How I got a life (and love) on Craigslist

Online dating’s ‘bargain basement’ yields a buried treasure for one writer

Let's make one thing clear: Craigslist is not for the faint of heart. If you prefer to spend your time in an environment that's politically correct, chivalrous and wholesome, this site may turn your stomach and leave you depressed about the state of the world.

But if you're willing to take a risk, the site — on which people can post classified ads for jobs, apartments, furniture, events, personals, pets and even erotic services, among other things — can connect you to people and opportunities that would otherwise be out of your reach.

Cheap thrills
My relationship with Craig began in 2003 when I was a college student living in Minneapolis. I had been moving every year and didn't have the time or money to invest in furniture. A friend suggested that I go on the site to find cheap, used furniture that I could, in turn, sell when I was ready to move. It started with a $20 desk; then a $10 dresser and a $5 lamp. The bargain-hunting gene from my Indian ancestors was finally flexing its muscles and I was experiencing a thrifty shoppers' high!

I collected all kinds of clutter, including books I never read, spray cheese and towels embroidered with initials that were nowhere near my own. Then I started responding to the “Rants and Raves” postings on the site. If someone wrote a racist comment (which was almost every other posting), I wrote them back a history lesson. If someone was depressed about the state of his love life, I sent words of encouragement.

Pretty soon, Craig was taking over my life. My head often ached from sitting at the computer late into the night. I needed space, and I finally took a break from the site, giving myself a Craigslist intervention.

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Pioneer shows off 16-layer 400GB Blu-ray Disc, affirms compatibility with current players

When Pioneer first introduced its unicorn-like 16-layer 400GB Blu-ray Disc, we weren't sure if the thing would make it beyond the drawing board, let alone be compatible with existing BD decks. Over at the IT Month Fair in Taipei, Pioneer showed up to showcase the capacious disc, and better still, a DigiTimes report asserts that these are indeed compatible with Blu-ray readers already on the market. Currently, the 400GB disc is slated to hit mass production sometime between now and 2010, while rewritable versions won't hit until 2010 to 2012. Not like it really matters though -- a 1TB disc is on track for 2013, and you know you'll be waiting for the latest and greatest.

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