• Sitting in the parking lot at the Red Cross, "sugaring up" with a Heritage Dr. Pepper before my platelet donation. #
• Good news: BP and temp are normal (120/83 & 98.9). Bad: I forgot I can't take aspirin 48 hrs before donating. Reskedded for next week. #
• Have just made my SECOND iPad-related hardware purchase: a Pogo Sketch stylus. http://yfrog.com/20982vj #
• New on ClickableArts.com: : OscarBlog 2010: The Pause Of Inference #
• I'll be obsessively and nerdifically liveblogging the Oscars. Just refresh this page on Ihnatko.com: http://bit.ly/cXv6dn #
• Just a reminder: I'm loveblogging the Oscars on Ihnatko.com » http://bit.ly/cXv6dn #
• Yes, LOVEBLOGGING. I LOVE the Oscars. #
• ALERT to all men and women who love women: TCM is running Cyd Charisse movies all day today. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. #
• To those who might have missed it: my liveblog from last night's Oscars is on Ihnatko.com » http://bit.ly/cXv6dn #
• Just finished a phone interview with @jimlee00 and John Rood about DC Comics' digital directions. After dinner there will be much typing. #
• My job isn't like yours. I mean, today, did you open a FedEx box and find yourself wondering why Geek Squad sent you beef jerky? #
• First workday with the office windows open. I feel like birds will flitter in and hand me the DVD-R I need, like I'm Snow White. #
• Stupid damned Skype has locked up on me…desperately trying to fix for the show!!! #
• The irony is, i cant force quit it while TWiT is calling me, & they won't stop calling because I should have been there 10 min ago! #
• Okay, now switching to A WHOLE NEW COMPUTER. But I'm sure it has nothing to do with Skype being a total piece of ****. #
• Finally starting MacBreak. Boy do I hate Skype. Few apps are this successful but this unreliable. #
• On Ihnatko.com: My prep for the iPad, and how sketch apps and the Pogo Stylus are newly-relevant to me. » http://bit.ly/c9vsBC #
• A small plate of soft cheeses after midnight? On a weekday? One of the many, many advantages of swingin' bachelorhood, m'friend. #
• Well! *I* just spent a lot of money. How about you guys? #
• (Yes…I just spent $900 on a 72 master cases of Marshmallow Peeps, all colors. Wait, was there something else this morning?) #
• New on Ihnatko.com: Which iPad did I buy? The fascinating process, revealed. » http://bit.ly/cLRre0 #
• The most important bit from this morning's piece: you'd need a VERY good reason to buy an iPad sight-unseen. I sure do. Do you? #
• Check out Apple.com's iPad pages — lots of details. http://www.apple.com/ipad/features/ #
• Apple.com/iPad/features/: "…And you can add free ePub titles to iTunes and sync them to the iBooks app on your iPad." Hooray! #
• The implication is that ePub files will sync via iTunes just like any other kind of media (or maybe via a simple folder operation) #
• Now in the hands of my Sun-Times editor: seven neat bits of news I got from Apple's new iPad pages. Will Tweet a link when it's up. #
• Now on Suntimes.com: My fave 7 new details about the iPad, based on Apple's new product pages » http://bit.ly/bpy9Ox #
• Apparently, tonight is "Sing Elton John Songs Like Paul Williams Night," according to my brain. #
• I say this with sincerity: "Jackass 2" isn't a better movie than "Network," but it has a much smarter and more solid ending. #
• CSS design would be a less irritating if it DIDN'T turn out that the root of every baffling problem was a dumb mistake I made. #

