Links of the Day

Circuit City Shutting Down - In probably a surprise to no one considering how poorly operated the company has been from the top (timeline here), its throwing in the towel and liquidating the company nationwide starting this Saturday with the goal of ceasing operations by March 31st. Considering the company followed the practice of rewarding CEO's and their lieutenants for their failures, its now surprise. The previous CEO was paid tens of millions to go away after running it into the ground and more then likely the current CEO will get a huge windfall for pulling the trigger to put it out of its misery. If not for the 35,000 employees about to lose their jobs I would say good riddance. As it stands, it’s just a shame the board and top people where not tossed earlier so something could be salvaged. Oh and as the FAQ tells you, its just best that you don't buy anything online or in the stores as a liquidation is just one big con game. Something needs to be done with how upper management is treated by companies and shareholders need to drop the blinders about it. It is real simple, treat them like regular employees. Reward for success, punish for failure. Not reward no matter what they do.

App Store hits 500 Million - Driven mostly by free apps, despite being only 6 months old, the store has had 500 million downloads. Doesn't hurt that there are already 15,000 and many more to come. I suspect that most of those downloads are people who sampled the crapware and quickly removed them. Still, quite a remarkable number in a short time.

Watchmen Settlement Reached - It seems that Fox and Warner Bros. have reached an agreement on who gets what for the upcoming Watchmen movie. Fox, who purposely sat on the film for 20 years, wanted some money and apparently it got it. Around $5 million up front plus a percentage of the profits. Overall, a great profit for doing nothing. On the bright side it means the movie will not be delayed and will release on March 6th as scheduled.

Transforming Apartment - At a cost of $218,000, Hong Kong architect Gary Chang decided to maximize the space of his $45,000 apartment by installing sliding walls and detachable shelving to allow for 24 different layouts, meaning nearly a different apartment for each day of the month.

Will Smith Solves Rubik's Cube - As a sign that he is not stupid, Will Smith solved a Rubik's cube in a minute while on TV a little over a year ago. Why he was doing it I don't know but its clear he isn't being random but working out a clear path to success, which is better then most (including me) do when playing with the toy.