onfocus

I'm not sure why I feel the need to pass this on, but Extreme Ironing. [via WordSpy]

Corvallis is in the news right now because a woman was abducted sometime Monday—just across from the OSU campus. Her name is Brook Wilberger. If you're in the area, please take a look at her picture--it can't hurt having everyone keeping an eye out for her. Here's the most recent story in the paper: The search intensifies. There are signs with her picture up all over town, and remote news trucks at Reser Stadium. This is the first violent crime to happen since I've lived here.

I went for a hike with some friends along the "Trail of Ten Falls" at Silver Falls State Park on Saturday. The best part was being able to hike behind some of the falls. Here are a bunch of photos:


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Matt got a great, misty running-water effect in this photo of South Falls on his site. I was pushing my camera's exposure time in manual mode, but I still didn't get as nice an effect as that. I think a neutral density filter may help.

Amazon has a new feature updated their feature called Early Adopter Products. I'm not sure how it works exactly, but the site says they're "analyzing purchase patterns" and I think they're trying to see what's bubbling up to the top before it's on the top sales lists. It seems like this could only work if you analyzed the buying patterns of certain people who were flagged as early adopters. How do you know when something is being purchased by trend-setters rather than just having an initial burst of sales after being released? (For example, several books in the Early Adopter Computer Books list don't strike me as books that are being purchased by what I consider early adopters.) I'll be disappointed if it turns out to be just another way to highlight new products. In any case, it's a cool concept and I'll be keeping on eye on it to see if it's useful.

In Amazon Hacks, I show how you can use Amazon Web Services to create a WAP version of your Wish List so you can always have it with you on your cell phone. (Handy for remembering movies you want to rent, CDs you want to buy, etc.) Merlin has a lo-fi version of this hack, and all you need is a wishlist, a printer, and a pocket—Tip: Amazon wishlist to go.

Good insider news at boing². Linklater is making a film adaptation of Philip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly. It sounds like it's going to be faithful to the book. w00t.

Today is primary voting day in Oregon, and I'll be watching the Benton County stats: Returns and Turnout. In Oregon everyone votes by mail (or at a dropsite) which is very convenient—so why the low turnout?

sk and I went out to Newport on Saturday and Sunday and had a great time. I'll be posting photos from the trip in my photolog (especially of Ona Beach) and here's a panoramic I took in Newport:


Yaquina Harbor Panoramic (click for a larger 223k version)

I am currently away from the computer.

Cold Turkey by Kurt Vonnegut: "...we are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is."

If you've been waiting to buy Amazon Hacks until you get more than just the book with your purchase (heh), the time has come to buy. You'll get five new hacks in a PDF if you buy the book on Amazon now. I wrote the new hacks a while back. One is an AppleScript that loops through your Mac Address Book and finds people with Wish Lists. Another hack walks you through creating a generic Amazon bookmarklet, and describes some bookmarklets that are already out there (like Library Lookup, and RIAA Radar). If you already have Amazon Hacks and you just want the new PDF, I'm not sure how you'd go about getting it.

In other Amazon hackery, someone posted a good tip about product manuals on Amazon at the Hacks site.

I think the panel discussion last night went well, and it was fun meeting some new people behind weblogs I read. Kevin, Heather, and I were all in agreement that weblogs are just beginning their impact on the world. There was a great discussion with the audience, and I was a bit nervous being on the panel side because there were so many people there who could have been on that side of the table. But it was a very casual setting, and I think a fun time was had by all. Now for the name dropping—I finally met b!X, biohabit (jeremy), strangechord (emily), and Brad from LiveJournal. There should be more weblog get-togethers because it's great to be able to put a face with a site. (I tried to get to a Portland Bloggers meeting last week, but couldn't find the place. There's a Bend Bloggers meeting tonight.) Thanks again to Brad Stenger for inviting me to participate.

Josh (who I didn't meet) posted a picture at ORblogs of me gesticulating last night. Matt posted a photo too.