While I arrived too late to meet-up with Tom, I too joined the party crew last night at DC’s first TECH Cocktail. All the A-list of DC’s blogerati were there, sporting cool looks for the cameras.

Unfortunately, I didn’t meet any of them, being so tardy that the doorman almost didn’t let me in, but I did happen to meet the “Master Blogger” of AOL: none other than AOL Joe!

This random meeting was way better than the last one if only for the trouble AOL Joe got me into. Note his coy Cheshire cat grin as he woos the ladies…

My dining companion last night said that he didn’t think this was accurate since the hybrid still uses gas but if someone as pedantic as me is willing to give it a pass I think it’s funny enough to share with y’all. Maybe I was just in a forgiving mood after gorging myself on chicken wings.

In what may be a great case study on how blogging now influences major media outlets and confirmation that I am in the blogging big leagues, 60 Minutes will be focusing on the other website I contribute to: OLPC News.

Famed reporter Lesley Stahl will be covering MIT Professor Nicholas Negroponte’s progress with One Laptop Per Child, his dream of one-to-one computing as an educational boost, a way for children in the developing world to “learn learning”.

Ms. Stahl will have on-location reports from OLPC testing in Brazil. With 13 million viewers on average every Sunday night at 7pm, the coverage of OLPC should be a major boost in profile for the project.

Lesley Stahl will also be interviewing an obsessive follower of OLPC XO advances, a technology in development expert who publishes the informative and influential OLPC News: your favorite DC Metroblogger, Wayan.

Lesley and I, interviewing

I am told OLPC News and I will be an integral part of the One Laptop Per Child segment of the CBS News program, including video of an interview I had with Lesley Stahl in New York City.

There should be a distinct focus on OLPC News as the medium by which those interested in the “$100 laptop” can go for independent news, information, and commentary.

So be sure to tune in and watch me geek out on one-to-one computing in education. Cheers, jeers, and beers welcome.

It was a packed house at MCCXXIII last night for DC’s first Tech Cocktail, hosted by Frank Gruber and Eric Olson. Out on display were a number of interesting services including Wine Library TV and Buzz XYZ, amongst others.

DC’s tech community is certainly well-served, what with groups like Refresh-DC, and the Social Media Club, but it’s nice to see more events to get techie people out and about and socializing. Many thanks to Frank Gruber and Eric Olson for the great event, be sure to check out Raoul Pop’s photoset from the event if you couldn’t make it.

So, when’s the next one?

Photo by DC Metroblogger

Finally, a Bike to Work day with agreeable weather. This means you do not have an excuse: pedal your way to employment today!

Come join DC area cyclists in Freedom Plaza to celebrate a healthy form of locomotion. Drivers, you should be especially celebratory. We represent thousands of car lengths NOT blocking your commute this morning.

And now, the Bike to Work Day Flickr Pool.

Do you recognize this dilapidated structure, badly in need of a paint job? Have you ever passed it on your way to a museum and wondered, “Hmmm. What a bizarre looking thingamajig. I wonder what they use that for?” Have you ever seen anyone on or around it? All of these questions cloud my brain whenever I walk by this prehistoric gazebo.

Well, according to Flickrite rockcreek:

“I used to walk by this every day when I worked at the Holocaust Museum, and finally called the library at the American History Museum one day to see if they had any info on it: it’s a bandstand, and it used to sit on the grounds of a now-demolished insane asylum in Illinois. When the asylum was closed in the 60s, it was donated to the Smithsonian. Apparently it was used for concerts in the 70s and 80s, but that was given up because the noise from the 14th St. traffic drowned out the musicians.”

What a waste of space! Here are my suggestions on what to do with this (roughly) 1/2 acre of land:

• Build another Smithsonian Museum: The Museum of George Bush’s Great Ideas. He’s had a few great ideas in his time, like to marry Laura and have some hot party animal daughters, to mispronounce his words and be the laughing stock of the world, etc. Hopefully his next great idea will be to leave the White House quietly and never be heard from again.
• Slap an ice skating rink in there. We’ve only got two other rinks within walking distance of this space, so what will another one hurt?
• Turn it into one giant garbage can, an art installation if you will. It will give tourists a place to spit their gum and to throw their cigarette butts into.
• Dig a hole a mile deep and build a giant parking garage. Charge $10 a car and watch the tourists gobble it up.
• Turn it into a skate part so all of those punks over at Freedom Plaza have another place to tear up.
• Build another Washington Monument there so that DC has its very own Twin Towers. Then put a catwalk between the two, charge $20 to walk across it, and watch the tourists gobble it up.
• Build the Iraq War Memorial, aka The World War III Memorial.
• Build a penalty box for any senator, congressman, or executive branch moron who breaks a law. Lock them up in a plexiglass box so that all of the tourists can pay $10 to take pictures of them with their camera phones.

Any other ideas? Let’s hear ‘em.

Washington Nationals Game

Originally uploaded by acaben.

Swept the Marlins. Took Three of Four from the Braves. Our offense actually produced some runs, and our bullpen actually stopped the other guys from doing the same. The bullpen hasn’t given up a run since Tuesday. 10 straight innings from the the bullpen without an earned run. Our bullpen actually only gave up ONE run in the series against the Braves. That’s an ERA of 0.56, collectively for the series, which is pretty damned outstanding for a team that’s in dead last in the NL East, and for the team with the 2nd to worst record in the Majors.

There’s potential here, maybe these guys aren’t all that awful…

As of February 2008, all the bars and restaurants in Maryland will be smokefree, joining the District and several other cities and states around the US. Bars and Restaurants can petition for an exemption if they can prove financial harm to their business, but I have a feeling that’s going to be a hard sell for any business that tries.

Now, to get Virginia to do the same… yeah, I know, pipe dream…

Photo by DC Metroblogger

This is Washington DC’s Franklin Square. Nestled between 14th and 13th Street and K and I Streets in NW, its one of the largest, if not the largest park in downtown.

With huge old-growth trees, plenty of grass and shade, and multiple benches, its a great escape from urban life without leaving the city. I walk through this park in the mornings this week, and I love it.

Today I noticed that the fountain in the middle of the park is full of water again, so soon we should expect a spray of blue to go with our sprawl of green.

Yet another respite I’ll miss with the bye bye to 901 15th Street.

I love me the BMW Mini Cooper. The cars are damn cute, very fuel efficient, and packed with all kinds of techno-gizmos that make driving the little cars a dream. Even better, with their tiny size they can fit into any parking space.

So why in the hell did this arrogant asshole decide to park his Mini in the exact center of a huge space on a Sunday?

That spot, with his car, could fit a whole other car with enough room to not need a rubber bumper. To me, such a Mini parking space offense is almost equal to those who get a whole other memo. If you have a small car, park right, take up a small car spot.

Otherwise, you are yet another arrogance defined.