Cute Little iPods are Made by Cute Overworked Chinese
I love my iPod but now where it’s made: according to a recent report by the UK’s Daily Mail entitled “iPod City,” indentured servitude might not be a bad description of the working conditions inside the city-size Chinese factories that assemble the iPod nano and Shuffle, where the employees reportedly […]
With the Web, You Can Afford to Dream Big
Late start in the cafe today, but we’re going all out. Great weather for coffee drinkers, and people passing through the town. But now a break, for the patrone, as Steve said the other day. Next week the Patrone gets back to his regular stuff. I was thinking about something […]
Rick Newton, the Ipod Expert, May or May Not Be Here
Rick Newton, Rick Newton, where art thou? Rick is away. Rick is an expert in using an Ipod. Tonight I’ve advertised a class in the cafe called Music on your Ipod, and frankly, I wish I could get Rick over to teach it. But there is a lesson and a […]
The Space Snatchers Run Photos that are TOO BIG!
Gilbert Cranberg is outraged. Outraged over the invasion of the HUGE graphics in newspapers. He writes about it in today’s Neiman Watchdog.“It’s not unusual nowadays for artwork to dwarf, by large margins, the stories they illustrate. The Sunday New York Times is a major case in point. The Aug. 6 […]
What You Can’t Have Engraved on your Ipod
We visited our friends Tom and Cathie over the holidays, and Tom’s generous bosses at his ad agency gave him a new video Ipod with a sentimental engraving on the back. I found out that this service is available from Apple, but they also have rejected many requests. Here are […]
You Can Get Your Teeth Fixed–If You’re Clever
Today I am feeling happy–happy and clever. Last week faithful readers may recall that I had to get a root canal…and ouch! The worst part was paying the bill. But of course, modern dentistry doesn’t just end after this four-figure expense. There is first, the temporary, and then the final […]
Memories of My First Computer
Yardena Arar writes about a sentimental fav–like me, his first computer was a 1982 vintage Kaypro. When first released, the Kaypro II cost $1795 and, like the Osborne, came with all the productivity software (word processor, spreadsheet) most people would need. Encased in grey and blue metal, the Kaypro was […]
Watching the Big TV with the Laptop on your Lap
Paul Boutin writes in slate about how convergence, this vaunted soon to be here concept, has stalled out on the runway. It’s all about 2 feet and 10 feet, the respective space allotted to the PC and the TV. “I asked Harry McCracken, the gadget hound who edits PC World, […]
To Fight Craig’s List, Publish Something Unique
Anil Dash responded a few months back to a long editorial criticizing Craig’s list published by Tim Redmond in the San Francisco Bay Guardian. “And live up to the standard you’ve set, Tim. You say “And he puts nothing back into the community: He doesn’t, for example, hire reporters or […]
Arabs Guilty Only of Making a Living
Niraj Warikoo, of the Detroit Free Press, writes about another rush to judgement against American Arabs. “It may seem unusual for someone to buy hundreds of cell phones at a time, but metro Detroiters of Middle Eastern descent say that practice is part of a long tradition of entrepreneurship in […]
"Nobody Works as Hard as We Do"
Today’s a wonderfully cool August day, as Steph works her first morning shift. “I like working mornings,” she said brightly. “It’s nice being so busy.” The Recorder had a story about my favorite lunch spot in town: the BBA Deli and Market, on Thayer Street, South Deerfield. The BBA is […]
Talking with Kevin about Cyprus on St. Louis Radio
A long, long day is finally coming to an end. Relaxing at 9 Mountain Rd. after a day working at the cafe and doing all kinds of things. I got a call at about 4 from Kevin McCarthy, he does a travel radio show in St. Louis. We traveled together […]
Friday’s a Day to Make Someone’s Day
I made Larry Parnass‘ day today when I called him with a plum assignment: travel to Switzerland and write a story for GoNOMAD. I think he’s going to enjoy the trip, and the tourism board was pleased to hear we could send a writer and publish a story on GoNOMAD. […]
I Swear to Do the Right Thing for the Energy Committee
This cool weather has brought in so many new customers at the cafe. Our business has never been so great since we opened in March. We still see many folks who set foot in the cafe for the first time. One senior citizen came by with a local theater program […]
The Short Leader of Iran Speaks to Mike
Mike Wallace, 88, has retired but just scored an interview with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Here’s some of what he noticed about this villianized leader. “He’s actually, in a strange way, he’s a rather attractive man, very smart, savvy, self-assured, good looking in a strange way,” Wallace said. “He’s very, […]
Bombs on Planes, Root Canals, and Sweden Awaits
Cindy came and alerted me while I was in the shower this morning, urgent news about another travel bummer….but this time fortunately, not a tragedy. It seems that we all must now remove all liquid items from our carry-ons, because some wackos in the UK tried to blow up 21 […]
Have You Ever Been Experienced?
I was at a meeting of travel writers last November in Niagara Falls, and there was a man at lunch who was talking about being at Burning Man. This festival of weirdness, drugs, sex and nudity takes place a week before Labor day in Nevada’s Black Rock desert. I wanted […]
The Lives of Dwarfs are Different
Little People were on TV tonight, on PBS. One dwarf recalls being taken to the hospital when he was 18, and told by the doctors, ‘sorry there’s nothing we can do…you’ll always be a dwarf.’ He said he decided then and there ‘to be the best dwarf I could be.” […]