Happy Canada Day!

p.s. Beware of Jewish-Canadian Ex-Lawyers Speaking Greek.

Yahoo Wants To Know When I'm Drunk And Still In A Hat

Yahoo announced today that it's coming out with an IM program embedded in its regular email, an innovation that means users will no longer have to toggle out of one program and into another should they wish to use both simultaneously (which, as any inveterate web-addict knows, is rough on the wrists). It's an innovation, note, that was pioneered by Gmail in their Gchat program, to which this blogger has become a slavering devotee (though we have more than once found ourselves confronted with its various privacy issues). Why is it so great? Because it's EASY - providing a quick way to get information/make contact while permitting easy back-and-forth between email. It is the ADD-afflicted multitasker's dream. (And those taglines can be really, really fun.) So, it's smart of Yahoo to be ripping it off. Yahoo also recently made the smart move of re-jiggering their (previously frustratingly inefficient) email program along the lines of Outlook, allowing for quickie categorization, sorting and searching. One drawback, however: It staggers under the load of many messages, making it near-impossible to re-sort for those of us who have long abandoned our Yahoo accounts and long despaired of ever cleaning them out. The new interface would be ideal for the quickie cleanup, if only it didn't take forever to load.

In other news, MTV clips will soon be embeddable, no doubt in a move to cash in on a little of that sweet YouTube action. Here's the thing about Gchat (read: Google) and YouTube (read: Google) — they're both way out front on both these points, and continuing to innovate while their competitors play catch up. I say "their" but of course it's "its" — the All-Powerful Monolithic Globe-Straddling Power that is Google.

In the meantime, for those who are interested, my Gchat tagline currently reads "waffles!" (Explanation here.)

Poems Are Made By Fools Like Me

...but only God can make a Marriage Japanese Dwarf tree.

Yes, but I got TWO mugs!

"In lieu of payment, B-listers receive coffee mugs with a show's logo."

The above is in reference to my occasional appearances on MSNBC's "Scarborough Country." The mugs are shiny red with white lettering, because Joe loves Canada. Catch me here, on the Friday night of Labor Day weekend!

Meanwhile, Rush Limbaugh has no clue who I am. I must be doing something right!

The Chicken Pox, With Silver Lining

It's true, I have the chicken pox, and I'd be lying if I said it was pleasant and un-itchy. But - there is a plus side: I'm home on a Saturday night, with nothing better to do than watch this. And I'd be lying if I said that wasn't kinda awesome.

(Also kinda awesome: The fact that there's a nun in this scene. Comedy gold!)

(Also: I got your stamen right here. Okay, I'm done now.)

September 11, 2006

Five years later. A lot of coverage today, and by now a lot of newsreels and documentaries and films to commemorate the occassion. Watching it brings it all back; hard to remember, but harder to forget.

Tomato Season

If it's not already obvious, Tomatoes Are Delicious is on a bit of a hiatus owing to the fact that I've been spending all my time on "Eat The Press" at HuffPo. It's HuffPo's daily media blog with media commentary and news, spin, stats and our famous and exciting People Ranker ™ — I'm really proud of it but getting it up and running has taken all my time over the past six weeks or so. I've probably driven you all away already (et tu, Wapella, Saskatchewan?) but hopefully you've got this on RSS and won't forget about me while I exhaust the blogging beast over at HuffPo. That sounds far sexier than it actually is. In any case, please check out Eat The Press and of course feel free to send me any tips/suggestions, especially for the People Ranker which is a deliciously addictive little toy. All right, back to work for me - if it's Sunday, it's Russert Watch. Oh Tim, I'd take your oversized noggin over strolling lazily in the sunshine any day. Hope you are all having a fantastic summer - Tomatoes will be back in season soon, I promise!