Cyrus Farivar

C’mon, no one is interested in my iPod — I’ve just dropped the price to $140. I’m also throwing in a Belkin TunePower Rechargeable Battery Pack, an $80 value. C’mon, you know you want it.

One of my best friends, David Boyk, has a fantastic new column in today’s Daily Cal about wacky food that he’s eaten. As I’ve told him in the past, his columns read exactly how he talks — and each time I read them, I can very easily picture him saying these words to me. Dude, I think you’ve found your calling. I’m also proud to report that I am the “friend” in this passage: And when I arrived late to…

So I’m reading Wired News this morning and I see that there’s a reference to the Michigan State University School of Packaging. Huh? And as with people, clothes (or the lack thereof) can make the computer. Customers respond to Apple’s packaging for the same reasons they respond to the user-friendly machines within, said Laura Bix, an assistant professor at Michigan State University’s School of Packaging. So not only is there a School of Packaging, but you can get your Master’s…

LA Times: Sea Lions Sink Boats in Newport Harbor By Roy Rivenburg Times Staff Writer 12:31 PM PDT, September 14, 2005 Think of them as amphibious sumo wrestlers. A pack of rowdy sea lions has invaded Newport Harbor, sinking boats, thrashing docks and, with their nonstop barking, turning residents into sleepless zombies. In a scene that has played out up and down the West Coast, the whiskered creatures are charming tourists but exasperating local officials, who are considering a bizarre…

VOIP Phones Give Villagers a Buzz By Cyrus Farivar Wired News 02:00 AM Sep. 12, 2005 PT SAN FRANCISCO — At first glance, Inveneo’s office eight floors above Market Street resembles any high-tech startup — computer parts scattered on desks, Wi-Fi antennas mounted on the wall. But adjacent to the front door hangs a large colorful map of Africa, and a few steps away a stationary bicycle is hooked up to a backpack-size power generator. From this base, a small…

I listened to Beethoven Symphonies No. 6 – 9 courtesy of the BBC this afternoon. No. 6 and of course 9 are the most interesting. Why is No. 8 so short? Now I’m back on the Exercise (ie, anything fun and poppy that I don’t need to pay attention to) playlist. Neutral Milk Hotel rocks.

iPod 10 GB 3G; $150

NYT: One evening earlier this summer, I asked Masood Farivar, a former Khalis officer who had fought in Tora Bora during the jihad, to tell me why the caves were so important. “They’re rugged, formidable and isolated,” he said. “If you know them, you can come and go with ease. But if you don’t, they’re a labyrinth that you can’t penetrate. They rise in some places to 14,000 feet, and for 10 years the Soviets pummeled them with everything they…

WashPost: Mayor Ray Nagin called [Lt. Gen. Russell] Honoré (pronounced ah-NOR-ay) “one John Wayne dude” when the general arrived here after the storm and started taking charge. It seemed the city had spiraled out of anyone’s control when the 6-foot-2 general with the pencil mustache and caramel skin appeared from obscurity and threw his weight against the mayhem. “He’s got the power to make things happen,” Firestone says. Nearby, Honoré is pledging to a volunteer that the Army will find…

AP: Hardest hit will be the approximately 18,000 Northeast Corridor commuters who have monthly passes, whose fares will increase an average of 50 percent. The cost of monthly passes vary. A monthly pass to ride Amtrak between Trenton, N.J., and New York City currently costs $522. Same pass on NJ Transit? $320.00 Why is Amtrak so expensive? Even with a $1.2 billion subsidy!