New headphones

So, I ordered Shure e2c headphones after my third pair of Sony MDR-A35s in as many years had one ear stop working when the cord got yanked. I'm a little wary about owning a $99 pair of headphones, especially for running (we are talking, after all, about the guy who broke 2 minidisc players and an mp3 player in the past 5 years), and the noise blocking seems to verge on dangerous for running on streets (assuming, of course, my knees are ever up to it again). Maybe I'll get another set of Sony's for running, but recommendations on iPod lounge and Joi Ito's blog (which turned into a fascinating impromptu customer relations forum) have me pretty convinced. Score one for decentralized product reviews....where's my review search engine when I need it? I'll report back on how they work once they turn up. (And Shure turns out to be very good at responding to private queries, too: when I asked about the sweat tolerance of the e2cs via email, they wrote back the next morning explaining "the E2C earphone has been tested extensively in environments where the product is exposed to sweat for extended periods of time. Workout
conditions are actually very similar to live performance conditions.")

Speaking of distributed reviews, Seb points to work on a format for marking up reviews in RSS.

The Onion strikes again...

Americans Demand Increased Governmental Protection From Themselves

(also, my worst nightmare: Mom Finds Out About Blog)

Why I woke up before 8 on a Saturday

I woke up early Saturday to attend the attend day 2 of the Multiples of 1 conference, and it was well worth it. What a cool conference, although it's sort of tough to describe what it was about. A recurring theme was the difficulty and power of creating an open platform that allows for unexpected uses while providing sufficient constraints. Perspectives included the way conflicts were resolved in the Linux kernel, how Zipcar maintains order with minimal rules, the relationships between people and their electronic devices, how collaborative tools are often subsconsciously effective, how workplaces are changing physically, how wireless networks can scale indefinitely with a cooperative design, how markets are just one way of exchanging data.

If you thought you were cynical about romance...

...get a load of this article (via danah): "Moreover, dating is often a bloodsport driven by egos and sexual appetites." Of course, watching Average Joe has (surprisingly) convinced me it's true....(and, yes, you read that URL correctly, there is a realitytvworld.com. it's like heaven!)

For my adoring fans...

...who were kept in suspense during my authorial delinquency, I ended up being an iPod for Halloween. I printed out big versions of the controls, display and Apple logo and pasted them on not-too-big pieces of posterboard and hung em over my shoulders. It received rave reviews. And some mockery. One person thought I was a condom, but he might have been drunk. Sadly, there are no pictures, but needless to say, it was not as elaborate as this.

Halloween

So, I'm trying to come up with a Halloween costume (still open to ideas!). Current options include pirate and Vijay Singh. These are already remarkably better than the past few years, which have included: guy-resembling-the-stuffed-penguin-that-resembles-Sarah, guy-in-Naomi's-black-dress, and, my personal favorite, guy-in-orange-shirt-with-purple-stripes-and-black-hat. Mike and I went to Boston Costumes (open till midnight this week! what a scene!) where he was inspired, though I was not (the $600 velvet cape was tempting). The web wasn't much more of a help; I found out that I should not be Spongebob, since that's this site's top costume this year. Hmm. What a pain! Maybe I can just go as an alcoholic candy fiend.

If you can...

... go see Love Object. It's about this guy who gets a RealDoll (you must, by the way, spend some time on this site...it's fascinating and disturbing, just like the movie) and the, um, interesting effects it has on his real-life romance.