still in business is momentum. Eventually they will be gone, replaced by lighter, smarter, non-idiot corporations run by Japanese.

Read the Rest: Most Corporations are Idiots

Posted on September 14, 2007 11:51 AM

When I was a child (in the 1950s) it was a treat to find pennies on the sidewalk, but it seems kids today don't bother stooping over to pick them up anymore.

Read the Rest: Time to get rid of the Penny

Posted on November 5, 2006 07:43 PM

First eBay cancelled all the PS3 auctions because of fears that fraudsters would be selling pre-orders and be unable to actually deliver the item within their 30 day rule.

Read the Rest: Ebay`s fault that Paypal is bombed

Posted on March 5, 2006 12:41 PM

The US attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, has launched a wide-ranging investigation into allegations that record labels are fixing the prices of music downloads.