Not have health insurance
Dance on Easter
Move house without notifying the government
Own a television or computer without notifiying the government
Keep a store open on Sunday, or after 8PM

I do believe I now make the best biscuits on the European continent. I'll be happy to try out other people's biscuits if they are of a different opinion. Except French people, as they probably roll theirs in frog snot and otter-noses before baking.

In reference to my earlier post, which involved things that are illegal here in Bavaria, I present the legally-available opening times for shops in various countries around Europe.

* - Some exceptions are allowed, such as for regional festivals like Oktoberfest

** - Some exceptions are available for the self-employed

Reference: Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung

The iPod is now 5 years old, and in that time has become a cultural icon, something that everyone knows. As an ambassador for the world of Apple, it's performed admirably. People have gotten used to Apple's leadership role as a hardware company, and also as a design house, largely due to the styling of the little white brick that everyone loves.

Take a look at this picture from the unveiling of the iPod in 2001.

The styles haven't really changed much. The first-generation iPod's screen and finish is no different from my own fourth-generation model, and The Steve himself was a little chubbier, and a little less grey, but looks pretty much the same as our current third-generation model. But let's pull the camera back a little bit.

What the..? What's up with the presentation? Is that an overhead projector off to the left? And what's that...font? Do I detect the lighthearted whimsiness of Comic Sans, perhaps? Is this whole presentation running on fucking PowerPoint?

I believe the next slide was that picture of the duck crushing his computer with a hammer.

What I'd never noticed about that picture (which, along with Comic Sans MS, has appeared in at least 65% of all PowerPoint-built presentations since its introduction in 1995), is that he's about to crush a somewhat microcephalic Macintosh II.

When you take this presentation, which incidentally also looks like it was shot in somebody's unfinished basement with the sound of Mexicans pounding up dry-wall heard faintly in the distance, and compare it to the elegant flashiness of the modern "One more thing..." era, you can see what a cultural impact something as simple as a presentation package can have on a community.