Ha!  Two days in a row.  Didn't think I could do it, did you?  I wasn't sure myself :)

So let's see, what's happening...

LGF notes Hamas News is Good News.  "I think the sweeping Hamas victory is by far the best result that could have been hoped for.  I say that not because Hamas is anything other than a blood-drenched terrorist group, but because its lopsided win is an unambiguous reality check into the nature of Palestinian society.  And if there is one thing that the West badly needs, it is more realism and less delusion about the Palestinians."  Good point. 

Well this is a cool rumor; Matt Haughey reports Cisco might be buying Tivo.  That would be cool.  Actually anything which allows Tivo to survive and maybe maybe bring out an HD-compatible PVR would be cool. 

Oh, by the way, I think I'm iterating on Mishegoss #1, the problem of the TV.  I'm seriously considering a Fujitsu P55XHA40US.  It is very expensive, and very beautiful.  Stay tuned!

Joel Spolsky ponders What Makes it Great?  So here's my answer: It makes you feel good about yourself.  I know, this isn't helpful as a product requirement, but that's what makes something great... 

This follows on his previous post, the first in a series, What is Design?  Although it pains me to take issue with Joel, when he writes that design does not involve aesthetics I differ strongly.  I believe he means aesthetics in a superficial way - he contrasts decoration with design, for example, but I would claim there is a deeper more fundamental sense of aesthetics which influences design strongly.  Exemplified by W=UH!

Jeff Jarvis posted a great rant: Deconstructing the Newspaper.  [ via Brad Feld ]  "Newspapers waste too much money on ego, habit, and commodity news the public already knows.  In an era of shrinking circulation, classified, and retail ad revenue — and in the face of shrinking audience and increasing competition — papers have to find new efficiencies and cut these expenses to concentrate instead on their real value (which, I’ll argue, is local reporting)."  As they say, read it all. 

One of those bloggers who consistently hits the nail on the head is Jeff Atwood.  Here he does it again: Google is the Help Menu.  "Local help simply can't compete with Internet search. I'll go even further-- if you are building local help files for your application, you're wasting your time.  And more importantly, you are wasting your users' time."  A fascinating point.  We are having an active debate about this at Aperio.  Should we have local help?  Or post a Wiki?  Or do both? 

Here's something for Lance: a USB flash drive shaped as a wristband!  Livestrong indeed.  [ via Gizmodo ] 

Slate takes a look at Disney's acquisition of Pixar: The $6 Billion Man.  My opinion: in retrospect, this is going to be really big.  As Disney and Apple remake digital entertainment. 

David Strom takes a look into the future with Intel: Total Recall.  It looks cool, and scary, and entirely plausible.  The world is becoming more and more virtual. 

I saved this old link: baseball season opens with two innings on jumbotron.  [ via Cory Doctorow ]

Here's Clive Thompson's take: even better than the real thing, andeven better, part 2.  "Personally, I think we should just skip the inevitable transition point here, and emulate South Korea: Instead of televising actual real-life games, let's simply broadcast video-game matches."

You must be this tall to have an opinion: