Things I miss about books when I read e-books

1. The smell of print
2. Instant "page load"
3. Being able to read it on a train without feeling/looking like a douche
4. Being able to buy it again when I accidentally leave it on the train
5. Drawing pictures in the margins (okay, I don't do this very often)
6. The physical presence of something which, in the future, might remind me how much I liked it and inspire me to re-read it
7. The chance that I'll meet my future wife because she read the same book and loved it too

Does anyone actually love e-books? Or are they just kind of tolerated-- like a disappointing alternative to food pills and flying cars?

Nerd alert: The lifespan of a sneaker

I've been buying the same Saucony Jazz shoes for years now, and I wear them all the time. After ordering a new pair online today I started wondering about the average lifespan of these sneakers. Instead of thinking about it for five seconds and forgetting about it (this is what separates yours truly from his less creative/more productive colleagues), I did a little investigating. I searched my Gmail for order notices, then put the dates in a table and used an Excel formula to calculate the days between orders, like so:

Date	Days between orders
3/30/2007	--
12/12/2007	257
11/11/2008	335
7/21/2009	252
4/23/2010	276
1/11/2011	263

It looks like I typically get about 260 days wear out of these shoes. But I'm curious about that 12/12/2007 order. Why did that pair last so much longer? Was I experimenting with a different daily shoe? Was I not walking as much? Was my social calendar filled with non-sneaker-friendly black tie affairs? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. At any rate, I've now estimated the next time I'll need to buy shoes, and put it on my calendar. And don't worry, dear reader-- I'll let you know how this prediction turned out.

Fabulous prizes and other reasons to get up in the morning

I am thiiiiiiiiis close to purchasing this three-dollar iPhone app (http://www.rexbox.co.uk/epicwin/).

Yes, it's adorably nerdy and productivity-enhancing-- exactly my cup of tea. Since my daily grind DOES sometimes feel like doing battle with a horde of smelly orcs, why not let these cute animations make it more fun?

My hesitation is this: Once I go down this road, will I have crossed a rewards-based point of no return? If I start leveling up and finding loot every time I accomplish something on my to-do list, will I ever be able to feel the "afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task"? (thanks, Theodore Rubin)

Just because my intrinsic motivation is a little sluggish some days is no reason to throw it out altogether, right?

Hmmmmmmmmmmm (continues reading user reviews)