Wandering Wondering and Worrying

And randomly - speaking of movies...

2007-07-09T19:24:00.000-05:00

I just came across this...

I really wish I had time for more movies...

2007-07-05T22:13:00.000-05:00

71%

FilmCritic.com - Movie Reviews

The ultimate revent against telemarketers...

2007-02-12T20:37:00.000-05:00

Turn on your sound for this

Weird news-happenings from all over...

2007-01-27T22:57:00.001-05:00

- Apparently, New Yorkers drive too damned much
- New York City is implementating technology that will allow people to send digital images to 911 and 311 call centers
- The President's people don't read articles about early childhood education
- Four powerful Senators are living in what sounds like a political frat house...
- Some photographer guy in Illinois wants to make a calendar featuring The Women of State Farm
- Some dude rode a stationary bike for 85 straight hours to set a world record
- Texas and Connecticut are dualing over where the hamburger was invtented
- Folks in Oklahoma are digging up a car that they buried 50 years ago as a time capsule Nobody knows if it will start who who will own it...
- Example of a very stupid law that is still on the books: In North Dakota, it's illegal to play house
- There is a claymation movie about how 'Nazis are uncool'
- People in Athens still worship Zeus
- Eritcha found an old-lady-style music video

Fun with Changing Capitalizations & Grammar...

2007-01-27T22:04:00.000-05:00

And here we have some very unfortunate website domain names

State of the Union Drinking Game 2007

2007-01-23T11:54:00.000-05:00

The President gives his annual report to congress tonight.
And this year for me - it's all about the Drinking Game

2007 Design and Development Emergency Kit

2007-01-09T22:34:00.000-05:00

So having been away from the office for three weeks, I was mildly surprised to find that someone left a present for me on my desk. It's a zip-lock baggie (with a little Santa Claus on it) that contains some goodies, and a damned funny little explanatory note. You can see the picture here, but just in case you can't make out exactly what the text says, I'll transcribe it...

--BEGIN--

2007 Design and Development Emergency Kit

To prepare for cuts and bruises from continued use of bleeding-edge technology, you will find the following:

* 1 Band-aid - for the nicks and cuts you may endure next year
* 1 quarter - for the headache or ulcer medicine of choice. See the medicine dispenser in L-1 or in other Corporate South Locations
* 2 pieces of chocolate - for its anti-oxidant & pick-me-up properties for those days when you're just feeling down or depressed

--END--

At first glance, I immediately assumed the quarter must be for "calling someone who cares" - but apparently that's just the obnoxious New Yorker inside me talking.

So much weirdness in so many places...

2007-01-09T22:21:00.000-05:00

It has been a weird few days in in the news - literally all over the place:

Something totally stinks in New York

This couple in Colorodo decided to sell snow on e-bay - AND - this guy in Connecticut just bought it for $200 (as soon as I find a linkable article I'll post it - but there was a video on cnn.com)

Back in Sioux Falls, they're teaching you how to love
Some dude is selling his own private beach-front country

Pluto is no longer a planet, but its close relative is now the word of the year for 2006

My triumphant return to Bloomington-Normal

2007-01-09T22:15:00.000-05:00

After three holiday weeks in New York, I returned to Bloomington Sunday night. And naturally - just because I was looking forward to getting back - and I had forgotten just how annoying this particular commute can be - there was a mildly annoying adventure in store.

Traveling on Sunday nights is almost always problematic - as is flying all the way to Bloomington (taking a connecting flight from Chicago, as opposed to just driving the 133 miles from Chicago) - as is also checking bags. That's why I avoid doing these things. But naturally - this week, I scored the hat-trick.

