Wed 31 Mar 2004
Vonage announced that they will begin offering portable Wi-Fi phones later this year. This is in response to AT & T’s CallVantage service that is currently available in some parts of the country.
Vonage also announced that they will begin offering their VoIP service in the UK, Mexico City, Switzerland and some Pac Rim territories this year.
Tue 30 Mar 2004
Tired of the standard barroom activities? Are you seeking a sense of purpose in your drinking endeavors? Manhattan User’s Guide has a good list of bar game nights in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Sun 28 Mar 2004
The New York Times commemorates one hundred years of New York City Subway service by dedicating the entire City Section to subway history. There are hundreds of nuggets for subway buffs. Don’t miss True but Strange, the article recounts some of the more unique stories about the subway and contains links to the original articles. For those less familiar with NYC subway travel, a subterranean vocabulary lesson will have you talking like a straphanger in no time:
Zizmor Dr. Jonathan, a dermatologist known to millions for his “clear skin” subway ads. Countless riders have wondered whether that is his real name, and whether the first syllable is pronounced “zits.”
Tue 23 Mar 2004
ZDNet reports that, according to the latest City & Guilds, only 14% of IT workers rate themselves as being “very happy”. IT workers come in 9th overall on the index. Care assistants, hairdressers, plumbers and chefs seem to be the happiest while accountants, pharmacists, media professionals and estate agents are the least happy.
City & Guilds reports that jobs where one helps others and does hands on work make for the happiest workers. These professions do not tend to be the highest paid, so this looks like further proof that money does not buy happiness.
via slashdot
Mon 22 Mar 2004
For $76,000 you can have your very own quick house fabricated from recycled shipping containers. The three bedroom, two and a half bath layout is crafted from five containers and is delivered to your property ready to assemble. Their site claims that a fully enclosed building can be created within a week and the entire project should take less than three months to complete.
A quick house installation is on display in New York City until March 27, 2004 at Deitch Projects, 18 Wooster Street, (212) 343-7300.
via boingboing
Wed 17 Mar 2004
There was a good crowd present at the tunnel exit on East 35th last night to watch the elephants walk to Madison Square Garden. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits, even after it started snowing again. A big thank you goes out to whoever was playing the music, Sugar Hill Gang was an excellent first choice.
I promised pictures to several people, but my camera does not do so well in dark conditions. The pictures I did get were so poor that the elephants were barely distinguishable. Fortunately Bluejake and WhatISee both shot some great pictures. Enjoy!
Tue 16 Mar 2004
Career Gear is celebrating their fifth anniversary next week with Capital PerSuit 2004. Their site sums up Career Gear’s mission nicely:
Career Gear is a nonprofit organization that fills the gap between job-training programs and employment by providing men with interview clothing, motivation and follow-up support that helps them get and keep jobs.
Over the years, Career Gear has helped thousands of men around the country return to work. Through their alumni program, Career Gear continues to help former clients by providing a forum for men to discuss job related issues with other alumni. Guest speakers also speak about such topics as time management and career advancement. The funds raised at Capital PerSuit help to support these programs and ensure that Career Gear will help men in our communities for many years to come.
Capital PerSuit has always been an excellent event, and this year looks like it is going to be the best yet. Tickets are available online, please consider attending the fund raiser to support this wonderful organization.
Tue 16 Mar 2004
Elephants blocking traffic in midtown can mean one of two things… Since the Republican National Convention isn’t until August, the circus must be in town.
Late Tuesday night (16MAR), elephants and other animals will walk through the Queens-Midtown Tunnel and make their way down 34th Street to Madison Square Garden. They should emerge from the Manhattan side of the tunnel around midnight.
via NYC Free Events
Mon 15 Mar 2004
According to Rob Pegoraro of The Washington Post, Verizon Wireless’s EvDO service, BroadbandAccess, is quite impressive. His tests in the DC area yielded speeds that rival DSL, even from a moving Metro train. At $80 per month, the price for this service is dear, but there will be plenty of users willing pony up when the coverage area expands out of the two test markets (DC and San Diego). BusinessWeek ran an article in November that, except for sluggish logins, describes a similar experience with the service.
Unfortunately, those of us living in such backwater burgs as New York will have to wait for Verizon to bring the service to our area. Details of a national rollout have yet to be announced by Verizon.
via engadget
Thu 11 Mar 2004
In the past year or so, I have read several favorable stories about Python, many of which have been posted on Simon Willison’s Weblog. So, I decided to check it out for myself. I found it very easy to get started with Python; I was able to get my first script to do something useful in a very short amount of time.
There is now a Python Scripts page on this site. I’ve posted my first script there; I will add more scripts as I create them. Hopefully someone will find it useful.
Update (2007-01-24): The scripts page no longer exists. I really did little with Python after my initial script that archives stuff on my PC (which I still use, daily): archive.py.