links for 2009-10-29

I can take the pledge - I still use my generation One iPhone, even after I stepped on it and cracked the screen

This works for us; we often skip movies in the theater and wait for the second generation electronics -- "It seems to me that the best way to instantly raise your standard of living is to live in the past. If you subsist entirely on two-year-old entertainment, and the corresponding two-year-old technology used to power it, you’re cutting your fun budget in half, freeing up that money for more exciting expenditures like parking meters and postage."

Awesome - the first piece of legislation from the Obama administration that aids the LGBT community. "At a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden Wednesday afternoon, President Obama plans to sign a bill into law that was more than a decade in the making. It is an update to the federal hate crimes statute that Congress initially passed in 1968. For the first time, the law that had previously protected people from attacks motivated by race, religion or ethnicity will include gay, lesbian, transgender and disabled people. "

Why getting vaccinated is important - and why you don't and shouldn't have the "right" to opt out.

"Investigators say as many as 20 people were involved in or stood and watched the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl outside a California high school homecoming dance Saturday night." - I'll say what others have said in reference to this - I don't want to live in a world that produces people who can do such a thing.