Two Inventions

Here's two inventions for Genius Labs to get cracking on when there's a lull in activity.

1. Shoes for people with cats and dogs
   Souls made of flea-collar technology (shoes bring in eggs).
2. Earphones for sleeping
   So you can comfortably listen to music as you fall asleep.

Okay. That's all for now. Gotta do official stuff.

Moving to Palo Alto?

We found a condo in Palo Alto (to rent). It's right next to Stanford and one block from University Ave which means it's steps away from pretty much everything in that little city. Plus, it's really close to work and Livy is planning on going back to school down there. It seems silly for us both to commute 35 miles a day so I think we're going to take it. Space-wise it's tough to beat our current loft but being right upstairs from coffee shops, movie theatres, restaurants, barber shops, book stores, an Apple store, and all the rest of it within walking distance trumps the space.

Noah and Biz

I'm eating an Odwalla bar in this photo. That's why my face looks weird—I swear. Odeo was announced at TED this morning and then we all happily discussed the wonders of this new service and also showed off the pre-beta inner-workings. I'm excited.

Bono Live

Bono is live accepting a TED Prize right now. He's also giving a powerful talk about what's happening in Africa.

Ted Party

Last night was a party at the Monterey aquarium and right now I'm listening to Craig Venter speak. Microbes people. Microbes. Ted is a good time.

TED Conferences

In just a bit I'll be heading down to the TED Conferences in Monterey. Yesterday I was told that it is "mating season" there now. Not sure what that's all about. Nevertheless, I remain undaunted. We even set up an unofficial group blog to share some of the goings on while we attend. Okay, I'm responsible for transporting the Evhead so I'd better get my things together.

Wikipedia Down

You don't realize what a damn-fine research tool Wikipedia is until it goes dark. Livejournal seemed to come back to life just fine after they lost power in their colocation facility but this little bit of text has me worried: "If these machines also can't be recovered, we may have to restore from backup and replay log files which could take a while." Sounds like this problem isn't going away tonight.

People Touch My Face

I may look startled in this photo but truth be told, those are Noah's healing hands. In fact, I may have even taken something away from the exchange. I feel good. Strong.

The Spice Must Flow

Greg sent me back to San Francisco with a fresh, new, shrinkwrapped copy of his Children of Dune DVD and a copy of Brian Tyler's soundtrack. I almost want to keep the cellulose-encased copies in a vault but I know he'd rather I watch them with a six-pack of Amstel and the sound cranked up. It is a long weekend.

Free Advice

If you do not like being attacked by gigantic roof baby ghosts then do not move to Amsterdam. That's free advice my friend. Free advice.

Weird Spam

Got some strange spam tonight:

From: "Dating Service"
Subject: Looking for friends with benefits? aquila
Date: February 18, 2005 8:14:52 PM PST
To: "Biz"
Reply-To: "Dating Service"

I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day. -- Frank Sinatra

Now that's some spam I like. I'd subscribe to the Frank Sinatra Quote of The Day if there were such a thing.

Mandy's Cake in Print

The current issue of Body & Soul Magazine features my sister's delicious recipe for vegan chocolate cake.

Crazy Kids

These two kids are crazy:

• WilloToons: Bloggejuvenated (She said)
  
• Vedana: Alas (He said)
  

Sounds like its just getting started to me.

Blogger's Privilege?

The U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that reporters from The New York Times and Time magazine must testify about their confidential sources (who leaked undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity) before a federal grand jury. So there's that, which is interesting. Also of interest, bloggers were dragged into the picture.

Displaying significant concern that a common law privilege could be invoked by anyone claiming to be a "blogger," Sentelle wrote a separate concurring opinion declining to adopt such a privilege, and wrote that only the U.S. Supreme Court is empowered to do so.

So it looks like people will not be able to hide behind or blame blogging for at least one particular form of jackassery going forward. Unless of course it goes to the supreme court and then we can all watch on the teevee!

Sundaes Sandwiches

I'm looking forward to visiting Los Angles again soon. The plan for the weekend was to visit friends and do stuff like we still lived near each other. So we saw the Incredibles, had some fun dinners, watched Empire Strikes Back on DVD, hung out at the coffee shop, regular stuff.

