tim merritt [dot] net

I just wrote this post from my phone.

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Because I could, that’s why. Sheesh.

This is how easy it is to update. Nice, eh?

Photo retouching practices and services on the web.

Looking Perfect, One Pixel at a Time – New York Times

For the very nice favicon.

I’ve been thinking about the ephemera we’re all generating here on the web. So has Dave Winer.

No one really likes to think about dying, but it comes for everyone, eventually, and if you’re living a creative life, as so many of us are these days, maybe you’d like your creations to live at least a little bit longer than you do? Look at it another way, suppose there’s a James Thurber, Mark Twain or Truman Capote or George Harrison among us, wouldn’t that person likely be creating on the web, and shouldn’t their work last longer than their own lives?

I don’t remember when I came across the site for the NYRB. I find usually that one of their pieces will last one or both rides to work and back on MARTA. I’m linking to a couple of long-ish reads, but I found them particularly valuable.

First, The Surge, an assessment of the almost current state of Iraq, vis-a-vis the Sunnis vs. the Shiite coalition of Mahdi Army and SCIRI vs. the Kurds. The “almost” is that this was published before this week’s announcement that (Surprise! No really, it’s an actual surprise) the US will sit at the same table as Iran and Syria, along with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and others in the region, at a conference ostensibly organized by the Iraqi government. A worthy backgrounder on the upcoming conference. There are bits of Bush-bashing in the piece; the writer knows whereof he speaks with regard to the Middle East, and seems to have a clear-eyed view of the positions of the players and what they stand to gain or lose, depending on who does what. The bashing, regardless of one’s partisan position and based on the circumstances explained in the article, seems justified here.

And for dessert, The Master Builder, a review of two new biographies of Orson Welles, with reference to other recent boigraphies and very thoughtful comments on the films:

Perhaps the deepest contradiction with Welles lies in the disparity between the stories he wanted to tell and the way he filmed them. His great theme was how a person’s worth is judged, how a life is summed up, and his conclusions are frequently raw and unsettling. Uninterested in the transforming power of love or the answers of religion, unconcerned with acts of courage or altruism, and, on the other hand, never merely cynical, he sends nearly every one of his protagonists off to his end in a state of loss, bafflement, or rage. Most played by Welles, they are cosmic losers but not exactly victims. The tug of war Welles’s major characters enact with their respective worlds—the way this or that one is fully prepared to start yanking his world apart as he finds himself losing his place in it—makes moot possibilities of victimhood or heroism.

How To: keep your iTunes library on an external hard drive – The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

Ellen was looking around for travel information, and found The Amateur Traveler Podcast – travel for the love of it and specifically, Episode 42 – Paris, France – The City of Lights.

The Amateur Traveler talks about Paris, France, the City of Lights. The show will talk about French, what to see, what to eat, how to get around, etc.

Another for the iPod. Whew, now I’m wishing for a longer commute so I’ll have time for all these Paris-related podcasts.

Might be able to call home cheaply with OneSuite. Current rates from France – after dialing a toll-free number – to the U.S. are 12.9¢ a minute. Not bad.

I had seen several links to this Russell Davies post on PopUrls, and finally followed it. I may make this my home page, it’s so good and inspiring. Before following the link, I expected a guide to being interesting, but it’s really about being interested – ten suggestions for living in a more engaged and thoughtful way and sharing it through the web. (Jason Kottke linked to a New York Times story about Pixar University in January on the same idea; after reading the article, so did I.) Russell works in advertising, a profession that I find very problematic, but when practiced well combines the best of storytelling, teaching, and artistic expression. Imagine a classroom with similar guidelines. Teachers can model this for their students and they’d both find more in life to look forward to. He writes:

The way to be interesting is to be interested. You’ve got to find what’s interesting in everything, you’ve got to be good at noticing things, you’ve got to be good at listening. If you find people (and things) interesting, they’ll find you interesting.

Interesting people are good at sharing. You can’t be interested in someone who won’t tell you anything. Being good at sharing is not the same as talking and talking and talking. It means you share your ideas, you let people play with them and you’re good at talking about them without having to talk about yourself.

Read russell davies: how to be interesting

_Cross posted on DV for Teachers because it’s too good not to have here too._

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall November 5, 2006 07:04 PM

Readers are posting to Josh’s site claiming that Republicans are making repeated and annoying calls to voters claiming to be Democrats, in an effort to make themselves look good. It seems it’s all they have to run on….

Today is day seven with my new eyes. Lasik surgery at Emory Vision was expensive, but now I rarely need glasses to blog, or read, or do almost anything. There’s some halos around traffic lights and car lights at night, and some loss of contrast in high-contrast lighting situations, but the doctors say it should improve. My eyes get dry a lot now; that’s normal after the surgery for a while as well, they say, and I’m putting drops in all the time. I found sites with complaints from people unhappy with their laser eye surgery; I think I’m happy with mine.

Why do I only think I’m happy? It’s a big change, and I find I miss the feeling of my glasses. My face feels oddly naked, and I miss having them to manipulate when I’m thinking or talking. When my eyes are tired or dry or both, it’s a little harder to read traffic signs far away than when I had my glasses, but when I’m fresh it’s amazing. I have a pair of Ellen’s store-bought reading glasses (+1.75) with small lenses and purple metal frames for close viewing. They make close fine work razor sharp.

When I use the computer though, I find myself holding my head at the angle I needed when I wore glasses. I still think about it all the time. Overall, I like it, and I look forward to getting used to it.

According to DSL Reports, this is how fast our internet connection is, at least for the moment:

dslreports.com speed test result on 2006-09-13 19:50:02 EST: 5706 / 194
Your download speed : 5706 kbps or 713.3 KB/sec.
That is 1.3% worse than an average user on your ISP

Your upload speed : 194 kbps or 24.2 KB/sec.
That is 51.5% worse than an average user on your ISP

Not bad, really. Glad I don’t do a lot of uploading, I suppose.

The Greening of Downtown Atlanta – New York Times

News about a development project here.

The Rainshed Inc.

As you browse through this webpage you will see all of your old favorites and much much more. We have expanded in many areas including our selections of waterproof/breathables, Polartec® fleeces, Coolmax®, canvas, corduroy, tapestry, stretch velvets, patterns, books, zippers, notions, and other supplies.

Fleece, plastic buckles, lots of camping- and gadget-related items, individually or by the yard. Buy 3 yards of fleece and make a blanket long enough for an NBA center. Fix that broken cinch strap on your backpack. Fix things yourself when you can.

How to Get Six Pack Abs – WikiHow

Yeah. I’m soon to be 48 years old… but we all have to have goals.

Brian Kim tells us Why Every Man Should Lift Weights. Though he doesn’t cite medical or athletic authorities – it’s based solely on his experience – it rings true. Go pick up something heavy, it’ll likely do you good.

Ask the Readers: Cheap airline tickets? – Lifehacker

Can’t have enough information on how to find low prices on air fares.

In Georgia, Immigrants Unsettle Old Sense of Place – New York Times

Times are a-changing here in Georgia. It’s fascinating to see the evolution of an “average American.” Since it’s inevitably going to continue, I hope it does so peacefully. And I need to learn Spanish!

Advice to Mileage Misers: Use the Hoard Now – New York Times

We want to go to Paris next year; we’d better get on this.