I’ve written an about page and FAQ for this log. And because Jay knew exactly who said “round up the usual suspects” and, more importantly, has threatened me with pain of death, I have now tweaked my Blogger template to include a name tag for each entry. The ID for the name is listed at the end of each entry. If you want a permanent link, use the archive pages. Don’t say I never did anything for you, Jay. Happy linking.

I started using Kiss My Face‘s olive oil & aloe soap today, which was purchased from Trader Joe’s, and realized that I’ve been taking for granted the rounded shape that most soaps have. I found the big, blocky soap to be uncomfortable and difficult to handle. You’d think the sharp corners would be easier to hang onto, but there’s something lacking when you can’t wrap your hand nicely around the bar. So what other simple ergonomics am I neglecting in everyday life? I notice door handles and switches, thanks to Don Norman, but I never thought before about how I hold soap.

Some days I feel like I’m just channeling the thoughts and discoveries of Seth (and sometimes he feels like he is just channeling me), but, hey, until he gets his own weblog, I feel compelled to share his discoveries with the world. So, with that said, here is his latest spew (his word, not mine) about observing some animations of Karl Sim’s artificial creatures. It made me realize that a creative animator can probably make a small piece of string do things I’d find hilarious.

This BBC News article discusses how archeological records kept on soon to be obsolete computer formats are in danger of being lost. The Archaeology Data Service also found that old magnetic disks were becoming corrupted as the magnetic coating on the disks had eroded over time. I felt it ironic that on 12/6/99 (December archive page) I wondered if one day there would be computer software archeologists who will prospect through old computer data reconstructing our past. However if the data is not even readable, we will lose much more than if we need to recreate the process of reading it.

TV Eyes is an interesting concept. Give it a word and it will email you as soon as it is spoken on TV. Hmmm. What shows are they parsing exactly and do they do profanities?

Pete Townshend has premiered his new rock opera, “Lifehouse”. He intends to broadcast it on the Internet in a few months.

I saw a stretch SUV the other day on 101. I think it was a Lincoln Navigator or some such luxury sport UV. I’ve already seen a stretch Hummer and Porsche 911. I’m wondering if someone has managed to stretch one of the new VW Beetles. Of course they’d have to add extra bud vases!

I was struck by a future vision of myself as a mother, watching my daughter customize her first computer’s user interface with all sorts of pretty colors (in the pink family of course), biting my tongue and holding myself back from giving her a lecture on usability and eyestrain. What would be worse is if I don’t have what I consider a useable system to buy for her. Tog has some nice ideas in his March special article “Apple Squandering the Advantage”.

Something serious. The New England Journal of Medicine has published the first study to document physician experiences with requests for assisted suicide under the Oregon Death with Dignity Act. Medscape has a summary. A survey of 2649 physicians showed that 144 (5%) had received 221 requests for lethal prescriptions. 1 out of 6 requests were honored and 1 out of 10 requests resulted in suicide.

The last page of the Internet has been found. We can all safely disembark now from our surfboards. Please take small children by the hand and check all personal belongings before exiting. Thank you.