Another great day.  I'm on a streak!  Focusing on the big picture is making me happy :)

Cyclelog: Rockstore, 28 miles.  Ninth day in a row, not getting easier.

Job Seeking Advice.  I happened to come across this post I made in 2003, and I like it.  This advice might be worth what you've paid for it, but then again it might be worth a little bit more... 

I disagree with his politics, mostly, but I still like James Surowiecki, the New Yorker's Financial Page columnist.  This week he tackles The Debt Economy; how the tax code encourages borrowing.  "The government doesn’t make people go into debt, of course.  It just nudges them in that direction.  Individuals are able to write off all their mortgage interest, up to a million dollars, and companies can write off all the interest on their debt, but not things like dividend payments."  Just about every effort the government makes to influence behavior via economic means backfires.  The current financial crisis was triggered by the government trying to help people who couldn't afford homes to buy them anyway.  It made just as little sense as it sounds. 

I've told you before, but I love bulbs.com.  It isn't just that they have every possible bulb.  It isn't just that I can order all sorts of bulbs just sitting here in my office.  It isn't just that they're cheap (when you include shipping, they're not).  No, the main reason is they remember.  After I've painstakingly figured out what kind of bulb is required for Megan's shower, I don't have to do it again.  That's worth a lot. 

WSJ on the opportunity for Kindle-izing textbooks.  (Actually the article is about used-textbook marketplaces, but you and I know, that's about as relevant as Blue-Ray was to the future of DVDs.)  This is of particular interest to me, with a kid in college and two more teed up to go, and a subject Shirley and I have discussed often.  I love it that they illustrate dense textbooks with Lehninger's Principles of Biochemistry, which I read cover-to-cover (and also used for pressing leaves :), and which I'm sure is sitting in a box in my garage, weighing down a shelf. 

MacLife considers Apple products of the future: the iMake.  This is brilliant; you know this will happen.  It is probably being happened in the halls of Apple right now.  Unfortunately MacLife doesn't consider the fascinating question of whether an iMake will be capable of "printing" another iMake.  What a great time to be alive :) 

Google's Chrome OS is out, prompting a blizzard of blogospheric comment. 

TechCrunch has a video: Chrome OS for Dummies.  Simple and fast.  Could work.

Computerworld: Ten Observations about Chrome OS.  Thought provoking.  I think Google OS computers will be given away, and ad-supported.  With local ads.  This could be quite disruptive to computers as we know them.

Mike Arrington: The Google Phone may be Data Only.  An interesting route around the cell providers.

John Gruber notes The OS Opportunity:  "PC makers who want to succeed should create their own OSes."  And also, Maybe instead of two cars, you just need a car and a bicycle:  "One thing that strikes me about Chrome OS and Litl is that neither bother trying to do everything Windows or Mac OS X can do.  Not even close.  I don’t think either even bothers trying to serve as one’s primary computer."  Actually I think increasingly people are using less and less of the local OS, and more and more online services.  For a lot of people, a Chrome OS device could be their primary computer.

John Biggs: What Chrome OS means for Netbooks.  They're screwed.  And so is Microsoft.

Want to try out the Chrome OS yourself?  Instructions for running it in a VM.

The BMW Oracle blog reports on an Afternoon Spin on San Diego Bay.  Excellent! 

Good news: Drinking alcohol every day cuts the risk of heart disease in men by more than a third.  I am going to put this into action right away :)  Cheers!