Technology

Not much today. I had a ton of stuff: Lions draft day (best day to be a Lions fan), my idiot-savant Michael (a second-grader who can barely tie his shoes but has taught himself multiplication and other things, to the general head-shaking amazement of his no-nonsense teacher), beer drinking, etc.

I bought my first new computer in over three years. The Tech Guy installed it yesterday. It's pretty nice: 19" flat screen monitor, soft-touch keyboard, Windows Vista, most-current versions of all the standard software. I think I'm one of the first persons in my town

I just published a piece with Tech Central Station about multi-tasking with the cell phone [http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=012207D], using my experience and Marshall McLuhan. Those interested in McLuhan (and maybe some others) might find it interesting. Excerpt: > I like multitasking, if it's

> Designer/artist Tim Simpson's Smile Helmet mechanically draws the corners of your mouth back into a grin. He created it for "people in jobs which demand an unusual amount of smiling, such as air-stewards, receptionists and politicians [http://www.boingboing.net/2006/10/10/smile_helmet_

> RadioShack Corp. notified about 400 workers by e-mail that they were being dismissed immediately as part of planned job cuts. Link [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/08/30/financial/f131351D00.DTL] . You don't need McLuhan [https://thedailyeudemon.com/?p=374#respond] to

> Drivers who cause a wreck while yakking on a cellphone will face a fine of up to $500 under a law that took effect Tuesday, the ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION reports. > The law, likely the first of its kind in Georgia, sanctions drivers whose "improper" usage of a

Good story in this month's Atlantic Monthly about Wikipedia (link [http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200609/wikipedia], might require subscription), concentrating on its formation and history. It also contains some neat stats, like this one:

Steven Johnson has had it with bogus arguments about blogging. Readers may recall that I, too, have had it with bogus arguments (link [http://www.catholicexchange.com/vm/index.asp?vm_id=1&art_id=33273]). I think Johnson has been guilty of bogus arguments himself (see this article

> Internet users around the world send an estimated 60 billion emails every day and many of these are spam or scam attempts, business leaders said on Tuesday [http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=internetNews&storyID=2006-04-25T155230Z_01_L25596952_RTRUKOC_0_US-SECURITY-INTERNET.xml&pageNumber=0&