Some news for your late afternoon. I am launching a new technology blog in conjunction with AL.com. The Digital launches next week. It is the first true technology blog to be featured on AL.com. I’m excited.

I’ll have a full write-up next week regarding the blog and the topics it will cover. In short, the idea came to me during the Thanksgiving holidays as I fielded questions from family regarding safety, security, shortcuts and general questions regarding websites, gadgets and mobile applications. The plan is to post articles on Monday and Friday of each week. Topics will revolve primarily around gadgets, timely Internet issues, and the Alabama technology startup scene.

AL.com sees 3M+ unique visitors on a monthly basis and is the home to The Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times, and Press-Register (Mobile).

The Digital will be located here, and while currently blank, it will soon be beautiful.

The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.

- Mark Twain

“I never travel without my notebook. One should always have something sensational to read in the train.”

- Oscar Wilde

[Chelsea participating at Will Leitch's (middle) book reading for his latest: God Save the Fan]

Those of you who’ve read the blog for more than a week know of my love for the sports blog, Deadspin. Today is the final day for Deadspin founder Will Leitch. Will helped revolutionize the sports blogging world back in September 2005 when he agreed to take the helm of Gawker Media‘s new sports blog.

We actually had the chance to meet Will. He came through Seattle earlier this year during his book tour (which was held in an Irish Bar of all places) and Chelsea and I were fortunate enough to actually hang out with him.

I can honestly say he’s one of the most genuine, polite people I’ve ever (ever) met. We spent 15 minutes discussing debutante (his girlfriend is from Georgia) as well as the South, and his “connections” at ESPN.

Deadspin has been incredibly successful. Just to paint you a picture: my blog gets 2,200 visitors per week… Will’s get 500,000 per day. Yeah… he’s a darn good writer.

His book – God Save the Fan – is a hilarious, insightful take of sports, sports writers, and the business of professional athletics. Go out and buy it today, and look for his next columns as he moves in to a more ‘mainstream’ role at New York Magazine.

I don’t like downtime. I hate sleep. The only reason I can tolerate traffic jams is because it allows me time to surf the web or check my email on my Treo. So, when I find myself with a few extra minutes where I’m not in the mood to read or write or talk, I usually hop on Wikipedia to contribute to whatever topic strikes me at the moment. I actually keep a link to everything I edit on Wikipedia – you can find it on the right-hand side of the page.

The reason I am bringing this up is because I urge you to do the same. Namely: adding facts to the Save By The Bell trivia page.

Seriously… there’s some SBTB trivia floating around this blog that would send shockwaves through TBS and WGN.

Register for a Wikipedia account and do things the right way. Otherwise, you’ll wake-up the next morning and everything you added will be deleted. I know because I’ve played the role of both the deleter and the deleted.

We all like to be the man behind the curtain.

If you had to predict what life would be like 100 years from now (’cause let’s face it… we ain’t gonna be around to see it), what would you predict?

Here is an excerpt. There’s a book with like stories as well. It’s gotta be worth a look.

I’m a big fan of this kind of work. I think it will be interesting 250 years from now when my grandkids grandkids grandkids flip through my pictures from my trip to Europe, or even read my old blog entries for goodness sake. I find that interesting.

In what was the most popular yearly feature on Juicee News for years, the infamous Letters To Santa have once again returned for their 2007 installment on the blog.

All of the letters are actual letters written by real people to Santa Claus taken from the AL.com website. We have simply chosen to let Santa reply in the way we think he might… if he were a little grumpy and overly honest.

Now you should know that I have no idea who writes these (wink, wink) but we think that these are always funny… in a mildly disturbing way.

Now, the 2007 edition of Letters To Santa:

Dear Santa

From: Cooper
Age: 5

Dear Cooper

Writing guide, English tutor, kindergarten.

Love,
Santa

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -

I Love you santa and I belive you and I hope you and mrs. claus have a merry cristmas this year and I love you to mrs. claus.

From: Keirra
Age: 7

Keirra

You “believe me”? What did I do?

Also, you would love you me to _____ Mrs. Claus? Keirra… there are just too many jokes here.

____ you too,
Santa

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -

Dear Santa,

Age: 11

Robert… you’re 11-years-old… please tell your parents that it’s time for “the Santa talk.”

Love,
Santa (but not really)

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -

Hi, I want a real modercicle please.

From: Andrew
Age: 4

You couldn’t even reach the handle bars.

Retard.

Love,
Santa

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -

Santa I have been a good girl. I want a scoder that runs with keys.

From: Ashley
Age: 8

A scooter (spell check) that runs with keys?!?!

Why didn’t you just ask for some soup that is served in a bowl. Or some shoes that tighten with laces. Or maybe some water that happens to be wet.

Moron.

Love (from my heart),
Santa

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -

Dear Santa,

From: The three bad sisters
Ages: 8, 5, and 4

Dear girls,

Your mom was no saint either. That’s why she works the night shift at Taco Bell and makes a funny face whenever someone mentions their Junior Prom… because that’s where the 8-year-old came from.

I’ll refer your account to Toys 4 Tots.

Good luck (in life),
Santa

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -

My name is ayana and I love you and mrs claus and the elvles. love ayana

From: ayana
Age: 4

Well, thank you Ayana. Nobody ever thanks the elves. After all, they’re the only ones who do any work around here.

