As if we didn't have enough wars in the world: enter HUMMUS.

Slatest gives account of a legal fight that broke out between Lebanon and Israel, each trying to stake a claim to HUMMUS as its national dish, and PREVENT the other one from selling it. Oh, c’mon people - the region is enough of a mess - no need for additional animosity! To protest this silliness, I’m gonna make me some hummus later today.

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Things to know about RESTAURANT MENUS

There is an interesting article about how RESTAURANT MENUS are engineered to increase profit, witha link to equally fascinating clip from the Today Show. It just reminded me of a fascinating Paco Underhil’s book I read a while ago (the sequel with a green cover was somewhat repetitive).

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Unfulfilled promises of Squarespace. Time to move on?

It’s been a long time since the blog platform I have been using for the last
few years, Squarespace, announced its plans to release an *iPhone
application* (“*The Squarespace iPhone application is completely hand-built.
Use it to check your site, post to your blog, manage your blog posts, and
see your traffic while on the go*.”), as well as better *social
media*integration. [BTW: Unlike Posterous, Squarespace was unable to recognize my BOLDFACE or COLOR in the original e-mail, and replaced all of it with plain *asterisks* - bummer!]

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Slowdown... but not quitting!

I am now getting ready to move - again. So, my blogging has slowed down a little…. After living (and working) in Whitewater (at UW-Whitewater) for almost a year, I decided that as much as I like my current job (love it), I really cannot be happy living in the country. I am a city boy, no question about it. So, I found a new, nice (although very small) place to live in Mad-city. Yes, it will mean a 45-60 min twice-a-day commute, but then again, I will be living on the east side of Madison (after Kraków, my second most beloved place on Earth), close to downtown, 15 mins away from my closest friends’ house, right on the lake (Monona), across the street from Olbrich botanical Gardens, on a bus line, 5 mins away from park-and-ride Van Galder to O’Hare and downtown Chicago, 5 mins away from YMCA with a great swimming pool that opens EARLY in the morning, 5 mins away from a great Italian deli (Fraboni’s), and so on, and on, and on… In a word - where I always wanted to live. That means, however, packing again, and no blog posts until after I have moved - July 15th 2009. :)

Star Trek: Mini-Review

So much e-ink has been spilled on this, it’s almost beyond the point to add to it. So here are my impressions, in brief: it was admittedly entertaining; I had really low expectations, so it didn’t disappoint me; the “alternate-timeline” maneouver was a let-down, but it was admittedly necessary, to give the new crew some wiggle room; once they got the plot-wiggle-room they didn’t do much creative stuff with it. I enjoyed watching it, and forgot it as soon as I left the theater. If you want to read a really long, serious, and somewhat stuffy review of it, the New Republic’s Christopher Orr has one.

Artamos Closes: sorry to hear...

It was sad to hear that Artamos, Madison’s original (since 2004) organic, sustainable, and grass-fed meats store closed earlier this month, as reported by Susan Troller. I have to say that although I am sad to see Artamos go, I am a part of the problem - although I only buy organic meat, when possible, from farms that have free-range or grass fed, ehtically and sustainably raised animals, Artamos was a bit too hard to get to from where I now live (Whitewater), and I didn’t have a chance to shop there other than a few times - even though I would have liked to, if I lived closer. Too late now.

It is sad to see that Madison was unable to support a store of this type, and yet I understand why - with Whole Foods, Metcalfe’s Sentry at Hilldale, not to mention the Farmers’ Market, there are many other, slightly more convenient, one-stop-shopping choices in the area, and the very narrow range of merchandise Artamos carried didn’t help it.

via TechChrunch: Amazon.com, algorithms, and prejudice

An interesting post by Mary Hodder on TechCrunch: do algorithms decide what we get to see and what we don’t? The discussion of the issue at the heart of the controversy would probably have been by far more productive if the specific group of books in question (gay-themed books) wasn’t one that generates lots of emotions, less-than-civil blog posts, and response comments. The issue is more complicated than it seems.

Ari Hest: 12 Mondays - Can sound be SPECTACULAR?

Click on the image to sample TWELVE MONDAYS on iTunes

I have always liked Ari Hest’s albums - moderately - they were OK. This one is different - VERY different. Can sound be spectacular? Audicular? Whatever the word - 12 Mondays is it.

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Thoughts on trademarks, domain names, Twitter names...

This short note is a response to Technologizer’s blog post. I usually do not post blog responses here, but although I generally like, and enjoy reading Technologizer, in this case, I disagree rather strongly with Mr. McCracken’s views on trademarks, domain names, Twitter names, and cyber-squatting, so here it goes…

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Shakespeare Re-Told (Review)

Streaming movies on Netflix do not always offer a great selection, but sometimes there are little gems hiding among many run-of-the-mill choices. One of those gems is a 5-episode BBC series titled Shakespeare Re-Told, originally aired by BBC in 2005 (Wikipedia). By now I have watched only two of the four relatively short films: The Taming of the Shrew (a few weeks ago), and Much Ado About Nothing, tonight. I always admire creative ways in which writers and directors manage to bring to life, and renewed relevance some of the great works of the past, an these two TV films are both spectacular examples of how satysfying and rewarding watching a modern adaptation can be.

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