Despite my recent push to find new destinations to check out regularly, it seems the world of the web has entered one of its stagnet points as it has been known to do from time to time. Not that I am complaining really, because I have not done too much myself to add content to the fray.

Unlike at the White House, a slow news day here does not mean that news agencies have to go out of their way to make mountains from molehills. Instead, may you be entertained by the following.

Wendy's Free Frosty Weekend
"From Friday, May 13, through Sunday, May 15, consumers can pick up a free Junior Frosty at their local Wendy's restaurant. No purchase is required for customers to receive the free dessert. The company estimates it will give away more than 14 million Junior Frostys during the special three-day event."

Owner of Wendy's chili finger found
"A finger allegedly found in a bowl of chili at a Wendy's restaurant has been identified, US police have said. It belonged to a family friend of Anna Ayala, the woman who said she discovered the finger as she ate in a restaurant in San Jose, California."

Henderson Legs Raise Eyebrows
"People in Henderson are talking about the massive sculpture of a woman's legs, spread open on Welcome Avenue. At first glance, it looks more like something you'd find at a strip club, instead of a quiet neighborhood." [ via ]

Zippo-looking camera on TSA no-fly list
The Department of Homeland Security at work for you. [ via ]

UN looks to Brooklyn for temporary home
"The possibility emerged on Tuesday in a new progress report from Mr. Annan on plans to move the organization into temporary housing during the renovation of the United Nations headquarters on the East River in Manhattan, once stylish but now dangerously antiquated." [ via ]

NYC Uptown Wall Collapse
New information and great photographs on yesterday's accident.

Judge: Nebraska Ban on Same-Sex Marriage Unconstitutional

Birding in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California
"This is the largest state park outside of Alaska with over 600,000 acres ranging from flat desert sinks to high, boulder-strewn mountains."

"Cock" banned from West Hollywood Signs
Every sign that contains the word cocktail is now illegal. Your government at work.

Pope Creature Comforts
The new Pope is moving in and the BBC takes a look at his loot.

NASA Shuttle to retire in 2010
The year we make contact. heh heh

Two NASA Astronauts on Star Trek: Enterprise finale tonight
"While on vacation, the real-life space explorers traded in their spacesuits for make-believe future space garb as the two made a guest appearance on the upcoming season finale of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Enterprise."

Star Trek franchise ends 18 year run
"After 18 years and 624 hours of Star Trek, the audience began to have a little bit of overkill."

BBC Opens Newsroom to RSS
"The BBC has opened up its content more so that people can use news stories and headlines on their own sites via RSS."

Mobile GUI: Design Standards Needed
"But the mobile phone industry is in danger of confusing people in its quest to pack everything into handsets, thinks Scott Jenson, a leading mobile industry design consultant."

Do you enjoy The West Wing? Perhaps even a little too much?

If Bravo Network's existing marathon schedule — currently Monday nights — was insufficient for you, tune in all next week. The West Wing Week includes eighty-eight (88) episodes of White House antics, Bartlet "did you know..." historical taradiddles, Josh yelling for Donna, Toby upset about something and Sam making an ass out of himself right before and after writing moving speeches.

Check out the complete schedule for a detailed episode listing and check your local listings for the Bravo Network.

I hear so many great things about new and popular instant messaging clients developed for the Apple OS X platform. Unfortunately, like most quality open source projects, they are developed for one native platform long before any ports or complete redevelops are available.

I am somewhat displeased with the operation of the Trillian all-in-one IM client and have been for some time now. I am looking for one or more possible alternatives for the Windows platform that operate similar to Trillian, but offer it in a more lean package — much like how Trillian used to be before the architecture was re-written for the use of plug-ins and the user interface scrapped.

I would like something similar to Adiumx (recent review) or Fire. A simple, yet highly configurable multi-protocol instant messaging client that will handle the basic features associated with chatting. Additional features like peer-to-peer file transfer and video conferencing are not priorities.

Please comment with any and all suggestions.

I doubt whether or not two of anything counts as a frequent enough occurrence to be classified as a pattern, but it might be a good start. Has anyone else noticed that car dealerships like to use major corporations' logotype in their own adverts? I am very curious to hear from those outside Florida about this pseudo-phenomenon.

My first example I saw many years ago when I started making regular weekend trips to Tallahassee. If you take the scenic route, you eventually pass through Lakeland and by Cecil Clark Chevrolet. As you can see from their website, the ubiquitous Coca-Cola Company typeface is emulated.

Driving home today from a client appointment I spotted the second of what I hope proves to be a succession of dealership logos that partly steal identity elements from widely recognized businesses. Unfortunately, the afternoon downpour mostly obscured the sticker placed on a Chevy pick-up truck, but the font used for the name was that of Holiday Inn's logo.

By the way, did you know that in addition to Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites hotel properties InterContinental Hotels Group also owns Britvic? Of course, look at Carlson—they own everything from T.G.I. Friday's to Radisson Hotels and even a few cruise lines—but I digress.

So as I was saying, the sticker was not completely visible but it was definitely a first and last name that started with the letter "j" and looked something like "Janis Jacklyn."

Is it an epidemic or an interesting coincidence? Please let me know if you have an automobile dealership in your area that uses a popular corporate identity to promote itself.

Sutro Tower upgrades raise ire
"Neighbors of the colossal Sutro Tower lost a battle last week, when city officials rejected their calls for an environmental review of new equipment proposed for the tower." — Good, leave my tower alone.

Salon.com Masterpiece: The Holiday Inn sign
"Exploding with color, optimism and razzle-dazzle, the now-extinct Holiday Inn "Great Sign" was a true design landmark of the American century."

Dwarfs, Little People and the M-Word
Daniel Woodburn of Seinfeld fame exchanges words with movie critic Roger Ebert about the word "midget." [ via ]

Toilet Bowl: A Restaurant
"The thorough implementation includes toilet chairs, urinal sconces, and even commode shaped serving pieces." [ via ]

NYC Subway Tagging
It is amazing to see something like this since New York City and the MTA cleaned things up. [ via ]

Chappelle's Show Suspended
"Production of the popular Comedy Central series Chappelle's Show has been suspended and its third season's premiere indefinitely delayed." [ via ]

Designline - A Design Timeline
Animated GIF of one designer's web development process. [ via ]

Investors Supporting Spyware
A comprehensive listing of spyware companies and firms providing financial support to them. [ via ]

Hubble Space Telescope turns 15
Little late on this; it was 25 April.

43 Things
"Discover what's important, make it happen, share your progress. Find your 43 things."

Mac OS X 10.4 Internet Connection Speed Fix
For those who noticed a slowdown or other bugginess since upgrading.

Deputy Catches Man Peering Into His Daughters' Bedroom Window

Television and Film 555 Telephone Numbers
For Cinco de Mayo. Get it? [ via ]

Mount Sutro is on hiatus for a week or two. When articles resume, look forward to the overdue post-vacation report and photography along with a few other previously promised items.

In the meantime, appease your appetite for fresh content by visiting the Exit Piazza, the index of sites I frequent. Both link indices have been updated today.