HearUsNow.org, a project of Consumers Union, which is the publisher of Consumer Reports (got that?) has put together a toe-tappin’, cute music e-video warning against media consolidation.

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Terry is having a lump removed from his breast. He blogs about it primarily to tell us what it’s like to be a middle-class American without health insurance.

None of this is any fair. But his story — like so many of his stories — finds and gives hope.

We all wish you well, Terry.

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Ever want to make your own highway signs? Head on over here. Unfortunately, it only creates the sign in a applet window, not as a downloadable graphic, throttling the urge to be a wiseacre in public. (I had a little display problem with the java app: If the button labels don’t appear, try clicking the stripe under the line that says how much memory is available.) (Thanks to AKMA for the link.) [Tags: akma]

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MapMix ( in beta) lets you say where you are on a Google map and then shows you a map positioning others who have done the same. You can specify your gender, sexual orientation and relationship status so that you only see similarly categorized people. Click on one and you can do an IM/SMS thing called Quick Message (which wasn’t working for me when I tried it a few minutes ago).

It’s more dating oriented than I am. And the profile probably ought to include which languages you speak. But that’s what betas are for. [Tags: mapmix google]

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I stumbled across the Camp Katrina blog by National Guardperson SPC Van Treuren today. He’s been on Katrina relief duty. His blog is funny and gives a different insight into the world. What’s not to like? [Tags: CampKatrina blogs katrina]

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I’m fasting for Yom Kippur, although as always I don’t know why. And, as always, I’m amazed at how little it takes to knock me out – how narrow the parameters are, as David Isenberg said this morning.

I’ll eat in about four hours. Within seconds of eating some bread, my headache will go away and I will cease to feel that the beam of my attention has narrowed to 3 inches wide and five seconds long.

I’m very lucky.

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When I was in London a couple of days ago, I went to a hole-in-the-wall place — a counter upstairs, some tables in the basement — for breakfast. The menu outside identified an “omelette breakfast”: omelette, bake beans, grilled tomatoes. Here’s roughly my conversation with the man behind the counter:

Me: Omelette breakfast, please.

Man: Wha’?

Me: An omelette.

Man: Marmelade toast?

Me: (Thinking he was asking if I want marmelade toast with it) Yes, please.

Man: Right.

Me: That’s meatless, isn’t it?

Man: Marmelade toast?

Me: No, the omelette.

Man: Marmelade?

Me: Om-e-lette. The omelette breakfast. Omelette, beans, tomato…

Man: Oh, omelette.

My omelette breakfast came with a side of marmelade toast. Delicious.

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Scott Bradner writes about the good and bad news in the upcoming telecom act.

Bob Frankston writes about connectivity as a utility. [Tags: BobFrankston ScottBradner telecommunications]

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…if the being of ideas and the meaning of ideas are disconnected from one another, there will be no knowledge of the former, and the latter will not be.

Aristotle, Metaphysics, Zeta 1031b4

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Following W. David Stephenson’s advice, I wandered over to the Department of Homeland Security’s web site to see how they’re failing to update their page during this emergency. It’s worse than I thought:

Click to see full page

Makes you feel all secure in your homeland, doesn’t it? [Tags: homelandSecurity WDavidStephenson HurricaneKatrina]

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