Obelisks have been on my mind recently. I think it started with this suggestion I made to help use up some space in the newly remodeled "Alley" (the new home of the Electronic Publishing Group at the Media Lab):

I think we would be wise to purchase and display this very high quality seven foot Large Reprocessed Garden Obelisk in the Alley. In addition to the happiness that the presence of its simple geometric shapes would bring us, it would provide us with both a great conversation starter and an undeniable symbol of our power during Media Lab teas.

Good morning Freud.

There was some confusion about my recent post on the Melnick book on manhole covers from people who were unfamiliar with the term "manhole." One way to describe a manhole cover is a sewer lid. However, manhole covers are employed to cover a variety of holes that men (and women) explore for a variety of purposes. I prefer to think of a manhole cover as exactly what an obelisk isn't.

Mika pointed out a striking similarity between the official business addresses of Apple and Canonical:

Canonical Ltd. One Circular Road Douglas, Isle of Man

Apple One Infinite Loop Cupertino, CA

A friend I trust tells me that Infinite Loop is not, in fact, infinite. I have every reason to believe that Circular Road is everything the name implies. Honesty is very important to me.

My country's national intelligence is now in the hands of a man so powerful that he is not publicly referred to with even a fake last name. Of course, it's nice to know that as mysterious as he is, "Jose" is a maximum of three shorts degrees of separation from me on the social networking graph. Add this to the list of benefits that come from knowing Nicholas.

Last night, I decided to check out the Boston Linux Unix webpage to find out when the next meeting would be and what the talk would be on. To my surprise, the talk is tomorrow and is slated to be given by none other than Benjamin Mako Hill. Hmmm. I vaguely remember agreeing to give a talk like this in general sense but don't remember ever agreeing to a specific day. In any case, I'm not one to disappoint and am working on my slides. If you're interested in some post-Breezy action in Boston, please show up! If you can't make it, I'm trying to arrange a proper release party for some point after I receive my Breezy CDs (a week or two I guess). I'm sorry for the short notice. Of course, I'm giving the talk on short notice so I'm not too sorry. Additionally, I am missing both a class and a Media Lab sponsors dinner that I was already double booked for. You should be able to cancel up to one of your prior engagements to attend. Information on the talk is on the BLU website. The talk will be held at MIT in E51-315.

Mika and I went to the MIT Press Bookstore loading dock sale today. It provided what was, by far, the most relevant selection at any bargain book sale I've attended. It was two small rooms and I could have easily walked out with 100+ books that I would have read. Even with most books at three, five, or seven dollars (US), my student budget was the limiting factor. At the sale, I bought a large coffee-table sized book called Manhole Covers by Mimi and Robert Melnick. It offers page after mesmerizing page of black and white photographs of manhole covers of all designs, shapes and sizes. At seven dollars, I felt like it was asking a lot but Mika and I decided that on a per-manhole-cover basis, the price was really unbeatable. The price was 3.3 cents (US) per full-page manhole cover photograph if you do not account for the small thumbnails of manhole covers that pepper the books front matter. If you are in or around Boston, you should go to their next loading dock sale -- probably in the spring.