I gave a damned good talk yesterday. Given how badly I wanted to skip this particular (miserably managed, miserly, misguided) conference, I think it's wonderfully ironic that I got to kick ass and take names. My favorite moment came when we left the stage. My friend D. was also on the panel, and absolutely had to be on an international flight 90 ( Read more... )

There was a moment in 2001 when Napster went from being vaguely interesting but kinda pathetic, to being something every music fan has always dreamed of - a near universal, free music library. You know the Velvet Underground was important but have never heard them? Download 'em. Wonder what a Tom Waits/Bruce Springstein duet would sound like? ( Read more... )

A friend gives you a book, and when you make time to open it up and read it, it's fascinating. It's an engrossing tale, fast-paced at first, then increasingly epic and contemplative, eventually forcing you to wrestle with questions about what language can and can't do, what power stories do and don't have ( Read more... )

I had a request to publish the recipe for tonight's dinner ( Read more... )

iTunes keeps track of how many times I play a song, letting me discover that my favorite tracks have been aired 60, 80, 100 times. The most popular song on my playlist - "Einstein's Day" by the immortal Mission of Burma has graced my earphones 147 times ( Read more... )

Anyone got a PSP? I got a PSP game - Untold Legends - in the gift bag from a conference I just attended. You want it? Lemme know and you got it.

We arrive in Doha at 8:30 PM and are met well before immigration, right off the staircase to the plane, in fact. It's me, the American professor from Cairo and the product manager from Google. We're escorted to a comfy lounge, just short of immigration, and a representative from the conference takes our passes and baggage checks. Waiting for about ( Read more... )

I just finished writing a recommendation for a friend who's up for a Macarthur fellowship. These are often called "genius grants", and provide a substantial amount of money ($100k, I believe) each year for five years - they're designed to let artists, innovators, etc. work without distractions or requirements, with the hope that something wonderful ( Read more... )

empress_pixel wants to know: If I were your student, things you'd like me to remember about law and cyberspace ( Read more... )

From sen_no_ongaku: Things you really like that nobody else does: ( Read more... )