The busy week continues, too. Aside from the various work-stuff, and long-running non-work, non-paying stuff, I’m also starting to get quotes for replacing the old, uneven sidewalk at my house with a new one. It’s not something I have to do right this instant, but I’d like to have it done before next winter, since shoveling the current sidewalk means about two feet of progress, followed by jamming the shovel into edge of the next chunk of sidewalk. Jarring. Besides, I’ve promised myself that part of the deal for a new sidewalk is a patio so I have a place to set the grill this summer. I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some griping about contractors that’s going to come with the deal, but if I’m ever going to start hosting Friday-night “bring your own meat” barbecues again, I’m going to need a place for the grill.
- Since it is Peep Week, here’s a few more peep-tastic links: Check out Peep Research. There’s also the official website of Marshmallow Peeps if you want the company view on this sort of thing. And if you want to make your own, you need the Wham-O Marshmallow Peeps Marshmallow Maker. Quality Recreation mail-orders it if you have to buy one for someone special, and with next-day shipping, it might even be possible to have it for Easter.
- Mark’s worried about Boing Boing’s explosive growth, since they got 871,305 visits in March according to a web-bug, or 3.5 million by their logs. Meanwhile, Volker Weber [aka vowe] celebrates getting a million a month. Both have plenty of pictures, but VoWe is a lot quicker about rolling stuff off the main page. But they also need to think about how they’re profiting (indirectly) from the blog. Cory, Mark and Xeni have all landed writing gigs as a result of the blog, and I’d figure a certain amount of the cost as marketing expenses. Meanwhile, Kim Du Toit sells out to cover his costs. [boing boing]
- Davezilla offers Nubile Cuddle Pumpkin in which you get a choose one from each column interface to picking a new pet name for that special someone. I need to find me a turgid panty monkey. [davezilla]
- Reason Magazine is Putting 40,000 Readers, One by One, on a Cover, by putting a satellite picture of the reader’s home on each individually-printed cover. It’s an awfully neat stunt, but also illustrates the power of the data they have available. It’ll be in the June issue, and I’m tempted to re-subscribe just to get a copy (although it might be too late). [nyt]
- In a move I find welcome, Some Doctors Turn to Cash-Only Policies. SimpleCare lists cash-only providers by state and specialty. It’s an idea I like, but I also like the idea of an MSA combined with high-deductible health insurance. That’s the kind of plan we’ll probably have at my company, and I’m hoping to get it set up this summer. [endwar]
- The Bush Administration wages war on pornography. Between this and Bush’s call to renew the assault weapon ban, I’m starting to think John Kerry might not be that bad after all. But it’s looking more and more likely I’m going to
waste my vote
on someone who is neither Kerry nor Bush. This list of candidates is probably going to prove useful. There’s a candidate from the National Barking Spider Resurgence Party, for example. [instapundit]