In Which I Review The New Podcast "Neutral"

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The term "Car Guy" does not fit me. Until two months ago, I couldn't care less about cars. I am not a fan of driving, and love being able to take Metro to work (the DC subway system for you non-locals). That was until Marco Arment and Dan Benjamin started talking about cars on Marco's now concluded podcast, Build and Analyze. The episodes, in particular, are: 1. Build and Analyze #66: Car Haters and Idea Guys 2. Build and Analyze #71: The Lottery Mindset 3. After Dark #155: After Build and Analyze #77 After Marco started talking about cars, and BMW vehicles in particular, John Siracusa followed up Marco's shows on his also now-ended show Hypercritical: 1. Hypercritical #61: I Ran Out of Bombs Long Ago 2. Hypercritical #63: Talking to the Bear A lot of what both Marco and John talked about really clicked with me. Despite not being a 'Car Guy' I was very interested in what they had to say and it clicked with the geek in me. When my wife and I decided late last November that we were going to buy a new car, we started looking at BMW. For one reason we live less than a two minute drive from the local BMW dealership. For another, Marco & John's episodes heavily influenced me to look to BMW first - and then to Honda, Lexus, and Audi - only to come back to BMW in the end). A lot of what Marco said about Camrys and Accords being 'boring' cars not being fun to drive (I owned a Honda Accord) clicked with me, and when I began test driving these nicer BMWs and Audis I found that having a car I was excited to drive really made the difference for me. Two months later, my wife and I own a new 2013 BMW X3 (as of about 10 days ago). I tell you all of this because I was very excited to be surprised a few days ago when John, Marco and Casey Liss announced their new (possibly) short-run podcast, Neutral. Marco hinted as something like this last year at the close of Build and Analyze, saying he might want to start some sort of new podcast in 2013 where he could talk about his other passions, such as coffee or cars. At the time it hadn't even crossed my mind that John might be a host on the show as well. The first episode of Neutral was delightful - Marco and John are always entertaining to listen to. I didn't know of Casey prior to this show, but am pleased to say that the trio of hosts have a great dynamic, each with their own sets of differing and agreeing opinions. A range of topics from car aesthetics to dealership service are covered, including a few topics I had no interest in but nevertheless enjoyed hearing about. Having grown up with parents who only buy white or black cars, I found myself in agreement with Marco on his outspoken opinions on car color (our new X3 is 'Deep Sea Blue') and found his argument regarding his old Nissan Maxima familiar (my first car was a Mazda 929 that my mother gave me at the age of 16). Overall, a solid first episode by three great hosts that was a pleasure to listen to. I am pleased that I have new episodes to look forward to each week with John & Marco on my iPhone and to be able to listen a new host as well. None of these guys profess to be car experts, just geeks who happen to like cars talking about cars. If this sounds like something that interests you, I recommend you give Neutral a shot. If you think you aren't a 'car guy' or 'car gal', give them a shot anyway. They'll surprise you.

Versailles Bubble

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David Atkins writes regarding this hilariously sad post from the Wall Street Journal:

These folks live in a Versailles bubble, modern day edition. But even they're not the ones with the real money. The real plutocrats outstrip even these jokers by exponential leaps and bounds. And they're the ones who drive public policy in this country. Charlie Pierce, TBogg and Xenos all each have good takes.

Sending Rich Text Email with Mail.app

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Like me, do you work in a corporate office environment or with clients who are Windows/Outlook users? Do you set your signature to a custom font/font size other than default plaintext? Ever notice that when receiving a reply from someone that your original email is default plaintext while your signature is formatted oddly? This is due to Mail.app's simplistic way of formatting (some would say sloppy) your email as it sends out, which Outlook interprets and renders badly for the recipient. Well, here's how you can fix that as well as a more detailed explanation of exactly what is going technically to cause this. Thanks of a friend of mine, Nancy Seeger for sharing this with me.

A Pickpocket's Tale: The Spectacular Thefts Of Apollo Robbins

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Adam Green, writing for The New Yorker:

A few years ago, at a Las Vegas convention for magicians, Penn Jillette, of the act Penn and Teller, was introduced to soft-spoken young man named Apollo Robbins, who has a reputation as a pickpocket of almost supernatural ability. Jillette, who ranks pickpockets, he says, “a few notches below hypnotists on the show-biz totem pole,” was holding court at a table of colleagues, and he asked Robbins for a demonstration, ready to be unimpressed. Robbins demurred, claiming that he felt uncomfortable working in front of other magicians. He pointed out that, since Jillette was wearing only shorts and a sports shirt, he wouldn’t have much to work with. “Come on,” Jillette said. “Steal something from me.” Again, Robbins begged off, but he offered to do a trick instead. He instructed Jillette to place a ring that he was wearing on a piece of paper and trace its outline with a pen. By now, a small crowd had gathered. Jillette removed his ring, put it down on the paper, unclipped a pen from his shirt, and leaned forward, preparing to draw. After a moment, he froze and looked up. His face was pale. “Fuck. You,” he said, and slumped into a chair. Robbins held up a thin, cylindrical object: the cartridge from Jillette’s pen. The article is amazing. Read it. After having done so, check out this follow-up done by Jason Kottke that includes a video demonstration by Apollo Robbins himself. Also, there are numerous videos on YouTube that you can watch. Some good ones: * Neil deGrasse Tyson & Apollo Robbins on NOVA's scienceNOW * Apollo Robbins' "Great Pickpocket Routine"

This Isn't the Petition Response You're Looking For

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Do you remember the petition everyone signed on the White House website requesting that the Obama Administration build a Death Star? Well, the White House responded to the petitioners. This Isn't the Petition Response You're Looking For In case you were wondering, THIS is why I voted for our President. Right here.