The oceans around Japan feature a form of sea life that I had hoped was confined to my most Lovecraftian nightmares: flying squid. As Angie said to me when I showed her the article, "Yeah, they're only eight inches long. NOW."

Pleasant dreams, y'all.

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The guys in our Production Department have a reputation for the unusual. Yes, even compared to the REST of us. From drawing contests to the milk challenge to a Jones Soda Thanksgiving Dinner Tasting (I love the normal Jones Soda flavors, but "Pumpkin Pie"? "Turkey Gravy"? Ugh!), they are the office court jesters.

Last week, they took on a new challenge: 25 "Fire in the Hole" wings at a local eatery. Their wings are quite large, and they normally serve a wide variety of delicious flavors. For the challenge, however, the "flavor" is sort of a salsa of regular hot wing sauce, jalepenos, and red pepper.

Ben decided discretion was the better part of valor, and bowed out after 17 wings. Both Justin and Alex finished all 25, in varying amounts of pain, thereby earning the grand reward: their photo on the wall of the restaurant. Also an incredibly bloated feeling all afternoon, and bathroom adventures best not described.

And thus, we were entertained. (But don't try this at home, kids!)

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Last month I requested proposals to Android-ize the iPhone Munchkin Level Counter. I got a lot of "Yay! Android app!" responses, and several actual proposals, and now we've signed a contract and work is under way. Expect a progress report before mid-March. Paul's about to get an Android phone, so we can put it in a box with my iPhone and make them fight test in-house with minimum fuss.

I'm sure we're going to be doing more RFPs. One thing I learned: instead of putting it in the Illuminator proper, create a page for current RFPs, similar to the page where we post current job openings.

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The earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12 has caused massive devastation; since it's a trending topic on Twitter and all over the 24-hour news networks, you don't need to us to tell you about that. Nor is it surprising that the various charitable organizations around the world have sprung into action to help out.

But now you can donate to the relief effort with just a simple text message. By typing in "Haiti" and sending it to 90999, you'll donate $10 to the Red Cross' efforts in Haiti. (It shows up on your next phone bill, or is deducted from your prepaid minutes.) You can still send in money the usual way -- via their website, toll-free number, and snail mail -- but using mobile technology to eliminate the barriers to donation is simply smart.

It's good to be living in the future, even during natural disasters.

(Note: It has been pointed out that the Red Cross has been accepting donations via text message for some time, with the 2HELP program. Specifically, texting "GIVE" to 24357 (aka "2HELP") donates $5 to the Red Cross. The "Haiti" program seems to be the first crisis-specific use of donation-via-text.)

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Last night, after Ross and I spent the day separately -- I hit the last day of the Hong Kong Toy Fair, while Ross took a much-needed break and enjoyed the city -- we wandered back into the streets of Hong Kong to find dinner. After taking the ferry from Wan Chai to Kowloon -- $2.50 HKD, which equals $0.32 in U.S. currency -- we found a shopping mall with a food court. And what awesome food! It was like any food court in a US shopping mall . . . if US shopping malls had food courts packed with authentic and fantastic Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Korean, and Indian food. I settled on beef teriyaki with rice and, after paying my $42 ($5.41 U.S.), I sat down for the best meal of the trip. I guess the secret to great food in Hong Kong is to get out of the tourist districts and find where the locals eat. Cheaper and tastier.

Next on my list is a meeting at my hotel with the same factory rep I tried to meet on Thursday (I mentioned this meeting in Thursday's Daily Illuminator entry). I never did make it to the factory office; from taxi to subway to taxi, I couldn't find anyone willing to take me to a destination that didn't appear on any of my maps of Hong Kong. After far too much time wandering, I returned to the hotel and made arrangements to just meet in the lobby. I would have loved to have seen their offices, but I can't spend my last day in Hong Kong searching for an office when the rep is more than willing to come to me.

After the meeting, that's it for work. I am going to spend the afternoon sightseeing and shopping. Most likely I'll grab a few more toys and try to fit them into my already overflowing suitcases, and then Ross and I plan to meet at 6 and then go out for dinner! Where are we going? The exact same place we went last night, of course!

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