Readuponit: Travel and voracious reading

• Off to My Favorite Land, Far, Far Away

  We are off, tomorrow at 6 am, flying to Los Angeles and then tomorrow night, to Auckland and then Wellington New Zealand. It has been a day of packing and trying to remember everything, and accepting that things won't get done but will upon our return on Dec 3.
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  Posted: November 20, 2009, 10:12pm EST
  by Max Hartshorne

• If You Think Our Bloomin' Onion is Bad, Try This

  Number of comments: 1
  I ordered a burger at the Outback Steakhouse in Orlando. A meal voucher had spat out of the Delta self check-in when my flight was delayed, and I took it to this temple of gastronomy to see what I could get. In tiny print down at the bottom, my server [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 6:54pm EST
  by Max Hartshorne

• Advice for Hotel Owners About Social Media

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  I got a lot of good advice for hotel owners today, in a meeting of travel bloggers and tweeters. The question was posed, 'who are some great examples of companies who 'get' social media in 2009?
  
  Elliot Ng, a founder of the large content site UpTake.com, brought up a' [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 3:40pm EST
  by Max Hartshorne

• Among the Copycats, Some Real Innovators

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  Up on stage at Phocuswright yesterday, dozens of travel start-ups vied for our attention, and like the Greek chorus offstage, we bloggers tapped away making comments and asking questions on Twitter. I found myself focusing on the main question of 'what's actually new here?' when so many of the present' [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 11:52pm EST
  by Max Hartshorne

• After a Slew of Geektalk, Luggage Was a Relief

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  After a long line of technical booking solutions and web analytics providers at the Phocuswright conference,I was glad to hear about a less technical travel topic...luggage.
  
  Luggagetag.com allows the customer to design a luggage tag using nice looking photos, graphics, unique fonts and even family photos. Like the programs [...]
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  Posted: November 17, 2009, 3:57pm EST
  by Max Hartshorne

• ChampionsGate Welcomes Me to Sterile Orlando

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  I'm excited to again be at Phocuswright, where I'll meet up with dozens of friends I've made in the on-line travel business and catch up with bloggers and other people who make this business so exciting. I walked up to the security desk at Bradley and got a surprise as' [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 7:56pm EST
  by Max Hartshorne

• Art Tatum Never Sweated, and So, Wasn't Loved

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  Art Tatum is a childhood memory, his piano playing was always a part of my dad's very important music collection. Music experts consider Tatum to be the most admired jazz pianist who ever lived. In yesterday's WSJ, Terry Teachout discussed just what it is that makes someone memorable, [...]
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  Posted: November 15, 2009, 8:05pm EST
  by Max Hartshorne

• I Blew an .07, By the Grace of God, and Went Free

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  My late night ambitions have been proven weak lately. I've contemplated going out on weekend nights, but have found reasons to stay in. Last night we dined in Northampton with another couple who at 9:45 were eager to get over to the Iron Horse for' [...]
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  Posted: November 15, 2009, 12:10pm EST
  by Max Hartshorne

• Why Google Rules the World

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  Why does Google have such power over us? Well, how about getting an email like this, where they multiply what they are giving you by eight, and automatically adjust your account with their bonus....wow!
  
  Google storage update: More space for your photos and email

  Hi,

  We wanted to let [...]

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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 11:59am EST
  by Max Hartshorne

• What Makes a Great Professor? Here are Three

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  The Cherry Award provides a $200,000 prize to whomever is judged to be America's best college professor. The WSJ last night ran a story about three candidates for this award, sponsored by Baylor College. It focuses on the really important part of teaching in college which has been overshadowed by' [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 8:07am EST
  by Max Hartshorne

• That's Mrs Frisbie to You!

  Number of comments: 2
  John Bemelmans Marciano tracked down the people whose names stand behind words in the English language. His new book is called Anonyponymous, meaning that nobody ever heard of them despite the fact that things and places are named after them. NPR had a story about the book this morning.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 11:59pm EST
  by Max Hartshorne

• Parking Wars: Now That's Drama!

