Frustrating dinosaur.

There are fights I'd rather not pick. Mostly because the problem will go away by itself. Unfortunately, it takes time, a lot of time...



This is emblematic of the territorial rights that kings held over their subjects. Why would kings go to war? Mostly to gain more territory, meaning more people to subject to taxation.

We get hammered that globalization is inevitable, and we should just accept it. Except that when we act globally, we get quickly reminded that we shouldn't.

My most recent frustration is with PayPal. I've been purchasing more and more items over the Internet, and even started using Ebay lately (looking for a decently priced oscilloscope). To make things easier, I decided to open an account on PayPal. When trying to enter my address in the US, I realised that was just not possible.

Along the way, I got this priceless language trap:


After an email exchange with one of their support personnel, the solution I was proposed was to open one account per country. Of course, a credit card with a bank in that country is needed...


What happened to FaceBook came to my mind: a few weeks ago, they were the biggest, no one could imagine another company taking over that social market. PayPal is in that category, and we're getting tired of the "too big to fail" not failing.

Climate change and energy companies.

Very interesting article on Good that looks at how the companies that were (and some are still publicly) denying climate change are planning for... climate change!

In parallel to that, there was a report of an oil pipeline burst in the Yellowstone river, in Montana. Trust them, they are operating for the public good!