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Sunday,  04/25/10  09:40 PM

A weird day today; I was upset and stressed.  Spent much of it sitting on the deck in my blogitorium, but I was not blogging; I was working on, well, work.  It was a beautiful day, perfect weather, watching my dogs run around the yard, but somehow I couldn't enjoy it.  I had a great day yesterday too; nice ride, great dinner with friends, but my mind woke up cloudy today.  Too bad.  Some days are like that, but perhaps tomorrow will be better!

...and so now I am in my office, done working, and blogging...

Timed for Earth Day 2010, Fortune debunks 25 green myths.  Among them, "bottled water is safer than tap water", "buying local food is better for the environment", "organic foods are produced without pesticides", etc.  Green is good, but not everything people call green is good. 

If you travel outside the U.S. you will be struck immediately by how much more attractive other countries currencies are than U.S. greenbacks.  Here's a hypothetical redesign by Michael Tyznik.  Pretty nice, but then, it's a low bar... 

Good to know: Reading on iPad before sleep can affect sleep habits.  "Devices like the Kindle... use a technology called e-paper.  The iPad... contains a touchscreen liquid-crystal display that... emits light.... direct exposure to such abnormal light sources inhibits the body's secretion of melatonin, say several sleep experts."  I have been experimenting with using my iPad to read instead of my Kindle, and I don't like it as well.  The iPad screen is backlit but not as crisp, and it's much heavier than the Kindle.  On the plus side, I can check my email when I wake up without getting out of bed :)  Maybe that's not a plus, however... 

Brought to my attention by Shirley: Fridgehenge; Stonehenge reproduced in a city dump using discarded refrigerators.  How cool is that? 

Michael Arrington: The Age of Facebook.  I must say with Facebook there is a there there, a real thing.  I check Facebook daily as do you (!) as do we all; it is a great way to stay abreast and in touch with your friends.  And I have no doubt that each person's friend network ("your graph") can be leveraged for all sorts of commercial purposes; targeted ads, recommendations, etc.  Your friends like your music, your sports, your blogs, etc. :) 

Unbelievable!  Vino wins L-B-L!  Yes indeed, Alexander Vinokourov has come back from ignominious suspension during the 2005 TdF, served his two years, and now wins Liege-Bastogne-Liege, one of cycling's greatest classics.  What a victory!  And what a comeback...  and lest we forget, he is on Astana, that would be Alberto Contador's team.  This year's TdF is shaping up to be one of the most interesting ever

John Wilcockson notes Vinokourov's Unpopular Victory.  Might be unpopular with Belgian fans, but man, you have to respect Vino.  I think what we're learning about doping in cycling is that yeah, it helps, but it doesn't help that much, and great riders like Vino and Millar and so are great even without doping.

Dave Winer's Three Laws of Standards

  1. A standard may not injure users or, through inaction, allow users to come to harm.
  2. Standard-compliant software must obey any orders given to it by users, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
  3. A standard must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Are these excellent or what?