My flight from New York was delayed over an hour... and it landed naturally in a different terminal from my connection. I hustled across the airport and really should have made the connection, but unfortunately they decided to "close the plane" 10 minutes early...so I missed it. Naturally it was (almost!) 9:25pm and this was the last flight out. The gate attendant wouldn't help me - she just directed me to customer service (repeatedly... I almost asked if she could say anything else or if her needle was skipping). The United customer service was annoying too... they're like "you are rebooked on the first flight tomorrow morning". I had no desire to stay overnight - and I told her I was going to drive it. United naturally won't reimburse for a hotel or a rental car - and getting the one leg of flying to be refunded requires calling an 800 number that I've had to call before, but is literally *never* answered by a human being - and I'm convinced it's impossible to get a refund from them...but that's all they can do from the airport side...

Of course I did have this one checked one bag to contend with. Tee-hee. (I hate checking bags!) My bag missed the connection too...but the lady said to go downstairs to the United baggage claim and I could pick it up. Turns out that it's back in the first terminal where I landed - so I had to schlepped all the way back there... and waited on line for 20 minutes... only to be told by the grumpy dude behind the counter that they don't release bags at night - so I actually CANNOT pick up my bag. He informed me that it would be on the first flight to Bloomington the next day I could claim it at that airport... Waste of time. I don't know why the customer service person told me to go there when I could have left the airport 20 minutes sooner...but whatever...

Blah blah - this hole thing wasted oodles of time....I also had to stop at the Hertz place in Bloomington early the next morning to "return" the car - and check it out again (the same car!) - just so I wouldn't get one-way rental charges on the car everywhere I went all week...

One nice thing from Sunday night is that I met this really nice couple who also missed the same flight for the same reason... They are psych professors here at the university (ISU) - and they were coming back from visiting their families for xmas & new years... and we were commiserating at the gate and ended up renting a car together for the long drive. So - for the first time, I got to do this long drive WITH company (didn't turn on the radio once the whole way!). And they're really cool - we had lots of fun chit-chatting the whole way here. We all met up again (unplanned) at the Bloomington airport when claiming our bags Monday night. I believe these are my first non-work-connected friends in town...and cooler than that...I now know two Normal psychology professors! (yes - the puns are intended)

Cats with Credit

2007-01-05T17:32:00.000-05:00

Apparently, in Australia, cats can get credit cards.

Yes, that's nice, but will it blend?

2007-01-05T12:55:00.000-05:00

I just LOVE this guy!

New York has first snow-less December in 129 years

2007-01-04T12:34:00.000-05:00

To be fair, they're saying this has nothing to do with Global Warming, but more to do with El Nino - but CNN says this is the first time since 1877 that New York City has not seen snow in December

Gee - it's a good thing I spend so much time in Illinois or I might have gone a whole winter without a good storm

Being healthy while being gluttonous

2007-01-04T12:30:00.000-05:00

This is actually pretty great. (Granted - the big problem on cruises is eating TOO MUCH - but it's definitely better if all that food "Come on as passengers, but roll off as cargo" is not artery-clogging and deadly.)

"Royal Caribbean International, joining a growing trend, will become the first cruise line to make the move toward removing trans fat from its menus beginning March 1, 2007, culminating in a fully trans-fat-free menu fleetwide by the end of this year. Effective immediately, trans-fat-free frying oil will replace the old pour-and-fry oil originally used in food preparation, and entirely-new, trans-fat-free menu options will be introduced to Royal Caribbean's menus. Royal Caribbean has long accommodated requests from guests with special dietary requirements, from those looking to maintain a low-fat intake to others who face serious allergies. "Vegetable oils that have undergone hydrogenation result in a type of fat that doctors have linked to serious health risks including diabetes, high blood pressure and increased cholesterol levels," said Michael Bayley, senior vice president, Total Guest Satisfaction. "If we can offer guests a healthier serving of the foods they love by switching to trans-fat-free oils, while maintaining the same level of satisfaction, why wouldn't we make the switch?" The trans-fat-free oil was put to the test onboard Navigator of the Seas last November. The conclusion was that, not only is the trans-fat-free oil healthier for guests, but it provides a better tasting product. Royal Caribbean is working jointly with all onboard food and beverage partners as well as suppliers to ensure that a full transition to a trans-fat-free menu will take place fleetwide by the end of this year."

