RIP: Mrs. Fields Cookies?!

They're filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection while attempting a reorg, and 2/3rds of their creditors are behind it, so they stand an excellent chance of surviving, though they're also trying to sell off their TCBY Yogurt line.

Apparently the spike in fuel prices is really hurting mall food. " Restaurant and food companies have struggled this year as higher gasoline prices and rising ingredient costs have eroded sales and profits. S&A Restaurant Corp, owner of the Bennigan's and Steak & Ale chains, filed for Chapter 7 liquidation in July, while Buffets Holdings Inc, the operator of Old Country Buffet and Ryan's steakhouses, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January, saying customers had cut back on discretionary spending."

Myself, I like Mrs. Fields, but I only buy them during Christmas when they have a couple of specialty cookies out. For the most part, commercial cookies have too much sugar for my taste.

I REALLY need to buy a good mixer and start making my own.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080815/bs_nm/mrsfields_bankruptcy_dc

Ten Lego recreations of famous photographs

They're quite clever, and a couple are a little disturbing. Still, rather fun.

http://www.wired.com/culture/art/multimedia/2008/08/gallery_legophotog?slide=1&slideView=1

Jackson Browne Suing John McCain and the Republican Party!

So let's see. A man who wants to be the President of the United States, who takes an oath to uphold the laws and the constitution of the United States, appropriates Jackson Browne's song Running on Empty for a campaign commercial without permission, further creating an implication that Browne is endorsing McCain.

Browne is an Obama supporter and has never licensed his songs to be used in any commercial.

I really look forward to seeing how they play this on Daily Show and Colbert Report.

http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/08/jackson-browne.html


EDIT: let me clarify this a bit. It was the Ohio Republican Party, not the McCain campaign directly, that created this add promoting McCain. Whether or not McCain and his people had approved this is unknown.

Judge rejects H-1B visa injunction

"Judge Faith Hochberg has denied a preliminary injunction sought by the Programmers Guild to put a hold on a controversial 'emergency' rule change by the Department of Homeland Security to permit foreign students to work continuously in the US for two-and-a-half years after graduation without an H-1B visa. Hochberg indicated she failed to see how an increased labor supply could result in wage depression for engineers and computer workers. That seems disingenuous, since in Andaya v. Citizens Mortgage Corporation, Judge Hochberg recently saw first-hand how a US employer got away with paying an H-1B computer engineer as little as $15,000 to do a job with a 'prevailing wage rate' of $41,000. In that case, Hochberg ruled against Filipino H-1B visa holder Almira Andaya, arguing that 'nonpayment of wages as listed on the H-1B visa petition ... does not raise a substantial question of federal law.'"

Microsoft continually lobbies for expanding the H-1B program, meanwhile builds a programming center in Canada just across the border to bring in people that they couldn't get visas for. Meanwhile the number of computer science graduates in the US continues to dwindle while employers cut jobs.

"Be American, Buy American." Shya, right.

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/16/1222219

RIAA forced to pay a defendant $107,000 in attorney fees

And now Anderson is suing the RIAA for damages. Fun times!

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/15/1145236

Another reason to live in England!

If you like being under 24/7 surveillance.

The British government is proposing a massive data store that can hold "'a billion incidents of data exchange a day' as details of every text, email and browsing session in the UK are recorded. Under new proposals published yesterday, the information will be made available to police forces in order to crack down on serious crime, but will also be accessible by local councils, health authorities and even Ofsted and the Post Office."

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/13/2037219

Darth Vader helmet + pop artists = COOL!

A traveling art show exhibiting what artists can do with a Darth Vader helmet.

http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/08/star-wars-serie.html#previouspost

Air traffic controller helps get pilot safely down -- via text messaging

A small twin-engine lost all internal power, including avionics, shortly after take-off. Radio was dead. They called the tower on a cell phone, but lost audio. The controller started sending them text messages and the plane landed safely.

Truth stranger than fiction? How long before a surgeon performs a remote appendectomy via SMS?

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0807/1218047756406.html