Thing #94: See your name in print

I have seen my name in print many times (and yes I am modest for those who don't know me!). I have published a number of articles and book chapters, wrote a thesis many pages long, even saw articles about me in local newspapers. Getting something though in a national paper was a first and by achieving it I can happily claim Thing #94 done and put to bed. Next step will be to get in Wired (if the editor reads this please leave a comment and I will get back to you - Thank you).

Time capsule revisited

It just occurred to me that my Wired collection is a time capsule in its own right. OK, it's not 25 years old, but still it provides a window to the past (...12 months - I am still struggling to keep up with the last issues). Anyway, I am now in February 2007 so some progress has been achieved.

I thought to share a few of my favourite stories of the past few issues:

Do I Know You?Some people can see your eyes, your nose, your mouth – and still not recognize your face. Now these prosopagnosia sufferers may help scientists unlock the mysteries of the brain. By Joshua Davis

The Perfect Man Dean Karnazes ran 50 marathons in 50 days. He does 200 miles just for fun. 12 secrets to his success. By Joshua Davis

The Secret World of Lonelygirl15 How a 19-year-old actress and a team of struggling Web filmmakers took on TV. A Wired exclusive. By Joshua Davis

Edifice, Complex Billowing glass, rippling titanium, swooping stainless steel. Onsite with the engineers who turn the most ambitious architectural plans into reality. By Karrie Jacobs

Raging Boll Uwe Boll, the worst movie director ever, challenged his Web critics to a boxing match. Four idiots actually met him in the ring. By Chris Baker

How much does Wired cost in Canada?

And the answer is CAN$5.99, which is still cheaper than it is in the UK. And you can buy the June issue in the third week of May. And there are many of them available to choose from (hm... but they are all the same, aren't they?). Anyway, I got a few to read while going there to find out how much it costs to buy Wired, but ended up adding one more to the collection of unread Wired magazines.

The problem with collections

In a previous post I mentioned I had a collection of unread Wired magazine. Well, I decided to start reading them, which would have meant that I would not have a collection of unread Wired magazines anymore. So, I put them in chronological order only to find that I was missing one! It's like you are about to complete a puzzle and then you find out that one piece is missing. Even worse (and you can blame Murphy for this), this piece is ALWAYS in the middle of the puzzle.

Thing #25: Start a collection

Collecting things is an addiction that can become easily become obsession. You buy a couple of things that you really like and then you need to have the rest of them. Then, the whole universe conspires against you in order to miss or not find the last thing that will complete the collection!

Anyway, for this Thing I put forward my collection of... unread Wired magazines. I have now 12 issues that I have not managed to read due to other committemments (i.e. work). Still, every month I make sure I pay the -now regular- visit to the local newsagent.

You may wonder why don't I just subscribe? Well a subscription in the States costs $20 for two years (no this is not a typo), while in the UK a subscription for one year costs £59.64! WHY? And if you think this is due to the magazine travelling over the big pond called Atlantic Ocean, well think again. The yearly subscription in the UK costs about 25% more than buying 12 individual issues from the newsagent!

And if you thought that only applied to one magazine's subscription rates, then think again! Read this review in PCPro about IT related prices.