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I don’t know how long ago Amazon introduced their ’ Early Adopters’ section. There are blog entries from March 2003 talking about it, so it’s clear that I’m rather late to the game. But the first time I remember coming across it was this past Monday while browsing for a last few Christmas presents. For those who have yet to see it, amazon categorise their customers’ buying preferences and then analyse the listening habits of those who buy particular items some time before they then become ‘hot’ items. So, for instance, they’ll tell you what what gadgets people who were quick to buy ipods are now buying. Or, as in this case, what people on the ‘cutting edge’ of (commercial) indie-rock are currently listening to. It wasn’t much of a surprise to see the feature on their site, as it seems a natural use for the data they gather. ...

After an aborted attempt to upload all our wedding photos to flickr.com (aborted because I’d totally overlooked their upload limits) the task of getting the photos online has sat ignored somewhere in the middle of my list for too long. So last night I finally got them all in place. Check them out here.

The BBC is carrying this piece about Iranian pop band Arian. According to the piece they’re the first officially sanctioned mixed gender pop group to come out of Iran. We actually picked up one of their albums while in Iran and I listened to it a fair bit. Their music is an interesting mix of traditional Iranian elements and some synth sounds, but let me unsatisfied. Mixing two such different musical cultures is a tricky business and there certainly wasn’t the maturity of, say, Talvin Singh. It was, dare I say, a little cheesy. ...

Local First is a promising new brochure encouraging support of local businesses in Grand Rapids. You can get a free drink at new wifi location Global Infusions and a whole range of other coupons if you pick it up (or download it). You will of course have to overlook the fact that their web designers are based in New Hampshire!

To go with the previous, lengthy entry, perhaps a link to a cartoon is called for?

I commented at some length on this post on Ed’s blog and now, having had time to digest the article he links to, I thought it worth expanding here. In “The Rebel Sell”, Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter efficiently dissect much of what passes for ‘anti-consumerism,’ noting the pervasive irony that most attempts to opt out of consumerist life are really about opting out of a life defined by mass-produced consumables into one defined by a less brand-driven but equally consumerist aesthetic. ...

I’m surprised that the BBC’s NewsWatch hasn’t been picked up by more blogs. I had been entirely unaware of it until I spotted the small black logo nestled at the bottom of another BBC News page. It’s a meta-news site, providing a log of corrections to BBC stories and notes about BBC coverage, and a representation of the BBC News 24 show of the same name. Increasing visibility of this site is probably timely, appearing in the context of recent hoaxes and the ongoing debate about the license fee. But whatever the context, this is one of the things the BBC does very well and a great resource to have available. ...

I’ve added a feature to my Grand Rapids WiFi site to allow you to check which locations are open now. It’s part of the forthcoming ‘search by opening times’ feature. I’m not sure if I’ll announce it on the site until the rest of that feature is completed, but I thought it worth mentioning. “Of By 4” have a post about United Nations reform which I have commented on, suggesting that maybe my United Nations Charter site could develop to include some space for discussion of the UN. Let me know if you have an opinion on that. ...

MercyCorps.org has a story on the lastest developments in the One Campaign. If you can step beyond the rather irresponsible statement by Mike McCurry (chairman of Grassroots Enterprise, a senior adviser to the Kerry campaign and former White House spokesman.) that: President Clinton cancelled the debts of the poorest countries – with encouragement from Pat Robertson then it’s well worth a read. It’s definitely good news that the campaign is trumpeting the power of such issues to unite people across the political divide, if disappointing that such spin has to creep in (Clinton’s administration, while more progressive than its predecessors, did very little to address the global debt critis). ...

I have been working on a number of new pages for Calvin College Admissions.