Once again, it's first New York - and then everyone else. :-P

Hat tip to my cousin Sandy at Your Cruise Concierge

Announcing "Meals By Marc"!

2007-01-04T00:08:00.000-05:00

My brother-in-law and good friend Marc Sessler just launched his own personal chef business in central New Jersey.

Marc has always been a huge whiz in the kitchen. My larger family has exploited these talents for years - using their house for holiday dinners and parties and gatherings, etc. He can bake an awesome cake. He makes a yummy (kosher!) fish chowder. And he even makes sure that everything he makes is pretty healthy.

My sister Lynn (his wife) is actually also a really good cook, but unfortunately for her, whenever any of us is there for dinner and tastes something amazing - we always automatically assume that Marc made it (even if it's really something Lynn created) because everything he makes is so awesome.

I LOVE his new website - over at mealsbymarc.com. Marc wrote all the content and figured out how it would be organized, but the photos are all by his cousin Jon Roemer and the website itself was designed and implemented by my friend April Greenberg's company Spring Thistle Design

Wow - a modern day prophet

2007-01-03T00:10:00.000-05:00

eh - more like an idiot actually...

UFO Sitings at O'hare

2007-01-02T09:52:00.000-05:00

I was probably there that week, but I didn't see it.

Chanukah Harry Saves Xmas

2006-12-31T00:44:00.001-05:00

What accent?

2006-12-31T00:35:00.000-05:00

So actually - people regularly tell me that I don't sound like I'm from New York. They're wrong - but this website seemed to get it right...

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Northeast Judging by how you talk you are probably from north Jersey, New York City, Connecticut or Rhode Island. Chances are, if you are from New York City (and not those other places) people would probably be able to tell if they actually heard you speak.
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The Midland
Boston
The South
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Hat tip to Mobius

A wrong turn at Albequeue

2006-12-31T00:33:00.000-05:00

Fortunately, in my many wanderings around the country and the world, both for work and for fun, this has not yet happened to me.

More Chanukah Vids...

2006-12-21T15:31:00.001-05:00

This was forwarded to me...

This one was posted on jspot

Helping The Cause

2006-12-19T01:41:00.000-05:00

Obnoxious as I may be, this post is my contribution to the Google Bomb which links the words miserable failure to Dubya's bio on the White House website.

(If you do a search on Google for those two words - your first search result (or what you'd get by clicking the "I'm feeling lucky" button) is George Bush's bio on the white house website.)

You can learn more about this here.

Happy Chanukah

2006-12-19T00:31:00.000-05:00

Well here we are - half-way through the Festival of Lights 2006.

Oddly enough I visited the East Peoria Festival of Lights last week (it's not far from Bloomington). The lights and animations and decorations were really spectacular and quite beautiful (the pictures on that website don't begin to do it justice). And I learned that there is such thing as The American Bus Association and that they have a top 100 list. There was however absolutely no reference to Chanukah (which is what I always think of as THE Festival of Lights). Apparently though - LOTS of holidays in many cultures are called the Festival of Lights, including notably Diwali

