Beer for dogs. What more is there to say?
RSS: Coming Soon to Yahoo Mail
I’ve long felt that RSS — a way to subscribe to Web site content feeds — will become mainstream only when Microsoft introduces the standard into its new Vista operating system. Well, it looks like Yahoo is beating MSFT to the punch.
As TechCrunch reports, Yahoo mail will soon support RSS. Users will be able to subscribe to feeds and organize them into folders — the screen shots look really promising.
I’m excited about this because RSS works so well; it has vastly improved the way I use the Web, and I’m eager for more folks to discover its benefits. For an overview of how RSS works, check out my brief tutorial. For more in-depth info, “What is RSS?”, over at Richard’s Notes, is a good place to start.
Borf: The Clothes Make the Man
In my newest Gridskipper post, I discuss notorious DC graffiti artist Borf‘s recent scrape with the law.
Extreme Russian Street Gymnastics
Parkour is a sort of gymnastics of the street. Check out this video for an insane example — straight outta Russia.
All I Want for Festivus….
Bolivia, Evo Morales, and Market-Dominant Minorities
According to the NYT’s Juan Forero, coca-legalization proponent and indigenous coalition leader Evo Morales just might become the next president of Bolivia.
The election of Morales in Bolivia would represent the triumph of indigenous groups over the minority white elite ruling class — as well as the rejection of what’s viewed as American imperialism and the encroachment of globalization on poor people’s lives throughout the southern Andes.
This monumental shift, should it reach fruition, would mirror the central thesis of Amy Chua’s prescient tome “World On Fire”: that the world’s so-called “market-dominant minorities” — the wealthy whites, in the case of Bolivia — become enriched by globalization while the poor majority indigenous population becomes increasingly destitute and disenfranchised. Class tensions, in this scenario, are exacerbated; violence erupts.
The ascent of Morales in Bolivia, if it happens, may signal a sea change in Andean politics. Only time will tell; could Peru and Ecuador, which also have sizeable Indian populations, be next?
Funny Cat Clips
I’m usually not a huge fan of cats — they’re too attitudinal; I prefer a pet to be concerned with my happiness, not the other way around. Nevertheless, here’re some amusing clips of cats being silly. Good to see that dogs haven’t completely cornered the market on stupidity.
Vanity, Thy Name is Newley
I’m delighted to see that my recent articles have been cited in some of my favorite blogs:
– Rolf Potts mentioned “Beating the At-Home Blues” (and a long-term traveler named Andrea chimed in, leaving a comment about her current yearning for the road).
– Mike Yessis at World Hum also linked to the piece.
– The new Indy Travel blog not only mentioned “Beating the At-Home Blues” but appealed to my vanity by calling me “a rising star in the travel writing world” and posting an image of my mug.
– Michael Turton, of the excellent View From Taiwan blog, linked to my scootering misadventures article.
– And, as I mentioned before, Chris Mohney at Gridskipper also linked to my scootering article.
Hasta Monday
I won’t be posting anything here until after the Thanksgiving weekend. Vaya con dios. Eat lots of turducken for me. See you next week.
My New Article About Scootering in Taiwan
I’ve got an article in this month’s Student Traveler magazine. The piece describes a fiasco that ensued when I attempted to obtain my scooter driving license in Taiwan last year. As the folks at the mag wrote in the issue’s table of contents:
“Riding a scooter is easy, right? Not in Taiwan, not when you’re being tested, and certainly not when you’re Newley Purnell.”
Truer words were never written.
(Thanks to Chris M. at Gridskipper for mentioning the piece.)