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The transmission in our minivan died two weeks ago. Unlike the olden days, when a dead vehicle was towed to a junkyard and if you're lucky you wouldn't have to pay to leave it there, I instead placed a Craigslist ad. Within three hours we had $200 in our pocket and the van was on its way to a new owner: the Lake County High Schools Technology Campus, in the care of an auto repair instructor who drove an hour to Milwaukee to pick it up. Craigslist: more than just hookers, it helped the environment by keeping potential hazardous waste out of the junkyard, and is helping high-schoolers get another opportunity to learn. #

It's not necessarily just a sign-o-the-times, because I can point out plenty of buildings here in Fargo that sat vacant for years without a tenant, but the result is always strangely haunting: Time magazine's "Stores That Are No More" slideshow is artistic photos of what is left behind when a building and parking lot, required by firecodes to accomodate hundreds of people at once, becomes a ghost-town. All I can say is, "Last Day, Capricorn 15, year of the city 2274. #

Modern technology in the centuries-old courts: jurors Googling for more information via Blackberries and iPhones cause mistrials. I'm supposed to be on jury duty towards the end of this month; while I understand the sentiment of preventing outside influence — the other side can't cross-examine a Google search, nor can the judge clear the entire internet as relevant and admissable — I want to know why the lawyers don't include that information to begin with. The fact that lawyers leave out relevant information, such as maps or technical details, should be the reason for the mistrial, not the Googling. #

Nena Evans passed away after an asthma attack years ago. Her ashes were placed in an urn, which was given to her husband. Her husband then asked Arnie Berezin to hold on to a bag for him - the bag contained the urn, and the husband never returned. Today, the urn and the remains of Nena Evans sits on the corner of the desk of Chicago Sun-Times reporter Neil Steinberg, who is hoping family will turn up to claim the former Mrs. Evans. Via. #

If you ever wanted to own Superman's first comic, one of the finest editions of Action Comics #1 is up for auction. As of 3/2/09, it was at over a quarter of a million dollars. I have a reproduction of AC#1 printed in the 1980s, and it looks worse than the one up for auction - the one up for auction looks like it was printed yesterday. #