Interesting Japanese publishing model: send 1.6k of serialized new fiction to subscribers' phones every day.

The bestselling novel Deep Love was self-published in installments by the author on a website that offers content packaged for users of mobile phones. The story is about a 17-year-old girl named Ayu, who finds love through a chance encounter.

The author, who calls himself Yoshi, created a website providing content for mobile phones in May 2000 with an investment of just ¥100,000 ($909.09 at ¥110 to the dollar). Using a promotional campaign that consisted of passing out business cards to about 2,000 high-school girls in front of Tokyo's Shibuya Station (the center of Tokyo youth culture), Yoshi released The Story of Ayu, the first installment in the longer novel. News of the novel spread by word of mouth, and within three years the site had received a total of 20 million hits.

Mobile phones can receive e-mail of up to 1,600 characters. While this is more than adequate for most personal use, the limit presents unique challenges to the author of a novel. Yoshi, however, not only managed to overcome this challenge but even turned it to his advantage by keeping the prose concise and fast-paced. The novel maintains a straightforward, conversational style and avoids the use of difficult words. Thanks to this quality, the story has found favor even among people who do not typically read novels.

Link(via Engadget)

Everquest Daily Grind is a place where video-game widow(er)s post their personal stories of life with MMO-addicts who ignore spouse, kids, jobs and life for the game.

Last spring my grandmother passed away, and he was so involved in the game that he wasn't there for me. I would go to his house when I only had an hour, and the hour would go by and he would play, and I would sit there, and then I'd have to leave without so much as a kiss. There would be nights when I'd go to sleep there, and wake up at 5 or 6am and he'd still be playing because his guild needed him, or he was retrieving his corpse - which as I'm reading is a popular line!

Link (via evHead)

Howard Stern is calling on his 8 million listeners (and their friends andfamily) to vote anti-Bush in the next election.

Stern had strongly backed Bush's war on Iraq, but in the past two weeks, he has derided the president as a "Jesus freak," a "maniac" and "an arrogant bastard," while ranting against "the Christian right minority that has taken over the White House." Specifically, Stern has assailed Bush's use of 9/11 images in his campaign ads, questioned his National Guard service, condemned his decision to curb stem cell research and labeled him an enemy of civil liberties, abortion rights and gay rights.

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Gizmodo is offering to buy a Nintendo DS system for the first person to submit a pre-release photo of the gadget. Link

The new BMW has a cheat-code built into the shifter, which disables a road-safety feeature intended to prevent 5000RPM jackrabbit starts.

There's a cheat code in the software running the BMW M3's sequential manual gearbox (SMG): Press the right buttons in the right order and the car will launch you from a stop after revving the engine to 5,000 rpm. But don't look for a how-to in the owners' manual--this feature is undocumented, an inside joke of sorts...

But there is a catch. In Europe, where the feature isn't so hush-hush, doing more than 15 launches voids the car's warranty. Federal laws prohibit such stipulations here, so BMW has turned down the wick. U.S.-spec cars are programmed to wind to only 2,500 rpm--and our test car topped off at 1,800. That's why you have to ask your dealer to install the European software. Most will happily oblige.

Link (via Gizmodo)

Correction: here is the correct date for my second talk at SXSW:

Tuesday, March 16, 3:30-4:30PM. Wireless and Grassroots Innovation: WiFi is a grassroots phenomenon where innovation is driven by the DIY gestalt that is so much a part of Internet and Open Source development. What are the latest grassroots developments, and how do they relate to the future of wireless? (Brad King (moderator); Cory Doctorow, EFF; David Weinberger, Author; Joi Ito, Neoteny; Dan Gillmor, San Jose Mercury News; John Quarterman, Quarterman Creations)

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Juju sez: This is a great picture comparing a human and an orangutan hand. There's also an analysis of the various differences between the two, and why those differences allow humans to have a precision grip, thus allowing us domination over the planet. Link

Another essay from the always interesting Howard Lovy:

Carlo Montemagno makes molecular devices that contain “embedded intelligence,” each molecule working in tandem with another to produce a desired action. His first application? Yes. Water purification. “We use membranes incorporated with some molecules that selectively only transport water molecules through, and with very, very high efficiencies,” Montemagno said. “The end result is that projected performance is at least 100 times better, maybe 1,000 times better than the best … filters.”

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A rollicking three-way of ironic, porn-themed fun. A site full of both Flash and flesh. Here is a DIY centerfold construction kit -- kind of like Mister Potatohead, but hotter. Link. And here is an ant's eye, interactive, nano-tastic view of a gigantic naked babe. Link. Finally, construct your very own soundtrack to shag by. Link. Nothing is worksafe. (Thanks, Susannah!)

ClearPC's "Secret Agent" PC-case is a transparent acrylic PC case shaped like a briefcase. Great for LAN parties and airport security. Link (via Gizmodo)

More sleepdep notes fo rmembers of the Eastern Standard Tribe -- computers and TVs b0rk your circadians. I was up at 4:30 this morning and I'm crossing two timezones this aft.

Dr. John Herman, a sleep expert at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas states that the flashing lights of kids' television shows, video games and computer programs seem to be resetting the body's internal clock, stimulating kids' brains and making them want to stay up later and get up later.

Link(Thanks, Ian!)

Tales of the Sausage Factory is a series of essays by Harold Feld of the Media Access Project. Harold's a Hill insider who lobbies the FCC for greater public access to the airwaves and less media concentration, and these are his running notes from the fights at the Commission. Link (Thanks, John!)