Do I Want One of these or Not? Hmm...

The Setting: I seem to recall Oprah talking about how wonderful it is. As of this writing, it is sold out on Amazon.com.

Coincidence? Perhaps. But every time Oprah holds something up and says, "Get this," millions of women flock to the store, web site, wherever, to do just that.

What is this amazing thing I'm talking about? Drumroll please... The Kindle, Amazon's wireless reading device. I keep hearing more and more about the Kindle. I was over a friend's house a couple weeks ago and finally saw one up close. She had nothing but good things to say about it.

I don't know... I'm a reader and there's nothing like holding a book, feeling the pages. Books even smell cool. This is some cold, metal electronic device. A $359 electronic device. Of course, you can have the electronic versions of books sent to you wirelessly for only $9.99. You can also download newspapers and blogs, and it includes a great search feature and a built-in dictionary. You can read all about the features of the Kindle plus reviews and discussions on Amazon.com.

According to Amazon's site, they will not ship it to customers outside of the United States. Hmm, maybe I can make a few bucks running the Kindle overseas blackmarket cartel. I'll have to think about it. Buying a Kindle, I mean, not running the cartel.

Who am I kidding? I know it's just a matter of time before I break down and get one. According to Amazon, that time will be 3 to 5 weeks - if I buy it today. If you have a Kindle, or something like it, what do you think about it?

Facebook Turns Five

The Setting: The social networking site Facebook is five years old today.

It was started in 2004 by then 19-year-old Mark Zuckerberg, and now he's a millionaire. Oh wait, I meant billionaire. Although, according to this article, no one's really sure how Facebook is making money, other than through advertising. Really doesn't matter. Dude's rich.

I resisted signing up for the longest time. My impression was that it was something like MySpace, which I thought of as a site for a bunch of 13 year olds and a bunch of pervs pretending to be 13 years old. I thought of Facebook as something for college students, but my brother convinced me to sign up after I looked at his FB page. That was back in August 2008. Since then, I have connected with a bunch of friends, including a couple from high school; I have found (and been found by) old co-workers; and I am FB friends with many current co-workers. I have friends and family all over the place who, I admit, I don't see or talk to on the phone as often as I would like but it is very easy and fast to communicate with them on a regular basis using FB.

Some people use the site for business, although most I know use it to stay connected with friends and family. Some people post their statuses so often, you feel like a fly on the wall of their lives, watching the whole thing unfold. FB works really well for posting photos and creating albums, which is one of the main things people with kids do so their families living elsewhere can see pics of the kiddies. There are countless applications you can add to your page (I like Sudoku), altough many people choose not to add any apps.

Put Away Your Jackets, Hell is Hot Again

The Setting: The Arizona Cardinals vs the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl 43. Steelers win 27-23.

The Cardinals came out smoking in the first half, but fell apart the beginning of the second half. Then they got it together and everything was looking up. Then the Steelers got a touchdown with something like 30 seconds left. Heavy sigh... Actually, it was a very good game, the kind you want to see for the Super Bowl: the lead goes back and forth, it's suspenseful, and it's not a blowout.

In related news, Bruce Springsteen did a good job in the half-time show. And was it just me or were the Super Bowl commercials not as great as they are usually? I heard some companies decided not to spend as much as usual because of the state of the economy.

Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Woot