Back in 1999, I wrote an article for an airline magazine about Yefim Shubentsov, the so-called “Mad Russian,” and his unique way of helping people quit smoking. I had the article on my site for a number of years, but took it down on my last redesign. It must still be floating around out there somewhere, though, because people still contact me now and then to ask me how to contact Shubentsov.

For anyone who’s come to this site looking for him, I regret to tell you that I can’t help you. It’s been more than 12 years since I wrote that article and I’ve had no contact with him since. If you can’t find him in the phone listings for Brookline, Mass., it may be that he’s retired or moved. I’m sorry. I wish you luck finding a way to kick the habit.

Inexplicably and ironically, my article for Entrepreneur on franchise owners who managed to nurse their businesses through a natural disaster went live online on Friday — that’s right, the same day Japan was devastated by the one-two wallop of earthquake and tsunami. The paper version is supposed to hit newsstands tomorrow.

I also have a piece in the current issue of Entrepreneur StartUps about coping with a cash crunch. I sincerely hope that doesn’t portend another financial crisis.

Heck of a way to launch the new version of my website, huh?