AromaJet has created an interesting device that emits smells while you are playing a computer game. I’ve been trying to think of interesting smello-gaming ideas. The Leather Goddesses of Phobos, an old Infocom classic, came with a Scratch ‘n’ Sniff card. AromaJet suggests a car race with burning rubber and fresh air in the winner’s circle. I think there can be something more compelling than that. How about Iron Chef, the computer game? Or how about something nostalgically simple like smelling the cherries in PacMan?

The burning question that has been plaguing me for months has finally been answered. The new IKEA in Emeryville, California is opening on APRIL 12! Soon I can stop threatening to rent a U-Haul to trundle down to southern CA for stylish, affordable furnishings. Now the SF Bay area can be on par with Beijing, Prague, and Barcelona — not to mention Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Burbank. The Emeryville store covers six acres and the commercials announcing its arrival will start soon. I hope the parking lot is big enough. Read more in the Mercury News article. In 1994 IKEA ran the first TV ad featuring a gay couple. IKEA pays attention to the environment, concentrating first on reducing, not just re-using (some companies forget that there’s a step before recycling! And it’s a step that can impact their bottom line!). Their business goal is “We shall offer a wide range of home-furnishing items of good design and function, at prices so low that the majority of people can afford to buy them.” If you want to know more about the history and business of IKEA, there’s the book Leading By Design:The IKEA Story.

The past week was probably one of the most difficult in my career, at least from the cat-herding perspective. I had issues with almost everyone around me, and they were very valid issues, though sometimes I wondered if it was all in my head. I had difficulty separating the solvable problems from what was out of my control (since I try these days not to stress about things I can’t do anything about). When things are going haywire, I try to come up with a list of positive things. And when that doesn’t work, I try to think of at least one funny aspect of the negative things. After all, some days I need to remember: it’s just work. What really matters in life? Not work. Not really.

Something scatological: it was kinda nice to find out that guys are just as squeamish in bathroom stalls as women are. I always wondered if it was any different. Apparently not much. Why can’t we all just relax and deal? What’s that children’s book? Oh yes, Everyone Poops. (potty link via running tally)

There are some new articles up on the Useless Information site. One is about a guy who had some spectacular successes and failures as a rainmaker. My all time favorite is still the story about how Lake Peigneur flowed down a hole and disappeared one day because a Texaco oil rig drilled into a salt mine underneath it. You can also find out how kitty litter came to be and many more fascinating and not too useless tales. It’s great fodder for party conversations.

A friend of mine was complaining that he had to remember to recharge his cell phone, PDA, wireless modem, and laptop. I jokingly said “so, why can’t we just use our bodies for batteries like in The Matrix?” He responded in a serious tone of voice, “well then we’d be hairless, a little bit confused, and say ‘whoa’ a lot.”

What will those clever marketing people think of next? Now you can buy your very own patch of grass in a tin. Funny, they’ve already been selling something like this for years but for cats.

The Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite I linked to yesterday reminded me of this amusing CERT advisory from a few years back.

The overwhelming YES on Proposition 22 had me so upset, I decided that in protest I’ll never get married. Why should I have any more right to be legally wed than the other guy or guy, gal or gal? Let’s all live in sin instead. That should get the religious right upset. OK, so when someone finally waves the 2 carat sapphire in front of my nose (he will, of course, understand how I feel about DeBeers), I suppose we could have a nice commitment ceremony instead, right?

Just in time for all those Pisces and Aries in your life, the Perfect Present Picker. You can specify interests, personality, occupation, age, etc. and get a list of suggested gifts available online. I found some appropriate items I never would have thought to look for.