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  I write a blog for some people I know who run an airport parking website. Although most of my posts aren't about parking itself, last night I stayed up late and watched A&E and found a show about parking which was quite interesting. It's called [...]
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  Posted: November 11, 2009, 8:01am EST
  by Max Hartshorne

• The New Health Insurance Bill Explained...Simply

  Number of comments: 1
  My favorite newspaper the WSJ, which of course tilts to the right, presented a quick summary of what is actually in the recently passed health care bill. Below are some of the points the article makes, for those of us whose eyes glaze over these kinds of details I think [...]
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  Posted: November 10, 2009, 7:22am EST
  by Max Hartshorne

• Breaking It to the Kids Always Sucks

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  Last night I watched the much awaited season-ender of Mad Men, and I relished every one of the 48 or so minutes of this show set in 1963. While all of the cigarette-smoking cast who sip brown liquid all day long kept in 1960s character, one scene was especially poignant [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 12:57pm EST
  by Max Hartshorne

• If They Choose Not to Vaccinate, It Makes it Worse

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  Jenny McCarthy is a well-known celebrity who once posed for Playboy and is married to mega-rich actor Jim Carrey. While most of the public knows her for her looks, she has a cause that some believe is very dangerous to the rest of the public. She's among a growing movement' [...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2009, 10:11am EST
  by Max Hartshorne

• Listening to the Jazz, I Could Feel Gfld Eclipsing Noho

  Number of comments: 1
  
  Everyone showed up; the whole gang of Friday regulars were on the scene in 'Hamp last night, gathered at the very hip Mama Iguana's to share end of the workday tales and catch up on news. But Joe told us he had to leave at [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 6:49am EST
  by Max Hartshorne

• Everyone on the Subway Stared in Shock at the Sneeze

  Number of comments: 2
  When I was traveling down to New York on Sunday, a man on the subway suddenly sneezed--he yelled in a high-pitched wail as he did so--so loud that the entire car looked over at him with shock. It was funny, such a loud noise popping out of someone all of [...]
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  Posted: November 04, 2009, 8:05am EST
  by Max Hartshorne

• Southwest's Green Plane Saves Fuel and More

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  The Green Plane is Southwest's newest initiative in a company-wide effort to save money and fuel.
  
  OUr friend Johnny Jet flies about 150,000 miles a year and takes fastidious notes of every mile in the air. He recently wrote about Southwest Airlines media day where they unveiled a' [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 7:35am EST
  by Max Hartshorne

• We're Not Worthy....Ok, I Guess We Are

  Number of comments: 4
  
  When I stepped into our two-connected-rooms-with-a-living-room-in-between here at the Kimberly Hotel, I thought, why, we're mere travel editors...are we worthy of these luxe New York City digs? Of course we are, I said again, quickly coming to my senses.
  
  It's tough being a [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 7:20pm EST
  by Max Hartshorne

• Random Thoughts on a Soggy Saturday

  Number of comments: 1
  A soggy day; a day that I wished I didn't have to deal with all of my wet leaves. Then I go out and put together my cleverly designed, yet maddeningly frail outdoor tent. It had flown over in a fierce September gust of wind, now the thing is broken' [...]
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  Posted: October 31, 2009, 1:42pm EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• Mama Cat Appreciation Day

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  I read a book about hobos that said they liked to keep puppies because they warm up their sleeping bags so well. Though my cat doesn't warm up the bottom of my bed, she does provide a valuable snuggle. Having her soft fur at hand level' [...]
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  Posted: October 30, 2009, 2:20pm EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• Strange Maps: A Free-form Cartographic Journey

  Number of comments: 1
  
  I love maps. I spend a lot of time looking at them, and always enjoy taking a spin around the globe we keep at the cafe, seeing where places are and checking out their relative size.
  
  I was sent a book the other day [...]
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  Posted: October 29, 2009, 8:40am EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• The Waitress Stiffened When the Tourist Spat Out the Meat

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  Sarah Wang recently spent four days in North Korea. Her account, published on Slate, is depressing, thinking that people have to live with little food, no internet, no cellphones, and a government that spends millions on propaganda and enforcing the cult of personality.
  
  "While the guards ate their" [...]
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  Posted: October 28, 2009, 12:01pm EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• Yahoo to GeoCities: Drop Dead!

