Reading statistics for 2009

I got 7.5 new roommates this year so the numbers are a bit lower than usual…

Titles: 110
Pages: 20981
Fiction: 81
Non-fiction: 31
Print books: 66
Graphic Novels: 5
eBooks: 5
Audio Books: 33
Male authors: 102
Female authors: 18

Google on Uncrawled URLs in search results

Battlestar Rhapsody

Ricky Gervais Sings Elmo A Terrifying Lullaby

Muppets 12 Days of Christmas

Being in my late 30s I’m more partial to the original version with John Denver but this one with Jimmy Fallon in a worthy successor.

Nebraska is special

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At the end of Yonge St

I grew up in Rochester, NY. The joke is that Toronto is 70 miles away but it takes 3.5 hours to get there. (Look at a map if you don’t get it.) Whenever I did get up to Toronto one of my favorite streets to hang out on was Yonge St. Vimeo user Fixinmytie has posted this amazing stop-motion video of him and a friend traveling from one end of Yonge St to the other. The trip took 14 hours but this video takes just a little more than three minutes.

At the End of Yonge St from Fixinmytie on Vimeo.

Bringing Nothing the the Party: True Confessions of a New Media Whore

You can find more about this book at PaulCarr.com and the story behind this e-release on TechCrunch.

Paul Carr - Bringing Nothing To The Party -

Olbermann: Fox ’slime machine’ promotes Nebraska base closing rumor

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Colbert: Corporations ready to take over Patriot Act

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Word - Spyvate Sector
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor U.S. Speedskating

An elegy for the book

Read this transcript of a recent talk by Cory Doctorow. Seriously, read this! Here are a few choice excerpts.

…We are the people of the book. We love our books. We fill our houses with books. We treasure books we inherit from our parents, and we cherish the idea of passing those books on to our children. Indeed, how many of us started reading with a beloved book that belonged to one of our parents? We force worthy books on our friends, and we insist that they read them. We even feel a weird kinship for the people we see on buses or airplanes reading our books, the books that we claim. If anyone tries to take away our books—some oppressive government, some censor gone off the rails—we would defend them with everything that we have. We know our tribespeople when we visit their homes because every wall is lined with books. There are teetering piles of books beside the bed and on the floor; there are masses of swollen paperbacks in the bathroom. Our books are us. They are our outboard memory banks and they contain the moral, intellectual, and imaginative influences that make us the people we are today…

…Neil Gaiman, who I’m sure you’re all familiar with, is a wonderful and inspiring writer, has a lovely schtick that I’m going to do for you today. How many people here have a favourite writer? Put your hands up if you have a favourite writer. Keep your hand up if you paid for the first book you got by your favourite writer, put your hand down if you got it for free. About half of you got your first book by your favourite writer for free…

…Licenses that requires that librarians turn over their patrons’ reading habits? No librarian is going to do it, because we know that your behaviour changes when what you do is surveilled. We know that intellectual freedom requires a private space. So you guys that work in libraries, your collection acquisition people are really the suckers that every ebook publisher has square in their crosshairs, they really think that they can milk you for it, and that’s because many of you have bought these ridiculous subscriptions that disappear when you stop subscribing. They’ve got you marked for suckers. It’s time to stop being suckers. It’s time to start doing right by your collections and by your patrons…

Ok, now go read the whole thing!

The Ultimate Food Chain

via Buzzfeed.com

Amazing Christmas Decoration

"Good news is that I truly out did myself this year with my Christmas  decorations. The bad news is that I had to take him down after 2 days. I had more people come screaming up to my house than ever.Great stories. But two things made me take it down.

First, the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost wrecked when they drove by.
Second, a 55 year old lady grabbed the 75 pound ladder almost killed herself putting it against my house and didn't realize it was fake until she climbed to the top (she was not happy). By the way, she was one of many people who attempted to do that. My yard couldn't take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove up my yard."

(This is being passed around via e-mail. (Thanks Dad!) I have no idea of the source. Will happily credit if someone can point me in the right direction.)

A morning e-mail from Facebook

“Facebook is sending you this notice of a proposed class action settlement that may affect your legal rights as a Facebook member who may have used the Beacon program. This summary notice is being sent to you by Court Order so that you may understand your rights and remedies before the Court considers final approval of the proposed settlement on February 26, 2010.

“This is not an advertisement or attorney solicitation.

“This is not a settlement in which class members file claims to receive compensation. Under the proposed settlement, Facebook will terminate the Beacon program. In addition, Facebook will provide $9.5 million to establish an independent non-profit foundation that will identify and fund projects and initiatives that promote the cause of online privacy, safety, and security.

“For full details on the settlement and further instructions on what to do to opt out of, object to, or otherwise comment upon the proposed settlement, please go to http://www.BeaconClassSettlement.com.

“Please do not reply to this email.”