I wonder what will become of the data that I currently safeguard.

If I lose interest, become disabled, or die, will my digital photos, email, and writing be lost to the ages? What would happen to this web site? Could I rely on the Internet Archive?

Our ancestors left behind paper letters, book diaries, and silver halide photographs. Those items can be easily retrieved and read today. My bits of data are alarmingly fragile by comparison.  I am burdening my descendants with a never-ending race to keep ahead of format obsolescence and degrading media.

There must be a better solution.

(This post is part of the 100/100/100 challenge)

Despite the proliferation of online media, the printed page retains a certain cachet. Maybe it’s a perception of higher quality, or maybe it’s the limited nature of the resource.

Regardless, people want to be published. That’s why I found the relatively new photography magazine JPG so interesting. Readers can submit photos on the web site. If enough other readers vote for a photo, it will appear on glossy dead trees. Spiffy!

(This post is part of the 100/100/100 challenge)

It was a rush to watch the racers finish with a burst of speed. Even after 86 miles, nobody had managed to make a break from the peloton. I was there cheering them on, caught up in the frenzy around me. What a neat feeling. I wanted to be among those racing.

Comic relief, in the form of a kid’s race, came in the interlude between the men’s and women’s finishes. They should have co-branded it as a parent’s 5k, for most of the very young children were chased by their jogging parents around the course.

(This post is part of the 100/100/100 challenge)

While I subscribe to the theory that there are no stupid questions, some people seem bent on testing my resolve.

I am trying to sell my beloved BMW. Today, I talked to a potential buyer. Things were going well until he dropped this bomb:

Will you take a personal check and sign over the title tonight?

Why, yes of course, for there is no possible way that transaction could go wrong!

(This post is part of the 100/100/100 challenge)

A few days ago, two very large, highly-leveraged Bear Stearns hedge funds faced margin calls after sustaining enormous losses from the subprime mortgage collapse. One of the creditors, Merrill Lynch, seized over $800 million in collateral and began to auction it off.  As a result, the fund is near failure.

I hope this doesn’t mark the beginning of a hedge fund meltdown.  The private equity sector is looking a bit scary too, if only because of the unchecked hubris.

(This post is part of the 100/100/100 challenge)