But anyway - Chanukah... every year around now, there are lots of comments out there - about how it's a minor Jewish holiday and people make too much of a big deal about it in America and about how we're trying to compete with Christmas... Eh - I'm not sure I agree. I'd argue that Chanukah is actually a pretty serious Jewish holiday, maybe even more so today than it ever was in the past. And I don't think this has anything to do with miracles or oil or the Holy Temple or even a military victory of the few over the many. Yes, Chanukah is about all those things . And yes it's also a time to light candles, sing fun songs, eat yummy but not-so-healthy fried foods, and trade presents with loved ones. But most importantly, Chanukah is the quintessential story of modern Jewish identity. The Hellenists sought to learn from the Greek culture of their neighbors, while the Hasmoneans/Maccabees wanted to preserve the essence of Jewish tradition. Today - most Jews in America and in so many other Diaspora countries - heck even in Israel - are constantly defining and redefining what it means to be Jewish in the 21st century. For sure - I am. Judaism says much about how to live one's life. But so does the Western World - and so does the rest of the Eastern World for that matter. I don't think I could live in a solely Jewish context... I would never be able to live in Borough Park or Mea Sharim in a totally Jewish bubble without world news and baseball and Star Trek and Harry Potter and MQ Series...and books and people who think differently from me. But I would not want to live without the Torah and the rich 3000 year old tradition that comes with it...the dysfunctional family stories in Genesis and the practice of Kashrut that keeps me mindful of what I put in my body and the concept of Shabbat that reminds me to take a break sometimes and the belief that actions matter and people are responsible and accountable for what they do and the notion that I can make the world better than it was when I found it.

Whereas Judaism has traditionally been about separations:

milk & meat
linen & wool
life & death
kosher & traif
Shabbat & the work week
holy & mundane

I believe that today Judaism is about balance - in so many ways:

needs of the Jewish community & needs of the larger world
traditions of the Torah & newly acquired knowledge from physical and social sciences
being faithful to G!d & being true to one's self
being true to one's self & taking care of one's family
taking care of one's family & being mindful of one's community
being mindful of one's community & being loyal to one's country
being loyal to one's country & being loyal to Israel
caring for the Jews in Israel & caring for the non-Jews in Israel
caring for the welfare of the Jewish state & the welfare of a Palestinian state

Or to borrow a line from Conservative Judaism - it's about both Truth & Faith.

Chanukah is all about finding balance between the two worlds - Jewish and Non-Jewish - and the tension that floats around that balance. This is something we deal with every single day (or at least *I* do)...so I think this holiday is among the very important festivals of the Jewish year.

I actually also think it has become important if for no other reason than it's the one holiday of ours that so many non-Jews know about.

And So I really do think it's important for Jews to light the menorah and display it prominently in their windows. I do think it's important that we display Chanukah decorations and sing Chanukah songs and tell everyone that we're Jewish in addition to being whatever else we might be (American, European, Asian, Gay, Straight, Man, Woman, Techy, Trekkie, Reading Nut, Athlete, Mets Fan, Yankees Fan, Mac User, PC User, whatever). This is a time to celebrate one's identities - and find meaning from them all.

I think that has always been very central to how Chanukah has been celebrated - and (people may think I'm nuts for this) - I think this has influenced the celebration and commercialization of Christmas very significantly. There certainly weren't any Xmas lights much before 100 years ago - but the Jews and Chanukah injected this concept of asserting (religious) identity into December - and I think that caught on. All those Xmas lights and songs and whatnot...may well have started with us and our candelabra that is to be displayed prominently in the window solely for decoration. There were menorahs in the window long before there were blinking lights on the neighbor's bushes.

Now for some Chanukah links...

A new take on the Chanukah miracle
Jewish American Soldiers in Iraqcelebrating Chanukah
I'm not really an Aish Guy - but this is pretty decent
I actually don't think I entirely agree with Rabbi Jacobs' view here, but it's an interesting take on the concept of Jewish power and it is food for thought.
Some tid-bits on Chanukah history
This is just damned hysterical

Nuckin' Futz!

2006-12-19T00:29:00.000-05:00

The boys at JibJab have put out a new animated movie that looks back on 2006. It really has been a weird year...

Launching www.jcarrot.org

2006-12-15T01:30:00.000-05:00

Hazon presents The Jew and the Carrot...a new Jewish blog about Jews, Food and Contemporary environmental issues.

Visit http://www.jcarrot.org today - and subscribe to the RSS feed.

The Torahs Have Left The Building...

2006-12-11T01:17:00.000-05:00

After 53 years, Congregation B'nai Israel in Fair Lawn, NJ closed yesterday. Well - technically 'closed' is the wrong word - we merged with the Fair Lawn Jewish Center.

