Assorted Monday stuff

1. New version of Google Earth! With historical maps (just go to Featured Content -> Rumsey Historical Maps). So nifty!

2. The more I use it, the happier I am with Google Reader. It's the first app that's made keeping up with rss feeds almost fun.

3. Tech Crunch compares Vox and Multiply. I'm "Yendi" on both services, btw, but I also have nearly no content in either one.

4. Japanese versions of the Apple "I'm a Mac" ads!

5. A Simpsons Movie Trailer! I can only imagine that it will be 4-5 times as funny as a typical episode of the show. Or at least 4-5 times as long (assuming one skips commercials).

Even more Amazon sales

The posts from last week regarding Amazon sales (the 50% off Veronica Mars one, the Psychonauts for $9.99 one, and the massive one with TV and movie sets on sale) are all still active, but Amazon's thrown another two into the mix:

Season 1 TV sets at $15.98 each. Many of these (Jeremiah, Young Riders) are from that previous list, but there are some others that I'd missed (Addams Family, Fame, Rat Patrol).

A "DVD Blowout" section with 60% discounts on a bunch of movies. Notable ones here include Elf, Poison Ivy, and Badasssss!

ETA: robyn_ma notes that you can get all three Poison Ivy movies (unrated, even!) as a $12.73 set, a better deal than the 60% off one above (and in can be found at brick-and-mortar stores for under $10, and for around $8 at Deep Discount DVD during the 20% off sale).

(And really, why wouldn't you want all three movies?)

Why it's still nice to have a human involved

Seth Godin shows an example of why automating news content (in this case automatically pulling in a stock photo to go with a story) isn't a good idea without having a human editor involved.

Doubly nasty since Tylenol, for some of us who grew up in the proper time period, is still the medicine most associated with horrifying recalls.

Too true

Rutgers fullback Brian Leonard:

"I don't like the 'me' guys very much. This is the biggest team sport in the world. I don't understand why a team fights so hard to get to the end zone, and one guy scores, and he just wants to celebrate by himself. He should be celebrating with his team, shouldn't he?''

If only more football players (at any level) thought that way.

New Babylon 5!

New B5 movie coming straight-to-DVD!

The article does not say if it'll blow as much as most of Season 5 did, but the presence of Tracy Scoggins surely gives some indication there.

Which doesn't mean I won't buy it the day it comes out, of course.

Not Your Average Joe's

shadesong, Elayna, and I just returned from dinner at the Watertown Not Your Average Joe's.

Oh, dear god, that was good.

Even before we got our order, the foccacia and garlic/oil/pepper/romano dipping sauce was to die for.

Elayna had the shrimp mozambique to start with (with the mozambique on the side), and the kid's pasta with tomato sauce.

I started with a cup of tomato basil soup, and then had the chicken carbonara (I don't think I'd ever had cavatappi in any pasta dish, but it was a perfect pasta for the other ingredients). The dish was superb. And the portion was large enough that I actually didn't finish it.

'song had the mustard-crusted chicken, which was perfectly prepared and yummy. As were the green beans and mashed potatoes that came with it.

For dessert, we had the Peanut Butter Thing. You can read the description here. It's obscenely good.

So, yeah. Major food coma right now.

We'll be going to this place a lot.

Welcome to Shitty Field. Take your order please?

The Mets have a name for their new Ebbetts Field-style stadium. CitiField. I understand the economic reality, but I hate corporate stadium naming with a passion. At least it's not Enron, I suppose.

In better Mets news, the Mets re-signed Jose Valentin (who should have been the Comeback Player of the Year winner).