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• Watching the Olympics closing ceremonies. For one magical night, everyone in the whole world was named "Gord." #
• Dining with @muskrat_john in Wisconsin. Yes, cheese was a feature component in every course. http://yfrog.com/1e7n9aj #
• The conference presented me with a big box of local WI artisan cheeses before my departure. WELL PLAYED, conference! #
• New photoset on Flickr: The Holsteins in Wisconsin » http://bit.ly/9NYFaM #
• Quick, join The Ebert Club before Roger raises his rates in April. Even non-Eberts are welcome (for now) » http://bit.ly/bJalcm #
• Watching "Hello, Dolly." One of my fave and most fascinating "great potential, but it just doesn't work at all" flicks. #
• My Feb. detox from writing Apple or Google news ends with a 3000-word piece about the iPad, soon to be sent to my editor. Whoof. #
• Before this gets out of hand: it's NOT a review of the iPad and I have NOT touched an iPad since January. #
• New on Suntimes.com: Six things about the iPad that worried me a month ago, but no longer. >> http://bit.ly/bTgIdt #
• Just interviewed @TomBrevoort and Ira Rubenstein for a column. Maintained my 20yr streak of being surprised my recorder worked. #
• Whoops, no, the Old Fashioned wasn't invented there but they do them quite nicely. http://www.theoldfashioned.com/ #
• To a freelancer, 4:45 on a Fri. is when you see if you can play The Price Is Right's "It's a new washer-dryer!" theme on the uke. #
• Just found I'll be on a panel with @ebertchicago at @cwaboulder. I'll photo the audience & later claim it's my usual fan turnout. #
• How do I record phone interviews off my iPhone? Well, it's highly technical… http://yfrog.com/ehqwptj #
• New on ClickableArts.com: : Scott Kurtz' LOLBat gets a sidekick #
• I picked Mitch Seavey in my (self-employed) office Iditarod pool. Am sitting by computer in a foam hat shaped like a snow hook. #
• Doing a lot of housecleaning. I just found a few business cards with my old FidoNet email address on it. My FIDONET address! #

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• Another Amazon MP3 offer that says "Don't think, just buy": 22 classic Sinatra tracks for $2.99 » http://bit.ly/dCfEIr #
• OK, one week post-Macworld and I'm willing to call it: Purell and paranoia officially protected me from another Convention Flu. #
• I instituted a new music library policy today: when a CD attains Double Plus Love Status, I re-rip it as Apple Lossless. #
• Finally catching up on the season premiere of the new Amazing Race, so I can watch the SECOND episode tonight. Giddy-worthy TV! #
• Finished watching the "Amazing Race" premiere. Underscored the fabulous, producer-proof unpredictability of the Racers' actions! #
• Even an in over-the-air analog standard def, the worst ep of "Amazing Race" would beat the best "Survivor" in digital HD. :) #
• Always an emotional moment: winners on podium, hearing their nat'l anthem, wearing medals, clutching lush, majestic Chia Pets. #
• Countless moms are now telling their kids "Fine. If one of the comics I threw out becomes THAT valuable, I'll pay you the $1M." #
• Setting up tabs, windows, and beverages for recording of MacBreak Weekly. Watch live » http://live.twit.tv/ #
• Shots like this keep me in awe of @scottbourne's bird photography » http://bit.ly/bQFSZP #
• Geek High Finance: just traded a tubful of 10-y.o. Star Wars Episode 1 merch for lots of store credit at my regular comic shop. #
• Richard Dawkins has his Shatner-esque "Get a life!" moment with his fan community >> http://bit.ly/d79c58 #
• Resolved: Story concept "Little girl from classic children's book returns to that world as an adult" is now a boring cliché. #
• Zaftigs soup of the day: a gumbo-style spicy jambalaya. http://yfrog.com/aus11jj #
• Zaftigs pastrami and Swiss. A SENSIBLE sized deli sandwich! http://yfrog.com/1eqb0xj #
• Dessert: super-delicious rice pudding. It's rice…it must be good for you. http://yfrog.com/35m08wj #
• Getting ready for a live Skype appearance on Fox News "Gadgets And Games" with @claytonmorris. Live from 3-4 EST #
• A shot of crowd at Olympics leaves me thnkng there can't be many places where you can buy a foam hat shaped like a curling stone. #
• I love and fear the Internet: http://www.curlinghats.com/ (Thanks, @thisisjacksdad!) #
• One of my fave "King Of The Hill"s is on now. "Won't You Pimai Neighbor?" explains why lazy writing on other shows frustrate me. #
• Finished a last-minute column for the Sun. edition. Getting the last sentence was like getting a dog to give me back the stick. #
• Watching Craig Ferguson. I'm 60% sure that Quentin Tarantino is slowly turning into Jon Lovitz. #
• And then I heard myself grumbling "Crimeny. This Catholic church has *no excuse* for not having a website. It's 2010!" #

