Wow. $1.6 billion is a lot of money.

I don't know what the deal is with this site, but I sure am having fun clicking around.

In the episode of Significant Others airing tonight, one of the characters used the term "high yellow." I almost spit milk all over myself. This show is so funny.

The next person who comes to me with some April fools day shit is getting a kick in the genitals.

I'm not quite a morning person. I try to get up early, but I'm a little dazed. Getting to work, too, can be a little disorienting. Traffic, other people, and Radiohead blaring in my ears made me a little scattered this morning.

Sometimes people say things to me, and I have a reflexive response. No thought, just words flowing from me. I fear I may have insulted my oatmeal guy this morning.

Oatmeal Guy: Ugly day out there!
Me: Yea -- you too.

It happened in a split second. I thought he said, "have a good day out there."

Oh well.

Plain English supporters around the world have voted "At the end of the day" as the most irritating phrase in the language.

Second place in the vote was shared by "At this moment in time" and the constant use of "like" as if it were a form of punctuation. "With all due respect" came fourth.

The Campaign surveyed its 5000 supporters in more than 70 countries as part of the build-up to its 25th anniversary. The independent pressure group was launched on 26 July 1979.

Spokesman John Lister said over-used phrases were a barrier to communication. "When readers or listeners come across these tired expressions, they start tuning out and completely miss the message - assuming there is one! Using these terms in daily business is about professional as wearing a novelty tie or having a wacky ringtone on your phone.

"George Orwell's advice from 1946 is still worth following: 'Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.'"

[via Plain English Campaign]

Hi, I'm a girl...

Remember Gavin Sheridan? He has posted a response to John Gray and his lawyers.

Good God. What the hell is this?

Whew. After the day I had, I really needed this. Don't listen if you are offended by the words "butt" and "plug."

[via rayce]

I have absolutely nothing to say today. I'm buried in work.

Go get yourself a cup of coffee, sit in the park, and talk among yourselves. I'll be back tomorrow.

I just flashed my neighbors. I was undressing for bed. They were staring. I wiggled the sausage at them.

Fuck them if they can't take a joke.

Light betrays the changing of the seasons.

One of the telltale signs here in midtown Manhattan is how light reflects off of the Empire State building. Normally, the art deco textured surface of the building is quite visible throughout the day. But as winter gives way to spring, the angle of sunlight changes. First, the metal window frames start reflecting the afternoon sun.

As the weeks pass, the building becomes more and more reflective. At its peak, the entire west side of the building reflects the setting sun like a 102-story tall bank of mirrors. So beautiful.

Today was the first day I noticed the reflections forming.

You can just make out the beginnings of the reflection on the lower part of the photo. Sorry for the crappy picture; I'll try to get a better one later in the spring.

"Boeing has developed a special system that protects airplane avionics from interference from passengers' WiFI devices using a special 'money shield.' By offering airline passengers its unlimited internet access 'Connexion' at rates between $9.95 and $29.95, Boeing is able to generate a 'Profit/Safety Phase Array,' suspending the effects of any previously claimed dangers from in-flight WiFi use by harnessing proven economic principle. The service is scheduled to start on Lufthansa flights at the end of April."

Ha ha. Gizmodo making me laugh.

Design Observer: Michael McDonough’s Top Ten Things They Never Taught Me in Design School

I'm particularly fond of number two:

95 percent of any creative profession is shit work.

Only 5 percent is actually, in some simplistic way, fun. In school that is what you focus on; it is 100 percent fun. Tick-tock. In real life, most of the time there is paper work, drafting boring stuff, fact-checking, negotiating, selling, collecting money, paying taxes, and so forth. If you don’t learn to love the boring, aggravating, and stupid parts of your profession and perform them with diligence and care, you will never succeed.

I'm really coming to terms with this lately. The amount of non-technical, non-critical path, stroking, politics, deception, and shit work I have to do is astounding. But this has to happen in order to get things done.

Has everyone seen this site: georgewbush.org?

Read this article; imagine hearing it in George W's voice. It wasn't until the end of the article that I realized it was satire.

I’m outraged that Fox approached the White House with this background briefing tape. According to McClellan, “it was Fox News who yesterday came to us and said they had a tape of this conversation with Mr. Clarke.” If that’s true, then a news organization that was included in a briefing with the agreement that it was on background — that is, with no quotes and the briefer not be identified — approached a source’s former employer and offered to give up apparently conflicting words that the employer could use against the source. (I read the transcript. It’s not particularly contradictory, frankly, and can easily be read as how Clarke characterized it.) This is a major journalistic no-no. When I was at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, we were taught to go to jail before you give up your sources. And you sure as hell don’t approach someone you’re supposed to be covering and offer to help them out against someone.But back to Fox. Anyone who still thinks Fox is “fair and balanced” should really have their head examined. If you like it because it’s a right-wing attack network, more power to you. At least you’re honest with yourself. But if you really think it’s working for anything but Bush’s re-election, you really need to get out more.

[via Back to Iraq]

dp-now has a more detailed look at Epson's funky R-D1 digital rangefinder camera that accepts lenses with a Leica EM mount. A couple of interesting facts: dp-now expects the price to be in the $3500 range, and the film advance lever does, indeed, cock the shutter.