The unimportant news thread

[Todd]

Following blackface incident, Professor Bright Sheng takes step back from teaching SMTD composition course

Mr Sheng's offense?  Screening the 1965 version of Othello starring Laurence Olivier.

[SimonNZ]

Wow. That student stepped straight out of David Mamet's Oleanna. Or some Fox hosts caricature of academia.

I'm offended that Sheng didn't defend the top shelf production and put the Anthony Hopkins version on next.

[Karl Henning]

Dropbox CEO: Pandemic caused 'the death of the office as we've known it'

Acton MA-bred Drew Houston says the file storage service has cut its space by 80 percent worldwide.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Dropbox CEO: Pandemic caused 'the death of the office as we've known it'

Acton MA-bred Drew Houston says the file storage service has cut its space by 80 percent worldwide.

Wow!  I wouldn't have thought that that would happen though.  Wouldn't people be using it possibly more if they are working from home--in order to communicate well with their coworkers?  Or has Zoom pretty much destroyed the need for it?

PD

[Karl Henning]

Wow!  I wouldn't have thought that that would happen though.  Wouldn't people be using it possibly more if they are working from home--in order to communicate well with their coworkers?  Or has Zoom pretty much destroyed the need for it?

PD

Great questions! I haven't talked lately with former officemates about the office, per se. I know that they moved to a different building, to reduce space and thus rent (in downtown Boston, a considerable expense)

[Spotted Horses]

Wow!  I wouldn't have thought that that would happen though.  Wouldn't people be using it possibly more if they are working from home--in order to communicate well with their coworkers?  Or has Zoom pretty much destroyed the need for it?

PD

I assume they mean they have cut their office space usage by 80%, due to staff working remotely. Dropbox's core business is providing cloud storage which is available to individuals, as well as corporations users. I assume they experienced increased business during the pandemic. Probably not to the extent that zoom did.

I use a personal dropbox account as backup for my personal computer data, and a business dropbox account to share file with co-workers. Both accounts were opened long before the pandemic.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I assume they mean they have cut their office space usage by 80%, due to staff working remotely. Dropbox's core business is providing cloud storage which is available to individuals, as well as corporations users. I assume they experienced increased business during the pandemic. Probably not to the extent that zoom did.

I use a personal dropbox account as backup for my personal computer data, and a business dropbox account to share file with co-workers. Both accounts were opened long before the pandemic.

Ah, yes, that would make more sense!

PD

[Karl Henning]

Most Ridiculous News of the Day: 1967 Grateful Dead T-shirt sells for nearly $18,000 in record-breaking auction

[mabuse]

Most Ridiculous News of the Day: 1967 Grateful Dead T-shirt sells for nearly $18,000 in record-breaking auction

Not even a nice one... 

[Karl Henning]

Not even a nice one... 

As existential cognitive dissonance, this event handily outdoes Don Henley's "Out on the road today, I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac ...."

[Pohjolas Daughter]

As existential cognitive dissonance, this event handily outdoes Don Henley's "Out on the road today, I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac ...."

Re not having that t-shirt to sell (or having had one in the past, then used it as a car rag):   "........Don't look back.  You can never look back."

PD

[Karl Henning]

Re not having that t-shirt to sell (or having had one in the past, then used it as a car rag):   "........Don't look back.  You can never look back."

PD

(* chortle *)

[Spotted Horses]

Most Ridiculous News of the Day: 1967 Grateful Dead T-shirt sells for nearly $18,000 in record-breaking auction

A 45 year old relic in what seems to be like-new condition, I've heard stranger things. I wonder how you authenticate such a thing. I can imagine the buyer getting it home and finding a "Made in China" tag inside.

[Karl Henning]

A 45 year old relic in what seems to be like-new condition, I've heard stranger things. I wonder how you authenticate such a thing. I can imagine the buyer getting it home and finding a "Made in China" tag inside.

(* chortle *)

Separately:

Alec Baldwin didn't know prop gun contained live ammunition, according to court documents.

Sure: why in blazes would a prop gun contain live ammo?!

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Separately:

Alec Baldwin didn't know prop gun contained live ammunition, according to court documents.

Sure: why in blazes would a prop gun contain live ammo?!

