David Herkt's 50th birthday party at Hydrant was worth missing the leaders' debate for. Everyone was nice and the music was a fabulous four-decade sweep of formative tunes. I met Anna Hoffman, and Zero from the Suburban Reptiles. Nice one David; it's been a pleasure to have made your acquaintance in recent years.
So it's No Politics Friday on Hard News. I feel like a break from all that. Although, I guess anything you could say about Katrina is political. The Daily Show, naturally, made me laugh about something that isn't really funny.
Here's a sign of the times: check out this week's No.1 MacOS X Dashboard Widget. (Hat tip: Christiaan Briggs.)
Google has hired Vint Cerf as Chief Internet Evangelist. I have no idea what the job title means: I think maybe they just thought it would be cool to have Vint Cerf in the building.
Murdoch's second run at the Internet gathers pace: while he waits to see if his shareholders will let him spend half a billion bucks on MySpace, he announces that he has plonked down $650 million on the gaming network IGN. I'd love to know who's advising him and what the strategy is. There's a Financial Times story with some speculation.
Have a good weekend …