carlyle reflects on what it means to be "over him" and how she's not really there. she talks about being asleep and getting up for the phone because you know it's someone thats worth it. i've done that once before but normally i'm so anti-social that sometimes i goto bed early just so i don't have to go out. she also wishes that more people would "see scenes from books in [her] life," rather than recite quotes from fight club when they are pertinent. sometimes it's hard not to expect too much.#

there is a neat program called synaesthesia that I saw on freshmeat. it's a eye-candy music visualization program. looks really neat. kind of reminds me of bomb which was an AWESOME program i used to run. thinking about this led me to a list of music visualizers. cooool.#

kevin reviews what sounds like an interesting book that profiles some extremist groups. kevin notes that it's strange how one side can be so entranced in battle while the other "doesn't even smell the blood" - when i was reading stiffed there was a part about extremist groups in america and how a teetering off of "manhood" may be a cause of their quest.#

jim gilliam writes on the idea that those who influence politicians are more important than the politicians themselves (because a politician has limited term but any number of politicians may be influenced by the "philosopher".) and relates this to a "special group"http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?030512fa_fact in the current US administration that "[whispers] noble lies in the ear of King George"#

brian hess tries to interpret another motorist's (and presumably church go-er's) bumper sticker selection. he wonders if some people don't understand the gospel or are just trying to make a joke? i will note that i do not attend, nor have ever attended, a church. but i am bitter about them because there is a church behind my office building and every sunday they steal all the spots that are clearly marked "Reserved for [My Building] Building Employees and Visitors" - so i have to park down the street in my own parking lot. or sometimes i will block in someone and put a sign on my car with my number so they can call me when they want to move. i think that's pretty reasonable but whenever people call they are all pissed off because they took my spot. it's wonderful. sorry to steal the show there with my shallow silly problems... brian hess are good stuff to say.#

dan hon lets us be astounded by the ridiculous choices for the greatest pop culture icons as decided by vh1. kid.#

at modulo 26 is a piece on client relationships - something that is very often blogged in designer circles - how to deal with clients who don't know what they want and insist on creating an inferior result. andy advises to try not be egotistical and know when to back down because "we don't have an obligation to educate our clients. We do, however, have the obligation to produce the best work we can for them. The work is often the easiest part."#

richard tallent linked the article about the TANGO the awesome electric car that gets great mileage, is fast, and fuel efficient. it would be great to get one. i aspire to either never drive or have a Vespa or tiny car (insight? SMART?)#

al3x sees through the common coverage of how "wireless security isn't there" by pointing out that people need less security than they think because the "important stuff" is already encrypted at the application level. it would be nice to have the option though... for those of us with tin foil hats on.#

hunting the muse blogs on the up and coming hunt for pimpdom - as if pop culture could be lamer and more demeaning.#

sometimes it's nice to think of things we want and think about what we'll start to do to get them. i'd like a life, and a check please.#

charles miller writes about how AOL journals will have little effect on the world of blogs in general because there are already lots of blogs out there. basically, you only know a blog exists if someone links to them or they link to you - and bad blogs don't get linked to, so if the AOL journals are good then that's good but if they are bad it has little effect on the current Blogosphere. charles also points out that the AOL journals can have nothing but a good effect on currently established AOL communities and is thus good for them. so it's no big deal, relax.#

nat friedman has posted some slides he presented at OLS about Dashboard. they are a nice overview of the architecture and some of the problems that are solved. keen.#

justin wonders if he could "take a vacation from sight" and spent a few days blindfolded or something. i've thought about this very much. i want to live through most disabilities for a while: walk around blinded, not talk, wear large headphones to block noise. i think it would be interesting to see if i could improve my sense in general by spending some time individually exercising them. i have not read much about it, but i seem to recall ascetic yogis doing stuff like this.#

tim bray on the etymology of new curses.#

peter lindberg writes about a new development where he lives and integrates a lot of jane jacobs' ideas, what he says about her book makes me want to go read it. so alas, it's on the list now.#

philip greenspun lost his treo and is considering whether it is a sign that he should jump ship and switch platforms. being an anti-microsoft bigot i would never use a pocketpc product, but if you are already in the microsoft you might as well embrace it.#

brian carnell suggests that when measuring the merit of one scientific study you should look at the author(s) other theories to discern the 'quack factor' - he supplements this suggestion with an example usage.#

dan hon is a charming example of weblog ethics. i've said it before, in relationship to the fishbowl, that i think it's great when people say their wrong because at least they have enough "guts" to say something in the first place, unlike me who doesn't say anything unique and hides behind the supportive shroud of commentary and propagation.#

from game girl advance to slashdot games is a gamers.com teaser of the new game from the creators of Grand Theft Auto: Manhunt. It looks pretty neat, although I haven't played GTA, I like reading about games in general even though I may not ever play them#

joi ito links a post from scoble talking about secrets - how they are made, how they are kept, and some interesting notes on secrets he's been in contact with. i read a book once, called "The Big Book of Secrets" (I think, I'll check the title when I get home) and it talked a lot about corporate secrets (mostly secrets recipes of drinks, alcohols, etc) and magician secrets. it was mostly a discussion from a hobbyist perspective rather than a book targeted at corporate exec's who want to learn about how to make his organization more secretive. i like being privy to secrets. its funny the little things we do, like having lots of fake domains to use if we want to subscribe to mailing lists about things - (ie, what if je@platform-porting.microsoft.com was subscribe to the linux kernel mailing list - or something like that) - scoble and joi have great takes.#

dr. frank tells the story of the lookout party/show he went to/played at the other night. he writes about how most audiences act to solo, acoustic performances and about how one of his song title leads to awkward chanting moments during his sets.#

derek blogs more on gencon. live vicariously like me.#