12 Mar 2009, 15:49 p.m.

Dropping In On Columbia Classes

I know more than I thought about copyright, less than I thought about collaboration.

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10 Mar 2009, 8:59 a.m.

Late Adopter Treat

One nice thing about not having an account on Friendster, PayPal, Amazon, Facebook, MySpace, eBay, or Twitter is that I know any email I get entitled "Your [website] account is compromised!" is fraudulent phishing spam.

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09 Mar 2009, 16:13 p.m.

Lego Learning

When I was rejecting submissions for Thoughtcrime Experiments, I told many writers that I'd give them suggestions for improvements if they wanted them. Some replied and took me up on the offer. Today I'm working …

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07 Mar 2009, 8:35 a.m.

Crunched

Yesterday, thanks to a friend of a friend of a friend who's getting a trainer certification, I had a free one-on-one Pilates lesson. This morning my abdominal muscles are all WHAT DID YOU DO?!

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05 Mar 2009, 8:05 a.m.

A Fuss

Ned Batchelder pointed to John Hodgman's condemnation of "meh" in one-off blog comments and tweets. By definition, it may mean disinterest (although simple silence would be a more damning and sincere response, in that case)... …

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04 Mar 2009, 8:35 a.m.

Poem: "BART Spokesman Linton Johnson"

I wrote this in September 2008. BART spokesman Linton Johnson You speak for the trains You must say so many things Joyous and doleful When the trains are stopped Or when ridership is up Or …

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02 Mar 2009, 19:10 p.m.

Experimental Beverage Disposal

If you have leftover coffee, a zester, a bit of citrus, freezer space, and some time, try making a coffee granita. Mine is turning out nicely.

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26 Feb 2009, 0:05 a.m.

Can I Be The Gardener From "Being There"?

Creating custom software, and perhaps client services in general, are more like agriculture than manufacturing. We aren't stamping out identical units and trying to increase "efficiency" by speeding up the process; we can't, because we …

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25 Feb 2009, 20:20 p.m.

Atlas Danced

Highlights of my recent round trip between NYC and Washington, D.C.: Sitting next to a fresh-from-college geekish Indian-American woman, chatting pleasantly for hours, reassuring her that she isn't alone in finding most Indian-American males unattractive, …

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24 Feb 2009, 11:39 a.m.

Two 101-Word Stories Inspired By Fred von Lohmann's Talk Last Night

O'Porter Most clients sounded more stressed and less grammatical than this guy. "Why did YouTube take down a video without soundtrack music? I didn't break any copyrights, did I?" "You came to the right effing …

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