MIKE'S LIST IS DIFFERENT in three ways: 

1. I don't want to know anything about you. It seems that everywhere you go, people want personal information about you. To use some web services, sign up for special offers or even subscribe to e-mail newsletters, they require your name, address, telephone number, and sometimes your age, income, gender, etc. They do that because there's a payoff somewhere. User data makes it easier to sell ads, build partnerships and make money (often by selling your information). The Mike's List newsletter is different. If you check my privacy policy, you'll notice that I'm not going to do anything with your information. I'm not going to sell it, package up the data or use it to get new business. Ever. 

2. I don't want you to buy anything. Some of the items in the Mike's List are products. But I don't care if you buy them or not. I have no financial interest in them; I write about them only because they're interesting and I think you'll get a kick out of them. 

3. I don't want to control what I write. Most publications protect their copyrights by tracking down people who copy and redistribute what they publish and threaten legal action. I'm not going to do that. In fact, I encourage you do copy and share the newsletter.  

I don't publish the Mike's List to make money. I'm in it just for fun. By writing a bleeding-edge newsletter about the most interesting, funny and amazing stories in technology, I attract people like you who share my interests. And I'm hoping you'll tell me about the crazy technology products, services and people you hear about. 

I don't want info, sales or control. So what DO I want? Well, I want as many readers as I can get. So if you appreciate my approach to newsletter publishing, tell ten people about the Mike's List and ask them to subscribe! 

Geek Supplies
If you're a geek - and if you're reading this newsletter, chances are pretty good - you'll want to check out Think Geek, a nerd-supplies catalog. You can buy caffeinated products, nerdy t-shirts, electronic gadgets, wacky cubicle toys, mugs, hats, stickers, books, poster and other unnecessary stuff for people who spend too much time with computers. 

Something in the Water
Water-quality researchers wanted to track the flow of caffeine into Puget Sound to discover where sewage - which is laced with caffeine-rich Seattle urine - was entering the water. But they gave up on the idea when they discovered that the entire Sound is one massive espresso. You see, Seattle's coffee-selling street vendors, which are everywhere in the Emerald City, dump unused coffee into the gutters at the end of the day. That coffee flows into the sewers and, eventually, into the Sound. There's so much caffeine already in the local water that the urine caffeine didn't even register. 

Cool Shorts
A Japanese clothing maker called Mizuno Corporation has created a new line of underwear made from high-tech fabric called "vinyl alcohol" that keeps your crotch 1 degree cooler than cotton. 

The Radio of Tomorrow
In the future, you'll be able to receive any radio station in the world from anywhere, all over the Internet. Your car "radio," for example, will download tunes you choose, or download streaming radio stations in real time through your car's antenna. The widespread adoption of Internet radio on non-PC devices won't exist for three or four years. But if you can't wait, $100 will buy you a radio that plays any of 800 radio stations. It's called the SonicBox iM Remote Tuner. You plug a wireless gadget into your PC's USB port, and the box gets the stations from your PC's Internet connection. It picks up not just music, but news and even police scanners. Users report that the setup is unnecessarily complex, but for hardcore music fans, it's a pretty good idea. 

The Web the Way it Used to Be
Web browsers keep getting better, and the design of web pages keeps getting more graphical and attractive, for the most part. But the web hasn't always been so pretty. In the early days, graphics were few, and web browsers limited. If you weren't there - or don't remember - take a walk down memory lane with a web site called Deja Vu. The site simulates old browsers, so you can check out your favorite sites as they would have looked in the days of yore. 

Master of Gore's Domain
A 20-year-old college student named David Jackson registered the Internet domain name http://www.gorelieberman.com - five months ago (he just had a good feeling about the then unlikely vice-presidential possibility). The Democratic Party probably would have paid thousands for it. But Jackson sold it to him for the price he paid: $70. 

Department of Transportation Department
A Seattle engineer has built the ultimate geek boat. It's a small trimaran packed with gadgets: a speech-enabled PC, cell-and-satellite phone, ham radio, computerized navigational equipment and a solar-powered thruster that can be operated by remote control - it even has wheels so it doesn't need a trailer. The boat is being built by an adventurer/geek/inventor named Steven Roberts', who plans to start sailing the thing next year. You can keep track of the whole project at the Microship web site. 

Weird Web Site of the Week
If you like graves, you'll love the "Find a Grave" web site. Search from among 2.5 million graves by name, location, "claim to fame," and death dates. You can also get information about the body inside, and even see a picture of the tombstone.