Whew - couple of super busy days of work.  Finally this afternoon I escaped (!) and had a nice ride, my "usual" Kessel run from Dana Point to Camp Pendleton and back (for the record, posted a new best time of 1:56 for a new best average of 20.4mph, despite being worn out).  Now I have to sleep, and tomorrow afternoon I'm driving up to Lake Huntington in the Sierra's to sail in a regatta with Megan! 

...but first, the Ole filter makes a pass...

James Surowiecki notes Change we can't believe in, an interesting look at currency as a commodity.  Apparently in Brazil at the moment change is at a premium, literally; people are actively optimizing for not using coins. 

My pet peeve of the day: websites which open fixed-sized windows.  What!  This is 2009 people, we don't do fixed-size windows.  Either your web design works in all kinds of different windows - everything from smartphones to huge wide-screen monitors - or your web design is outdated... 

Of possible interest: Software Engineering ≠ Computer Science.  This is absolutely true.  I remember telling a junior colleague once that writing compilers was the easiest possible programming task, because the inputs and outputs were perfectly defined, and there were relatively few human factors and no GUI.  He looked at me in astonishment :) 

The Venn diagram of work life.  Pretty cool. 

Not noted on the diagram: we spend 90% of our waking hours staring at glowing rectangles.  Wow, that would definitely describe me, I'm afraid.  Well maybe not 90%, my cycling sort of saves me, but still I do spend a lot of time at the computer.  What about you?  What are you doing right now?  :) 

Top Gear "thoroughly tests" a Ford Fiesta.  Among the key questions answered: what if I'm asked to take part in a beach assault with the Royal Marines?  You must watch this :)  [ via Daring Fireball ] 

So, have you tried Hunch yet?  It supposedly makes decisions for you, but in my admittedly non-rigorous experiments it either couldn't help me or made the obvious choice.  I think it is a dancing bear. 

The glowing jellyfish of the year.  Wow, amazingly beautiful.  (click to enbiggen and admire :) 

ZooBorn of the day: a baby Pangolin.  (and yes, it is a mammal :)