(no subject)

A strange and at the same time understandable phenomenon: if in LJ you come upon a fresh username which uses the capabilities of the language to a fuller degree than is usually the case ("A PUNE, OR A PLAY ON WORDS", for example) - half of the time the user would turn out to be, as they are wont to say nowadays, Cyrillic. Americans don't bother; coolgirl217 is good enough.

American professional sports teams have this yearly ritual called "the draft" - all the incoming (young and/or foreign) prospective players are placed into a pool and the teams, in the order determined by some hallowed arcane procedure, get to choose who they want (and then again, from the top, for as long as there is interest). We're deep into the junk rounds now, it's about - what? 12-millionth pick overall? - and there are still good usernames around, and they are snapped up by Cyrillics.

(no subject)

A strange and at the same time understandable phenomenon: if in LJ you come upon a fresh username which uses the capabilities of the language to a fuller degree than is usually the case ("A PUNE, OR A PLAY ON WORDS", for example) - half of the time the user would turn out to be, as they are wont to say nowadays, Cyrillic. Americans don't bother; coolgirl217 is good enough.

American professional sports teams have this yearly ritual called "the draft" - all the incoming (young and/or foreign) prospective players are placed into a pool and the teams, in the order determined by some hallowed arcane procedure, get to choose who they want (and then again, from the top, for as long as there is interest). We're deep into the junk rounds now, it's about - what? 12-millionth pick overall? - and there are still good usernames around, and they are snapped up by Cyrillics.

(no subject)

Been taken to lunch to a crepe stand - several folding tables and an unpainted alumin(i)um trailer with bricks stoppering the wheels, on the side of the road in the shade of two enormous trees - an oak and a pecan (unripe nuts falling down through the leaves from time to time), dispensing freshly baked stuff with your choice of fillings, changing every day and written up on a blackboard resting against its side.

Now this here is Texas, y'all.

(no subject)

Been taken to lunch to a crepe stand - several folding tables and an unpainted alumin(i)um trailer with bricks stoppering the wheels, on the side of the road in the shade of two enormous trees - an oak and a pecan (unripe nuts falling down through the leaves from time to time), dispensing freshly baked stuff with your choice of fillings, changing every day and written up on a blackboard resting against its side.

Now this here is Texas, y'all.

(no subject)

I think I kinda like this "business trip" thingy.

(no subject)

I think I kinda like this "business trip" thingy.

(no subject)

Apparently, the entire downtown in this city is covered with a free (as in beer) WiFi mesh, sponsored by some telco or other. Now that I heard it mentioned, I vaguely remember reading about in on /.

From where I am sitting (right on the NE corner of what may be considered downtown) I can see the corresponding SSID only intermittently, and I haven't been carrying the palmtop around (the hotel provides its own gate). Still, cool stuff. One guy here, a Mac-head, has an iPhone; he says that it almost never switches to EDGE while he's in town. An always-on GoogleMaps would be a killer app for me.

(no subject)

Apparently, the entire downtown in this city is covered with a free (as in beer) WiFi mesh, sponsored by some telco or other. Now that I heard it mentioned, I vaguely remember reading about in on /.

From where I am sitting (right on the NE corner of what may be considered downtown) I can see the corresponding SSID only intermittently, and I haven't been carrying the palmtop around (the hotel provides its own gate). Still, cool stuff. One guy here, a Mac-head, has an iPhone; he says that it almost never switches to EDGE while he's in town. An always-on GoogleMaps would be a killer app for me.