Highlight web pages, then send a short link

So I thought, 'hey somebody probably made a widget that lets you highlight stuff in a web page then send a link to the page with highlights.' And a nanosecond of searching produced this, the Awesome Highlighter.

Here, for example, is a short link to a wikipedia page that I highlighted.

http://awurl.com/qmYbbDXbm

Poi Dog Pondering - Living With the Dreaming Body

This video was filmed right here in Austin, on the main drag across from the UT campus. This is one of the most evocative Poi Dog songs for me...it taps into joy.

Happy birthday to me!

Why you're still single, ladies

Here's an article that takes an interesting tack with respect to the marriage ambitions of ladies.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tracy-mcmillan/why-youre-not-married_b_822088.html

I thought the points were generally very well taken, and enjoyed how charitable they are to the pool of men out there. That is, the article asserts that there are enough men with worth and integrity out there for the women who want marriage.

I think this should be balanced by Lore Sjoberg's piece about why guys who think nice guys finish last probably aren't as nice as they think they are...

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2010/05/alt-text-nice-guys-guide/

Gamasutra says Minecraft is no fluke

Really interesting breakdown of why Minecraft is a success, and why the next Minecraft won't be a Minecraft. :)

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/32760/Opinion_Minecraft_And_The_Question_Of_Luck.php

Playmobil Stop Motion - Joy Division - Transmission

Found this on BoingBoing.

_The Keep_ by Jennifer Egan

I can't remember why I put 'get a book by Jennifer Egan' on my list, but I'm really glad I did. This book is compelling from page one, based on its characters and their intertwined mysteries. It develops an interesting structure, too: just when you dig into the tight single point-of-view of the main character, you get pulled back out into a narrator's point of view... and the narrator has a mystery of his own.

I'd expect a device like that to create unwelcome distance. Nope. It just creates more tension.

The big hook for me was the anticipation around the main character arriving in Europe to meet an estranged cousin whom he'd betrayed as a child. He was in a tight spot, and a jaunt to Europe arrived just in time, but he doesn't know whether he'll be sincerely welcomed by the man he betrayed.

Anyway, read the thing, it's fantastic.

"Salsa Nocturna" by Daniel José Older

I'm really impressed with the voice in this short fantastical story. From Strange Horizons.

Snow in Austin

Definitely not something we see very often. Snow today, blanketing the area...not a lot of snow, but a lot of pure white, until we went outside and trampled it. Too cold to pack well, though...I don't think we'll be seeing a lot of snow sculpture. The prediction is that it'll be gone by afternoon, though that's hard to believe looking at the roads right now. I'm working at home because no one should be on these roads. I hope it does burn off because otherwise it's going to go to slushy ice and be worse.