episiarch

I wouldn't either. It's possible we're both old-fashioned, but I can't really think of anyone I know - or anyway, associate with willingly - who would find this normal, regardless of age.

Find someone local to bring you some from Intelligentsia or Metropolis. Both excellent.

I never knew that about Cryptonomicon. But it explains a lot. Related: CMAP #5: Why books are the length they are - Charlie's Diary If Stephenson ever had spare writing time on his hands - which he won't - I would happily pay whatever it costs to get the equivalent of the Director's Cut of Cryptonomicon. That would be a treat to look forward to.

I think he just means they rely on remote, Internet-accessed data rather than local-inside-the-iPad data.

Cleaned and descaled the espresso machine, which had surprised me by going from perfectly fine to slightly slow to a labored dribble over the space of a few days. This California boy is not used to the hardness of Thames River water. Last time I descaled wasn't that long ago, and there wasn't too much in the boiler, but the boiler outlet was well on its way to being truly blocked. Despite the hardness of the water here, the marvelously fast-acting Durgol I always used at home is practically unknown here. Used up my remaining bottle -- a few seconds, then fwoosh, a nice solid jet from the pump -- and will have to hit eBay to get some more. After that, devoted the rest of my not-very-productive day to starting to get caught up on all the new Amazon Web Services stuff they've added since the original S3 and EC2 came out. I have got a lot of reading to do.

Another recent iPad review, from writer Charles Stross: Gadget Patrol: iPad - Charlie's Diary

iPad went on sale outside the USA today. My wife was at London's Regent Street store all day and says the lines continued all day long. Amazing. I will be surprised if they haven't passed two million by the time Jobs gives his WWDC speech. She's irritated she managed somehow to miss seeing Stephen Fry, who showed up to stand in line and buy another one even though he'd already gotten one or two on USA launch day. But she did see The World's Tallest Married Couple, there to promote the Guinness Book of Records app. Which I thought was a strange thing for them to do, but it made all the papers so clearly Guinness understands publicity better than I do.

That is awesome, Craig. I've been in the UK almost a year and a half and haven't gotten around to visiting Bletchley yet. Must make sure that happens this year.

Thanks! I really appreciate the gesture and the willingness to ship. A D80's probably beyond my level of need, but thanks very much for the thought. (And I'm still a Limited Edition Unworthy to See Classified Ads Participant, so that link is off limits to me anyway )

Whoa. Those IR pics are amazing. *Goes off to look up older-model Nikon D prices on eBay*

Craig, congratulations on seeing Jarre. It sounds like a great show. Amen on seeing Vangelis sometime. Al, sorry about Claire's teaching troubles. That's got to be frustrating as hell. What I did today (yesterday): melt in excessive heat and sunshine. The locals enjoyed it - Britain basks in hot weather, but it won't last | UK news | guardian.co.uk - but Kristiana and I just wilted in it, for most of the past week. Which seems weird since we're both native Californians, but we really do do a lot better in chilly fog and gloom.

Sounds like it will work out perfectly for me. Thanks, guys. Now feeling tempted to buy it now in the UK instead of waiting until my US trip in August. Not as cheap here, but still quite reasonable. Hm.

Just hearing the words Argentinian steakhouse has made me feel overstuffed, ever since reading the blog post Argentina On Two Steaks A Day

Super, thank you! (Yep, shooting DX so I figured it'd be about right.)

Didn't try that. I have something else I'm using now, so I should just sell the A2's really. I just haven't gotten around to it. Anybody in the UK interested in A2's, I'm sure we can work a deal.

Indeed it would. Unlocked iPhones also available in Italy, FWIW. May pick one up there this fall depending on prices/finances/travel schedule.

I'd say get the 64GB/3G. If you like the extra space, great; if not, I wouldn't be surprised if you could make a swap @ CJ with someone who wishes they'd bought the big one.

Anybody have an opinion on the Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF? I'm thinking it would make a nice available light & portrait lens for baby pictures, and seems like a bargain at $125.

I have them. Perhaps they help somewhat but IMO they don't outright change the character of the A2s which is still far too bloomy/mushy for my taste.

Holy frak. The trivia question for the free JH13 is "What was the first concert tour Jerry Harvey mixed professionally? **Please submit the name of the artist and tour." Posted about 14 minutes ago as I write this, hurry if you think you know the answer. This is a tough... | Facebook Edit: too late. The answer was, David Lee Roth, Skyscraper Tour

Prof. Dr. Fritz Sennheiser Dies

Here's the iPad case I'll probably get: M-Edge Executive Jacket for Apple iPad Leather, pretty full-featured, and can hold the iPad at an angle in landscape mode.

boomana, my sympathies for your day from the land of crazy. I used to have nuttiness - not quite at that level but sometimes pretty bad - in my life all the time. Girlfriends, employers, long-time friends. (Me? Perfectly sane of course, why do you ask?) It's all far behind now, but your story makes those days suddenly vivid and real all over again, *shudder*. Once again, my sympathies.

Yeah, I got the Cornwall thing after I looked it up. Over in the US we don't get a good sense of quite how many titles these people have, so whilst everyone here in the UK probably knew Charles is Prince of Windsor and Duke of Cornwall and of Rothesay and so on, we only knew he was HRH and had Windsor somewhere in there. So when we heard Cornwall we just shrugged. Did realise that. I was just joking. (Though the Queen I follow on Twitter made it out to be two weeks of much anxiety, Bombay and Dubonnet. )

Wow, iPad launch day in the UK is sold out already. New preorders must wait until June 7th. They really are selling all they can make.