A Moving Experience

Computerworld - I'm a sentimental fool. As we pack up to move to our spacious new digs a few blocks away, it seems every item I lovingly place in the moving crates opens another floodgate of fond memories. I need to pack everything very carefully because my colleagues took away my packing materials. (I think they're just jealous that they can't play "She Bangs" with a piece of bubble wrap.)
Here's the "Speedo" nameplate that adorned my cubicle wall throughout my tenure as News editor. The nickname stuck after I issued the disturbing warning early on that if our writers didn't file their stories on time and up to our exceedingly high standards, I would come into the office wearing a Speedo. It's amazing what the threat of seeing a middle-aged guy in a bathing suit will do for newsroom productivity. Can you say "Magazine of the Year"?
What's this? Ah - the transcript of my April 2003 interview with Novell CEO Jack Messman. That one was nothing if not entertaining. In the interview, Messman called Linux an "immature operating system" that needed Novell's steady hand and fatherly guidance to help it grow up into a robust, enterprise-ready OS. Within a few days he'd received so much hate mail from Linux enthusiasts (I would say "Linux loonies," but there's no sense in generating more hate mail) that he had to issue an oops-what-I-really-meant-to-say apology . What a hoot.
Well, what do you know? I was wondering where this was. Here's my signed copy of Bill Gates' book Business @ the Speed of Thought. I got it after having hooked up with the Big Guy for an interview on a chartered boat from Guangzhou to Hong Kong a while back. I have an idea, and I'm absolutely serious here: Let's auction it off to the highest bidder, with 100% of the proceeds going to The ALS Association (www.alsa.org). That's ALS as in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as Lou Gehrig's disease, an advanced form of which has afflicted my dad, who's a really good guy. I know he'd appreciate it. So e-mail your bid to me by Oct. 1. I'll announce the top bid in the Oct. 11 issue, and the winning bidder will get the book upon providing me with proof of a contribution to the ALS Association in the amount of the bid. Deal?
That reminds me of something I just have to share. You know what kind of book Gates writes. But did you ever wonder what he reads? On