The Blackberry messaging network is down. So have mercy — or at least pity — on any twitchy exec you see for the next few days. It’s hell being off the grid.

You know the Blackberry — the pager-sized device with a thumb-operated keyboard that lets you send e-mails wirelessly. Al Gore wears (or wore) one; he apparently got word to hold of on conceding the 2000 election as he was on his way to give his concession speech.

I’ve got one that I don’t use, because I decided that I don’t need to get my spam quite that quickly.

 

Things are a little tense here in the Center of the Universe. The ratcheted-up terrorism alert means more cops and more visible cops on the streets and in the subways. My local subway stop this evening had *seven* officers on the platform. In midtown Manhattan, I spotted two Emergency Service officers patrolling in full winter gear and heavy external body armor.

Apparently, we’re about to have a National Guard presence in the subways for the next few days, and there’s nothing that quite relaxes a civilian population like the National Guard. This despite late reports that the heightened alert is based at least partly on a lie.

 

Like many geeks, I’ve got a ton of different e-mail addresses. For the last eight years, though, there’s been one main place to reach me. As of tomorrow, I’m shutting that address down. The thing has become a spam-catcher: roughly 70 pieces a day, offering me various toys, nutritional supplements, and nekkidness of all varieties.

Most everyone knows my new address of preference, and mail through the weblog will always find me. But, lord, I do hate being run out of my homestead.

 

That same page on The Hill notes that an entreprenuer is selling yarmulkes emblazoned with “Lieberman 2004.”

For those of you who may be wondering, this isn’t close to inappropriate; yarmulkes — at least, those in casual use; synagogue-wear is a bit more conservative (you should excuse the expression) — have long been fashion accessories. Around New York, it’s not all that unusual to see kids wearing Mets and Knicks logos on their kippot. (I’ve never quite been able to figure out why, but the Mets are the Jewish team, and the Yankees are the Christian team. When a Jewish organization has a baseball outing, it’s usually at Shea; when the Archbishop wants to take in a game, it’s in The Bronx.)

I love the comment from the Lieberman camp:

ãGiven that heâs a senator, an author and now a presidential candidate, Joe Lieberman has no objection to people wearing many different hats,ä said Liebermanâs press secretary.

 

You may have heard that New York’s Biggest Loudmouth, Al Sharpton, is running for president. As a Democrat. Now, while there’s precisely zero chance that I would vote for him or suggest that anyone else should (Tawana Brawley, anyone?), I must say that I’m kind of looking forward to his campaign.

There are two kinds of candidacies. One kind is out to actually win. The other kind is to define issues and simply win a place at the table. No one really believes that the Rev. Al will win a blessed thing, but that’s not the point. Sharpton’s presence will have a revealing influence on the rest of the field’s — and the party’s — attitude toward racial issues. This may not be a good thing for Democrats, as it could well highlight a tendency toward pandering. But to the extent that that tendency does get highlighted, that’ll be a good thing for the electorate, and there’s always the possibility that Sharpton will actually effect positive change.

To be sure that as much light as possible gets thrown on Sharpton’s candidacy, the Hill reports, the documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker (The War Room, Company) will be following the man around for the next year or so. Yes, I’d pay money to watch a Sharpton back room in action.

 

It used to be that candidates for prominent office might get some discreet plastic surgery or lose a little weight well before campaign time. Doesn’t it seem like the Democratic presidential candidates are going a little overboard?

The AP reports today that Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) will have his prostate removed tomorrow (Wednesday) to cure a “very early, curable” form of cancer. And Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL), who had heart valve replacement surgery on Jan. 31, is out of the hospital, making phone calls, and will apparently announce by March 1 whether he’ll make his run for the White House. (Link courtesy of The Note.)

Almost makes JFK’s Addison’s Disease or Dick Cheney’s heart attacks seem pedestrian, doesn’t it?

 

Dan Gillmore of the San Jose Merc points out an interesting new initiative at the Beeb. Recognizing that the latest generation of cell phones can not only take photos but send them out wirelessly, the BBC has set up a phone number for people to send in pictures of news events they witness — or are part of. The best of them are published at the BBC’s web site, and possibly on the air.

This is a significant change in the news paradigm. When MSNBC went on the air in 1995 or 1996, I buttonholed Andy Lack — then president of MSNBC, later head of NBC News, then NBC, and now Sony Music. I asked him if Microsoft’s involvement in the channel meant there would be any kind of electronic interactivity with viewers. He kind of snorted and wondered aloud why any news organization would want that.

On September 11, I bet he wished he’d had some better way of hearing from viewers in place.

 

Pitchers and catchers report today to Spring Training.

It is now safe to read the sports pages again.

 

The Smoking Gun reports that Benjamin Curtis, the Dell Dude, was arrested last night at the corner of Ludlow and Rivington Streets for possession of a small bag of marijuana.

As TSG wrote, “Dude, you’re gettin’ a cell….”

The site says Curtis is being held on a misdemeanor charge. According to New York penal law, there are two degrees of misdemeanor possession:

• Fifth degree, which is either smoking a joint in public or holding more than 25 grams, is a class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a fine of $500, and 


• Fourth degree, which is holding between two and eight ounces, is a class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of $1,000.

Two ounces of marijuana is not a “small bag” — or so I’m told. So it looks like our boy was locked up for 5th degree possession. TSG says Curtis was kept overnight at Central Booking, pending arraignment.