Congregation B'nai Israel is the place where my Jewish journey began. In so many ways, it has been a second home for my family. My sisters and I were bat/bar mitzvah'ed there. I said Kaddish for my father there every day for a year back in high school. My parents were active members and volunteers - at one point, my father was on the board and my mother was the Sisterhood President. The men and women who ran that place have always been a lot like extended Uncles and Aunts. As I grew up, I took on some fun and interesting Jewish jobs...I led the Junior Congregation for a time...and more recently, I've been the shofar blower.

Back in the day, I remember two overflowing sanctuaries on the High Holidays (we had to rent an extra Rabbi). There were babysitting services, and there was Junior Congregation and Shabbat for Tots. The Hebrew School had a music teacher that every class would visit once a week. There was a totally awesome Purim carnival and dancing on Simchat Torah.

But in these last years, the shul had become a shadow of itself. The congregation has been dwindling and the financials have been in deficit. My family established an award in my father's memory, to be given to a graduating Hebrew School student every year. Things have been so bad, that for the last two years, there were *no students* in the graduating class - so we could not present it. Many factors led to the decline...Fair Lawn's Jewish population has been steadily becoming more Orthodox (there are a LOT of Orthodox shuls in town now...at least 7 I think...) We have not been able to retain a Rabbi for more than a year or two - and sadly (I'm sorry gents if you're reading this), the last two were just not dynamic enough to attract young families. Years ago, B'nai Israel disassociated itself from the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism to save on dues - that was a mistake. B'nai Israel never switched over to become Egalitarian - that was a mistake. We never upgraded from the old Silverman siddurs, machzurs, and other religious books - again a mistake. And then there's just the competition factor - the other two Conservative shuls, Fair Lawn Jewish Center and Beth Shalom, had nicer buildings and more money.

When I heard that we were going to parade the Torahs from the old shul to the Fair Lawn Jewish Center building, I was expecting a sad, depressing day. I suppose it was sad, but more than that, it was really quite moving and uplifting. Hundreds of people showed up at B'nai Israel (from BOTH shuls) around noon Sunday. We took the Torahs out of the ark - many congregants were each given keters and yads and other Torah accoutrements to carry. Beautiful white Chuppas and lace umbrellas were opened and one or the other was held over each Torah courier. A trumpet player played traditional Jewish wedding music - right from the beginning it was clear that I had misread the day; this was no funeral march; it was the marriage of two congregations. The police closed off streets - as the whole congregation followed our Torahs out the door, into the roadway, and around the block.Several of the people who ran the shul all these years, the Gabbis, Ritual chairs and officers climbed onto a flatbed truck, holding the Torahs - and a procession of cars followed them in a parade across town. The police estimated over a hundred cars participated...I can't even begin to guess at the number of people who showed up...

So we arrived at our new shul. The Fair Lawn Jewish Center Torahs were taken out of their ark. There was dancing and singing...and suddenly there were no more CBI Torahs and FLJC Torahs - there were only "OUR" Torahs. Once they were put away, we heard some decent speeches by Rabbis and layleaders. Lots of FLJC people randomly approached CBI people to shake hands and say "welcome". The President of the Fair Lawn Jewish Center Lenny Kaufmann announced "This morning our ark was half empty. Now it is full."

Simon Says Santa...

2006-12-11T00:10:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah! Once again this year, you can be the boss o' Santa.
Go to http://www.simonsezsanta.com/ and give him some orders.

I recommend trying these:

do some pushups
pull down your pants
drink a beer
knock over the tree
kiss mrs. clause
do a split
moon me
sing
floss

What he really thinks...

2006-12-10T23:25:00.000-05:00

The folks at Saturday Night Live found the "special director cut" of Mel Gibson's Apocalypto.

See it here

More real than you thought

2006-12-10T23:24:00.000-05:00

Did you know that Looney Tunes characters have skeletons?

Let's Eat!!

