After many years of loyal service, my 600mhz inspiron laptop is finally due for replacement. It has seen a lot of code in its time. I can't get Whidbey on it, though, so I just ordered a new 2.2ghz inspiron. Same low, low Dell price.

I subscribed to the Financial Times online edition yesterday. I buy the paper edition most days, so I am going to try to replace it with the much cheaper electronic version.

I'm currently stalled on my masters project, awaiting a machine that will let me learn the ropes of VSIPs. I checked out the msdn section on line today, and it looks like I need to dust off my C++. And when I mean dust, I mean... lots of dust. Must get my copy of Lippman back.

• All the President's Wu-Tang Clan.
• Quotes from the movie Jaws, where 'shark' is replaced by 'Jimmy Page'.
• English-language names my Chinese acquaintances chose for themselves. [I once met a Chinese dude called Robust]
• Actual stories from American Window Cleaner magazine.
• The emperor has no cortex...
• Kenny Rogers notebooks. [not a list, but worth including]

Here are some snaps from SF and NYC.

This is a small illuminated sign from the lift of the New Yorker hotel.
Plates at Katz's Diner, New York.
A sandwich at Katz's Diner.
The servery at Katz's Diner.
Large Obey Giant poster, subway underpass, San Francisco.
The view from the cheap seats: SF Giants vs. LA Dodgers.
New York subway wall.
Times Square. Reminds me of Shinjuku, but smaller and less impressive.
A clock in the vicinity of Wall Street.
Dedicated To Christian Manhood - Moments before I was moved on by a vagrant.
The Flatiron building, New York.
Gawpers at Ground Zero.

It has been a hectic few weeks, but we are finally in our new place in _glamorous_ Hackney (more of a burrow than a borough? Telling statistics - UK's highest unemployment and third highest population density), with a new couch and a new-ish job in programme management. I've also got broadband, a telephone and hot water, so I am doing much better than my last place, and rapidly catching up with the modern world.

A couple of quick observations on the state of the world:

• After holding a pointless grudge against The Smiths since the age of 15, I finally purchased an album recently, shattering the last great taboo. I bought a Led Zep album earlier this year, so there are no transgressions left for me (OK, the Eagles, Elton John, Little River Band...). Anyway, it is pretty good.
• I am in the process of equipping my new place with gadgets, so I bought a wireless router / access point and an external 120gb drive from Amazon today. I plan to write a compact framework app for my jornada and turn it into the world's most expensive remote control.
• I commented to a fellow antipodean that I was upset that England managed to beat Switzerland in the soccer. He reminded me that it is much more enjoyable when they fall at the last hurdle, so I am now pro-england, until the semis at least.
• I read Al Alvarez's The Biggest Game In Town last week. I'm a bad recreational player with a keen sense of my own inability, but it is still a great read.
• After being forced to move my fairly modest amount of junk last week, I've decided to sell three pairs of almost identical, unworn Vans sneakers on Ebay. I'll only have a couple of pairs left.