MAY DAY

I'm back! Sorry for the radio silence, but it's been a challenging month -- I had the 22-day/ 10-flight allergies/ cold/ sinus attack from hell.

I've learned a lot in April:

1. Never schedule back-to-back week-long trips. Especially four of them in two months. Especially when they involve multiple cities with yo-yo weather (freezing one day, 85 the next.)

2. I will never ever again be unsympathetic to those forced to fly when they must carry Kleenex.

3. The 24-hour United Healthcare call-a-nurse service is awesome. The gal who helped me was superb, at 2:30 a.m. I wish I had written down her name so I could thank her publicly.

4. Buy stock in Mucinex DM, Motrin 1B, and Ketex . And see your doctor after day 7. Not day 20.

5. Sleep is a very, very amazing thing.

So I'm back! Let's play catchup:

1. Yahoo! has launched Yahoo! Tech, a new site "that gives consumers plain-English advice and information about choosing and using the technology that has become a part of their daily lives.

2. The folks at CyberSecretaries have officially retired their name today, and launched a new moniker: SpeakWrite. And a new website. All numbers remain the same, as do account numbers and PINS. (Note: ALM has a small equity interest in SpeakWrite.)

3. My cyber-surfette mom found this AOL report about the Los Angeles Times' Pulitzer prize-winning reporter Michael Hiltzik who was suspended -- and his Golden State blog shut down -- after posting via pseudonyms on his own blog, in violation of the paper's ethical requirements.

Sez AOL:

Hiltzik has been in a blog feud with Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Patrick Frey, who writes the conservative blog Patterico's Pontifications. That column recently contended that Hiltzik had been posting messages to his blog and other Web sites under assumed names such as Mikekoshi and Nofanofcablecos.

See also: Washington Post. LA Times. 

"Be careful!" warned my always-paranoid ma. Umm, Mom, I think I'm safe. I don't think anybody would seriously think that I am married to any combination of Derek Jeter, Joe Torre, A-Rod, Bubba, Gary Sheffield or any of the other husbands I occasionally claim when commenting on Al Nye's or BatGirl's blogs. (Besides, I always use my real e-mail and website URL).

4. Speaking of paranoid, it's a good thing to be extra-careful about the American Express website, reports e-week.  AmEx is warning its customers about a false pop-up on its secure website that tries to lure you into entering private data -- a typical banking Trojan.  Likewise, keep an eye out for the phony ebay e-mails claiming that someone has been added to your account. You can send suspicious e-mail to spoof@ebay.com.

5. The indefatigueable Roberta Gelb, a vibrant member of the LTN edit board, wants you to know about SHARE -- which offers a huge range of services to those diagnozed with breast cancer -- and their family and friends.  On May 24 in New York City, from 6-8, she will be premiering her one-woman performance of "A funny (and educational) look at one woman's journey through breast cancer," at SHARE's main office - 1501 Broadway suite 7041. This is definitely a good cause! For more info: 212 719 0364.

6. Beisbol's on everybody's minds lately: Check out Omega Legal's white paper about how "the business of baseball has reshaped the rules of law firm productivity."

  And Jeff Angus' Management by Baseball: The Official Rules for Winning Management in Any Field, is fresh off the press, from Collins. It asks the question, "Why are baseball managers like Joe Torre and Dusty Baker better role models for leaders in business and government than corporate icons like Jack Welch, Ken Lay and Bill Gates?"  (Answer: "Because almost everything you need to learn about management you can learn from baseball.")

7. Another really good cause:  Rick Reilly, one of my favorite writers ("Life of Reilly" in Sports Illustrated,) devoted his entire column this week to a plea to get everybody to send $20 to help provide mosquito nets to help African children fight malaria. Let me turn the mic to him:

"See, nearly 3,000 kids die every day in Africa from malaria. And according to the World Health Organization, transmission of the disease would be reduced by 60% with the use of mosquito nets and prompt treatment for the infected....We gotta get these nets. They're coated with an insecticide and cost between $4 and $6. You need about $10, all told, to get them shipped and installed. Some nets can cover a family of four. And they last four years. If we can cut the spread of disease, 10 bucks means a kid might get to live. Make it $20 and more kids are saved.

So, here's the ask: If you have ever gotten a thrill by throwing, kicking, knocking, dunking, slamming, putting up, cutting down or jumping over a net, please go to a special site we've set up through the United Nations Foundation. The address is: UNFoundation.org/malaria. Then just look for the big SI's Nothing But Net logo (or call 202-887-9040) and donate $20. Bang. You might have just saved a kid's life."

Here's a link to the entire story (but you hafta be a subscriber).