  Number of comments: 0
  The web continues to mystify and amaze me. Just today I read that Yahoo is shutting down Geocities, even though the network of websites attracts more than ten million visitors a month. And the company paid billions in stock to buy the site in early 1999. On today's WebProNews,' [...]
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  Posted: October 27, 2009, 3:41pm EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• Venice Adventures Are Fine Without Me

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  As I often do, last night in the dark I reached for my iPhone and flicked the screen to bring up my Facebook newsfeed. With friends in all time zones, I always find some news popping up and as I lay in bed I read Richard Frisbie's reports from Venice.' [...]
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  Posted: October 27, 2009, 7:56am EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• When Yóu're a Web Publisher, You've Gotta Bonk

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  In our business, we call it bonking. We repetitively copy and paste pieces of text, photos and links from one page to template pages to fix our code and update the GoNOMAD website. Cultivating this vast field of travel articles takes a lot of work, a lot of bonking, over [...]
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  Posted: October 26, 2009, 4:37pm EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• In Sad Atlantic City, Hope Is a Losing Bet

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  I remember when my parents took my little sister and me to Atlantic City in 1970. That was eight years before the city's first casino, Resorts, opened and singer Steve Lawrence lost the first $10 to the house. Back then the hotel of choice was the oceanfront Chalfont-Hadden Hall, and' [...]
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  Posted: October 25, 2009, 11:36am EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• If Your Kid Needs Medicine, You Find the Dough

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  I just finished a movie that makes me scratch my head and say...what the heck? I do love digging into the deep, deep long tail that Netflix has to offer, but sometimes I pull up a dud..as Cindy often loves to remind me.
  
  This film is called "Explicit Ills," [...]
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  Posted: October 24, 2009, 4:14pm EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• A Rainy Saturday: A Perfect Day for the Dump

  Number of comments: 0
  Don't rainy Saturdays make you feel productive? That's what they do to me. I'm up and full of ideas on what good things I can accomplish that I've been meaning to get done for months. For the first time in recent memory, both my daughter and my son-in-law are home [...]
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  Posted: October 24, 2009, 8:38am EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• Hidden Tech Party Brings the Geeks to the Cafe

  Number of comments: 2
  It's not a major birthday year but hey, it does only come around once. Today I'm fifty-one. Wow, it was just last year that we had the major party that every red-blooded American man deserves....but this year no big plans, just a bunch of computer geeks who are coming to [...]
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  Posted: October 22, 2009, 8:11am EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• South Deerfield Village Center

  Number of comments: 0
  [...]
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  Posted: October 21, 2009, 5:00pm EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• Writing's Done, for Today Anyway

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  Random notes on the life of an editor, blogger and cafe owner.
  
  Phew! I got my homework assignment done. That's a little what it felt like as I finished off my report from the National Parking Association meeting I attended in Washington last week. I provide lots of quotes, [...]
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  Posted: October 20, 2009, 5:27pm EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• In Nigeria, Companies Are Thinking Before they Flare

  Number of comments: 0
  You might know the term to flare off from when you drove the New Jersey Turnpike as a kid and asked a grown-up what those fires on top of the tall smokestacks were. You were told it was natural gas burning off from an oil well.
  
  In Nigeria, flares [...]
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  Posted: October 19, 2009, 10:12pm EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• Be Very Glad Your House Isn't Built with Chinese Drywall

  Number of comments: 0
  How would you like to be Alfonso Sanchez? He's the unlucky owner of a $1.7 million home in Davie Florida that he can neither rent nor sell. And the last thing he wants to do is live there. Why? Chinese drywall. Sanchez is just one of the more than 1500 [...]
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  Posted: October 17, 2009, 12:39pm EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• A Towncar Whisked Me Back Home

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  Last night a towncar whisked me away from the Ritz Carlton at Battery Park, one of New York's finest hotels, right on the tip of Manhattan. Before the car came I went out on the terrace and drank in the million dollar view, a sweep that including a dark Statue [...]
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  Posted: October 17, 2009, 8:11am EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• Manhattan in the Rain Yields a Story About Google

  Number of comments: 1
  I went down to lower Manhattan in the rain. I joined fellow members of the internet travel advertising world at a meeting....one of the speakers was a shy Indian named Gokul Rajaram, the CEO of Chai Labs. They are developing a new platform from which readers can shop for hotels [...]
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  Posted: October 16, 2009, 1:40pm EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• It's Family TV Time, Watching All Together

  Number of comments: 1
  When I was a young lad, one of my fondest memories was watching television with my whole family on Sunday nights. We had an old family friend, a bachelor named Fairfield Day, who used to visit us sometimes and join us on those cozy Sundays when we watched "Gentle Ben" [...]
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  Posted: October 14, 2009, 10:35pm EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• The King of Parking in China Offers Us Cake

  Number of comments: 1
  Lui Ju is a parking magnate from Beijing. He is known to his American friends as 'Tom," and speaks through an interpreter. He addressed the lunchtime audience at the National Parking Association yesterday in Mandarin with an invitation: 'reap the bounty of China's 'money machine.'
  
