worker safety

Since George W. Bush became president, OSHA has issued the fewest significant standards in its history, public health experts say. It has imposed only one major safety rule. The only significant health standard it issued was ordered by a federal court.--New York Times, full article.

can you hear me now?

technology is affecting the ways in which we communicate. cell phones, blackberries, and email keep us within virtual immediate contact with other individiuals at any given time. we are able to call upon a response or give our response to another instantaneously. it is a remarkable time in human history to possess such tools, but what does this mean for our psychology and sociology as a culture?

A recent article by a writer from new scientist magazijavascript:void(0)
Publishne put it quite well; "for some people, things move from 'i have a feeling, i want to call a friend' to 'i want to feel something, i need to make a call.'" it is the latter of these that has me concerned for the long term psycho-social affects of wireless devices. there are numerous benefits, yes, but i feel that the technologies have become so pervasive and with monstrous lack of guidance and oversight as to their use.

with our advanced degree of social networking via cell phone, texting, and blackberries, any sense of social etiquette has gone out the window. similarly, we have not given enough thought and commentary as to how these technologies affect the lens in which we see the world. i am not a luddite, but i do not fully embrace these technologies. i am anxious to see what we will discover, in hindsight of course, how these devices have changed our internal wiring and expectations as well as our social cultures.

itunes sucks

i have grown tired of itunes limited and inane functionality. i am seeking a shareware alternative to this overprotective and handicapped program. i dig yamipod for its grassroots birth and you can transfer files to and from your hard drive with ease. however, there is no hard drive library conduit and one needs to find an itunes-alternative, such as songbird.

i'm not totally down with this set up, as the two products from separate developers seems to have some communication issues in transference of files. ugh.

dear citizens of the internets... i am seeking an all-in-one shareware music library and ipod manager that picks up the slack where itunes leaves you with a furrowed and frustrated brow.

vitamin s(ugar)

this morning, i had cake for breakfast. almond cake that a. brought home last night. our fridge is bare and that lil' slice of heaven was just staring up at me. then i heard the bill cosby diddy, "dad is great, give us a chocolate cake..." tune dance by. fork to mouth, eyes fluttered in back of head, and sustained sugar buzz through the a.m. run.

hee-hee

"gmail paper is made out of 96% post-consumer organic soybean sputum, and thus, actually helps the environment. For every gmail paper we produce, the environment gets incrementally healthier."

it's a miracle!

sad

baltimore.

a tick off the old wish list

after 7 years of contemplating if i need them or not. i replaced my well-worn axiom norco panniers for a waterproof deutsch-made set of ortliebs.ah, joy. i first learned of ortliebs from a german biker i met at the peak of the climb in glacier national park back on my bike trip from iowa to oregon in 2000. he sung the praises about their watertightness and ease. each morning, as i have tucked my work clothes into a big plastic bag and jammed it into my holey norcos, i have thought about upgrading. then came the rei dividend, and i timed it right with the 20% off anything sale and i managed to knock 35% off the retail price making it pocketbook friendly and satiating my desires.