This is hilarious.

I like Wikipedia, and I use it a lot (and usually trust it), but this article is a good laugh.

I needed a low-impact (read: brainless) project because it’s been raining and because I’ve got some stuff on my mind.

The project became some minor blog UI tweaks.

I’ve implemented a couple already and will add some additional subtle changes shortly.

The implemented changes include some top right navigation links and the movement of “what I’m reading” to a separate page. There are three new links, one for each type of thing I put on this site: Posts, Photos, and Reading.

Posts are blog posts like this. Photos are, well, guess. Reading includes links to all the noteworthy Web pages I read on a daily basis; the feed is provided by del.icio.us.

Here’s Noah relaxing in his new play yard.

…is now shown at the bottom right of the sidebar at the right. It shows the last 15 Web pages I added to del.icio.us.

So, if you’ve run out of the stuff you read and want to read the stuff I’m reading, go to town.

Warning: Most of this stuff will be about technology, cycling, or music.

It’s 4:39 AM and the free Wi-Fi is not working. I can get a connection, but there’s no Internet access. I had the same problem at the Quality Inn last night and this morning.

As I look deeper I see I’m not even getting a valid IP address. Charlotte’s ranking drops another point, to 7. (Intent: 10, Execution: 4.) I’ve said some pretty nice things about this airport and now I feel betrayed.

If the Wi-Fi’s still non-functional at 5:30 the ranking will drop again. It will continue to drop every hour, on the half hour, until either the Wi-Fi is working or my flight leaves. (I won’t venture to predict which will happen first.)

This place looks like a refugee camp. At 4:10 as I walked outside on my way to the front door I could see people asleep in clusters around the monitors.

As soon as I got to the monitors I learned my 5:30 flight was already delayed an hour, to 6:30. Luckily Starbucks was already open.

(Sidebar: Did I mention there are more Starbucks per square foot here than in New York City?)

I was the seventh person through security when it opened at 4:30. I thought it would have been cool to be the first, but the folks in front of me looked pretty entrenched. (Read: They camped out last night.)

Sigh. The rockers are a nice touch, but they’re wearing thin on me. They’ve definitely lost something without the free Wi-Fi.

I want to go home. To real home.

UPDATE: At 5:25 Wi-Fi came to life. The ranking stands at 7, unless I lose connectivity again.

I’m sitting at the confluence of terminals at the Charlotte Airport.

My flight is delayed 50 minutes, from 5:50 PM to 6:40. I was wandering aimlessly to kill time when I noticed a lot of people sitting with laptops in the rocking chairs (a nice, Southern touch) in front of the windows. It turns out there’s free Wi-Fi.

Rocking chairs and Wi-Fi? I’m home.

I had to walk the row of rocking chairs for about 15 minutes before I was able to snag one. Sure, there were plenty of open tables in the foot court area, which is about 30 feet away from the chairs, but I decided sitting in one of the rockers would add a quaint element to my flight delay. Apparently I’m not alone in this belief–the first three chairs that opened were taken before I could get to them.

If I don’t show up in New York by tomorrow I’m probably asleep in this rocking chair. Don’t worry, I’m happy.

UPDATE: Just as I finished the post the airport Wi-Fi dropped. As a result Charlotte’s ranking dropped from a 10 to an 8. (10 for intent, 6 for execution–I have a low tolerance for Wi-Fi outages.) That’s still four points above any other airport.

UPDATE 2: I should have been careful when I said, “I’m home.” I wrote the above three hours ago. Now I’m stuck in Charlotte overnight due to a weather delay. Argh, I really AM home. If I’m motivated and ticked enough later I expect to throw out a “flying sucks” post. I’m confident a rant will change flying for the better.

UPDATE 3: It’s five seconds later. I’ll just say it now and be done with it: Flying sucks. However, rocking chairs and free Wi-Fi do make it suck a little less.

I started a consulting gig in New York City on July 12, 2004.

Prior to that day my NYC memories were confined to New Year’s Eve going into 1992 and a nightmare wrong turn sometime in 2000 or so. I’d never spent a night in New York City and felt no attraction to it. I wouldn’t have believed that today, two years later, the city would be my home.

The day I arrived the city was hot, cloudy, and rainy. The people were all strangers and the office where I was working was a dump. I clearly remember being excited and happy. Why did I fall in love with New York City that day?

This rule will be thoroughly proven in the coming months.

As early proof, here’s a second batch of pictures.  (As usual, use this backup link if the primary link doesn’t work.)

I have never seen my Kelly or John as tired as they’ve looked the last two days. Noah seems to sleep about two hours at a time. Kelly said at the middle of last night Noah’s crying woke them and she and John couldn’t remember who had done what.

It’s 5:24 PM and the three of them have been asleep since about 4:00. Mom, Dad, and I are whispering and tiptoeing. Noah just started crying intermittently.

Nicholas Carr adeptly summarizes something I’ve noticed and talked about in various contexts but have never assigned a label or tagline.