  "Someone who had been [...]
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  Posted: October 14, 2009, 7:52am EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• Pickens Talks About Converting Trucks to Natural Gas

  Number of comments: 2
  
  "The best time to plant a tree is 2o years ago," said T. Boone Pickens today, as he sat on stage and talked about his ambitious plans to radically change the energy policy of the US as soon as he can. "You've gotta have a'" [...]
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  Posted: October 13, 2009, 11:54am EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• A Classic Fall Day...And a Busy Travel Week Ahead

  Number of comments: 1
  What a lovely Fall day in New England. Outside, the air is crisp, about 59 degrees, and leaves are blowing around the yard, beautiful patches of orange, red and yellow. I'm cozy wearing a new 'shirt jacket' that my parents gave me for my birthday, and Cindy is by my' [...]
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  Posted: October 11, 2009, 11:11am EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• Joseph F. Shea, Come On Down!

  Number of comments: 2
  
  WOW! Life throws you some amazing curveballs! Just a few minutes ago, a grey haired man wearing a bowtie knocked on my office door. "Come in, come in," I said, not sure who exactly it was there. He greeted me that familiar conspiratorial smile, and [...]
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  Posted: October 09, 2009, 3:56pm EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• Why Make the Player When You Can Be It?

  Number of comments: 0
  I found a story from Wired magazine in my FB feed that impressed me. Reed Hastings is the CEO of Netflix, and back in 2007, the company was excited about launching a new consumer product. The company isn't in the hardware business, they were going to bring out a paperback-book-sized' [...]
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  Posted: October 08, 2009, 10:52pm EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• Summer's Gone

  Number of comments: 1
  
  [...]
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  Posted: October 08, 2009, 5:03pm EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• The Internet Biz, Explained

  Number of comments: 1
  The rough and tumble of internet business marketing 2.0 is that it's fluid....it varies...and in most cases, you have to live on dimes and nickels instead of $10s and $20s. Today, for example, I have to decide on a few new options for our affiliate links, review proposals for creating [...]
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  Posted: October 07, 2009, 3:40pm EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• Sharks Fight Over College Course Notes Company

  Number of comments: 0
  Tonight's Shark Tank show didn't disappoint. The interesting thing tonight was how many ideas they just fought over like, well, the sharks that they are. We got to see a lot of fighting over who will invest in the first idea. That would be a website where college kids and' [...]
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  Posted: October 06, 2009, 8:41pm EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• It's Great to be Gone, It's Better To Be Home!

  Number of comments: 4
  
  I'm happy to be back to the business I love. I haven't felt this happy to be home in a long time. I think travel makes you forget how comforting it is to be sleeping in a familiar bed, next to a familiar cat, or [...]
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  Posted: October 06, 2009, 10:50am EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• Sally Hartshorne Is Tributed Beautifully

  Number of comments: 1
  
  I joined a group of friends and relatives and spent 90 minutes this afternoon learning many things about my aunt Sarah Hartshorne, who passed away last month. I was moved, I cried, I laughed, and like everyone in the room, I was deeply affected by [...]
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  Posted: October 04, 2009, 12:01am EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• SATW: Good Riddance!

  Number of comments: 7
  For years I've been on trips with travel writers who include "Active SATW" in their email signatures. This stands for the Society of American Travel Writers, a very old association of travel writers that likes to think of itself as the be all and end all in travel writing. Being' [...]
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  Posted: October 02, 2009, 10:00am EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• Paragliding over Iquique, September 2009

  Number of comments: 0
  We took off with a run, my pilot behind me and me with a seat strapped to my arse, ran, ran ran until the cliff gave way to nothing...and then we floated, twirled and gently sunk down to land on the beach just below. [...]
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  Posted: October 01, 2009, 5:57pm EDT
  by Max Hartshorne

• Talking the Afternoon Away, With Google Translate

  Number of comments: 0
  We're sitting in an airport cafe in Santiago with a long layover in front of us. Sony went to the bathroom and ran into Catalina, a journalist from Bogota Colombia who spoke not a word of English. Sony is the same about Spanish, and so it was a bit awkward.' [...]
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  Posted: September 30, 2009, 5:03pm EDT
  by Max Hartshorne