vedana.net

I knew something was up when Erin McGlock emailed recently, subject "Is it normal to drool over an ipod?" She gave me permission to quote her message:

Hey dude,

Please talk me out of getting an apple ipod-mini!!!! They are so cute and I almost got one but i didn't and now i am having second thoughts! You probably already have one knowing you!

Then Kimmy posted, "I'm so itching to get one of these."

Referring, of course, to a pink iPod Mini.

Wow, Apple must be on to something. My reaction to the MiniPod was, like most folks, "cool, but $50 too expensive." Then this, from the E-Commerce Times:

"Early indications are that iPod mini, which garnered more than 100,000 preorders since being announced in January, is outdoing the success of the original iPod, which sold 125,000 units in its first quarter of availability, Apple said."

A surprise gift from John, I just finished reading Bill Bryson's African Diary:

"CARE invited the author of "A Walk in the Woods" and "In a Sunburned Country" to turn his sights to Kenya. The result is "Bill Bryson's African Diary," 10,000-word record of his travels in that country, including visits to CARE's poverty-fighting projects..."

"Bryson is doing more than simply writing about these challenges. He has generously donated all his royalties from "African Diary" to CARE, where they'll help support our efforts to create lasting solutions to poverty in Africa and elsewhere."

I highly recommend buying a copy- it's quite informative, entertaining, and eye-opening.

is talking about us.

[via Kevin]

Massless.org says, of vedana.net, "Eric Case understands that suffering arises because of the mental habit of craving."

Would that that were entirely true, Chris... While it's fine and dandy to intellectually understand the Second Noble Truth, it's another matter entirely to understand it experientially.

But I'm working on it.

One year ago, I was in Cambodia.

Two years ago, New Zealand.

Three years ago, nearing the end of College.

Four years ago, Europe.

Far out.

Slashdot has a fascinating interview with an Indian techie crowd that delves into stuff I've long been curious about- east/west comparisons of cost of living, wages, benefits, etc. Here's a snip:

"You can have a decent life in New Delhi for around $12,000 US per year -- but to earn that much you'll probably need to have source of income from another country -- like programming outsourced from the U.S. or Europe -- because most white-collar jobs there pay $6000 US or less, and burger-flipping there is likely to net you more like $2000, which may not be enough to afford an apartment with electricity and running water. (And yes, plenty of people in New Delhi live without running water or electricity.)"

Andy Ihnatko: "I have to applaud IBM for doing this sort of thing effectively. As an internationally-known industry pundit who's beloved by the proletariat and feared by the hated corporate technocratic oppressors of shame, I get my fair share of oddball promotional items."

[via Rick Schaut]

My first true post on FlickNut goes live...

Cory Doctorow, 2004/02/03: "I'm going to be at the UNC in Chapel Hill, North Carolina this week for some iBiblio events, one of which is a public talk on copyright and the EFF at 3:30 on February 5. If you're in the area, it'd be great to see ya!"

Alas, I couldn't make it. But:

Cory Doctorow, 2004/02/11: "The iBiblio people have posted the video of my talk on copyright and the entertainment industry at the University of North Carolina last week."

Right on! Here's the video, do watch it, it's quite enlightening- Cory takes us through the (fascinating) history of copyright, and discusses some of the EFF's recent victories in court.

eWeek, The 100-Million-Mile Network: "Listening anxiously for any sign of life were navigators at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. They had to fix a broken interplanetary communications link that reached more than 100 million miles (and counting - the distance keeps growing as the orbits of Earth and Mars draw apart)... Diagnosing what was wrong with Spirit depended on interpreting squawks, tones and other sounds traveling along a conduit dubbed the Deep Space Network."

[via /.]

Jeremy Zawodny: "... it's probably worth pointing out that My Yahoo's RSS module also groks Atom. It was added last night. It took about a half hour."

Brent Simmons: "Anyway, today we’ve posted a special Atom beta for testing NetNewsWire’s Atom parser."

Graham Parks: "Shrook 2 is on the way very soon, and will be a free upgrade to current users. It has been rewritten from the ground up and features... Preliminary Atom v0.3 support."

Nice!

Rheingold, Isenberg & Roberts at Etech:

I'm there in spirit, gents!

[via BoingBoing]

Check out Ross Mayfield's fantastic blogging of Joe Trippi's speech down at Etech: "We got Dean to a place that according to the party rules was impossible to get to. There was no institution, only people using tools and the Internet. Now what happened was that we used new and different ways to get there and then we ran into broadcast politics."

Be sure to read the whole speech, it's quite exciting. Or listen to it. Trippi even got a standing ovation.

Now read Reuters' coverage of the same event: "Joe Trippi, who resigned after defeats in Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary, said the direct involvement of so many Internet supporters deprived the campaign of the traditional weapon of political surprise."

The spin almost makes me want to retch. Techdirt has the full scoop: "No matter what your politics are, it's interesting to note the vastly different takes the established media and some bloggers have on this morning's talk by Joe Trippi..."

[via Smart Mobs]

Bill Gates: "I was not born rich at all. The ideal is to grow up without much money and then be lucky enough to make it because all your sense of values and hardwork get established knowing that you've got to get a job and got to make your mark."

Agreed.

Update: Dan in email points to PhilG's "How to Become As Rich As Bill Gates," which paints a slightly different picture...

Bitchun', Eastern Standard Tribe is out, and I just ordered a copy from Borderlands in SF. Cory is one of the proprietors of the wonderful BoingBoing, as well as the EFF's Outreach Coordinator. In short, he's the man.

Blogroll it: flicknut.blogspot.com, a new collaborative movie review & commentary blog from some of the gang here at Blogger.

Evan Williams, 2003/05: "Getting the religion? Eric loaned me his old iBook for a couple weeks. I'm typing on it now. Neato."

Evan Williams, 2004/02: "I'm shopping for a new uber-expensive Mac because my little 12" Powerbook (867Mhz/640MB) won't let me make enough sounds at once. I'm addicted."

Nice!

Nice, we're now listed atop the Google Services & Tools page. Biz remarked, "It's a good thing Ev didn't name it Weblogger."

Mike Sieburg: "But in the end, Presidential elections are not exercises in choosing utopian leaders. It's about choosing one boring white guy over another. I like to choose the one who gives those living on the margins of survival a better chance at life and happiness."