2006-12-10T22:57:00.000-05:00

After many threats, New York City finally came through and banned most trans fats from restaurants!!!

This is really excellent.

Now if only the city would stop persecuting cyclists!

Equality in Conservative Judaism

2006-12-10T22:24:00.000-05:00

Last week, Conservative Judaism authorized a law opinion that permits gay men and women to become Rabbis - and permits Rabbis to perform "commitment ceremonies" for gay couples. As one can imagine, this has been a very hot issue for many years. There's been much written about this all over the Jewish press and Jewish blogs - and there's little that I can add.

In short, I'll say that I view this as immensely positive.

Some reading on the topic:

Rabbi Judith Hauptman's great op-ed asks the question "May rabbis alter Torah?"
Rabbi Jason Miller has an excellent series of blog posts
Rabbi Gerald Zelizer's piece from USA Today
Rabbi Daniel Brenner's "Oy Vey the Rabbi is Gay" children's story
Rabbi Steve Greenberg's book Wrestling with God and Men
The documentary Trembling Before G!d
Shabot 6000's take

Some more background about what happened last week:

A history of the issue within Conservative Judaism
The modern Halachik process in Conservative Judaism
The story in the Jewish Week

Some resources:

Now if only the Boy Scouts would stop discriminating against gays!

Father where art thou?

2006-12-09T10:05:00.000-05:00

This story is pretty bizarre. Gotta love that fake-clergy getup - it tricks people EVERY time.

The Ice Man Cometh

2006-12-01T13:05:00.000-05:00

It's a winter wonderland today in Central Illinois. It's not so much that it snowed for 24 hours, it more like "iced".

Desperate to prove that I'm either dumb, crazy, or as we New Yorkers say "fearless" (and also because I left my laptop at work and could not work from the apartment), I ventured out to work. The office is of course closed. It's a huge complex - and entirely deserted except for me and a few brave and cold security and groundskeepers. (I wish I could post a picture of it, but I have this feeling that if I posted an image of this place - under any weather conditions - heck if I say the name of the company on this blog - they'll first shoot me and then fire me.) Truth be told, it looks a lot like I'm in the movie Fargo right now...there's no one around, and you can't tell the Earth from the sky.

There's a picture here of my neighbor Shawna cleaning her car (mine is on the right). She and I worked out there for the better part of 1 hour making them cars road-worthy... There was literally a 2 inch coating of solid ice over everything, and we immediately discovered that our ice-scrapers and snow brushes were entirely useless...it was like using plastic against a brick wall. This storm meant serious business.

So we were actually out there cleaning the cars with HAMMERS. Sadly, my mine took quite the beating - and didn't make it. Over the course of my wanderings in these last 5 years, I have spent entire winters commuting every week to some notoriously cold places - and I've experienced some serious winter weather. There was Sioux Falls and Minneapolis (yes that one's hard to forget: 36 straight days below zero...I remember the morning radio DJ announcing excitedly "Folks we're having a heat wave! It's 16 degrees warmer today than it was yesterday! But it is still below zero."), Toronto, Boston, and Chicago - and in all these places, I have never EVER needed to resort to "man-tools" in order to clean off a car before (and I've never broken anything either). Those big cold cities are nothin'! Bloomington has now won an extra special place in this road warrior's heart.

A Nuclear Deterrent

2006-11-29T19:05:00.000-05:00

So - in "the U.S. government's first-ever effort to use trade sanctions to personally aggravate a foreign president" - we're apparently withholding cigarettes, motorcycles, jewelry, and mp3 players from Little Kim. Why do I think this is absurdly pointless?

Cubicle Warfare...

2006-11-29T15:49:00.001-05:00

Now this product looks like fun. Quoting the website: "The arms race is on. The workplace has become a dangerous place, but once upon a time, it was all a laugh. Back in the day, your workmates chased each other with squirt-guns, then disc-guns. Everybody laughed when somebody brought in the harmless Airzooka. Gleefully, somebody brought in a marshmallow blaster.

