Wired has a funny, but not so funny, story about how technology is ruining handwriting skills in the U.S. — and how it starts with elementary schools which aren’t even stressing the importance of handwriting anymore due to a belief that technology is making writing obsolete.

Small update on my Nomad II MP3 player — it appears to have come with a bad SmartMedia card, so I had to exchange it at the store. I didn’t have any problems, and actually, Creative’s tech support people were awesome. Also, my review led Dan Budiac to buy his own Nomad II, and he appears to like it as well.

Wowzers — Steve Martin is putting together a half-hour show for NBC. I’m salivating… he’s awesome, and I think that this should be a neat thing.

I said it before, and I’ll say it again — banning journalists who happen to work for net-only media sources from the Olympics is incredibly stupid. In 1996, and possibly even in 1998, the IOC could do this knowing that most people would still probably turn on their TV to get the stories. In 2000, though, so many more people rely on the web for their news; I have a feeling that a ton of people will probably just forego the stories and find something else of interest. (Of course, media sources that exist both on and off the web will still get their credentials, and will still cross-pollinate their websites with the stories from their off-web publications, so it’s not like there’ll be nothing for Olympic fans online.)

Articles like this demonstrate that many Linux users don’t understand what it will take to bring Linux into the mainstream. Linux needs AOL in order to be able to threaten Microsoft’s lock on the desktop; without AOL (and the users that it brings), Linux is just another tech geek’s playtoy.

I finished the fourth Harry Potter over the weekend, and the little twist/goof that I mentioned earlier is driving me crazy. Personally, I think it’s meant to introduce a twist into the plot; there are way too many other instances of Rowling doing things like this throughout the four-book series so far.

And another reflexive hello to Jairus (and Jessica).