Faraway, So Close

Here’s a list of 50 things being blamed on high oil prices including:

United Airlines will furlough about 950 pilots.
Pizza delivery charges are rising.
Kangaroo harvesters are seeking alternative careers.
School lunch prices are going up.
Sugar futures are up.
Home health care services raise the minimum time for a visit.

Via kottke.org

Microsoft Canada drops the price of the Xbox 360 to on par with US pricing.
Gotta give Microsoft props for doing something other manufacturers (*cough* Apple *cough*) aren’t willing to do.
The new console pricing will be dollar for dollar equal to the 360’s price in the United States, with the Xbox 360 Pro dropping from $399 [...]

Via daringfireball.net
James Surowiecki, a few weeks ago in The New Yorker:
In an experiment in the early nineteen-nineties, people were first asked whether they preferred a $110 microwave oven made by Emerson or a $180 oven made by Panasonic. Only forty-three per cent chose the Panasonic. But when a higher-priced Panasonic model, costing $200, was introduced [...]