I was looking for a big list of blogs, so I decided to make one. Here is a random selection of 20,000 blogs from my big list of blogs.

Unrelated to this, I cancelled my twitter account today. I know there has been a lot of back-seat commentary about how to fix their problems, and I certainly have my own ideas. I don't feel like sharing them as I still find it very difficult to understand how they managed to get their implementation so wrong - thus being the kinda guy I am, I think the best of others and assume I have a flawed understanding of some subtle complexity in running a messaging service. [1]

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[1] While it is true that I cancelled my twitter account, it is a total lie that I honestly think I'm missing some crucial detail as to how to make a scalable messaging service. The honest truth is that I'm too lazy to write it down. And if I did write it down, I'd be adding to a flame-war that seems to consist of people who seem to know little of what they speak.

I just received my Kindle. My initial complaints [1] with the technology are pretty much along the same lines as everyone else: low contrast glossy screen with low enough resolution to make the jaggy fonts unpleasant, buttons in all the wrong places, and software that seems all too beta for a hardware device. Technology aside, the device has highlighted a few of my personal reading foibles. I often read in bed before I go to sleep, and I like to know many pages I have to go before reaching the end of a chapter. I balance the number of pages against my sleepiness and if I think I can make it, I like to put the book down at the end of a chapter. It is always awkward returning to a book mid-chapter. While I understand that variable font sizing on the Kindle erases the notion of a 'page', the device does provide a progress bar to indicate how far along one is in the scope of the entire book. I want the same thing, but on the chapter level. Or at least a way of flicking to the next chapter and looking at the 'page number' and comparing that against where I currently am in the book.

So I read the manual.

At first, I started reading it on the Kindle itself, but after reading the first 3 chapters (within which I was instructed on how to change the font size on 4 separate occasions), I gave up and went to my desktop. I quickly realized that the manual made no mention of my chapter-progress-bar feature.

So I called Amazon's Kindle customer support (1-866-321-8851)

Me: Hi
AmaDroid: Email address?
Me: Huh, um, xxxx@i2pi.com
AmaDroid: Billing address?
Me: Is this the Kindle help desk?
AmaDroid: Yes. Billing address?
Me: XX Horatio St, New York
AmaDroid: ZIP?
Me: 10014
AmaDroid: How can I help you today?
Me: Well, first you can explain why you asked for my personal details without saying 'hello' to me.
AmaDroid: Um...
Me: Or maybe you can tell me if there is any way to work out how far along you are in a given chapter when you are reading a book on the Kindle?
AmaDroid: There is the progress bar that tells you how far along you are in your book.
Me: But can you tell how far along within a chapter?
AmaDroid: No.

At this point two things come to my mind:

1. Seth Godin's piece about in-bound calls
2. And instructions for getting root access on the Kindle. FedEx tells me that my parts will arrive at the office tomorrow. Yay.

Me: [HANGUP]

:wq

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[1] As a prematurely grumpy old man, I'll leave compliments to others.

Thanks to a recent message on twitter I learned that David Bryne is blogging. Not only do I really dig Talking Heads, but I love his work with Ryuichi Sakamoto and it is great to peek into the mind of a musician through writing that is as well composed and shares an unsurprisingly concordant asesthetic and ethic as his music. Go read his blog: http://journal.davidbyrne.com/. And if you do go read, you will find out about this:

Playing the Building, a 9,000-square-foot, interactive, site-specific installation by David Byrne, will transform the interior of the landmark Battery Maritime Building in Lower Manhattan into a massive sound sculpture that all visitors are invited to sit and “play.” Byrne’s project will consist of a retrofitted antique organ placed in the center of the building’s cavernous second-floor gallery that will control a series of devices attached to its structural features—metal beams, plumbing, electrical conduits, and heating and water pipes. These machines will vibrate, strike, and blow across the building elements, triggering unique harmonics and producing finely tuned sounds. As Byrne explains, it is an elaborate system for “activating the sound-producing qualities that are inherent in all materials.”

Playing the Building marks the first time in decades that the second floor of the Battery Maritime Building will be accessible to the public. The space will be open and free to all visitors on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday throughout the summer of 2008. Everyone will be invited to sit at the organ, tap on the keys, and create a unique array of sounds that travel through the space. In addition, David Byrne and Creative Time will invite guest musicians to challenge his creation through a series of performances and jam sessions.

Now, I don't really know much about art, but I really like it when I see a simple idea executed well and I end up walking away saying "Wow. I could have done that. If only I thought of it first." I guess I'll be heading down to Battery Maritime this summer to check it out.

After over a year of following the uber-bear-bloggers, I've decided to jump the shark and have learned to love Lawrence Yun. After doing careful research I discovered that now is the perfect time to buy or sell a house. So I did. After much paper shuffling, I am now the proud owner of a townhouse in Fort Greene.

The problem is, that during the closing I discovered that an 1890 law prevents me from running a tannery on my block. I'm kinda bummed out about that. The hurly burly of financial markets have been taking their toll and I was looking forward to a simpler and more rewarding life tanning me some hide. I guess I'll have to think of something else fast. If anyone has a suggestion, please leave a comment below.

nothing like poker to make you realize how, um, bald you are.



oh. and white.



oh. and my stack of chips is partially hidden by my arm. and they are further away from the camera, so they look smaller.

thats not the glower of a sore loser. just my poker face.