Karl,

I ran across this article a short while ago in which they suggest that 1) The young woman in charge of those props wasn't doing her job properly and state several incidences of her being careless, etc., and 2) The gun had allegedly been used by some folks on set for target practice (as in using real bullets) and that the real bullets had been kept in the same area as the blanks...and you can guess what happened from there!    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10125557/Rust-assistant-director-Dave-Halls-blasted-gun-safety-lapses.html

There also were allegedly incidences of the assistant director not following proper safety protocols too.

PD

[Pohjolas Daughter]

We may be competing with bots over the holidays...and in general too:  https://businessupside.com/2021/10/28/are-you-competing-with-bots-to-buy-gifts-this-christmas/

PD

[Karl Henning]

Unimportant follow-up:

Newton's tiny home has a buyer — again

A 251-square-foot home in Newton is off the market once more.

The home was back on the market earlier this month for $389,900 after a buyer who initially put an offer on the home couldn't find a lender that would finance the home because it was too small.

This time, the home has a no-contingencies, all-cash offer, Hans Brings, the listing agent, said.

The offer was accepted on Oct. 17, Brings said, though for how much — or if it went for a number close to what it was listed for — he declined to reveal. The woman who is purchasing the home will be using it as an investment property, with plans to list it as a short-term rental, Brings said.


(How much it would cost to rent, I don't like to contemplate .... ~KH

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Unimportant follow-up:

Newton's tiny home has a buyer — again

A 251-square-foot home in Newton is off the market once more.

The home was back on the market earlier this month for $389,900 after a buyer who initially put an offer on the home couldn't find a lender that would finance the home because it was too small.

This time, the home has a no-contingencies, all-cash offer, Hans Brings, the listing agent, said.

The offer was accepted on Oct. 17, Brings said, though for how much — or if it went for a number close to what it was listed for — he declined to reveal. The woman who is purchasing the home will be using it as an investment property, with plans to list it as a short-term rental, Brings said.


(How much it would cost to rent, I don't like to contemplate .... ~KH

Karl,

Is this the one that your friends had been trying to sell?  Or the other one that I had found?  Looks like it was the one that I ran across (after googling a bit further).

Not surprised that the buyer decided to use it as a short-term rental place!  This site might give you an idea:  https://www.forrent.com/find/MA/metro-Boston/Boston/beds-studio?msclkid=9eb975de39151fed10d514a1cea80d49&gclid=9eb975de39151fed10d514a1cea80d49&gclsrc=3p.ds  Interesting to try and guess what she might be able to get for it.   Does include parking (a challenge in your area), but unless the downstairs included something even like a fold-away bed/couch, it's quite a bit more limited in terms of who would want to rent it (having to climb a ladder to get into and out of bed could be challenging if not impossible for a lot of folks.  I suspect that the insurance company might require additional changes/modifications to the movable stairs too.

PD

[Karl Henning]

Karl,

Is this the one that your friends had been trying to sell?  Or the other one that I had found?  Looks like it was the one that I ran across (after googling a bit further).

Not surprised that the buyer decided to use it as a short-term rental place!  This site might give you an idea:  https://www.forrent.com/find/MA/metro-Boston/Boston/beds-studio?msclkid=9eb975de39151fed10d514a1cea80d49&gclid=9eb975de39151fed10d514a1cea80d49&gclsrc=3p.ds  Interesting to try and guess what she might be able to get for it.   Does include parking (a challenge in your area), but unless the downstairs included something even like a fold-away bed/couch, it's quite a bit more limited in terms of who would want to rent it (having to climb a ladder to get into and out of bed could be challenging if not impossible for a lot of folks.  I suspect that the insurance company might require additional changes/modifications to the movable stairs too.

PD

The one you ran across.

[greg]

We may be competing with bots over the holidays...and in general too:  https://businessupside.com/2021/10/28/are-you-competing-with-bots-to-buy-gifts-this-christmas/

PD

If anyone is still trying to get a PS5, Sony has reservations for people to sign up who have had a reasonably account Playstation account.
I signed up, so hopefully will get an email in the next few months. I refuse to ever buy from a scalper out of sheer spite, more like I would rather punch them in the face if the world allowed so.