I am back in the blogitorium, and I am NOT riding in the Son of Death Ride.  I am somewhat feeling guilty, but then again, not; was out last night with friends, dinner at their beachhouse, and the thought of getting up at 2:00am for a brutal ride was unappealing.  And I have stuff to do - like blogging! - and relaxing, and hanging out, and enjoying what looks to be a perfectly beautiful day...

Ann Althouse considers the fact that the news anchors on two out of the big three networks are women: "I think it means that the network news isn't important anymore. That women do something signifies that it isn't considered important."  I don't know about the general point - maybe it is well taken - but it is certainly true that network "news" isn't considered important. 

Maximum congratulations to l'Equipe l’Hydroptère, the French team with the amazing foiling trimaran, which have set new world records for 500m (51.36 knots!) and 1000m (48.72 knots).  Wow.  Check it; this boat goes over 60mph over the open ocean, powered solely by wind.  How cool is that? 

TechRadar: Nice shoes, where did you download them?  "3D printers combine, in all the best ways, the worlds of industrial manufacturing machines with that of the traditional desktop printer.  They might not be whirring away in the home office just yet, but the technology is far from science fiction and it's maturing fast."  It might be a while before you can make shoes - the materials problems are daunting - but for many objects it is going to be possible very soon.  I can't wait :) 

This is seriously cool: a hyperbolic graph tree control, implemented in JavaScript.  I wish I had a use for it, definitely a solution looking for a problem. 

Just finished Alex Wellen's Lovesick.  Highly recommended, an interesting plot about everyday people.  Makes you feel good about life. 

Shirley is reading My Life in France, about Julia Child, and enjoying it; she reports Julia used to use Brussels Sprouts to play with her cat, Mini.  This must be the best use of Brussels Sprouts ever found; Julia Child was truly a genius :) 

From an Allstate ad; the scariest road sign of them all.  I think they have it backward; the minimum drinking age should be 16, but the minimum driving age should be 21... 

Congrats to Fabian Cancellara, the Swiss time machine, who blasted to victory in the Vuelta's 7th stage, a 30km time trial.  It is increasingly amazing to me that Albert Contador was able to beat Cancellara in the Tour de France ITT, I don't think he gets enough credit for that...  tomorrow the Vuelta starts in earnest with the first mountain stage; eight categorized climbs, including a finish at the top of a 21km HC... 

Interesting: Loopt uses a server-to-server mechanism from AT&T's network to provide location-based social networking on the iPhone.  A lame and complicated alternative to background processing on the 'phone, but since the iPhone doesn't have background processing... 

Tim Cox: please don't put your iPhone in a case.  I so agree with this...  there is no case where the case looks better than the original device.  It is exactly like covering your couch with plastic. 

ZooBorns of the day: Mongoose pups.