DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

I came to my first Elmore Leonard novel with some expectations that were perhaps unfair: his novel Get Shorty was made into a fantastic movie (with Travolta, Hackman, Russo, and DeVito!). And one of my favorite writers, Carl Hiaasen, is often compared to Leonard… so I demanded a lot from Pronto, even though I picked it up secondhand for about three dollars.

An ex-NYT bestseller, book-of-the-month-club selection, Pronto is a contemporary crime novel set in south Florida. It pits a modern cowboy against a mafioso, fighting to save the life of a run-down bookie who is ironically more pathetic than sympathetic. But the dialog is sharp, and the pacing tight; it is an enjoyable read.

Patronize these links, man:

• Amazon (paperback)

This is a decent thriller, with a few too many characters for my taste. Keeping track of everybody poses a small demand on the reader.

The story is well-paced, telling a somewhat complex story of a murder that took place 30 years before — now the killer is out of prison, and one by one the people who knew him best are dropping dead. Someone’s getting revenge, but who? And for what? Ferrigno keeps the reader guessing.

Patronize these links, man:

• half.com (used)
• Amazon (paperback)

Dave Winer says, I bet Aladdin will sell a lot of these. I fear he’s right. Where do I sign to prevent it?!

This is pretty much the last thing in the world I need: “high-impact emails” with “vivid colors, eye-catching photos, and plenty of web links”.

The only question now is whether anyone has developed a qmail filter that refuses delivery of HTML email, the arterial plaque of electronic communications.

Serendipity! Today, CamWorld published a link to this: Configuring Mail Clients to Send Plain ASCII Text

I’ve released a new version of the software that powers this website. Changes include:

• Channels/genres lists can be maintained via a new admin form
• Journal items can be categorized into multiple channels
• Bugfix: new query restrictions prevent visitors from previewing future content

Also, there’s now a mailing list to support Monaural Jerk users; see the FAQ for more info.

Google taught the world that there’s always room for a better search engine. Now perhaps Wisenut is going to repeat the lesson.

The Wisenut technology overview is worth reading. Be sure to download their search engine white paper; it details why Wisenut’s WISErank technology is superior to Google’s PageRank in producing relevant results.