Well it definitely isn't summer anymore, as today the football season started (!); I watched USC crush Virginia.  Ouch.  I did discover that Smokey (my new guinea pig) likes to watch football.  Or at least, he likes to sit on my chest while I'm watching :)  Otherwise a quiet day off; I didn't even ride.  Got a long one planned for tomorrow though...  have to stay in the groove for the Knoxville Double which is coming up in three weeks, and next weekend I'll be in New York presenting at a conference.

Palin-ed out already?  I'm not...  interesting that a surprise selection like that changes everything, gets people talking.  The reaction I've noted is all over the map, too.  The choice didn't so much change minds as coalesce them. 

If you're still trying to learn more, this Time interview is worth a read; it was conducted a couple of weeks ago.  Interesting that in Palin's political career her age has been more of an obstacle than her gender.

Politico has five questions about Palin; good ones, too, including: Is she a creationist?  (LGF tries to answer...)

Hurricane Gustav is not looking good as the threat to New Orleans increases.  Yikes, here we go again...  I really wonder what the Republicans are going to do, postponing their convention doesn't seem possible on such short notice, but going ahead and having it doesn't seem right either. 

The Vuelta started today, with a team time trial in Granada.  Surprisingly Liquigas won, over favorites Astana and CSC, and Filippo Pozzato will wear the first golden jersey.  Ah, Granada... reminds me of the Vuelta two years ago when I rode and saw a stage up the Alta de Monachil that finished there.  That really was a perfectly incredible day... 

An awesome rant from eco-geek: Why changing your lightbulbs doesn't matter.  "We will never significantly reduce our energy use in this country by asking nicely. If you tell someone 'Save the planet, change your light bulb' you'll be lucky to get a 20% action rate. But if you say 'save $200 per year, change your light bulbs' you're suddenly on the right side of every argument."  This is so true.  There has to be a positive local advantage for people to behave in a way that has global benefit. 

Russell Beattie visits the library, encounters a kiosk covered with flyers, and asks When will Local truly be on the web?  "I'm on the computer every day, all day and yet I know almost nothing about what's happening in my local area. Not only is it basically impossible to stumble upon the information, like I can while walking back to my car from the library, but even actively searching for it is normally fruitless."  I totally agree.  Right now there is no good way to find it all, why is that? 

I'm having such fun with KillerStartups; today's preposterous startup of the day is NoFouls.com, "a communication tool intended to accomplish one thing: get other ballers to the basketball court when you wanna play."  Why it might be killer?  "This is a great idea. Once more cities are added, it could turn from a simple site into an online movement, like Facebook or Twitter."  Riight...