Which weather site is best?

http://www.omninerd.com/2007/02/08/articles/69 I think I will go with Intellicast.

Panoramas for the new year

If you have QuickTime, here is a link to some excellent panoramas of places around the world celebrating the New Year:http://www.panoramas.dk/new-year-2007/new-years-eve-2006.html 

Web’s most useful sites

Find out about some truly interesting web stuff in a recent PC Magazine article: The Web’s most useful sites.

netdazed

netdazed, adj: the feeling you get when you are not able to remember why exactly you went online in the first place.

Skimming the Surface

When I go to the library I inevitably check out more books than I will ever read in the time I am allowed to have them. I end up returning my bound guests reluctantly, promising myself that the next time I'm at the library I will try again at liberating them from their shelves, but instead of following through on my promise, I betray the books and find some other topic that catches my interest. I would say that part of this "constantly skimming" problem is my unsystematic approach to consuming information, but I think I get to blame some of the problem on our information soggy environment.

With the easy access to information we have now someone can be continually window shopping without ever investing in learning something substantial. I think that this makes it critical that we choose what we consume carefully and according to a plan that takes us where we want to go. Otherwise we will constantly be flitting from source to  source, never inhaling deeply enough to be fill ourselves with deep understanding.

I'm not arguing that we completely eliminate spontaneity (Don't the 'a' and 'e' in "spontaneity" seem placed backwards? It is almost as if the word is warning you not to be too spontaneous). It's just that in our current environment the default modus operandi can end up being spontaneity 24 hours every day. If we don't consciously choose what we are going to pay attention to, there are plenty of people who will kindly step in, crowding our senses, and tell us what to do, watch, and immitate. 

After writing this I remembered that Dallin H. Oaks addressed this in his talk titled Focus and Priorities. think I'll go back and read it in depth this time.

Ending an IM conversation

I always feel like I am ignoring someone at the end of an instant messaging conversation. I’ve been using IM for 8 years (mostly AOL instant messenger, but also our work version of IM) and yet, when it comes to the end of a conversation, it always feels awkward. You always wonder if the other person is expecting a reply. And yet, it feels rude to cut off the conversation directly. I think when you can physically hear someone’s voice you  pick up and send cues that help you both acknowledge that you are nearly done talking. How do you end an IM session?

Google and Governments

Google refused to cooperate with the U.S. Government last week when they were asked for anonymous records and then cooperated with the China Government this week when they were asked to censor content for all of China.