Craphound'n find of the year (to date)

I pulled a gorgeous 1950's Vissetti blue and cream sewing machine out of a dumpster today. It's in a latching color-matched case, not too dissimilar to the one that houses my awesome typewriter (which most people who know me have seen), works like new, and is in absolute mint condition. One rubber foot on the foot pad needs to be replaced, and it needs a needle, but all the belts and mechanics look like they've never been used. My favorite part is the "As Seen In Life" badge just below the brand name. I'll be uploading photos tomorrow...

Best menu option EVER!

In the data processing app Igor:

Patience and Hospitality

Last night I transfered my Comcast account to our new address. Apparently I will no longer be eligible for the student package that I'd grandfathered in from Urban Cableworks (now Time Warner), but the woman helping me on the phone was extremely helpful, and actually got me an even better deal by the end of the call. She spent a lot more time trying to help me than she had to, and the experience was drastically different from any previous dealing I've had with Comcast (which have historically ended with me yelling, or demanding to speak with a supervisor). I later realized that this was probably because it was the first time I was calling about something other than comcast screwing me over, and as a result I was much more polite and patient than usual.

Then today I read this story: Attempted Robbery Ends In Group Hug (Yahoo! News)

Somehow the two incidents seem remarkably similar to me. And yes, I realize that I'm likening Comcast to an armed thief, and yes, I think that's an appropriate comparison to draw.

via [boingboing]

Sturgeon's Law

Everyone in the world knows Murphy's law, and it's referenced to the point that I find it a little obnoxious. Sturgeon's law, on the other hand, is a beautiful little underused gem of an adage. These days it usually is stated as "90% of everything is crud," but I prefer the original: "nothing is always absolutely so."

Since the original has fallen out of common usage I'm going to start referring to it as "the lost law of Sturgeon," and attempt to drag it from its grave.

Discovered via [Daring Fireball]
Defined at [wikipedia]

New house!!!

I've officially been approved for a lease for a new apartment! It's 3 floors above a store-front down in the Italian Market. The place is huge, is a block from Sabrina's (a great brunch joint), and will likely be cheaper to heat than my current 1-bedroom apartment (the record bill: $300+). Anywho, now that the apartment search is over I have time for some other things (hopefully like updating this blog more often).

Also, the trip to Utah in August is all planned now. I just need to find Guy a temporary walker, and then we're set. I can't wait to get out to Southern Utah with a camera. I just wish I could bring a bike...

Oh, and a prize for whoever finds me the original source for this quote:

"When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall -- think of it, always."

– Mahatma Gandhi

I like the quote, I just don't want to use it unless I can prove Gandhi actually said it. I know some of you are library wizzes, so get crackin'.

Browsers, webapps, and innovative ways to use the web

I started using the beta of the new webapp me.dium. Me.dium talks to a browser plug-in and displays the activity of other me.diumers in your "neighborhood" of the web (the sites you're using or have used most recently) in a sidebar. A picture is worth 1000 words:





In addition to this bit of eye-candy the sidebar enables you to chat with the people you see browsing "nearby." It adds a social aspect to surfing the web that web-services have been trying to achieve ever since del.icio.us.

Messing around with me.dium today got me to thinking about the innovations that have really revolutionized the way I use the internet. I hesitate to include me.dium on that list just now: it's just a fledgling app, and I'm not really sure that it's one I'll keep using just now. There have been a few technologies, however, that have fundamentally changed the way I use the internet.

The one that most immediately comes to mind is RSS. For the uninitiated, RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, and, as the name suggests, it provides a way for producers of web-content to distribute their media in a manner which doesn't require their consumers to visit their webpage. Using an aggregator (I use NetNewsWire, but there are many free services like bloglines) you can view the RSS feeds from many different sources in a single window. For example I can read news from the New York Times, CNN.com, BBC.com, and so on in a single window.

Nothing else has really had as big an effect on my internet use as RSS, but runners-up include 1Passwd, Firefox (and now Camino), and Digg. Am I missing out on any current web-revolutions? Is there something you can think of that changed the way you surf? Answer in the comments!

News news with a sprinkling of Murdoch hate.

Rupert Murdoch recently bid on Dow Jones, the company that owns WSJ. Thankfully the Bancrofts and their fellow shareholders see their ownership of Dow Jones as the responsibility that it is. There is an excellent article on the front page of the NYT (print copy) today, which is reprinted here, which discusses the reasoning behind Dow Jones' dismissal of Murdoch's offer.

The argument is best summed up by this excerpt:

“As an investor, I would be very concerned to live in an era of making investment decisions based on the Murdoch-filtered business information,” he said. “As a citizen, I would be afraid to live in a world where news is solely entertainment, and there is an agenda behind every story I read, watch or hear.”

I am so impressed that I am subscribing to the WSJ webpage, and maybe to the print edition, as we speak. Maybe if enough people have this response Dow Jones won't be in a position where they need to be worried about being bought out.