This happened today in the neighborhood where I live and work.

Here’s some free advice to all the would-be carjackers out there: if you steal somebody’s car in Oakland and the cops are after you, it’s probably not a good idea to drive in the direction of San Francisco. That’s because you’ll need to take a bridge to get to San Francisco, and the cops behind you will be able to radio to the other cops across the Bay and get them to meet you on that side of the bridge. Then you’ll have cops both behind you and in front of you, which will end the chase (not in your favor).

I can’t decide if this is going to make Sparrow worse or better.

But whatever happens, they’re either going to discontinue it or give it away for free, so I guess the money I paid for it was a waste. Damn.

Played around with it a bit today on a desktop computer in CNET‘s office.

Everyone who says that a ton of thought went into designing it is correct. It was beautiful and parts of it felt right in the way that many Apple devices feel right and in the way that Google search used to feel right.

But in just a few minutes, I easily located one very serious design flaw. As I used the mouse’s scroll wheel to scroll down in an article in the News app, the page I was reading scrolled left across the screen to be replaced by page two that was on the right. Got that? Scrolling down on the mouse causes the app to scroll to the left. That is wrong.

It’s also a sign that Microsoft may be wrong about the convergence of desktop and tablet/touchscreen user interfaces.

Farhad Manjoo in Slate:

In response to pressure from local businesses, many states have passed laws that aim to force Amazon to collect sales taxes… Amazon has stopped fighting the sales-tax war… Why would Amazon give up its precious tax advantage? …

Amazon has a new game. Now that it has agreed to collect sales taxes, the company can legally set up warehouses right inside some of the largest metropolitan areas in the nation. Why would it want to do that? Because Amazon’s new goal is to get stuff to you immediately—as soon as a few hours after you hit Buy.

In other words, Amazon is trading business models: before, they sold goods at lower prices, but people had to wait longer to receive them. Soon, they’ll sell goods at the same prices, but people will get them almost immediately (faster, apparently in some cases, than getting in your car and driving to the store).

I’m a member of Amazon Prime and do nearly all my shopping on Amazon – electronics, clothes, non-perishable foods, pet stuff, garden supplies, gifts, books, cleaning things, apartment decorations and more.

I’ve been horrified over the past year at the thought of having to pay sales tax on items I buy from Amazon. Like most people, I assumed that they were buckling state by state under pressure from politicians and advocacy groups. But if Amazon Prime goes from free two-day shipping to free same-day or one-day shipping, in exchange for paying sales tax, that’s something I could accept.

Has anybody gone to both and worn the same costume?

They are oddly similar and complementary:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVWWre8tn_U

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SDYus7iKC8

I wore a jacket to work today and it was too cold to eat my lunch outside.

My favorite country, Liechtenstein, will keep its beloved and successful royal family. AP:

Voters in tiny Liechtenstein have soundly rejected a call to take away the ruling prince’s power to veto referendum results. Government figures showed that 76.1 percent of voters, or 11,629 people, rejected the initiative… Hereditary Prince Alois threatened to use his veto in September…

Interesting point:

The royal family could have vetoed having its power of veto voted down.

Also noteworthy: Prince Alois is high in the Jacobite line of succession to the thrones of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

Let CNET refresh your memory:

Apple is slated to come out with a new phone… And it will largely fail… It’s predictable…

And also:

So when consumers get to that counter at CompUSA, they will debate buying the Apple phone, and even hold it up for a look. But when they whip out the credit card, they’ll probably opt for a Motorola.

Happy fifth birthday, iPhone.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY7HREIR3Js

I just downloaded Watchup.