It's only an hour by air from San Francisco but then there's taxi's on either end plus time spent in security, etc. Coming back yesterday it was basically four hours door to door. It makes me wonder if driving is an okay option. If I want a car while I'm there I guess it makes more sense.

Next time, I'll have to stay a bit longer and visit the people I didn't have time to see.

Los Angeles

I'm in rainy Los Angeles tonight staying with friends in a big old house right near Griffith Park. Had some great Indian food right down the street and talked way too much as usual. Good times. I'm only here for the weekend so it's gonna go by too fast. I'm sure I'll be back again soon—it's only an hour by air!

Blogger Comments Updated

Guess what? No fair, you already read the title. Anyway, we updated Blogger comments. Now your visitors can comment without having to sign in to Blogger. They can just fill in their name and web site and post that sucker. Also, you can have comments work in a pop-up window and other cool things. I invite you to try them out. Make an evening of it if you like. Good times. P.s. I'm blogging from a biodiesel bus on highway 101!

Toof

As part of my "catch up on ten years of nothing" dental strategy today I had five fillings and a wisdom removed. My dentist is awesome but I really wanted him to pull out the tooth and drop it in a tin pan for that satisfying clank of bone on metal. Instead, he gently pulled it out and set it on a hygenic plastic tray. I did, however, hear tissue ripping, so that was something. One down, a lot to go.

Visual Quickproject Guide

Visual QuickProject Guide for Blogger! Elizabeth Castro has written all four best-selling editions of HTML for the World Wide Web and recently she set her sites on Blogger. This book is in full color, it's only $13 and it's all about how to do very specific things in Blogger. Heck, I'm gonna keep a copy on my desk—what? I forget things.

Livy Is Front-Page News!

Livy released a Blue Heron to much fanfare in Marin county. She's also looking very stylish hunched over the cage with her protective goggles on the front page of the Marin Independent Journal—the local newspaper for 100,000 wealthy northern Californians. The caption below the photo reads:

Nasty Jr., recuperated after undergoing surgery to remove a fish hook he swallowed, is released yesterday in San Rafael by Melanie Piazza (left), director of animal care at WildCare, and volunteer Livia McRee.

Here's a closer shot. And here's the article printed online.

Tweaking

It looks like a redesign but really, it's not. I was messing around with my blog template tonight and all I really did was drop out all the background colors and stuff. It bugs me too much, I like a clean white page. So sue me. Actually, don't sue me. Just sit and stew. Thanks!

Regis, Kelly, Trent, and Trudy

My friend's off off off Broadway show that I've already mentioned (in case you haven't been keeping up at home) recently got a big, juicy endorsement on Regis and Kelly. That's good for business. Nice.

The Cuddly Menace

Further proof that mash-ups are the future: "For the safety of our race (if any still remain) I have translated this book in the hopes that a resistance may arise. Read the baby powder scented Final Solution of our enemies from beyond, otherwise known as: The Cuddly Menace."

Nasty - In A Good Way

Nasty Jr Returns!: "Junior, as the 18-month-old blue heron is known to bait shop co-owner Keith Fraser, hopped out of his cage and took to the air amid applause after his release by WildCare officials who had nursed him back to health."

D'oh!

UPN is cancelling Enterprise. I just started watching it again because it has finally turned into a really good show. That's too bad. It'd be cool if the SciFi channel could pick it up and keep it alive.

Hey TED, What's Up?

I'm going to give out a bunch of free copies of Who Let the Blogs Out? at the TED Conference later on this month. It looks like a really cool event. I've never been to it before because as you know, they don't usually let me out. Nevertheless, I will be there. The dress code says "no jackets" so I'm good.

Waiter Rant in NYT

Waiter Rant is a great blog and I'm glad he got some press in the NYT: The Waiter You Stiffed Has Not Forgotten. Nice.

Jeopardy and Blogs II

One of the categories on Jeopardy tonight was "Lincoln Blogs." Each answer was a mock blog entry from former president Lincoln. This was the daily double:

Enjoyed my April 4th visit to this city about 90 miles from Washington; General Van Alen nags about how dangerous it was. (What is Richmond?)

Nice.