> it's just one of thousands of behavior markers Facebook is using

Seriously? There are *thousands* of behavior markers that Facebook tracks, and we're only talking about one of them?

Call it hokum if you like, but it's a fact (in the US at least) that driving is a privilege and not a right. If you disagree, then please explain where you think your right to drive comes from. There's certainly no right to operate a motor vehicle in the US Constitution, nor in any of the state constitutions that I know of, nor in any federal or state law.

Now, you may not LIKE the idea that driving is a privilege, and you might think that driving SHOULD be a right. None of that matters. The fact of the matter is that driving is currently a privilege in all 50 states, and you can lose that privilege for all sorts of reasons. Driving without a license is a pretty serious matter.

I will be whole. I hope he will be too.

Thank you, I think that keeps everything in perspective.

Heh, I'd say my life is spent at least in part surrounded by unrecognized monkeywrenches. I think I perhaps dodged some that I shouldn't have. But - I'm not of the temperament for regret. I am generally happy in most circumstances, and even my worst days, or biggest despair rarely survive overnight.

So, I suppose I'm either blissfully ignorant or criminally stupid. One or the other.

gawd you're right about twitter. It's crack for information junkies. I hope the funding comes through, is the possible state change because of the economy?

We would normally be snowmobiling, but my husband has really bad tendonitis in his arm, so we've been benched. I can't believe how much I miss it. I like so many things about snowmobiling, that just doesn't work for other things, like ATVs for example. I console myself with the fact that it hasn't been a stellar snow year :)

OK is tough - hard not to feel guilty if you aren't satisfied, but hard not to wish for more. If you could pick any monkeywrench to throw in, what would it be?

Is there a mouse in your future?

They want people to stop sharing RIAA-licensed music over the Internet, or in the alternative, they want those who do share RIAA-licensed music to pay them for the privilege. Like it or not, that part really isn't so unreasonable. Unfortunately, the other thing they want is a monopoly in music publishing and distribution, and they're happy to use over-reaching, heavy-handed tactics to get it. That part is completely unreasonable.

There's a real lack of understanding on the RIAA's part -- they stubbornly refuse to acknowledge that the world has changed, that production and distribution of music now is so cheap and easy that you no longer need to be annointed by them or represented by them to create, record, produce, and distribute music. They still see themselves as the gatekeepers of the music industry. And the fact that a huge volume of RIAA-licensed music is in fact traded illegally over the Internet feeds their belief that they deserve to recover licensing fees by any means necessary.

Also, their tactics have worked in the past to help them control other media. This covenant not to sue scheme seems an awful lot like a blank media surcharge to me. A blank media charge combined with RIAA-mandated DRM worked to effectively kill digital audio tape (DAT) for recording purposes, and I understand that they get some sort of blank media charge on at least some CD-R media, so they won in both cases.

Woohoo! Now if only we had a wheelbarrow, that would be something! :)

I've been doing very well - but 2008 was not my favorite year. Not a horrible year. Just not my favorite :) I blew my knee out and perhaps have ended my sports career forever. And I ended up in a couple of contracts that just sucked the life out of me. It took time to recover.

So, 2009 will be the year I try having more time than money :) If it doesn't work out, at least I'll go back to having other people set my agenda and be a little more grateful.

How about you? How did 2008 turn out?

Two great stories in one comment :)

I've gotten review copies of two different technical books, but I only really made good on one of them. It's one thing if you buy the book for reference reasons - but to read it cover to cover takes me forever, I keep going off on daydreams of my own and then having to reread everything. As such, I have all the more respect for your abilities, and your philosophy about taking books.

As for my own philosophy, I'm all about singing till the cat eats me - We'll see how that pans out, heh.

Not that I think I could get on it now, but still it could be useful thing for the future :)

I'm looking forward to your thoughts.

Pixie