You didn’t ask me for anything, but I’ll overlook that in light of your thoughtfulness.

Love,
Santa

As many of you may have noticed, it’s been a little more quiet around here lately.

July is the biggest travel month of the year. Also, many of our top commenters are studying for the bar/doing rotations/having babies… yadda yadda yadda.

However, hits have hardly changed a bit; still averaging over 300 people a day. But again, I’m not doing this thing for the hits… I’m doing it because you like it, and because I love doing it.

That said, over the next few weeks, things will begin to change somewhat:

1. Football season will begin
2. I’ll be moving/taking a new job
3. Lot’s of people will be having their babies (did ya’ll all have sex on the same weekend or something?)

Will all of this change the course of the blog? Yes- but for the better.

1. I’ll be tweaking the look of the site just a leetle bit. Just a facelift to make it slightly prettier, slightly faster.
2. I will also be spacing out the highly-popular random links so that you will be given random links throughout the day, and not in one post. That way, you have something to look forward to…. I guess.
3. I will be personalizing the site more. The one complaint I’ve had from readers is that at times I haven’t put enough of myself into the blog. You like the links, you like the videos, but you want more of a personality to go along with it. If I’m mistaken on this, please let me know… ’cause I’m about to cover the blog with senior portraits – kidding.

The blog is changing; evolving into something I hoped it would become.
Some things to say about that:

A big, fat hello to the regulars…

Day-in and day-out you waste away your workday on the site.

Nothing makes me happier to know I’m contributing to the delinquency of corporate America office life.

I love you. Seriously, I love you.

Welcome to the new readers…

We’ve picked up some new readers over the last few weeks. Welcome! We know you’re afraid to comment just yet… and that’s ok. For the first month of this blog only 5 people would ever comment on a daily basis.

At times it may seem that the only people who read this blog ar MC graduates or citizens of the great state of Alabama. Nothing could be further from the truth. More than 2,000 people in more than 40 countries visit the site each week. Many of whom I’ve never met, though I would love for you to shoot me an email and tell me a little about yourself.

Welcome back to the old faithfuls…

Many of you have been away on vacation/mission trips/boycotting attempts and what not… and we’re standing at the door of our adobe house with arms wide open, ready and willing to kill the fattened calf upon your return home.

You’re the ones who always do a good job of initiating conversation/making fun of me/making fun of me/making fun of me/and making fun of me. And for that, my swolen ego is eternally grateful.

That is all. Expect changes and announcements over the course of the next few weeks.

If you have any comments and/or questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Drew Thornley has decided to end his blogging career… for now. Drew’s blog ‘My Take‘ was a much needed voice of the young professional right. By “right” I mean both ring-wing and right as in “correct.”

When asked why he decided to quit, his explaination was simple: “I just didn’t enjoy doing it anymore.”

Drew recently came on at JND, and hopefully we’ll get his thoughts on issues when-and-if he decides to share them in the near future.

Drew has law degree from Harvard, and he’s just recently been accepted into the JAG Corps… so, he’s got his options folks.

Friends who blog… some more than others. Interesting nonetheless.

P.K. Thomas: You Know It!

Paige DeAngelo: thankyallveryverymuch

Drew Thornley: Old Market (Omaha)…

Kate McIntosh: Ham Update

Drew Snyder: Saved by the T-Shirt: Dustin Diamond Losing His Home

An artile titled “Up in my Grillz“ from the Clarion-Ledger today.

Yes… only in Mississippi. [Thanks to Jennifer Moss for the tip]

If you’ve never read McSweeney’s before, be forewarned… it’s written in jest, so don’t take it too seriously.

This particular entry is titled, I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE BIG DEAL ABOUT HAVING A BABY IS.

A portion:

Another [pregnancy] symptom seems to be a case of the chubs. I don’t know if these women know this, but nobody likes a fat girl. Sure, I’d love to order the nachos and the onion rings and claim that I’m “eating for two,” but I guess I have something these pregnant women don’t: self-respect.

…ans this is even better:

Everyone knows that kids love television and candy. Yet I’ve met parents who refuse to give a baby candy or let it watch TV, and then complain when it cries. Wouldn’t you cry if someone took away your bourbon and cut your cable line just as Desperate Housewives was about to commence? What if Eva Longoria said something especially sassy and you missed it?

I’ve already had a few of you sending in links (it felt like old times at JND) and now I’m submitting a formal request for the rest of you to do the same.

I spend waaay too much time online, so I run accross articles/videos/pictures/websites of interest all the time. However, I can’t find everything worth viewing.

Therefore, I’m asking you to submit whatever you would like to submit. Of course you’ll recieve full credit with your name on the blog for your contributions. But please understand that I cannot post everything, and I can only do so many articles as this blog is doing a wonderful job of keeping me from doing a lot a real work… but the blog is much more fun.

What I’m looking for:
- Christmas/Holiday Links
- Funny/Interesting – Videos/Pictures/Websites
- News Articles – I usually find these while most people are deep asleep, but every now-and-then I miss one.
- Opinions – Everybody’s got one… and if yours is good enough, I just might listen and/or post it.
- Self-Plugs – Let be be specific on this one. If you will be on television… if you met President Bush… of you recieve a Noble Peace Prize, then you have grounds to ask for a plug. HOWEVER, don’t send me any crummy entries from your blogs on topics of not-so-great importance. Leave the crummy blog entries to me.