Even as a child I resonated with George Carlin’s comedy, specifically about the English language. His comedy introduced me to the power of language, whether it was about the seven dirty words:

euphemism:

or just talking about stuff:

Carlin was a master of rhetoric, its place in and its effect on our culture, and the humor in how it corrupts. His voice will be missed, at least by me.

I finally made the permanent switch from a PC to a Mac — specifically, a sleek and juiced up MacBook Pro — after years of waffling over the convenience of compatibility (my previous 9-to-5 didn’t supply a laptop and required usage of Windows-only software) and the coolness of Apple’s experience.

Having drinks with a Mac-compatible friend one evening, I informed him of my imminent switch, and he warned me that Apple’s user experience doesn’t carry over to customer support. Perhaps suffering from the “That can’t happen to me!” syndrome, I wasn’t deterred and ordered up a shiny new laptop. What followed was a series of communication breakdowns, buck-passing, and ineptitude of a magnitude far greater than any I’ve ever witnessed with any product company.

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