Things might get a little weird over the next couple days for this site, eWire, New England Flatland and iPod411: I'm changing web hosting companies and I'm hoping for a smooth transition, but you never know...

Brian Chapman (that's my brother, on the right in the photo) participated in the George Street Bike Challenge this past weekend. It's an uphill race ("a 500-foot quad-buster") up an 18 percent grade. Despite being his first uphill race ever, he not only won his class, but had the fastest time overall (by over a full second). But the thing I like best was that he's simply wearing shorts and a white t-shirt, while many of the other guys are wearing full bike gear.

So congrats to Big-B. Some photos of him from the race are here, here, here, and here.

What do you do when you see an old Mac SE abandoned on the side of the road on trash day? If you're me, you take it home, gut it, clean it up, and combine your love of Macs with your love of gardening -- two geeky things in one!

TV critics vote for merit, message

This is odd: At the 20th annual Television Critics Association awards show, "The Daily Show" won for outstanding news and information programming -- over rivals like PBS' "Frontline" and ABC's "Nightline." Sad to say, though, that "The Daily Show" is one of the more informative news shows on TV

Also, I was happy to hear that "Fox announced it would bring ['Arrested Development'] back this fall in the post-'Simpsons' slot at 8:30 Sundays." Putting the show in a smart timeslot (I think "Simpsons" fans will take to the show) is a good first step to keeping it around.

Spamusement: Poorly-drawn cartoons inspired by actual spam subject lines!

Apple has released the fourth generation iPods soon. I'm going to start my list of reasons to justify getting one now...

TV Critics Heap Awards on 'Arrested Development'

Fox's dysfunctional-family comedy "Arrested" was voted best new program and best comedy, two days after the freshman series scored a surprise berth in the Emmy race for best comedy. "Arrested" creator/executive producer Mitch Hurwitz told TCA attendees that it was the support of critics that saved the show from cancellation after its low-rated first season.

I don't care about the Emmy awards, but if it saves Arrested Development for another season, I'm happy. There's not a lot of truly great shows on TV (one that I'd even bother writing about here) but this is most definitely one of them. If you like comedies -- a truly funny show and not a typical crappy sitcom -- do try and catch it. With Arrested Development almost gettings cancelled while crap like Yes Dear enters its fourth season, I understand why TV is, in general, so terrible.

Norway still the world's best place to live

For the fourth year in a row, the United Nations has ranked Norway as having the highest standard of living in the world.

Go Norway! One of these days we'll get over there to visit...

Happy first birthday to Amelia!

I don't plan on watching the All-Star game tonight -- why would I want to see "The Yankees (plus special American League guests) vs. the National League"? But speaking of the All-Star game, former White Sox pitcher Jack McDowell had an interesting take on being a first-time All-Star.

To play any professional sport, one must be cocky. Some hide it better than others, but you have to feel that you can play with anyone. However, no one is cocky enough to avoid feeling out of place during his first trip to an All-Star locker room.

Look around in any direction and all you see are future Hall of Famers and perennial All-Stars. Yeah, these guys belong -- I don't.