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fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

Amanda Congdon (formerly of rocketboom fame) comes to Nashville with her new gig at Amanda Across America! She visits WKRN to speak with the station general manager - but more importantly with full-time paid blogger Britney of Nashville is Talking. (and your hair looked great, B) Interesting - and good to see Amanda again. Rocketboom just isn't the same without you!

Click here to watch the video!

My brother sent me this very cool link to PhotoSynth - a project Microsoft is working on. It's really amazing ... although I'm sure if they ever release it to the public we'll be paying for a license to use it. Why can't Microsoft have some google in them....

Check it out!

Nashville is a great city to live in ... and apparently lots of other people agree. Our pastor reported some of these things from the breakfast this morning where the Mayor gave the 43rd State of the City Address:

• For 2 years in a row, Nashville is the number 1 city for business expansion.

• 38 CEO’s say this is the right place for our business and our families.

• The Kiplinger Report – best city to live in; the next 3 cities on the list don't even come close.

• Hume-Fogg and Martin Luther king Jr. Magnet Schools are among the top 50 High Schools in the country.

• Rolling Stone Magazine listed Belmont as one of three universities in the country that ROCK!

• The Tennessean recently reported “The number of downtown apartments and condos is expected to rise from about 1,600 today to more than 4,000 in the next three years.

• Downtown will need more park space. Mass transit systems may also need to be expanded. And quality of life issues — panhandling, sidewalk maintenance, street lights — will get more attention as more people spend more time downtown.

• Corporations, such as Nissan North America and Louisiana-Pacific, are moving their headquarters here. A new symphony hall is being built. A stadium with professional football, an arena that hosts pro hockey and the site of a new minor-league baseball stadium are all within walking distance of downtown.

Nashville is a great city ... and hopefully the downtown area will continue to grow and become a place where Nashville residents want to come - not just tourists ;) We need shopping ... and theaters ...

More interesting city info:

Worst Places to Live

Worst Large Cities for Crime
1. Tucson, AZ for the highest property crime rates in the country, especially larceny.
2. Memphis, TN has the nation's second-highest violent crime rate.
3. Miami, Florida’s violent crime rate is the highest in the nation, with especially high incidences of robbery and assault.
4. Phoenix AZ has one of the highest rates of auto theft in the nation.
5. Little Rock AR has a high rate of property crime, especially larceny.

According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America the 3 worst U.S. cities for spring allergies are
1. Lexington, Ky.
2. Little Rock, Ark.
3. Chattanooga, Tenn.

The Most Traffic Congested Cities
1. Los Angeles, CA
2. San Francisco, CA
3. Denver, CO
4. Miami, FL
5. Phoenix, AZ
6. Chicago, IL
7. San Jose, CA
8. Washington, DC
9. Portland, OR
10. Boston, MA

We didn't even make the list ;) I guess I-65 isn't that bad after all ...

Things that make you go hmmmmm. I've been enthralled with Dominey Design since my first visit to his whimsical, fun and informative business site (the previous version is still available here); now he's redesigned and I just don't get it. My thoughts pretty much echo those of Simon at jessey.net:

Now granted - the previous flash version wasn't very accessible either. But ... I don't know. It had - personality. Which counts for something, right?

Here are Dominey's thoughts about his redesign (posted on his personal site, What Do I Know?).

What do you think? He's an absolutely AMAZING designer ... I mean - wow. Just look through a few of his projects. Extremely talented. I wonder what his thought process was behind this latest design of his business site that is totally inaccessible. Like Simon, I just don't get it. I do like his new logo; and how cool to be confident and secure enough (and in his case, very justifiably so) that you are known by your last name. Your name equals excellent design.

Take the survey ...

At the grocery store this weekend (Publix rocks!) - there was a deal that you could get a free bottle of Coke Zero and Diet Coke with Splenda with the purchase of 2 regular bottles. I'd heard from a friend that the Diet Coke with Splenda tasted just like regular Coke - so we got a bottle of each to test. Excited by the possibility of having a better-for-you drink of coke - as soon as we got home we poured a glass of each to try it out.

:crazy: Yeah - the Diet Coke with Splenda kinda tastes like regular Coke. And the Coke Zero kinda tastes like regular Coke. But there's no -- buzz - none of the "bite". You know what I'm talking about? It was like ... flavored water basically. Blech.

Thus ended the taste test. (The two free bottles have been deposited in the break room at the office. Because I can't just throw stuff away. Maybe some people LIKE flavored water ... :sick:)

About two weeks ago there was an episode on Oprah with author Ayelet Waldman. She had recently written an article in which she boldly claimed, "I love my husband more than I love my children". I think she could have worded it differently - becuase she was saying that her relationship with her husband was the PRIMARY relationship in her home. The relationship with their CHILDREN was the secondary relationship. She says on the show "I am IN love with my husband. I love my children. Which is how it should be." Evidently women everywhere were outraged by this concept. Oprah showed a few brief clips from some women in the audience who blasted Ayelet -- how dare she put her husband before her children? What a horrible mother she must be ...

But I - and Oprah - and a guy from the National Fatherhood Initiative and a few of the women on the show - pretty much agreed with everything Ayelet said. No, I don't have children yet ... but I remember something I heard my pastor say when I was a teenager ... (it was a long time ago - so I'm paraphrasing):

Good interview with Mena Trott of Movable Type - great quote "People did this. People kept journals all through history and it's important. As soon as you stop, keeping track of what you do, things go by too quickly. This is one of the things we like doing. I should write a post about it. Life slows down by posting everyday."

And that's why we blog, people. Because Life slows down a bit if you post something about your day.

My LASIK eye surgery was last Thursday ... and it went perfectly. A VERY lengthy description of the surgery and the past few days is in the extended entry ;)