Back to normal... or what passes for normal in my life :)  The coding deathmarch is over - code done, checked in, and being tested - my dismal century last Saturday is a distant memory (bonk? what bonk?) and I am planning ahead a bit.  An interesting measure of how happy I am is the distance to my time horizon; when things are good, I am thinking ahead, when things are bad, I am living in the present trying to make it from moment to moment.  (And when things are really bad, I live in the past :)  So, onward...

Did you know?  Our economy is sound after all.  Perhaps McCain or anyone would have struggled this badly, but I must tell you Obama has not been impressive. 

Powerline says let's hear it for bankruptcy, with which I agree wholeheartedly; the AIG bailout shows the problem with bailouts, and we're going to have a lot more of these problems before we're through.  Not to mention, the precedent definitely creates a moral hazard. 

Mental floss: Eight brilliant scientific screw-ups.  My favorite is Nylon, which was discovered when trying to make synthetic milk.  I am not making this up.  I'm not sure "screw-ups" is the right description, this kind of serendipitous discovery is a key part of all science... 

NYTimes: Growing up on Facebook...  the tone of this article, like many reviewing the new online social networks is maudlin, like the author wishes for the old world.  But it is what it is, our kids are growing up in this world, and we are living in it.  Better get used to it, this genie is not going back in the bottle... 

Darren Waters at BBC thinks social networks are the new email.  Bzzzzt, that's not right.  Email is the new email, same as it ever was.  Social networks are something else, they do other things, even if using them sometimes has the one-to-many character of email. 

A quote I've heard often in different connections, this time referring to computer operating systems: "The head of Black and Decker once said, folks don’t buy our products because they want one inch drills, they buy our stuff because they want one inch holes." Excellent.  [ via Daring Fireball ] 

The teams invited for the 2009 Tour de France have been announced.  Reading the list, it occurred to me how weird it is.  There is a team from Kazakhstan, Astana, and it is not only the best in the world, but it includes Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer, the two top Americans, and Alberto Contador, the top Spaniard.  Not to mention Andreas Kloden, a top German, and Yaroslav Popovich, a top Russian.  How weird is that? 

Aww, the ZooBorns of the day are two little Sun Bear cubs...