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• New on Ihnatko.com: City Lights is not a real bookstore » http://bit.ly/aEmBOe #
• I love it when people claim that recent blizzards disprove global climate change. Idiots are usually MUCH tougher to spot. #
• (This isn't controversial: one week of bad weather is as significant a data sample as the belch of an eyelash mite.) #
• 1 scientist in history discoverd somethng that was easy to explain, had clear implications, and was 100% right: Superman's dad. #
• At Comic Relief in Berkeley. Loving its new location…freaking huge, this place is. #
• On a trusted friend's strong recommendation…I am buying the first issues of "Blackest Night." Okay, Rich…! #
• Downloading yesterday's WinPhone7Series3000alacticaClear intro videos for travel viewing. Quick demo looks v.nice…pretty UI. #
• Sacramento Tweeps: I'm speaking at MacNexus tonight at 7 PM. Do stop by! Details here » http://www.macnexus.org/ #
• Setting up for MacBreak Weekly. I am doing the show from the forest moon of Endor this week. #
• Riding Amtrak to Sacramento for my talk at MacNexus tonight. What a dope I was for initially wanting to rent a car for this. #
• At the MacNexus meeting in Sacramento. Nice turnout and nice people. Oh, and free cookies. #
• New on ClickableArts.com: : Time For Go To Home #
• New on Ihnatko.com: Time For Go To Home » http://bit.ly/cOlsub #
• 66 degrees in Sacramento…gorgeous weather but I'm leaving for home today. Have been living out of my laptop bag since Sunday! #
• Touchdown, Boston! Good to see snow again after a week of miserably beautiful spring weather in San Francisco. #
• I don't know what pleased me most about my JetBlue flight. Probably the fact that our pilot's name was actually "Captain Over." #
• New on Suntimes.com – My first take on Windows Mobile Series Seven Phone System Phone OS for Seven, 7.0 » http://bit.ly/aE1IT9 #
• I awake after a 4hr, post-redeye-flight nap. I feel like grabbing destiny in both hands. Yes! I shall start watching DVR'd TV. #
• Quick Flickr photoset: the Holsteins in San Francisco » http://bit.ly/aNJT9Q #
• I love the snowboarders. They're the only Olympians who seem to be having fun, win or lose. They get up from a fall, smiling. #
• You can KEEP your stupid Dewars Profile: ***I've*** been interviewed by the Tactical Pants Blog! » http://bit.ly/buncol #
• Honestly, @Seagate. Your support site and forms would save me time if it just said "We have no intention of honoring warranties." #
• "Forbidden Planet" is just starting up over on TCM. #
• Experiencing the horror of pulling into commuter rail garage at a terrific point in audiobook, w/no headphones for rest of trip! #

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• Just saw, and liked, the current state of iVerse's iPad comic book reader (off the show floor). #

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• The main selling point of a cast-iron skillet: you can fry 1/2 lb of bacon and tell yourself "I'm just seasoning my cookware." #
• The only way you can consider an NFL game to be "action-packed" is if you act like the players get points for milling about. #
• I don't think any Super Bowl ad this year will top this one for the Letterman show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KSKkmypTZM #
• Hate to sound like such a Guy, but my biggest reax to the Google ad was "Hey! 'Who is The Stig?' was one of the auto-completes!" #
• How the Letterman-Oprah-Leno Super Bowl Ad Came Together » NYTimes.com http://bit.ly/bduMRq (thanks, @joelhousman!) #

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• I feel like such a grownup. I want to scold this college kid: "You can't be out in jeans & a Bruins jersey! It's 20 degrees!!!" #

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I was playing “American Idol” on the PS2 with some friends last night. And an idea came.

Let’s not identify the person or persons who came up with this idea. We wouldn’t want this individual or these individuals to be embarrassed. For it is indeed the worst idea ever.

The idea is for me to arrange a New England Karaoke Tweetup.

This would be like any other Tweetup — a place and a time is announced, and a group of Twitter followers show up and socialize — except that the place would in fact be a karaoke bar. And so everybody would be expected not only to mingle with strangers and pay for their own drinks…but also get up and work their way through “Endless Love” as best they can, with said strangers in the audience.

But I mustn’t announce that sometime next month, I’ll be setting up the first New England Karaoke Tweetup. I won’t even start looking for a karaoke bar somewhere in Eastern Massachusetts that would be suitable for such an evening.

I mustn’t. Because it is indeed a horrible idea. A horrible, terrible, fractid idea that really, is best driven back into the pit of Hell from whence it came.

Horrible, horrible idea.

Let’s not even discuss this.