Time Traveler Needs Cat Sitter

January 06, 2011 by Patrick LaForge in Mysteries

A friend from Pennsylvania forwarded this Craiglist job ad. If you're interested, hurry before it expires. So many questions: What is the business in June 1983? Perhaps a modest investment in Apple Computer. The need for a cat sitter could be avoided by returning on the same day, but perhaps time that passes in the past must be accounted for somehow. A two-day job, then. I have to assume "circumference" of the head was intended. The average circumference of the human head is reportedly 57 cm, based on a Web page I pulled up at random. Do you have to climb through some kind of porthole? Or wear a special helmet? Will you have to lift the time machine? Perhaps to hide it.

Seriously, though, most cats can get through a couple of days alone with a bowl of dry food and water.

Update: There is a similar time traveler ad meme / prank out there, which has now inspired a movie, "Safety Not Guaranteed."

Analyzing an Experiment in Blogging

February 21, 2009 by Patrick LaForge in Blogging, Social Media

Since October I've been experimenting here with some personal blogging. Why, you might ask, when I already blog at my job? Isn't that a busman's holiday? Perhaps. But I had plunked down money for this domain, and I had some ideas and obsessions to explore that didn't fit in with my work. And I also wanted to conduct a few experiments. When a blog is housed within a major news site, the metrics get hard to sort out. With some great content and breaking news, and a huge built-in audience, it is a simple matter to draw millions of views. (Palafo.com has drawn under 5,000 views in its entire existence, with who knows how many hundreds of those clicks attributable to family and friends.)

Podcast Zeitgeist, Jan. 1

January 01, 2009 by Patrick LaForge in Podcast Zeitgeist

There has been a lot of chatter about the podcasting business model, and whether it has been a failure. That talk intensified when a major commercial podcaster, Podango, warned recently that its death seemed to be near. None of this is of concern to me: I leave business models to the money people. My interest is content.I had more free time than usual this week, so the list is longer than usual (in the order I listened). [See all lists.]

Podcast Zeitgeist, Dec. 19

December 19, 2008 by Patrick LaForge in Podcast Zeitgeist

Here are more quick takes on podcasts that caught my attention this week, in the order I listened. [See previous lists.]