Then it went kinda nuts. Sonic Grenades, catapults, lightsabers, ninjas... Suddenly, it was less about harmless fun. Suddenly, things got serious. Deadly serious. The day that the guy down the hall brought in the USB Missile Launcher was the day the gauntlet was thrown down [...]

This rocket launcher connects to your Windows 2000, XP or Vista machine via USB. Install the included software, plug in the Rocket Launcher, and with 360 degree horizontal rotation and 45 degree vertical rotation, the USB Rocket Launcher can fire over six meters, giving you coverage for over 113 square feet of your workspace."

The most wonderful time of year...

2006-11-28T02:34:00.001-05:00

So it IS good that I don't celebrate Xmas...

How to use a blog...

2006-11-17T23:54:00.000-05:00

Well, here we are. I've finally joined the club and started a blog. (Did you know that there are 15,000 new blogs every day?!?)

I am the least consistent person I know...and I really have no idea how often I'll post anything or what exactly I'll talk about. I know enough to not post anything about work and I'll do my best not to reveal anything personal about the many wonderful (and some less than wonderful) people in my life lest all hell break loose. But my bookshelf has everything on it from Harry Potter to volumes of the Talmud to the Satanic Bible to trashy romance novels, books on business, personal finance, computer programming, and a bunch of children's books that I read periodically to keep me sane. My bedtime is different every night, and I can't say I have wake up at the same time either. I'll eat the exact same thing for breakfast for 12 days aside from 4 randomly dispersed days in the middle - and then I'll eat something different every day for 3 days - and then have no breakfast for 2 weeks. Similarly - I expect that there will be days when I post on here 9 times - and then go for a month without saying anything.

So - I do not recommend "visiting" this website often to check on me... (although of course you sure are welcome 'round here...) There's a much better way to deal with this blog and so many other blogs and websites out there. Subscribe to the RSS or ATOM feed! It's free. It's easy. And it will totally revolutionize the way you use the web. You just need to use a "Reader".

Almost every blog and (including this one!) and most news sites publish their content - and you can setup your reader to subscribe to "feeds" from those websites. You do not need to visit every one of your friends' blogs and every news site that you love to see if there's an important update. It's much easier to just open up your reader - and see at one glance if there's anything new you care about.

Being a news junky, I used to visit www.cnn.com and nytimes.com 8 zillion times a day - but no longer. Now I subscribe to their RSS feeds here and here. Slate magazine has a really great page about RSS with some suggestions about Reader products to use, although I really don't think you need to download software when there are so many web-based Readers available that you can access from anywhere on any computer.

Definitely make sure you're using the latest version of your web browser - because all the major ones now have specific support for RSS. I use Firefox 2.0 and I recommend it highly to everyone, but the new Internet Explorer v7 isn't terrible either and neither is Safari. When you're using one of these browsers, and you click on an RSS or atom feed link like mine, you should automatically be prompted to subscribe in some special way. Firefox lets you setup a live bookmark - and it'll also give you the option to add it to the Google Mail Reader.

Here are some popular web-based "Readers":
http://reader.google.com(this is what I use)
http://www.google.com/ig
http://my.yahoo.com
http://www.bloglines.com/

Whenever you're on a site that you like and you want to keep track of, look for their little orange "RSS" logo - or search for the word "subscribe" or "rss" or "feed'...and you should be able to find a link to it. If that doesn't work, it's possible that they haven't implemented RSS just yet. But before you give up, try the the website's home page with a "/feed" or a "/atom.xml" after it. (For example - most blogger-powered websites have a "atom.xml" feed which you can subscribe to, even if there isn't a link on the page. Hence, this site's feed is http://danielmax.blogspot.com/atom.xml

You can also add RSS feeds to Gmail Web Clips

These sites are really useful for searching blogs:
http://blogsearch.google.com/
http://www.technorati.com/

Here's a screenshot of my Google Mail Reader: