General Archives
See this and more at FailBlog, thanks to Luke Francl.
I went camping again this weekend. It was nice to get away from the city, the news, and other assorted media outlets and just be with my wife for a while. We walked wooded trails along the bluffs of the Mississippi for hours and gazed up at the stars at night.
Getting away from the city and looking at the stars in compete darkness is one thing I have always enjoyed. I could lay on my back and look towards the sky for hours, just imagining what may be out there amongst all those stars and galaxies, and worlds.
The world we live on seems small and unified and peaceful on nights like that - or maybe that is just one more thing I am imagining.
As I am now on my 11th straight day without meat I have been opened up to many new products at the grocery store and at restaurants. Here is my favorite so far:
I am numb and have been since the first word of this tragedy came across my radio on my commute in to work last Tuesday. I feel like I should be angry or filled with sorrow, and I am in my thoughts. I just don't *feel* it like I should. I wish I would have cried - yelled when I heard the news - but I was just sort of startled - but not even surprised. What is wrong with me? Am I afraid now? No. Should I be? Probably so, yes. If not for me then for the U.S. and other countries' soldiers that will be fighting and dying in the coming months/years - for their families - for the Afghani people who have never wished this act on us but now may suffer for it. Sure there is some concern that biological or chemical weapons could be used on the American (or any) population, but that just doesn't seem real. It should, I guess.
Besides numbness there is a feeling of helplessness overcoming me. An idea that I am awash in a tide whose course is predetermined and non-changeable - a tide unleashed by the American public and its allies in a united outcry, parroted back by the politicians and media (or is that the other way around?) and no matter what I may do or say we are all bound to crash into our "destiny" for better or worse - a destiny that could bring us into the most deadly war the world has ever seen. And to think, me, numb to it all.
If you missed it, please read
my post from Friday (especially the open letter from the Afghani-American writer Tamim Ansary).
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We have all seen the images of the terror by now. Here are some
images of support and love from around the world.
This post now seems far too shallow but it was written before the terrorist acts of earlier this week and I do really like the sites I have listed below. Many of the weblogs and sites featured below have their own personal expressions of their views and so it isn't entirely inappropriate.
blogdex - again I am behind the time somewhat.
The MIT Media Lab has been doing some crazy stuff with web logs. (you see I hate the term blog, it makes my teeth hurt) Anyway, in their words blogdex "focuses on the referential information provided by weblogs, or the links that people place on their sites. By amalgamating these pointers, we can get an instantaneous look at internet fashion from democratic means." It's "moving democratic media to the masses" and Alt Text is just one little democrat doing its part.
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I have been surfing:
Little. Yellow. Different. - not a link to the Nuprin site
Dancing Bush - not as exciting as it sounds
Suds and Soda - can't read it but I like how it looks
Struck By Lighting - don't wait till it happens to you
Movable Type - especially interesting considering
this project I am involved with.
Dollar Short - helps make Movable Type
A Whole Lotta Nothing - sure looks like a lot of something
Jish - apparently my
weblogger twin
Swallowing Tacks - too tired to come up with witty comment
Sometimes I wish I was popular. Then sometimes I wish I had more to say. I think if I had more to say and was more popular I wouldn't have any time to tell all you fine people any of it. That said - link to me or just go to bed. That's what I am doing.
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Alt Text on the go.
There is a new
mobile/text version of the site is available here. It is stripped down from what I had as a text version before and it works on my phone (which is my sole testing environment right now).
Yesterday's post mentioned 3 things that the U.S. and the rest of the world could do to stop terrorism and some bigger global issues. Today I would like to present some ideas for how we could go about doing these 3 things:
1. Focus on and solve the problem (i.e.. the hatred of the U.S.)
We as Americans have to be more conscious of how we act on the world stage. We are that 500 pound gorilla, always showing our strength and imposing our ideas. We need to deal with ourselves - make us better neighbors.
2. Find & punish the perpetrators of terrorism (all of them)
The U.S., its allies, and every other nation on earth should come to an agreement on terrorism and terrorists. Every nation should be vigilant in its efforts to root out and put down any terrorists within their borders. Failing to do this will result in strict penalties for the negligent countries. Privileges like the opportunity to fly planes into the "rule abiding" countries and economic sanctions are just a couple of the ways that we could put pressure on countries that are more friendly to terrorists types.
3. Solidify the alliances (and even unify) with the governments of the world
Finally, the most difficult task is to begin to make strides towards diminishing national and cultural borders. Much like how the European Union hopes to diminish economic borders in Europe, we must all work to reduce the misunderstandings and misinformation that causes tension today; create a new vision of a more unified and cooperative world for the near future; and actually start building the framework for a new world organization (can the United Nations ever be effective the way it stands now?) that will aid in governing and maintaining the world's population, ecosystem, and lasting peace.
Are these ideas utopian. They may appear that way. But they really aren't all that far-fetched. We may even see all three of these things begin to take shape in the next 20 years.
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I know others have linked to
this site.
These infographics are just too darn good at conveying complex info concisely. I had to offer it up for all of you.
The following is a forwarded letter I recieved yesterday. I think it really resonates with what I have been thinking the last couple days. It was written by Tamim Ansary an Afghani-American writer. Here is his take on Afghanistan and the whole mess we are in.
I've been hearing a lot of talk about "bombing Afghanistan back to the Stone
Age." Ronn Owens, on KGO Talk Radio today, allowed that this would mean
killing innocent people, people who had nothing to do with this atrocity, but
"we're at war, we have to accept collateral damage. What else can we do?"
Minutes later I heard some TV pundit discussing whether we "have the belly to
do what must be done."
And I thought about the issues being raised especially hard because I am from
Afghanistan, and even though I've lived here for 35 years I've never lost
track of what's going on there. So I want to tell anyone who will listen how
it all looks from where I'm standing.
I speak as one who hates the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. There is no doubt
in my mind that these people were responsible for the atrocity in New York. I
agree that something must be done about those monsters.
But the Taliban and Ben Laden are not Afghanistan. They're not even the
government of Afghanistan. The Taliban are a cult of ignorant psychotics who
took over Afghanistan in 1997. Bin Laden is a political criminal with a plan.
When you think Taliban, think Nazis. When you think Bin Laden, think Hitler.
And when you think "the people of Afghanistan" think "the Jews in the
concentration camps." It's not only that the Afghan people had nothing to do
with this atrocity. They were the first victims of the perpetrators. They
would exult if someone would come in there, take out the Taliban and clear
out the rats nest of international thugs holed up in their country.
Some say, why don't the Afghans rise up and overthrow the Taliban? The answer
is, they're starved, exhausted, hurt, incapacitated, suffering. A few years
ago, the United Nations estimated that there are 500,000 disabled orphans in
Afghanistan--a country with no economy, no food. There are millions of
widows. And the Taliban has been burying these widows alive in mass graves.
The soil is littered with land mines, the farms were all destroyed by the
Soviets. These are a few of the reasons why the Afghan people have not
overthrown the Taliban.
We come now to the question of bombing Afghanistan back to the Stone Age.
Trouble is, that's been done. The Soviets took care of it already. Make the
Afghans suffer? They're already suffering. Level their houses? Done. Turn
their schools into piles of rubble? Done. Eradicate their hospitals? Done.
Destroy their infrastructure? Cut them off from medicine and health care? Too
late. Someone already did all that.
New bombs would only stir the rubble of earlier bombs. Would they at least
get the Taliban? Not likely. In today's Afghanistan, only the Taliban eat,
only they have the means to move around. They'd slip away and hide. Maybe the
bombs would get some of those disabled orphans, they don't move too fast,
they don't even have wheelchairs. But flying over Kabul and dropping bombs
wouldn't really be a strike against the criminals who did this horrific
thing. Actually it would only be making common cause with the Taliban--by
raping once again the people they've been raping all this time.
So what else is there? What can be done, then? Let me now speak with true
fear and trembling. The only way to get Bin Laden is to go in there with
ground troops. When people speak of "having the belly to do what needs to be
done" they're thinking in terms of having the belly to kill as many as
needed. Having the belly to overcome any moral qualms about killing innocent
people. Let's pull our heads out of the sand. What's actually on the table is
Americans dying. And not just because some Americans would die fighting their
way through Afghanistan to Bin Laden's hideout. It's much bigger than that
folks. Because to get any troops to Afghanistan, we'd have to go through
Pakistan. Would they let us? Not likely. The conquest of Pakistan would have
to be first. Will other Muslim nations just stand by? You see where I'm
going. We're flirting with a world war between Islam and the West.
And guess what: that's Bin Laden's program. That's exactly what he wants.
That's why he did this. Read his speeches and statements. It's all right
there. He really believes Islam would beat the west. It might seem
ridiculous, but he figures if he can polarize the world into Islam and the
West, he's got a billion soldiers. If the west wreaks a holocaust in those
lands, that's a billion people with nothing left to lose, that's even better
from Bin Laden's point of view. He's probably wrong, in the end the west
would win, whatever that would mean, but the war would last for years and
millions would die, not just theirs but ours. Who has the belly for that? Bin
Laden does. Anyone else?
Tamim Ansary
What would take more courage - be harder to "belly up" for than not taking the easy way out and bombing and killing the Afghani people? How about changing the way we are viewed in the world by changing our actions and policies so that we are not seen as an imperialistic, oppressive bully the world over?
What to do then? We can't sit idly by you say? No we can't. But we must:
- Focus on and solve the problem (i.e.. the hatred of the U.S.)
- Find & punish the perpetrators of terrorism (all of them)
- Solidify the alliances (and even unify) with the governments of the world
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Why are Americans hated? Why can't we see why?
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A chart of the World Response to Tuesday's terror. This link is from the
World New York site which is a very good site for the continuing events in New York and elsewhere. This site was in turn shown to me by
Jason.
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It seems to me that whatever action the U.S. and its allies may take, it won't satisfy us. If Afghanistan delivers Osama bin Laden and his henchmen to us, they stand trial, are found guilty, and are executed it will not be enough. If Afghanistan does not give up Osama bin Laden and we bomb them over and over will this be enough? Hardly. No military action can ever
be enough. No amount of punishment can be dished out that will allow us to be ok with what happened - to feel vindicated. We, as Americans need to come to a resolution with our feelings long before we start looking for satisfaction with tanks, and bombs, and wars.
Feel like slinging around racial slurs? Wondering exactly what people mean when they say Arab? Generally ignorant about many of the world's cultures? Try
this guide to Arab Americans to learn more and not be ignorant about your fellow citizens or most of the other innocent Arab peoples of the world. [from
kottke.org]
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I am usually fiercely anti-nationalistic but in times like this I think that the people of the U.S. need something to rally around. I feel that the following tribute to our generosity and goodwill is warranted.
A
Canadian radio broadcast [
real audio] is being circulated in email circles yesterday and today in which
Gordon Sinclair (a Canadian) delivered one of the greatest tributes to the U.S. that it has received in its 200+ year history. Though most of the emails being sent around seem to imply that this was a current broadcast, in actuality it was given at the end of the Vietnam War in 1973. Gordon Sinclair later died in 1984. I thank him for this little shot in the arm to our spirits (mine at least).
Read more about this broadcast.
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I disagree with sentiments that things ought not resume as normal. Case in point, the NFL is considering canceling this weekend's games. The NFL Player's Association is
calling for the games to be cancelled or postponed. I think the games should go on, not because I am a big football fan but because I believe it would be bad for the nation if we continue to "give in" to the fears the terrorists are trying to instill. The more we cower the greater their victory is. The more we play right into their hands. We should stand up and say we are not afraid. We cannot (nor could ever) forget what has happened but we must heal and get beyond this anger and need for revenge. "An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind." - Mohandas Ghandi
After reading this last paragraph again, I am feeling really guilty. I have felt like "moving on" in most capacities since early yesterday - far too early after such a tragedy. I think it is my way of coping - think about something else - everything is fine. If I think about this too much I fear I may break down.
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What are you doing!?! - You want to spread fear and terror, too? You want to be just like those responsible for this tragedy?! What is wrong with you!? Spreading hatred against Muslims of the world isn't going to benefit anyone. Help make the world a safer place not one filled with more anger, violence, and terror!
I have to concur with
Jason that we should not make these recent terrorists acts a political issue or even a rallying point for our nation. This is a global issue - an issue for all humans. Making this an issue of the U.S. vs. anyone trivializes the event. We need to look at this and ask why this happens. Is this even a political issue? What religions actually say this is alright? What is at the heart of this and let's fix it. No more brokered peace accords between Palestinians and Israelis - this isn't going to work, Why do we keep trying to divide up lands and come to compromises when there is something underlying any talks that will not let them succeed. Figure this out. If it is purely fanaticism then what? How can you reason with unreasonable men?
Here is a
nice multimedia explanation of the events. [source:
kottke.org]
I quick walk around the neighborhood last night, confirms that we may have a reenactment of
scenes such as these. People are
lining up for blocks at all the local gas stations near my home in Minneapolis due to rumors of $5/gallon prices in the coming days.
Luckily the
lines at local blood banks are equally as long. Don't lose all your faith in humanity just yet.
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I wouldn't want to be living in Afghanistan during the coming weeks.
Bush's words made it clear that they would not be spared the U.S.'s wrath if they harbored any terrorists who were responsible for these actions.
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I am profoundly saddened today. What else can I say.
Here is a
link to Kottke and a great home video of the crash. As Jason suggests please go to the nearest hospital and donate blood if you can.
Cam World also has some good coverage of this event that is being likened to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Another link to CNN's coverage and other links available at
the Drudge Report
Plus:
Were we warned? Can we even consider the ramblings of fanatics as warnings?
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Recorded earlier:
Scott's got me worried, and that started me thinking, could I be one of those bastards he is writing of? He has been ignoring me a little of late. So I decided to write a list of my major faults and post them here for my own humility. It's only a list major faults because I think they are more "juicy" and interesting than the fact that I blow my nose too hard, or that I have a weird way of trying to "conserve" bits by reusing rather than deleting letters after I mistype. So here goes (and this is by
no means comprehensive):
- I am stubborn.
- I think I know something about everything, even though in reality I might just have second-hand knowledge of a subject, or have heard mention of a subject on NPR on the way into work and then get to mention said topic or issue in as many conversations as I can while attempting to seem smart or worldly.
- I sometimes feel like brooding, even though I rarely do.
- I am highly competitive and, related to this, I tend to make an ass out of myself when losing at any sport or competitive activity.
- I am far too materialistic. Why do I think I need things that I merely want? (I blame Microsoft)
- I am easy to get riled up. I get excited easily and anger without much provocation.
- I judge people almost instantly on only the most basic level of interaction between me and them.
- I swear too much.
- I think while I am speaking. Said otherwise, I often end up regretting the things I say because I tend to say things as they pop into my mind.
- I watch too much TV and then feel like I am worse for doing so. Like I am not one of those cool anti-TV people that read more and go outside. Damn those people! (see there I go with the swearing)
- I have little patience.
- I care way too much about my favorite sports teams winning.
- Maybe related - I don't do well when trying to deny myself something. (i.e. diets, budgets, etc.)
I could go on and on but I am starting to feel kind of down for some reason. Maybe I'll just go and brood about these faults. It's actually a wonder Scott ever liked me to begin with!
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<# of consecutive days eating just vegetables = 2> Ok so I slipped a little. It is hard to go camping and not eat meat. Everything that seems to cook well over a fire or on a stick seems to be related to the flesh of one animal or another. Couple this with a few of the faults listed above and you see why this is so damned hard! I am working on it.
A while back I made
a post about some recent changes in my "world view." These statements were, by design, broad, and vague. They were meant to illicit interest and provoke thinking. Today I am going to delve a little deeper. I am going to tell you that we, as humans, are not fundamentally flawed as many believe. We simply have a flawed way of looking at the world and our place in it.
A while back, nobody knows for sure when, maybe around 8000 B.C. or the time of the beginning of the "agricultural revolution" people of our culture (see definition below) decided that it was better to take charge of their food supply by planting, harvesting, and storing their own food. By doing this they could more easily survive droughts and lean times because of their food reserves. The people of our culture soon began to have far more food than they needed to live and were able to settle down in one place and make a lot of babies as a result. Whenever the population started to get close to the food producing capacity of the farmed land, more land was put under cultivation. For thousands of years we went on like this, grow more food, increase in numbers, repeat. This sounds like a good way to live and we (all of us in our culture) know that it is. In fact, we know that it is not only a good way to live but indeed the
right way to live. Whenever we encountered others living in a different way (i.e. herding, hunting/gathering, etc) we told them that they were living the
wrong way and taught them how to cultivate the land so that they too can live the way humans are supposed to live and not like the animals live. Most saw that the agriculturalists were well fed and had large numbers so they willingly joined in this "revolution." Those that chose not to were obviously fools or savages incapable of understanding "civilized" ways and so were overrun and destroyed. The thing is, however, that the "agricultural revolution" has not stopped. There are still remote regions with "backward" peoples who have yet to realize that they are living in an non-human, antiquated way. Our culture has strived to show them the right way or has pushed them into extinction in the trying. The result of our culture's insistence that the way we are living is
the one right way to live is an ever increasing global population with an ever decreasing level of bio-diversity. More and more of the world is being rendered nothing more than a human life-support system: lands under plow for our consumption, animal herds being raised for our foods and products, and the rest being polluted by our ever-increasing need to consume. As many as 200 species become extinct,
every day to support our ways. As any ecologist will tell you, a diverse ecology is a strong ecology while an ecology that consists of only a few organisms (like say, humans, their crops, their herd animals, and the crops used to feed them) is a very fragile one. Diversity then, isn't something that is nice, or something to be strived for because it is more interesting to have. No, diversity is essential to our survival as a species on this planet. The quicker we consume enough species on this planet, the sooner we will destroy ourselves. What is the name for our culture then? The Consumers, and it includes nearly every man, woman, and child on earth.
Much of these ideas came from my reading of Daniel Quinn's books. For those interested in learning more of these types of ideas and views I encourage you to read
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. After that, read other books, and keep reading and thinking, and gradually change your actions, and the way you live. Become happier and more content, show others how to live. If reading isn't your bag or if you would simply like to discuss some of the things I have written please
write to me. Also, I am by no means done with this rant.
After extended research on a road trip this weekend I just have to voice my outrage over a current and insidious trend in the fast food service world. What is this trend? Not giving or offering ketchup when you order fries. What's the deal with this? Doesn't everyone get ketchup with fries? Why make us ask for this, America's favorite condiment?
I have gone "up north" this weekend, which, when translated from Minnesotan means up to a lake, river, or other place suitable for camping or staying in a cabin in Minnesota north of the Twin Cities (also called Minneapolis/St. Paul).
Blocking ads seems to be all the rage these days. I don't think people have less patience, I think advertisers have been looking for (and found) more persistent types of web advertising mechanisms. So, as the popup ad (which I thought to be dying a slow death) makes its exceedingly annoying comeback, consumers keep coming up with ways to thwart them.
Here are two sites that can help you deflate the popups:
Web Ad Blocking Under Linux/Unix, BeOS, MacOS and Windows [source:
Brett Daniel]
PanicWare.com also has solutions to stop popups. [source:
Newsweek]
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Here is another
nice CSS(2) resource that shows many browsers and which declarations work for which. [source:
Brett Daniel]
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I wish TIVO didn't need a phone line. I really do not want a phone line. I really want to cancel my local phone service and just use wireless phones but that cute little box called TIVO is standing in my way. TIVO just would be the same without all the program info that it downloads weekly (or is it nightly). I have looked into satellite service but it still looks like they recommend a phone line. Damn.
A funny thing: yesterday, I had sort of an awakening. I was thinking about what I may be hungry for and it occurred to me that I had no desire to eat meat; not then or ever again. The thought of eating meat actually repulsed me. Until now I had always desired to be a vegetarian but the thought of BBQ's and steak houses was always present and oh so alluring. This was different now I think I actually have a chance to stick to not eating meat for a while. I will keep everyone posted on my "progress". Incidentally I was standing in line at Taco Bell when I had this breakthrough. I wonder how many other vegetarians Taco Bell has created over the years.
<# of days eating just vegetables = 1>
Ben, what are some other sites you have been visiting recently? Glad you asked because I have been surfing a lot more lately and would like to point out some of my recent finds.
Dooce - Damn funny accounts of hick relatives just like mine
bluish orange - I like the old design better :(
If Then Else - Portuguese and proud of it.
boing boing
Ok so I haven't had a ton of time to read online, but I am working on it. I have been sawing, hammering, and building things lately, ya know.
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Word for the Day:
misanthropy - Hatred or mistrust of humankind.
I don't hate people (enough) to call myself a misanthrope but I like saying it all the same.
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And finally, this is THE last plug for
Alt Text t-shirts. All orders are going to be processed tomorrow.
Asian Bastard returns in style with co-host Alan Thicke to bring us
Thicke of the Night. I love this site. Asian Bastard is so god-dammed funny. (also making a return:
BitchQuick)
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Somewhat related:
AllLookSame.com offers a test for you to take to see if you can tell which people are Chinese, Korean, or Japanese based upon their photos. I always thought I could at least tell Japanese from the Koreans/Chinese. My pathetic score of 5 clearly indicated that I cannot.
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On a serious note, Pauline Kael whom I hadn't heard of before this week died. She was a movie critic and my new hero in that regard. After reading some of her reviews from past issues of the
New Yorker I can say that I love her style and the passion with which she wrote. I am going to try to emulate her in my movie reviewing endeavors from now on. Boy, I can't wait till my writing skills catch up to what I want to say.
It's hard to feel manly in today's society. In an age of mocha chino lattes and Palm Pilots, there are few true bastions of machismo left in America. Sure there's football and wrestling but now even these have been neutered - Dennis Miller and all those female wrestlers, I mean come on. There is NASCAR but that is just a little *too* macho, if you know what I mean. So are there any hope for those who wish to emulate the cowboys and construction workers of yesteryear? Yes there is, and it isn't by joining a revival of the Village People. Nope, its home improvement - more specifically - tools.
Because of my recent home projects (see yesterday's post) I have now been added to the ranks of all the manly men who own and use a workbench, circular saw, clamps, and even a t-square. Yes siree, Jena's not gonna recognize the burly, lumberjack-esque (please someone tell me how to spell esque - that word that means "to be like" something, and usually thrown on the end of a word where it has no place being much like in this sentence.) man she married just 3 years ago. Argh argh argh.
Painting and flooring our living room and dining room today. I didn't know labor day weekend would include so much labor. Nothing much else to report. Go outside!
In the spirit of all the polling-goodness happening over at
bitterpill lately, (Have I mentioned that Mark is a very funny guy?) I am asking you all to answer a little poll of my own as a thinly-veiled ploy to push more
Alt Text t-shirts before the order goes to the printer. Get them while you can cause this is a one-time run sort of thing.
Did I mention the
t-shirts I have for sale? Don't stop at just one. These babies will be collector's items soon.
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Have you heard what
McDonald's is doing to help its image after the
Monopoly game fiasco? Just show up at any McDonald's location between now and Labor Day and you could win $1,000,000 just for being there. You don't have to buy anything.
See the details.
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Alt Text gives
a fond farewell to some of my childhood companions: Daniel, King Friday, Lady Elaine Fairchild, X the owl, Mr. McFeely, and of course
Mr. Rogers himself.
If you have never been, the
Minnesota State Fair would probably seem like any other state or county fair or carnival you may have been to, only larger. But if you grew up near the fair, and had your parents bring you each year to gorge on deep fried things on sticks, you would know that it is oh so much more.
Sure to the uninitiated it seems like a crowded, sweaty, smelly place to drink cheap beer and grease-filled food. To those who know it however, and know all of its intricacies, it becomes a place that is crowded, sweaty, smelly, filled with cheap bear and greasy food, of course, but also a wondrous place teeming with toothless carnies calling out your manhood to entice you to "win yer lady" a sawdust-filled bear; a place to actually witness the last shred of dignity leave the bodies of countless aging rock & roll acts making a last ditch tour through the Midwest before finally drifting off where only the stories they tell their grandkids remind them of when they were once really hip, honest.
Sure you may not hold much interest in this year's prize-winning sow or the latest in farming implements, but who can withstand the draw of thousands of drunk people stepping on your heels and spilling their favorite grain-derived beverage on your pants, not to mention the endless barrage of rhetoric from the multitudes of media outlets, political parties, and countless products vying for your collective, patronage, support, dollars, etc? Can you really ask for anything more?
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A
lesson in economics for today's investor. I bet a lot of dot comers wish they had that beer investment right about now.
Oops, I guess I shouldn't have sent all that money back. Just days after most Americans have received their federal tax refund checks, Bush looks stupid again by stating that they will
need to "borrow" $9 billion from Social Security because the government won't have enough money to run. This folly is one in a string that will go to ensure that when I retire I will be S.O.L. if I had planned on relying on the all the money I will be putting in to Social Security over the years.
In other news: the administration's decision to
"boycott" the 'U.N. conference on racism because of language critical of Israel, the State Department said Monday.' In other words our leaders are children. Instead of coming together to have dialog about the world's race relations, they are "taking their ball and going home" because someone said something to hurt our friend's feelings.
From those that brought you that CoWA fresh feeling comes the new
Bitterpill survey generator. Now you can have poppin fresh surveys on your site each day with very little effort. As a testament to the fact that any lazy bastard can set one up, I give to you this survey masquerading as today's content:
I don't trust people who's musical tastes have stopped growing. I used to not trust people who I didn't know or who offered me candy. Later I was wary of smokers thanks to the
Jets, but later became mistrustful of the Jets, too. Now I mainly only mistrust politicians and people who talk about business strategy and synergy.
Oh yeah and I mistrust Microsoft, and organized religion, and the big media conglomerates that play all this crap on the radio. Radio? you say? What is radio? Well, kids, radio is something that, once upon a time, would seek out (or be sought out) musical talents for the purposes of providing entertainment to its listeners, attract more listeners, and ultimately make money via the advertisement dollars brought in by companies wishing to sell said listeners products and services. Not the noblest of professions but still nothing like the evil industry that it has become today.
Now radio, after years and years of research into the music preferences of the American public, these media companies have found 2 things to be true (in general of course): 1. People like to have music chosen for them. It is simpler that way. 2. People will like a song after 10 exposures that they did not like after just 1 or 2. By combining these 2 facts (backed up by extensive research) we get what we have today: radio stations playing the same 30-50 songs (that all follow a specific format and are of certain styles) in heavy rotation, building a loyal following of "fans". And after years and years of consolidation and mergers there are only like, 6 media companies that own *all* the radio stations in the country. What are we left with? Is all hope lost for those who would seek out good music? A few independent radio stations, the Web, and our friends' collections, is all.
In its own small way
GarageBand.com tries to correct some parts of this problem.
GarageBand.com allows visitors to rank and review independent bands and provides these bands with money in some cases to produce and distribute their albums based upon these reviews. A neat idea if they don't just become another label adding to the problem. [Source:
MPR: Marketplace]
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On another, wholly unrelated note,
goodbye and good riddance.
There are some good, new things over at
A List Apart this month. These things include
Practical CSS Layout Tips, Tricks, and Techniques and an
interesting commentary on
some pacts/treaties that could change the way the Web works for everyone.
In
this month's Wired there is a great article about quantum computing. For years now, I have yearned for computer makers to ditch the x86 architecture and start fresh without all that baggage. I never thought of such a change in architecture as anything more than a new kind of processing with the same types of parts. Mostly silicone, metal, plastics, and the like.
In the field of quantum computing the materials that are to be used are still way up in the air. But one of the most interesting methods of constructing such a computer is "...a system of electrons floating on the surface of superfluid helium at very low temperatures." These electrons called quantum bits or qubits, in their lowest energy state represent 0 and in their first excited state represents 1. The system is cooled down to .01 Kelvin, where helium is the only substance that remains liquid.
Computers like this can do some very powerful computations with amazing results. The example they gave in the article was that if they could create an array of 333 of these electron size qubits they could perform simultaneous operations on every number between 1 and a googol (10
100 which is a number considerably larger than the number of atoms in the universe). For today's fastest supercomputers it would take several quadrillion years to do simple computations on the same range of numbers. Wow! How do they do this? In part it is due to the fact that a qubit doesn't need to choose between 0 and 1; it can be both at once.
Homework:
-
Stanford, Berkeley, MIT, IBM NMR Quantum Computation Project
-
Center for Quantum Computation
-
Quantum Computation/Cryptography at Los Alamos
-
A Hitchhikers Guide to Quantum Computing
By popular demand I have added 2 new options to for your t-shirt shopping pleasure. You may now
order each of the two shirts designs in plain white 100% ring spun heavyweight cotton. So for those who may not be as hip and happening as the rest, go nuts and
fill up on all the white Alt Text t-shirts you can stuff into that heaping pile of stinky laundry.
Part of the "world view" that I once had, always focused on the idea that the because the world is so full of injustices, there can be no deity looking in on us that would allow this to happen. Starving children, chemical weapon use, another year of Everybody Loves Raymond; I just could see these types of things as fair and so, concluded that there was no god. Although I am no closer to a definition of what any underlying force or spirit may look or be like like (or even that such a thing exists) I now know that my previous reasons for disbelief were marred by a lack of understanding of our place in the world.
Humans we’re not put here to suffer by some unjust god, nor are we, each fundamentally flawed in some way that we cannot correct, and thus forced to live in subjection and suffering. The only problem with us is that we have all* chosen to live in a way that is inconsistent with happiness and true prosperity.
Sure some of us have nice cars, homes, jets, or even our own software monopolies. Some of us even manage to be happy, usually by doing something they love with people they love. Unfortunately most people in the world are struggling, some are starving, and many are even dying. Why? Are those who don’t have enough to eat lazy? Are those who are struggling to make it, just fundamentally not as good as those who have money, cars, homes, and software monopolies? Would it surprise you if I said no? It would surprise many. Our culture “speaks” to us from the day we are born. What does it say? It tells us that “we are to do better than our parents” and “it’s the survival of the fittest” or “anyone can be the next Bill Gates if they work hard at it” and “get a job you lazy bum.” And what do I say? Its all been lies. It isn’t lazy to not want to work even 30 hours a week. It’s not un-American to scoff at capitalism and state that there is a better way to live. It isn’t right that we keep all the world’s food under lock and key and state to those wanting some that they must “work an honest days work” to be fed. To grow and grow is not the goal of our civilization.
I am just getting started here. Stay tuned.
*I will define my use of ALL in this case in future posts.
Why is it that a dog can pee wherever he wants to in public yet a person cannot? Why should dogs and other creatures be afforded these freedoms when we must be subjected to finding a bathroom?
I have been doing a lot of reading lately –— the offline, analog sort of reading –— I think they call them books. Anyways, I have been reading and thinking and thinking and reading. I have some great stories to tell. Stories of how our culture came to be, what story we have been enacting as a culture for the past 10,000 years and why we have to stop enacting it or die out.
A couple of the books I would
recommend implore that you read are
Ishmael by Daniel Quinn and
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins.
If you read these books you will most assuredly change the way you view
How things came to be this way and humanity's role on the earth. Next up for me? Searching for a way to let others in on what I have come to know.
Whenever I get home from the grocery store I, invariably, find that I have purchased some slightly too ripe produce or a bag of some fruit where some of it really shouldn't be eaten. I suppose I should spend some more time picking out better quality produce, but then I would be spending more time picking out better quality produce.
As promised (or threatened) you can now
order your very own Alt Text t-shirt. In 2 colors and a variety of sizes, Alt Text t-shirts are sure to make you the life of the party. At least if the party is full off geeks and nerds, doing geeky and nerd-like things. I am hoping to have them sent out to you within 2-3 weeks assuming I get 15-20 orders in the next couple days. Throw on a robe or towel in the meantime. So act now while supplies last!
Sorry about the recent lack of posts. I have been busy catching up from my trip to Chi-Town. Here is how the
t-shirt voting has gone so far:
- Street Signs: 33 votes
- Old Alt Text: 24 votes
- Lifeguard: 11 votes
- Collegiate: 10 votes
- Cowboy: 7 votes
- 1984: 6 votes*
I think I will end up getting two shirts printed - Street Signs and Old Alt Text. Then I will have done my part. It will be up to you all to buy them. I will sell them for $12 a piece plus the actual shipping costs I incur. (so if you want me to ship to Portugal or Germany, I will but you pay) Most shipping within the continental U.S. shouldn't be more than $5 or so). I will begin taking orders for these shirts tomorrow. Once I get 20 or so orders I will have them made and shipped out. So let's say I get a bunch of orders by this Thursday or Friday - I estimate that I can have your brand spankin' new Alt Text t-shirts by the 24th of August (just 2 weeks)!
* One thing to note is that people liked the barcode deal on 1984, so I am thinking about replacing the back of the Old Alt Text shirt with it.
My trip to the Radiohead concert in Chicago last week was memorable for more that just the great concert. It just so happened that I found myself in the company of a dozen or so Jehovah’s Witnesses for the most of the trip. Those of you who know me (and perhaps most of you who don't) are probably asking yourself how I would have gotten myself into such a position? Or perhaps that I might be in need of emergency deprogramming right about now. Well assuage your fears as I actually had quite a good time. Pointing out that I was the only non-Witness, one of my traveling companies asked if it wasn’t most people’s nightmare’s to be stuck in a van for 6 hours with nothing but Jehovah’s Witnesses. A couple years back I might have said yes to that, but now, thanks to the coolness of the group, I have been able to see “the inside” so to speak, that few get to see. And although I *would* consider converting just to hang out with the group some more, I think that it may be unlikely that we could reconcile our beliefs enough for that to become a reality. Moral of my story? Don’t hide behind the couch when you get that knock on the door. Even if you don’t buy everything (or anything) that the person is saying, it will at least be a chance to meet a very nice person and have a good discussion.
sorry for the outage the other day. our access provider was getting hit with some virus of some sort.
Also don't forgot to
vote for your favorite
t-shirt!
It is simply awesome to go to a concert where you know every song in the band's set. It is even better when that band is Radiohead. Wednesday's Radiohead concert was the best large venue concert I have ever attended. Not only was the band in great spirits, but the live video editing and set were incredible. Even the people in the crowd were into it. All 30,000 of them.
Some of the highlights for me were:
- No Surprises - the crowd really started to get into it; singing
along and such
- Before Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box when Thom made fun
of George Bush.
- The entire crowd signing "it wears me out" and the rest of the amazing rendition of Fake Plastic Trees
- Thom jumping around during Idioteque and his energy spilling out over the crowd and filling them with it.
- I guess it was the 4th time ever that they played True Love Waits live - and he did it acoustically.
- During You & Whose Army? and some other songs Thom made some great faces into the camera mounted on his piano - at one point in the song pointing back over his shoulder and motioning to the audience as his army - it was so cool.
- Street Spirit was such a sweet song to end on.
Radiohead has so many good songs that some are bound to be left out. Some of the missing songs I really would have liked to hear were:
Let Down,
High and Dry,
Exit Music For a Film,
Just, and
Killer Cars. And of course they didn't play Creep in spite of all of our praying for rain and technical difficulties.
I am off to Chicago today for a Radiohead concert. I am really psyched up for it. While I am away I have a task for you. Please go and view
this page and help me to decide on a t-shirt design for the upcoming Alt Text world tour. Be sure to give me any additional feedback on the shirts, too. Thanks all, I will post the results when I return and probably make a decision in a week or so as to which shirt designs I will have made.
A better movie than last night's trip to the
Planet of the Apes was
Final Fantasy: The Spirit Within. I didn't have very high hopes for this film, save for the great animation. As it turned out, I wasn't disappointed with the animation and the story was pretty good too. That's not to say that there was nothing wrong with this movie, it's just that there was more good than bad.
The good:
- Obviously the animation was excellent. By far the most realistic I have seen. Critics like to point out the flaws they saw like how the characters faces have a tough time portraying emotions and that the lips don't exactly match the voiceovers, and these are valid points. What I found so amazing however, is how close current animation technology is to actually being able to fool the viewer. Indeed by the halfway point of
Final Fantasy I had forgotten that the actors were not living actors. Sure I knew they weren't but that point ceased to be relevant. Some say that animated characters will never be able to replace real, flesh and blood, actors. While that may be true, the only reason it would be is the cost prohibitiveness of creating the animated actors. I have no doubt in my mind that the future of animation holds nearly identical representations of us. To think otherwise would be shortsighted.
- The tale behind the story was interesting and actually had me wishing they would go into it in greater detail.
- Final Fantasy presented a science fiction backdrop that was both interesting and really cool. I have been bemoaning the dearth of true science fiction films that have been released in recent years, but the technologies and gadgets displayed in this movie were great. The state of the human race was well-depicted and the "supernatural/spiritual" element of the story wasn't spelled out for us in some elementary manner.
What was bad then? There were a just a couple things:
- I thought the casting left something to be desired. I thought Donald Sutherland and James Woods were good choices for their roles, and Ving Rhames was also well cast. I was neutral with Ming-Na in the lead roll of Dr. Aki Ross, but think perhaps another actor could have lent more to the performance. Steve Buscemi (who I usually love) was more of a distraction as the comic relief character and Alec Baldwin was simply terrible as the love interest for the heroine. Not that he did such a bad job, but he simply didn't seem to fit in this role.
- I wish they would have gone into greater detail about some of the supernatural things in the film and also developed the characters to a greater extent.
I just saw the
Planet of the Apes and the only thing I can think of to say is,
huh? I consider myself of above average intelligence and a true lover of cinema but I just don't get a lot of things about this movie. I didn't get how Tim Burton can keep making such poor films. I don't get how anyone could see this movie as an improvement upon the original (even though it isn't supposed to be a remake). I don't get what happened to Mark Wahlberg's acting ability that he showed in
Boogie Nights. And I especially do not get the ending of this movie, and like I said I think I am reasonably smart.
Just to be clear, I did not think that this version of
Planet of the Apes was a good movie. It didn't have the character development, strong storyline, or superb special effects needed to find itself in that category. I am not one of those critics that needs every film I see to be superbly written, or of epic scale, or be spoken in a foreign language to garner my praise, but I am someone who needs a little more "entertainment" for my movie dollar than what
Apes was able to provide.
Though I can't tell if they are saying anything bad about me I am apparently "big" in Portugal (
inner-me.com &
If Then Else) and Germany (
dienstraum &
Chez Lubacov. The language barrier doesn't stop me from seeing that both these sights have nice designs and seem to be updated regularly.
Although there is obviously so much more I could say about race relation in the U.S. I am going to close out this week's discussion with a
link to the photographs of Charles Moore's from the "Civil Rights era" (as if it has ended or something). "Seldom, if ever, has a set of photographs had such an immediate impact on the course of history."
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Switching now from a very important topic to one that is very frivolous... a while back, years ago actually, I switched from carrying my wallet in my back pants pocket to carrying it in the front. I cannot remember the exact circumstances that caused me to make this change, but I think it had to do with it being harder to pick-pocket when I was traveling abroad.
As it turns out, I can never go back to my rear wallet wearing practices. It is simply too inconvenient and uncomfortable to have that thing sitting back there on my ass. In addition to the added security and accessibility that carrying my wallet in the front pocket affords, it also is much more comfortable. My questions are then, how is it that so many people carry their wallets behind them? How did the practice begin? And why would anyone want their jeans to get that "wallet mark" worn into them?
I have been posting this week about racism. I have written primarily about society's problems; the current situation. Do I plan to continue posting about race relations in the U.S. until I have documented all of the ills that have befallen the victims of racism? Hardly. Am I going to come to some conclusion that offers a solution to the problems presented here? Well, no. But what I would like to do is offer one simple treatment that we could all apply in our daily lives. What is it? Break down barriers between yourself and others. Do anything you can to lessen the distance between you and those around you; to lessen the disparity between who you are and who people see you as. Talk to those you see every day; listen. Try hugging a friend in greeting or patting the shoulder of someone who has just accomplished something. If small things can be done to break down the barriers that we each put up, then it becomes much less daunting when we start to tackle the tougher problems that have formed from centuries of ignorance and mistrust.
Many people say racism is about how people are treated. If that is the case then I think I am alright as I don't think I really treat people all that differently based upon their race (at least not in ways that matter much). What worries me, however, is the idea that racism is more in how we think. Unfortunately, I still think about people of color differently; here's what I mean:
If I meet a black person, I always have a thought in my mind that I don't want them to construe anything I do or say as being prejudicial. In my mind then, I am constantly aware that that person is black (at least until I know them well enough to forget that). I don't like that nagging awareness. I don't want it to matter and I don't want my actions to be altered based upon those thoughts. This being the case, I tend to do things like smile at black people on the street more than I do to white people, or make a greater attempt to converse with people of color than I do with their white counterparts.
I don't like these things about me. I feel tremendous guilt about being this way, but I don't know how to combat these thoughts. This is not to say that I think I am abnormal in some way, because I feel that most "non-racist" people tend to have similar thoughts, although that could just be me projecting on the rest of the population.
I can at least feel good knowing that I care and I try, which is far more than I can say for the many
ignorant hate mongers out there. One interesting thing about the link in the previous sentence is that it is the actual site of real short-wave radio show that is broadcast in over 50 countries. Their tagline "Bringing American-Style talk radio to 50 countries around the world!" could, perhaps, be modified slightly to be more accurate: "Bringing American-Style ignorance, insensitivity, and hate to 50 countries around the world!"
Because the racism/discrimination/prejudice discussion may be on a temporary hiatus today, I have a special treat for you instead: the first Alt Text episode in over two years. It's called
information. I hope you enjoy it.
Is it coincidence that ABCNews ran
an article yesterday about the sometimes racially charged environment that we call America? Well, yes, but does its timeliness not underscore the fact that I have my pasty white fingers on the pulse of the nation? I think it may.
The article brings to light that some small gestures and comments can be construed as racist or at least insensitive to many. Here are some of the examples they gave: Long haired white women may unknowingly insult nearby black women as they can perceive the action as a slight on their own hair, or (as in the classic scene from
Office Space) how reaching over and locking your car door when you see a black man at an upcoming intersection can be sending a clear message to him that he is to be feared.
The overarching question then, is are we too sensitive about race in this country? I think the answer to that depends upon the color of your skin. Whites may tend to say yes, however most lack the perspective to know what racial discrimination is even about. Blacks, Hispanics, and those of Asian decent experience discrimination and prejudices every day. The effects of all of those questions, fearful glances, and overt actions take their toll on a person and forever change them. Few white people (particularly white men) in America have experienced these types of feelings and so they may simply shrug off the cries of the minorities as them merely being angry or not letting go of the past; a past that, unfortunately for those being judged and put down, far too often mirrors their present.
The concept of a melting pot is often used to describe the multicultural society that we have in the U.S. Protractors often cite that that means homogenizing the population and thus erasing differences (and difficulties) through assimilation, both culturally and physiologically. Their idea is that the U.S. is more like a salad bowl, where each ingredient still lends its own flavor to the whole but retains its identity. Me, I can't decide which of these things to swallow?
The melting pot idea was one of the things that allowed me to get a little nationalistic from time to time, because I really liked the idea of different races and cultures coming together - taking the best parts of each. Biology backs this idea up with separated gene pools each adapting and evolving the best traits they can in isolation. Then when those previously isolated pools mix the results are that the best genes of each pool tend to get passed on, creating better and better offspring with the addition of more and more gene pools. (Plus have you seen these kids? They are beautiful!)
It used to seem pretty clear to me that the evolutionary advantages to mixing us all together outweighed any loss of
culture that would be experienced. After all I am American, I had no culture to begin with. Until I realized that each culture on the planet has a unique set of ways in which they view the world and so by losing a culture or language we lose a perspective forever.
So is it better not to melt together to retain our cultural identities, or try to retain those identities while still attempting to have more multi-cultural pairings? Is that even possible? I dunno.
In a not-so-recent
episode of Oprah (actually from 1992) the studio audience was part of an exercise; an exercise that they were not told about. It was all part of the fun on the Oprah show as former school teacher turned diversity trainer,
Jane Elliott performed the exercise she first did with grade school students in 1968.
This is how it went: Everyone was asked to be to the show 2 hours early. When they arrived, they were sorted based upon the color of their eyes. Brown-eyed folks were sent in to a catered room where they were seated and given breakfast, while those with blue eyes were made to stand while waiting. As the brown-eyed people filed in to the show, the blue-eyed folks were told that they must wear green collars or be forced to leave. The Oprah staff was told to act courteous and helpful to those with brown eyes and rude and condescending to those with blue.
When the show began Jane Elliot was introduced as having discovered previously unknown links between scholastic aptitude and eye color and was there on the show to talk about her findings that blue-eyed people were generally lazier, slower to learn, and rude.
As the show progressed the people with blue eyes grew increasingly agitated and angry with what they saw as unfair treatment and were soon yelling in true daytime talk show style. The surprising thing is was how the brown-eyed people began yelling and putting down the blue-eyed ones simply from the suggestion that they were not as good as them.
This show obviously uncovered some facets of prejudice and discrimination that these people weren't ready for; and some that I was not aware of (or closer to the truth), or hadn't thought of in some time. In light of this new consciousness I am experiencing, I have decided to make a couple post this week that have a theme along these same lines.
I have added some new links on the left. They are all pretty good quality and I am currently thoroughly enjoying them.
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I am not sure if the logo for
this company would really make it through any trademark infringment case brought against them by
Warner Bros.
Today has not been a good day. Between our servers getting hacked, a worm virus getting dropped on us, and a SSL certificate expiring and thus taking down hosting services I am about at the end of my rope with technological advancement.
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I finally got around to seeing
A Thin Red Line and was surprised by how beautiful the film was. It was both visually stunning and introspective. If this film had not come out in the shadow of
that other WWII movie I think people would have thought much more highly of it. Sure this film wasn't as technically stunning or make you feel what it was really like to be in the heat of a battle - but it didn't try to either; preferring rather to concentrate on the human condition as a compliment and foil to the natural world. As a "story" I felt that Red Line delivered more powerfully that Private Ryan even though it did so in a more disjointed way.
I got a thought after visiting
techno-weenie.com and seeing
this post: Napster got sued for providing a location where people could come and trade music files while libraries also allow for the sharing of copywritten materials (Books, CD's, and Videos) yet haven't been shut down yet. Should we all just get Napster Cards? Is all the fuss cause we can't return the files after they are downloaded? I would be interested in statistics regarding book sales after they are rented from the library vs. CD sales after someone downloads the songs via a Napster-like program. I would bet money that more people are buying the CD's. Of course people also tend to listen to a CD more times then they read a book, but I don't like to get bogged down in details when I am making these kind of points.
Camping in Minnesota in the height of summer isn't all it's cracked up to be. Sure there is the fresh air, the campfires, and the being closer to nature, but there is also the inescapable heat/humidity and the nearly as inescapable mosquitoes and horse flies. I have heard that camping in the mountains doesn't have these sort of trials and tribulations. Damn the mountains, damn them all to hell!
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Microsoft likes to improve its products. That is probably true for most companies. Why is it that Microsoft's improvements are always viewed as evil somehow? The
new version of IE (6 Preview) is no exception. From a visual design sense I really do not like some of the new "improvements" such as the
Auto Image Resize - how is a designer supposed to keep any integrity in her design if the browser allow this type of image manipulation? And I don't really like the idea of all these new icons (
Smart Tags &
Auto Image Resize) and menus (
Image Toolbar) showing up on sites I create. Full support for DOM 1/CSS 1 is a big plus however (but weren't they supposed to have that in 5? I am not sure what to think yet. Are these enhancements more of a pain? Do they add value to the user? The
LemurZone sure doesn't think so.
On a somewhat related note:
I used to be so impressed with the CSS and HTML resources available at the MSDN site Microsoft had, and the site in general. Now they went and changed it all and I can't find anything, plus it is way slower now with al their fancy, smancy rollover effects, etc. I can find info on MSHTML, though, thank god!
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Speaking of god. I remember my first
day that counted. Good times. 27 million people who classify themselves as atheists, agnostics, freethinkers, and secular humanists - that number seems really low. Does this include people who just don't know? What about those that don't care? What about those that go to church once a year and say they believe in god but really have no idea what that means?
Why do these "Freethinkers" need a organization like this? Why this "Day that Counts"? I always thought that even though our currency says "In God We Trust", our judicial system makes us swear on the Bible, and our Pledge of Allegiance speaks of "One nation under God" that America was pretty secular. Most people I know are pretty much secular even though they may say they believe in
something.
The site claims that we are on the verge of getting slapped with a "Religion Tax" where we will be paying taxes to "fund faith-based social programs across the country." The site goes on to say that many states and cities "are using public money to operate so-called 'faith-based partnerships' with religious organizations." and that the "federal faith-based office czar John DiIulio declared that Americans...should pay for the physical maintenance and operation of houses of worship, so they may expand their religion-based social outreaches."
First off, there is a federal faith-based office czar? What is that? Second, I don't mind paying for social programs, but I may mind paying for the social programs that could be run by religious groups. Why? Because I don't think religious groups always focus on the correct problems. For example, a group using funds to educate youths on sex and disease may omit certain viewpoints on the use of contraception, or add undue guilt on young folks for partaking in such activities. I don't think religious guilt or partial dissemination of information is the best use of my tax dollars.
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Don't have your mother to pour you that glass of orange juice in the morning? Now you can
wear your vitamin C. (or at least in 2002 you will be able to)
I hadn't even heard of
this until now. I hope he is ok.
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On a serious note people,
do not leave you kids in the car. There seems to be a whole lot of this going around. So much so that
car manufacturers are now testing a set of sensors that could detect the breathing of a child (or pet I assume), monitor the temperature and alert passersby or caregivers.
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Looks like another case of
history repeating as 800 "witches" are killed in Congo.
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ActiveBuddy has produced a service that ties into the major instant messaging programs as well as wireless devices to deliver "intelligent" information based upon questions you ask it. I couldn't find any other agents, but they have created one for RadioHead name GooglyMinotaur. You can ask him all about the band, but also about movies in your area, music news, and even your horoscope. Soon there will be stock quote bots, news bots, and many more. [source:
Kottke.org]
I think this is a really good application of internet technologies, but this really brings into focus on of the main problems with information deliver via the web - inconsistent delivery vehicles. I should have to have a "browser application"
and a chat application,
and an email application,
and and a media playing application. I think that these features should somehow be served out of one application, or I guess in Microsoft's view out of no application but their OS and some choice Office programs (see .Net). As a side note on that open sourcer's,
Ximian announces their own
Mono Project that follows along the same lines as .Net and will compete directly with it if Linux ever catches on as a mainstream OS. [original source:
Newsweek]
...these are not among them:
- Footballs used to be made out of real pigskin. PETA and other animal anti-cruelty groups should oppose these most despicable objects. They represent death in more ways than one.
- People watching football eat unhealthy foods, especially teenagers.
- Football artificial turf is not environmentally green. It merely gives the illusion of being a natural sport. Football is in reality most unnatural, and deadly.
- Football scoreboards cause eyestrain, therefore further making football an unhealthy and unnatural sport.
- Football fields are not metric. Another instance of American foulness and ignorance.
- Most football insignia and mascots are politically incorrect and designed to promote hatred of other races or animals. There we find that the Deadly Sport really thrives on hatred.
- Boys playing football are encouraged to slap each other on the butt. Here's an article about a town that requires a license to dance, because "Dancing is one of those things that entices. It imitates sexual contact."
- The football industry lures even the smallest children into violence, by selling nerf footballs.
- The football leagues have resisted every common sense effort to design a safer football. They persist in using bi-pointed forms, which not only can make someone blind, but has obvious phallic symbolism.
In fact, these are much more likely, the tongue-in-cheek ramblings of a crazy Frenchman, than sound reasons against football.
From
this page at this site
www.footballkills.org by the Citizens United Against Football. [source:
Camworld]
Now, I am not saying that the designers of
the new ad critic site are avid readers of alt text but, it looks like they like the look of some of the elements. Hmm? I need to redesign soon.
After hearing about
this show and seeing
Jason's account of it I felt incredibly left out. First to be graced with smashing good looks and then being able to attend a Radiohead concert in Oxford, damn that
Jason leads a charmed life. He has inspired me both to get a haircut and endeavor to try to get tickets for their sold out August 1st show in Chicago.
I just got back from the
Travis concert tonight (which most people would probably call the
Dido concert, but that was just a bonus for me). I can't think of another band to come out of Scotland, but Travis did, all the same. I liked every song in the set and have been enjoying their second album for several months now. I find myself describing them as a cross between Radiohead and Oasis, but I am not sure if that really pinpoints their sound. It's close enough though; and close enough to Radiohead means they are damn good.
Inmate tosses poo, gets meal at McDonald's.
On a related note:
Since 1950, Americans alone have used more resources than:
- everyone who ever lived before them
- the combined Third World populations
- the Romans at the height of the Roman Empire
- all of the above
Answer: d. All of the above. Since 1950, Americans alone have used more resources than everyone who ever lived before them. Each American individual uses up 20 tons of basic raw materials annually. Americans throw away 7 million cars a year, 2 million plastic bottles an hour and enough aluminum cans annually to make six thousand DC-10 airplanes.
[Source:
PBS.org]
There are some good films coming up at the Minneapolis
Oak Street Cinema. As pointed out by
Mark recently, Jet Li's first big film,
Once Upon a Time in China is playing and has been compared to The Godfather. Also coming soon:
Quadrophenia, Platoon, Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, The Grifters, Full Metal Jacket, The Shining, Airplane, and Blue Velvet. I am going to make a real effort to make it to some of these, most of which I would be seeing on the big screen for the first time.
Before entering the theater this evening to see the new Kubrick/Spielberg movie,
A.I. a friend (who I would link to if their site was even quasi static rather than fully so) mentioned a review that stated that both Kubrick and Spielberg fans would be sorely disappointed with this film because it was like neither of the respective filmmakers other great works. I whole-heartedly disagree. The film had the pacing and eccentric characters of a Kubrick movie paired with the fanciful story and gushing ending characteristic of Spielberg's works. Does this mean it was a great Kubrick/Spielberg movie then? Well, no. But it was ever so close.
I thought that the movie was very close to being what I thought it should be. Not what I thought it should have been when the movie started, but what I thought it should have been when it ended. Unfortunately, the movie went about 20 minutes too long, and right past the place I thought it should have ended; past the point it should have left the viewers with.
I will wait a couple weeks before I comment on this further to avoid spoiling anything for any of you.
I am starting to get re-energized about the web. Don't blink. I plan on making some additions to
Ben on Film (adding reviews, original content, and functionality), at some point launching a site called Rear View (a chronological/Memoir type site featuring personal narrative by yours truly), creating
an episode (finally) for Alt Text as well as adding some more resources and possibly a white paper to the
Resources area, and last but not least, I am going to forget about all of these lofty goals and sink back down into the suburban contentedness I call my life.
Did you know that one of those states between Minnesota and Washington state is debating the merits of changing its name? Yes North Dakota is
contemplating dropping the North from its name. The main reason cited for this proposed change was that the word north is scaring away tourists because in connotes cold. Do you think maybe that what tourists are staying away from is that the words North Dakota connote boring?
If they are truly going to make a change why not make it something worthwhile like combining both North and South Dakota into one state and naming it Dakota. Then with that extra star on the flag we could finally make Puerto Rico a state.
Maybe Bush and Clinton could get along.
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Three years of marriage bliss are behind me as of today. I look forward to 20 times that many more years with my beautiful wife. I love you Jena.
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One of the casualties of leading a busy life is the lack of time to do things. Some of the things I really like to do are have discussions, write, and think about ideas and concepts that actually matter. I don't know if the pursuit of knowledge of life's origins even falls within this classification but I would still like some more time to think, talk, and write about it anyway.
A long time ago on
a website far far away there was
an account posted that nearly described my search for this sort of information perfectly and most probably better than I could have (at least at the time). I am planning to write a little more about the concept of faith that
Mouser touched upon so long ago. Maybe I will get some time soon.
I know a lot of geeks and "tech enthusiasts" and they don't sound anything like what is described in
this recent report by the Standard. (who I usually find to be pretty in tune with things)
In their survey of 27 million "tech enthusiasts" The Standard found these facts to be true:
- 78% sent e-mail in the past month
In the past month?!?
- 51% surf the Net for fun
Are you really an enthusiast if you don't?
- 30% go online daily
See above
- 7% listen to Internet radio
Or at least used to before that new damn law
- 6% have a laserdisc player
What's that?
They say "tech enthusiasts" are big readers and TV watchers and I agree but what they say they are watching is another thing entirely. I can see them being right on some but where are the Simpsons, X-Files, and Law and Order!? Every geek I know watched at least 2 of these shows. As far as reading goes, where is the fiction and non-fiction. According to this study geeks only read magazines. (and not Wired)
Some of these astound me:
- 19% are liberal, 35% conservative, 36% middle of the road
This one really surprised me
- They are less likely to smoke, but more likely to drink
And how!
- 70% bought a book in the past year; 53% read one
Every techie I know has bought many, many books in the last year and read many as well
- 4 million go to the movies at least once a month
Out of 27 million?!?
Here are some sports related posts (or how I learned to click away because the
thought of discussing a bunch of overpaid, criminal, "role models", turns
my stomach):
The talk is starting again. You know, the talk about the Minnesota Timberwolves trading Kevin Garnett. Two of the reasons the article gives to do this are compelling:
- Garnett's contract, worth $126 million over six seasons and $22.4 million in 2001-02, virtually assures his team of being capped out and, therefore, unable to bid competitively for impact free agents. Because his deal is one of the few not limited by the collective bargaining agreement's maximums, the 7-foot forward's next contract -- if he stays -- figures to keep the Wolves in the same predicament for as long as he plays for them. (The CBA prevents Garnett from restructuring his deal to open cap room. The team cap for next season is estimated at $42 million.)
This is the big one. Garnett made the same amount last season ($19.6 Million) as Kobe Bryant... and Tim Duncan combined ($10.1 Million & $9.6 Million respectfully). It's tough to rationalize any player being worth that much. I have been consoling myself, however, with the thoughts that Garnet and the Timberwolves could restructure the deal to be more cap friendly at some point in the near future. It seems that the agreement, for some reason, doesn't want this to happen. Forget the 5 lost draft picks, this little fact is what is really killing the Timberwolves future.
- Garnett already is halfway through his contract, and the Wolves still have not advanced past the first round of the playoffs. If they remain stuck there, and Garnett's frustration grows, he might opt to leave after the 2003-04 season. Barring a sign-and-trade at that point, the Wolves would get nothing in return.
Although I am less worried about this one, there is some thought that if Garnet cannot even restructure his deal to aid his team in getting some help, he will be forced to leave and the Wolves will get nothing in return. This would be a bad thing.
I think even with those points made. you still have to keep Kevin on the team. He is the team. His pressence on and off the court transends wins and losses. He is fun to wathc play, talk, grow, and have fun. You gotta keep him even if it hurts.
Plus who was it that had the best
dunk of the year? His name isn't Kobe, or Duncan, or even Vince...it's Kevin. KG came in with 2 of the 10 best dunks of the year (including the top honors) as rated in Courtside Countdown's by NBA Action.
It looks like poor Stephon Mebury has
plenty of regrets about leaving Minnesota and sending the team into years of mediocrity just as its future looked brightest. Still want to force some trades, Stephon? It
looks like you might not have a say in the next one.
So what are the Woofies to do? Here's some ideas from little ol' me:
Only because the
Knicks reportedly want him do I feel we should sigh Joe Smith again for our mid-level salary cap extension (yeah I have learned a thing or two about the salary cap recently) and then immediately trade him to New York along with Terrell Brandon for Allan Houston (and some cash or a 2nd round pick?). Unless of course he has
decided to remain a Knick.
The Wolves should actually save a little money in that deal and could still sign a veteran like Dale Davis if they can unload a bunch of dead weight (Anthony Peeler, Dean Garrett, Sam Mitchell, Andrae Patterson).
Finally, because of his idiotic deal with Joe Smith's agent Glen Taylor should pony up and buy a draft pick or two for the $3 Million maximum price allowance. Perhaps he could get a mid-first rounder if he packaged the cash with one or all of the aforementioned dead weight. Then with that pick (or those picks) he could throw in some more cash, package them all up with the second rounders and try to get into the first 10 or so picks with hopes of getting a big man in the draft.
With any luck the team could look like this next year:
William Avery G
Chauncey Billups G
LaPhonso Ellis C-F
Allan Houston G
Antonio Davis C-F ***
Unknown Draft Pick C-F
Kevin Garnett F
Felipe Lopez G-F
Radoslav Nesterovic C
Reggie Slater F
Wally Szczerbiak G-F
*** I know this one is pretty wishful thinking.
Still haven't had enough hopes, rumors, and predictions on the NBA?
Inside Hoops has a great site for these types of rumors and information.
I have been listening to the
original radio broadcasts of H.G. Well's War of the Worlds by Orson Welles and his Mercury Theater. Some of it is very comical: "One man wants to touch the thing . . . he's having an argument with a policeman. The policeman wins. . . ", some of it is pretty dramatic: "Not to your world. . . Goodbye, stranger. . ." but all of it is done well and would be entertaining today (even if small adaptations are necessary). I don't think there would be the mass hysteria that there was when it was first broadcast, Then again, there would have to probably be disclaimers every five minutes so the network broadcasting it could cover their ass.
The Onion gang have produced a damn fine issue this week. I really love the caption under Jenna Bush reading: "Jenna Bush's Federally Protected Wetlands Now Open For Public Drilling" - classic. And the
story about the new nation of Ethniklashistan is priceless..."When you take that many long-suffering, war-torn groups and put them in the same place, how can you not have peace?" Presactly.
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I really like much of the stuff going on at
NUblog. I loved the little letter war they had with Apple and
this post about a Danish usability "expert's" recommendation that sites should not offer language selection:
"A large number of European Web sites waste homepages on language selection while their American counterparts rarely commit this usability mistake. I recommend that multi-language sites use English as default."
Yeah we are really smart here in America. I am sure this was a conscious effort on the part of Americans and not us just thinking we are the center of the universe.
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Could we really be
this lucky? Probably not. This seems to happen only to good leaders.
After listening to the
new Weezer album, I stumbled across (using
BearShare) a song called American Girl that Weezer did with Soul Coughing. It is really catchy.
Jason beat me to
this story about cubed watermelons from Japan. Your's for only $80 each. Damn him!
My friend
Mark is a very funny guy. He has also had many odd/menial jobs in his storied career. Mix these two facts together, throw in some really good writing and you have all the makings of
some really good web log reading. Enjoy. (Be sure to read the more recent posts as well)
The last two in the series sent to me from Belle in Seoul. These were inspired by the music of George Winston.
Some funny (well you can judge that) search terms that people are using to find little old AltText.com:
ernest goes to camp soundtrack
strange text with alt key
stewed prunes music levis
horny text
big boobs that's my bush
uncle kracker racist
all multi-national companies posted from 2001 and their address
cambridge mn sucks
cool ways to write my name
texas department of motor vehicles
What are these people looking for? Wait... I don't think I want to know.
WAP is dead? Again?
"The Mobile Services Initiative (M-Services) aims to introduce an open software and hardware standard within mobile Internet in a bid to avoid the fiasco which surrounded the first attempt at mobile Internet, Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)." "GPRS, also known as 2.5G, offers always-on Internet access and is a stepping stone to third generation mobile services for which the infrastructure is still being developed."
I don't know if I like something being hailed as the new standard and a "stepping stone" in the same breath. This is the sort of thing that drives developers mad. Decide on something. Please.
[Reuters via
Yahoo Daily News]
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You've heard the old saying that "it's the little things in life..."? Well it is the little things in life...that drive me crazy. It's the things that I don't really think about as being a part of my life or even a part of my day but somehow they find their way in there and get in the way of other things that I would rather be doing. Some of these little things that muck up my life are things like: calling the phone company to check on our service outage, filling the car up with gas, dusting, getting a haircut, making dentist appointments, folding and hanging up clothes, etc. These things by themselves are but minutes out of a week, but cumulatively they equal a lot of wasted time. That's why I have hired a man-servant to wash my car, pick up my prescriptions, and generally do my bidding.
Another drawing from Belle.
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People who know me might say that I get a little worked up from time to time. I admit I can be easy to rile up. Being easy to anger also goes along with that. Fortunately I am usually just as quick to forgive. Some might say that this makes me flighty or somehow less sophisticated. I disagree. I think many people waste too much time on anger and grudges. In the end, the only person that gets hurt is the grudge holder. Unless of course, if they know how to use nunchucks.
Why is it that Americans (those who live in the U.S.) like to brag about how much they work? Shouldn't it be the opposite? Shouldn't we feel guilty about that? Shouldn't we be in despair that over 40% of most of our lives are spent at work? Throw in sleep at another 30% and you have 30% of your life left for you. Doesn't that seem wrong to anyone? Next time you hear someone say "I worked 20 hours this weekend", "I was in the office until 10:30 last night" or" I just pulled off a 70 hour week" ask them if they shouldn't really be saying, "I spent 30 hours with my daughter this weekend" or I had a great conversation with my wife last night." Do it. See what they say.
The house next to mine got hit by lightning tonight. I saw the sparks and felt the thunder clap from about 30 feet away. It was pretty crazy. Firetrucks came and the whole business. Weird side note: My mouse stopped working at the exact instant the lightning struck. I am wondering if it had anything to do with a static charge in the air. But just the mouse?
Here is a self portrait from the afore introduced, Belle from Seoul. I just like looking at it.
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They just let anybody on
MPR these days.
"At Techies.com, a Twin Cities-based Internet job service for technology workers, staffer Mark Wilkie is explaining some programming to a colleague. Asked about where he feels comfortable, Wilkie expresses a clear preference for employers that don't mind shorts and jeans.
"Every, especially web-development company I've been at, nobody really cares what you wear. If I can come in and do my job well, and don't cause other people problems, I don't think anybody cares. If I code well, I can smell bad - that's the equation, right?" says Wilkie.
And I can attest that he does indeed smell bad.
As I was walking into work today (with
my dog Sadie) I noticed that the usual geese that had been loitering in the parking lot all week were gone and I thought to myself "right, well it is Saturday." Like geese take the weekends off?!
A week or so ago, a graphic designer living in Seoul, who happened to stumble across Alt Text, sent me some drawings she had done. This is the first in the sequence of six drawings to be featured.
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Today's free-style writing* exhibit:
The sun is out today. I should be happy about that right? But, my wrist hurts, I am tired, and I am at work. All in all that's not a whole lot to be happy with. Then I watch Requiem for A Dream and everything seems at once ok and fucked up. I am pretty lucky though; I can't complain. Not today at least - well not for the next couple minutes anyways.
* I am thinking about trying some free writing that is done without editing my thoughts but rather just vomiting up words onto the page. In the future I will probably not post the less directed crap I try to stick to something with a point or at least a coherent message of some sort.
A very interesting (if you care at all about video games) read:
The History of Video Games . Not just another tribute to pong, but actually a thoughtful looks at many facets of video gaming, including a pre-history that even includes the beginnings of Nintendo in the late 1800's as a playing card company and the beginnings of many of the other electronics manufacturers of the world (ok so mostly of Japan)
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Why God? Why?! Alos take a look and see what Burt Reynolds has to say about drug use. (also on the site)
There's a new
SakeBomb and those guys are still doing things I wish I could do. But who knows I think I may be going through my
quarterlife crisis.
So I was watching CNN's
CNNdotCOM this past weekend and who did I see getting interviewed for a segment called Reality Blogs? Well,
Peter Merholz for starters, and then, none other than
Meg Hourihan (
Jason's sweetie. Awwwwe!)
Thought I would post some of the places I have stopped into recently (you know in that 5 minute break I get at work during each of my three 8-hour shifts per day), so here goes in no particular order:
BONUS CONTENT!
Do you ever wonder how movies like Rob Schneider's
The Animal and
A Knight’s Tale find movie critics who are gullible or greedy enough to give rave reviews of obviously lousy movies? As it turns out they may have only found them in their imaginations.
MSNBC reports that movie critic David Manning of The Ridgefield Press, who recently was quoted by Columbia Pictures as saying "Heath Ledger of A Knight’s Tale was this year’s hottest new star!” and that “The Animal is another winner!” Unfortunately for the movie studio and Mr. Manning, he doesn't exist. He was made up for the purpose of giving good reviews to these terrible movies.
Jason found
this New Yorker article that could be pretty interesting to those trying to understand online role-playing games. I played Ultima online several years ago and I found it to be a groundbreaking game in a number of ways. For one, you could "make money" or "earn a living" in countless ways, not just going out and killing stuff. Groups and sub-societies quickly formed and drew like-minded people together. All in all, it did seem to mimic real life pretty well, except for the random killings all the time.
--- --- ---
I just saw
Pearl Harbor (all 3 hours of it) and I came away with three thoughts on the experience:
- Our nation's youth are *so* not ready to fight in anything close to a war. I include myself in the non-war-ready ranks and hope that, in the event of another war, they can figure out a way to hook bombers and missile systems up to the Play Station 2 so that we can save the American way of life without leaving the comfort of our sofas.
- Every one of Alec Baldwin's lines should have rewritten, stricken, or better yet sold on eBay
- I may not be disappointed with the Lord of the Rings movie coming out in December. Seeing the new preview for it was the highlight of this night at the theater.
Work has been getting in the way of life lately. I actually worked for 29 hours straight Thursday/Friday for a project deadline. I haven't done that since I used to care. The strange thing is - it wasn't that bad. I wasn't all that tired when I went home the next day at 5 and I even stayed up till just after midnight working on a personal project (creating a new blogger type application with some friends of mine).
I have always thought that sleep was a waste of time (at least when I am not in the middle of it or at the end of it). Maybe I could work something out where I could be awake for 37 or so hours on and then sleep for 12 hours then be awake for another 37 hours. Instead of sleeping approximately one third of my life away (based upon 8 hours of sleep per night) I could be sleeping for only one quarter of the rest of my life. If I live another 50 years that will give me 4 more years of being awake.
What would I do with 4 free years? I could get another degree, travel the world, write the next great American novel, get caught up on all that reading I have been meaning to do, create works of art, or get together with all the friends I have been neglecting. Of course 4 years really doesn't sound like all that much. People throw that away all the time by joining the military, getting another degree, becoming President, etc. I would probably just waste those 4 years in some way, too. What could I do with those 4 extra years? I will try to come up with some good ideas. Maybe I'll just sleep on it.
I am going to be a bit busy this week with some work stuff, but I will still try to post a couple things here and there for tomorrow and Friday. And I should make an attempt to assure everyone that
I really do exist, but that is what
they would say too, so I won't comment on it.
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Although I can't fully explain how
IT functions, when it is done
IT will be quite sweet, and will allow for the dynamic presentation of many different display and functional elements. I am just happy to have contributed in some small way to
IT.
On some things it just seems like I am behind the times. Like with the
BMW Films. These are some great little films/car ads directed by
Wong Kar-Wai,
Ang Lee, and
John Frankenheimer . Not only are the films great but the BMW player is really cool. It has a lot of DVD-like features like director's commentary and sub stories (a feature I think would be cool in other DVD's).
For those of you who aren't
rocket scientists, don't despair, you can still work for NASA. Trying to collect a paycheck may be a little harder but you can help them by marking craters on Mars (some of which have never even been cataloged before).
Through their
Clickworkers is a NASA program that is
".. an experiment to see if public volunteers, each working for a few minutes here and there, can do some routine science analysis that would normally be done by a scientist or graduate student working for months on end. "
maybe this is a commentary on some aspect of my relationship/communication skills. Who knows. This is a transcript of
scott and I (aberr0) chatting about 6 months or so ago, maybe more. It is pretty tedious; consider yourself warned and just be glad that you don't have to live this on a daily basis.
aberr0: You got plans this weekend?
scottvlaminck: no, you?
aberr0: no you?
scottvlaminck: no, you?
aberr0: no you?
scottvlaminck: no, you?
aberr0: no you?
scottvlaminck: no, you?
aberr0: God Dude!
scottvlaminck: what? are you doing anything this weekend?
aberr0: no you?
scottvlaminck: no, you?
aberr0: no you?
scottvlaminck: nope
aberr0: i don't even know what i asked you?
scottvlaminck: you figure out what you are doing this weekend?
aberr0: oh yeah i did
aberr0: oh wait no
scottvlaminck: what?
aberr0: nope, lost it
scottvlaminck: oh
aberr0: so what am I doing this weekend?
scottvlaminck: yes
aberr0: no that was a question?
scottvlaminck: yes
aberr0: so what am I doing?
scottvlaminck: yes
aberr0: yes
scottvlaminck: so what are you doing
aberr0: not sure. You?
scottvlaminck: i thought you knew
aberr0: nope, i was asking you, what i was doing
scottvlaminck: yes, i was asking you
aberr0: and what was my answer?
scottvlaminck: you answered what?
aberr0: then what di you say?
aberr0: di=did
scottvlaminck: i said you are doing what
aberr0: who's what?
scottvlaminck: who's who
aberr0: who made who?
scottvlaminck: who the hell are you
aberr0: how much time do you think we waste on stupid shit?
scottvlaminck: 98%
aberr0: 98% of what?
scottvlaminck: the time
aberr0: so what are you doing tonight?
scottvlaminck: not sure, you?
aberr0: what are you doing tomorrow night?
scottvlaminck: unsure, you?
aberr0: what are you doing Saturday?
scottvlaminck: not sure, you?
aberr0: How about Sunday?
scottvlaminck: ? you
aberr0: If we keep this up we'll be at the computer all weekend
scottvlaminck: yeah, you?
aberr0: nock it off
aberr0: yeah nock
scottvlaminck: you better, uhhh, nock mention that again you cocksucker
aberr0: i don't get it?
scottvlaminck: adam sandler cd
scottvlaminck: the first one
aberr0: oh the funny one?
scottvlaminck: yep
aberr0: so got any plans this weekend?
scottvlaminck: no, you?
aberr0: yeah
scottvlaminck: what
aberr0: i have to beat the crap out of this one guy i know
scottvlaminck: really, why
aberr0: cause he wasted an hour of my time today.
scottvlaminck: only an hour? i know this one guy who wasted my whole day on IM
scottvlaminck: maybe its the same guy
aberr0: maybe but this guy i am talking about never answers any questions
scottvlaminck: same here!
scottvlaminck: its gotta be the same guy
I am too busy working right now so I got just 2 things:
First you can now
preorder Akira on DVD. That's a damn fine film.
Then there is that whole
democrats get the congress back thing.
I am another year older, having celebrated my birthday on Sunday with my wife in beautiful New Prague, Minnesota. We stayed and ate and ate and ate at
Schumacher's New Prague Inn. If you haven't had the opportunity to dine there, you should try to make it there someday. John Schumacher is one of only a handful of 5 star chefs in the 5 state area (Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas) and his food is wonderful. My wife and I dined on Elk, Pheasant, and Quail as well as other traditional Czech cuisine. I don't know if I have been that stuffed since our honeymoon cruise.
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A couple movies to report about:
Blow and
Shrek Both were good, but I think I expected more from each. With Blow, I couldn't help but feel sorry for Depp's character and all the problems he had in his life, and to paraphrase a friend "It made me sick to feel sorry for a drug dealer like that." And it does. Depp's characters deserves what he gets as a drug dealer, yet you can't help but feel sorry for him as a father.
All in all, the movie was well made, but I liked
Traffic better.
Shrek was very well made. The animation was really nice with much attention given to the backgrounds and little details. I was a little bit over-sold on the story, as I thought it would be more imaginative and creative. It was good, but it felt hurried and simple. I have to remember that it was for kids too, and so I think it was the best they could do with such a broad audience - they did have some pretty racy things in there - have you heard about the original version?
See ya
dack. I can sympathize.
Moviefone.com redesigned again. But this time they made some slight improvements over the horrible site they had. I still think I like the site how it was 2 versions ago, though.
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Can you actually lust after
a pen?
--- --- ---
"The president believes that [high-energy consumption] is an American way of life, and that it should be the goal of policymakers to protect the American way of life. The American way of life is a blessed one." Presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer, saying that the country should address the energy crisis through supply, not demand.
[source:
Newsweek]
What a total loser. Let's not try to curb consumption, conserve, or find more efficient ways of doing things. Let's waste and throw more away, and bask in all that we American deserve. 50% of the world's resources you say? Bah, let's go for 60%!
I hope gas prices go to $5/gallon*, auto makers produce cars & trucks that get 100 mpg and people all buy them. Only 1270 more days until Bush is out on his ass. I hope our air, water, and national wildlife refuges can hold out that long.
* and I own a dreaded SUV so think what I will be paying, but it will be worth it to force change. They can make my vehicle get 100 miles per gallon if that was what the people wanted. And here is just a little note to all you SUV haters out there: my truck gets better gas mileage than most sports cars, yet I don't hear the constant barbs hurled at them. I use my SUV a lot in Minnesota; it is safer in the winter for my wife in 2 feet of snow and in the summer we couldn't fit all of our camping gear, bikes, and dog into many cars out there.
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See how many times A-Rod (a baseball player who makes a lot of money) needs to step up to the plate to make your yearly salary. Make me feel like taking a half day.
My wife and I and some friends of ours are going to the
Fine Line Music Cafe tonight to catch
Five For Fighting, a band that
Scottie first introduced me to nearly/over 2 years ago and who are finally making it "big" now. (well they are only playing the
Fine Line)
For those tired of Qwest's monopolistic practices or for those who simply want a choice in local phone service in Minnesota there's :
USLink
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To remind myself that I am still a dork at heart all I have to do is start thinking about these two upcoming games:
Neverwinter Nights and
Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor .
Both are due out "Spring 2001" but will likely be delayed as far as fall of this year. Both are graphically amazing, use the new 3rd Edition D&D Rules (non-geek translation: a whole new set of precepts and rules that players can use), and offer a lot of multiple player options.
I used to play the old edition of
Pool of Radiance on our family's Apple IIGS over 12 years ago. I think this one may have slightly better graphics, though.
The most exciting thing about
Neverwinter Nights is the ability for one player to take control of the storyline of the game and prepare traps, treasures, and mayhem for other players. This means that there is endless possibility for gameplay! Did I mention that the
graphics are amazing?
Last week was the first week I am having
Simon deliver to my home. I like having groceries brought to my door. I hate going to the grocery store. I don't like having these big green containers here every week, however. Those boxes will be the determining factor for whether or not we continue the service.
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I saw
Memento last night and it was very good. Here is a mini review since
Ben on Film isn't fully operational right now:
The creator of the film, Christopher Nolan could be THE next big thing, or another brilliant but obscure filmmaker, like Darren Aronofsky (
Pi,
Requiem For a Dream), we'll see when he directs,
Insomnia, out next year with a nice little cast: Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank, and Maura Tierney. He really gets us, the audience, to buy into the main characters view of the world and this is crucial to the way in which Nolan tells this story; revealing piece by piece like peeling the skin off of an onion. Only when you get tot he end you're not crying so much as astounded. What a very good movie this was.
Nothing against Guy Pearce in his lead role as Leonard Shelby in Memento, but I just kept thinking that this role was written for Brad Pitt and that, somehow Pearce comes across as a poor man's Pitt with a little Val Kilmer thrown in (for seriousness). Pearce was good, but how would this movie have change if Pitt was in the lead role? Is Pitt overdone now, and so it is hard for audiences to separate man from character?
Like
explodingdog.com (which is so damn good), you can send in a title to
narbotic.com and he (Collin) will write a song "about" it. Although he hasn't added any songs in a while, I hope he does soon. I'd say he is pretty damn good.
A big thanks to
Mark for helping point me in the right direction for answers to
my questions on the 6th.
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Is it me or is life all about letting others in on what you find interesting, beautiful, or great? That's a big part of why I want to be a teacher, and a small part of why I would want to be a dad. Wow, where did that come from?!
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And now on to something completely different -
poop happens. Carrying that unsightly dog waste doesn't mean you still can't be chic and trendy.
So how exactly does the NBA salary cap work? I offer the very modest reward of a link off of this site to the person who can send me information about it. What I cannot understand is how all but 2 teams are over the $35 million salary cap, how some teams can exceed it by more than $50 million and why any teams should care?
I posted
explodingdog.com as an interesting link over at
Kottke.org while he is away on vacation. We're pretty close like that.
You should really check out
explodingdog.com though. It is pretty damn funny. The guy who runs the site takes phrases or "titles" that visitors send in to him and then he makes drawings that relate to the titles. Don't ask me to explain any of them but for some reason these are my favorites:
It was not a hug,
I thought this was special and
If only there were a button for the voices in my head
It looks as though there is a changing of the guard in the NBA this year. Aside from the Lakers and the Spurs, the teams that are still alive in the playoffs are all younger teams, with up and coming stars on them. We now have the Philadelphias, Charlottes, Dallases, Sacramentos, and Torontos beating perennial playoff teams: Indiana, New York, Miami, Utah, and Phoenix. Finally we may be able to say so long to the fundamental, but no fun, pick and roll that John Stockton and Karl Malone have been been doing for what seems like 20 years now, and goodbye to Reggie Miller and the rest of those old Pacers (more like Pace Makers). But who exactly is it that we are supposed to say hello to? Jason Williams? Alan Iverson? Vince Carter? Dirk Nowitzki??? I am not sure these players really stand up to the personalities and players who were: Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Charles Barkley, or Michael Jordan.
The NBA is so hungry for that next Jordan or that next Magic Johnson that they seem to herald their second coming nearly every other month. As it turns out though, they may be getting a true second coming of both Jordan and Barkley - but unfortunately that is a very bad thing for the league and for those 2-hall-of-fame players. Michael, especially, went out on top (for the second time) and has to hang it up. Let us remember Michael Jordan as Michael Jordan.
Overheard at the grocery store this evening:
Woman 1: "We got any CheddarWurst at home?"
Woman 2: "You better get some just to be on the safe side."
And from the neighborhood paper, The New Brighton Bulletin, this was in the police report section:
"- A 28-year-old New Brighton man was arrested in the 1400 block of 10th street NW April 11 and charged with felony possesion of marijuana. According to police reports, the man, who was sitting in his vehicle with 169.5 grams of marijuana in a large plastic bag, said to the arresting officer, "Aw man, its not illegal, I just need to smoke this stuff."
SeeThruWeb has some interesting stuff, including this
randomURL page that takes you to a random website based upon dictionary words. my favorites so far:
ShotGun and
Befuddle.
Doesn't NASA's response to
Dennis Tito's space vacation reek of jealousy? They were offered the money and the press exposure that went along with sending a civilian up in space but they wussed out. Now they just look like a bunch of babies. Although maybe they are still remembering
their first attempt at sending a civilian up.
What I am doing this afternoon:
May Day Luau. (Ok, so this is pretty cheesy but it is fun nonetheless)
Here is a peek at the craziness.
The
latest video for Brazilian group, Golden Shower is pretty interesting. "It's the story of a guy trying to get to a performance. And it's a love story. And it's a video game. And it's garnering cult-status on the Internet." You may have seen this already, but if not, you probably should. [
New Venue]
And here is some
more animation fun kung fu style.
Here are a couple music related tidbits:
Fatboy Slim's,
video for Weapon of Choice off of
Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars is great. It's directed by Spike Jonze and has Christopher Walken dancing around like a madman. It is really sweet.
Nelly Furtado's (who?)
I'm Like a Bird is a pretty catchy song and some of her other songs aren't too shabby either.
And lastly, I don't know why I am drawn to "trailer rock" (maybe it was something about owning a Camaro when I was in high school) but
Follow Me, the new song by
Uncle Kracker (also the DJ for Kid Rock) gets my toe-a-tappin'.
And here are few shout outs to my peeps (kill me now):
Jason has a new
0sil8 though he seems to be keeping it under wraps for the moment.
And
Mark, needing to get some scratch to pay for his new pickup
has begun auctioning off valuable personal effects. help a brother out and keep the bidding going.
There is nothing better from getting back from 70 degree temperatures in Hawai'i than being welcomed by 70 degree temperatures in Minnesota (that's unusual in April). However there are quite a few things that are better than spending 11 hours helping your father move. Especially when he is moving from Cambridge, MN to the "Twin Cities", and even more so when it is 35 degrees and raining (yes, that is just 2 days after it was 71 degrees).
But I enjoyed coming home all the same. I was ready. I missed my dog and my bed.
I am back. Sorry for all the server malfunctions. Getting our server "hacked" is never fun and has only happened this one time.
Hawai'i was great. My wife and I were greeted with leis and rainbows, just like in the movies. We hiked up the Na Pali coast where some of the best views in all of the world can be had, we kayaked up rivers to a waterfalls, I surfed, and we saw whales, and dolphins, and monk seals, oh my.
I originally wanted to go for 10 days simply to allow myself time to unwind and enjoy the islands at a leisurely pace. Sometimes people, myself included, get too carried away with seeing all the sites and doing all that there is to be done, and they forget that they are supposed be relaxing. The really cool thing was that I was already "unwound" by the time I got off the plane in Hawai'i. I didn't think about work, computers, anything, except having a great time with my wife and relaxing. All in all, that is what I did. Many thanks to Bridget and Marc for all their generosity while we were there!
Due to the server downtime (why does that always happen when I leave town?) I am not sure that Eric ever really got into the flow of posting to the site. I wish to thank him nonetheless and hope that you all will come back and rejoin your regularly scheduled ranting, already in progress.
Alright. Things didn't work out as I'd planned with this whole posting thing. Pretty quick after my first post the site crashed, and stayed crashed. Now, it's been 10 days or so and Ben is probably back in town. Anyway, I thought I'd do a couple of condensed rants before he tells me to stop.
There were a couple of things that I considered writing about. I promised that I'd put a certain amount of thought into my writing. First, taxes. Second, good and evil. Third, my state of mind post taxes and post good and evil.
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Taxes. Yuck. Since I'm condensing, I'm not going to do much research. Mainly, I'm just going to complain about how much they suck. Actually, instead I'll tell my cool suck story.
At
Texas A&M there is the Department of Parking, Traffic and Transportation Services (PTTS). They give people tickets for parking improperly. So, no one likes them. Anyway, in 1997 some guy got the idea to get a license plate that said PTTSSUX. The Department of Parking, Traffic and Transportation was not pleased. They formally asked the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles to recall the plate. Sadly, the request was granted. It was a big thing and they interview the guy who had had the plates. His comments (roughly), "...if someone told me I sucked, I wouldn't complain to the department of motor vehicles about it. I'd just try and suck a little less."
Yeah, that was a complete divergence (Texas, Taxes, what's the difference?). But, I like the quote. My whole thing on taxes come down to the fact that I had to pay in an additional $810 to Federal and $70 to state. That sucks (especially after losing 30% from all my checks already). Oh well, it must be done. To see some real IRS statistics, go to the
IRS statistics page.
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Good and Evil. I figured out where evil comes from last week. I was very pleased. I'd been confused for years. Anyway, I don't want to get into it too much. I promised Ben that I wouldn't talk about my theological views too much. At the very least, I wouldn't try and convert people. So, I'm going to just give a short version.
Actually, I'm not. I tried and it became too preachy. Anyway, it's all mans' fault.
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My mood. I've been really foul mooded (that's a phrase) since last week. After paying my taxes I realized that I had no money. Yuck. Also, I was just kind of generally down from dealing with people. They can all be so obtuse.
Anyway, I'm tired of writing. So, I'm skipping to the end. On Tuesday, I wrote a haiku:
the sun shines today
and my eyes burn with the pain.
oh yeah, fuck you world
But, then I felt better. So, I changed it to:
the sun shines today
and my eyes burn with the pain.
I need sunglasses.
With that revision, it can stay on the
CPOrg site. Then, today, I shaved my head. Hair is just too much trouble.
Also, flow and logical thought structure seem to be too much trouble too.
--- --- ---
Looking back, I haven't said very much. Also, what I did say makes almost no sense. That's probably for the best. If you actually understood people, they would be so boring. I'm all for chaos. Let's just hope Ben isn't too pissed.
Signing out (or singing out? Chaos!),
Eric
Welcome, and thank you for your patience.
This is not Ben, nor is it Eric. In fact, I am but another strange and wonderful presence from the world that is alttext.
We appreciate your patience as the site has been experiencing a bit of a technical difficulty as of late.
For me, it's similar to having the power go out in my house. All I can think to do is sit in front of the television, willing it to turn on; and so it goes with my infatuation with alttext. I have been sitting in front of my computer screen refreshing my browser every 30-odd seconds.
My day is again complete now that our beloved has returned.
Hello. I'm the guest writer and I thought I should introduce myself before I just started tooling away. Still, I don't really want to. Ben wrote some interesting things about me in the previous post, not entirely true, but interesting. Actually, that's probably enough of an intro...
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And now... Shoot. I feel that there is still the need for some ice breaking crap. So, I think I'll post about posting. Yeah, that's crap.
It's fairly freaky reading Ben's stuff. I see him quite a bit at work typically. But, I don't often get the inside perspective. Ben's posts reveal the things that he thinks about, which could philosophically be argued to be the things which define him. Ben thinks; therefore, he is...
In some ways, it's like walking at night and looking into peoples' windows. There is a whole life that they've got going that you typically don't see. But, it's rude to look and you don't want to get caught staring. However, Ben puts it all out for public display. His lights are on, windows wide open, hopefully he's not naked.
Or maybe, that's what people want.
--- --- ---
Alright, I feel pretty good now that I've potentially insulted everyone. So, next time, I should be able to post. Maybe, I'll get naked (maybe).
have a nice day.
I am off for Hawaii for 10 days in paradise. 10 days with my wife. 10 days away from a computer. I thought about pre-posting a bunch of stuff, but soon realized that I have a tough time thinking of a single days post much less 10 days worth. So I decided to take a cue from
Jason and invite a guest writer to take the reins while I am away. For the next 10 days this site will be in the custodial custody of a fellow I work with, Eric Nordberg. Eric is a very bright, if not somewhat strange web developer, kung fu master, and seeker of truths. I hope you find him as entertaining as I do.
It seems this whole idea of a collective consciousness (or unconsciousness) is a very popular one. I have been interested in it since
scott first brought up the idea for
subconscious.org a couple years back (was it that long?) Now someone (ok Simon from
currentform.com) has combined the idea of a collective with the recounting of dreams and is compiling them as
The Collective Unconsciousness Project (TCUP). It looks to be pretty cool. I can't wait to be able to explore the dreams that are posted.
I had never thought that this could be a possibility (surprisingly they didn't cover this in my Astronomy 101 class in college) but some researchers believe that we could actually be in a binary solar system (with two stars).
This article at
space.com reviews the idea and how such a companion star could be responsible for the periodic extinctions that happen here on earth every 26 to 35 million years.
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On a far less academic (and less tasteful) note I bring you:
The truth about Jason Kottke*
* ok so this isn't really true, but you got to admit the signs all point that way: lives in SF, he's a designer, he's a
snazzy dresser, and
until recently hadn't been seen with too many girls.
In his
weekly column in Newsweek Magazine, Robert J. Samuelson wrote yesterday about assimilation and other American "ideals." This has been a topic I have thought a lot about recently and it is something that I haven't really made up my mind on.
The best thing about the United States in my opinion, is its diversity and ability to bring together all the various peoples of the world in one free nation. That may sound like pc bullshit but it is really how I feel and is really the only aspect of America that I feel truly proud about. (I sort of look down upon most of my other nationalistic tendencies)
But see the thing now is our ability to bring immigrants "into the fold"; and not allow to just be a "swarm of minorities" or simply pockets of communities rather than one larger one.
I am not naive. I know that we are currently pretty damn segregated and that is one of the things I would like to see change in the future. But I fear that that change will not occur if we continue with our current immigration patterns. This is where it gets tricky for me. This is where I start to sound like many other people that I do not care much for... but here it goes - I don't think we should allow as much immigration particularly from Latin American countries for a while. There I said it. Having said it, I can't help but feeling racist even though I know that my feelings have little do with race and more to do with this country's ability to successfully accept and "indoctrinate" new citizens. To assimilate them. (I love that word. It's so inflammatory.)
In his essay,
Ethnicity, Immigration, and The American National Community, Tony Smith asks the question:
"Can we be one America, respecting, even celebrating our differences, but embracing even more what we have in common? Can we define what it means to be an American, not just in terms of the hyphens showing our ethnic origins, but in terms of our primary allegiance to the values America stands for?"
I hope so. But what are some of the things standing in our way? Racism? Fear? Ignorance? Are those the same thing? Greed and capitalism?
I can't even look at sites or read about arguments for curbing immigration without twinges of guilt and the feeling that it is just plain wrong. However, I think, as a nation, we need to agree to a couple of principles. The first principle, that assimilation is not a bad thing, should begin with a definition of assimilation. Some have defined it as follows:
"...assimilation did require three things. First, immigrant families have to adopt English as the national language. Second, they had 'to take pride in their American identity' and the country’s democratic principles. And, finally, they had to embrace the so-called Protestant ethic—'to be self-reliant, hardworking, and morally upright.'"
- From the book, Assimilation American Style by Peter Salins.
I don't necessarily agree. I don't think English has to be adopted as the primary language (and I think Salins forgets that the U.S. doesn't have a national language). And I take offence to the "protestant work ethic" term and idea. To be American one does not have to be self-reliant and hardworking; and I would bet all nations require moral uprightness of their citizens. Whatever that means. Nope, I think only two things are required of new immigrants: first, they should think of themselves as Americans, here to stay, not just passing through. And second, they should free themselves of racists and prejudicial beliefs and subscribe to the ideals of freedom and democracy that the U.S. stands for.
I have a lot more to write on this issue but I have already written too much for this forum. So I will leave you to ponder these ideas with the words of former President Bill Clinton (from his 1997 State of the Union Address):
"We are the world’s most diverse democracy. And the world looks to us to show that it is possible to live and advance together across those kinds of differences. America has always been a nation of immigrants....We started as an experiment in democracy fueled by Europeans. We have grown into an experiment in democratic diversity fueled by openness and promise...We must never believe that diversity is a weakness — it is our greatest strength."
Want more?
I have this weird desire to see Amazon.com fail. It is not because I don't like what they are doing or the services they offer, to the contrary, I actually look to the online ordering work they have done and the streamlining of their interfaces over the years as something of a marvel. They are also very good at marketing and building brand loyalty.
I just wish they didn't have those pesky legal maneuverings, pointless patents, and purchases so many other companies (not looking like such sweet investments now - living.com, pets.com, ahem)
I am also very tired of hearing them held up as the end all, be all of "new economy" companies. But I guess when it comes down to it I really do not want to see them close up shop.
Unfortunately many are heralding Amazon's demise. Including leading Wall Street analysts and at least
one former employee who actually is making money now by putting on a new one-man stage show,
21 Dog Years: Doing Time @ Amazon.com
The economy's downturn, poor investments (see living.com, pets.com again), flawed strategies could all be to blame. But I am not going to be so quick to rule out
my year-long boycott as a possible reason as well.
[
Newsweek]
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And don't forget to tune into Comedy Central tonight (10:30PM Eastern/Pacific)and watch
That's My Bush from the creators of South Park
All these links are from
jenifer.net (good stuff over there, and new link to the left):
-Possibly an April Fools joke? The Simpsons movie due out sometime after the series ends (reportedly)
claims to have Bart getting it on and may even carry an X rating?
-New
anti-ripping technology is set to be used on many new CD's to be released. Although it is only a matter of time before these measures are subverted it will be a huge pain in the ass in the meantime as many CD-ROM and high-end CD players that use more accurate CD-ROM technology will not be able to play them.
- Oh yeah, and
Angelina Jolie wants her boobs bigger.
It's no April fools joke here in Minnesota. It is snowing for real, and all I can do is fool myself into thinking spring is here.
Random Access Memory is an idea that has been around for a while (like
Brain3) and it is similar to one a
friend of mine and I have been thinking about too. We have
toyed around with the idea of a collective of information and experience that can be accessed by the user and/or by the public. There are some things these other sites do pretty well, but they always seem to miss on a couple of key levels. Hopefully we can build something that hits.
The site may be going down at some point this weekend for migration from one DSL service to another. Hopefully it will not take long.
Google just keeps getting better and better. Now they have added a phonebook feature where you can type in any of the following combinations:
- first name (or first initial), last name, area code
- first name (or first initial), last name, zip code
- first name (or first initial), last name, city (state is optional)
- first name (or first initial), last name, state
- phone number, including area code
- last name, city, state
- last name, zip
And get results returned for them. If you are in your local phonebook, chances are your are in this system as well. They also have maps for the locations and you can enter addresses. Goodbye QwestDex!
You know your commute is short when the CD is playing the same song from when you leave your house to when you get to work...and when you leave from work to when you reach your house again. Damn do I need to get out of
New Brighton once in a while.
I don't think anyone who has seen many of the movies that came out last year really believes that Gladiator was the best of them. But its selection as the Best Picture by and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is keeping with the tradition of the awarding good, well made, movies (not great, mind you) that do very well at the box office. (see: Braveheart, Titanic, Forrest Gump, etc.) It is like the selecting of a prom king and queen. Popularity over substance, beauty over brilliance.
Oh well, at least Ellen Burstyn won best actress for
Requiem for a Dream and saved some face for the Academy...oh wait, no they did the popularity contest again and gave it to big name (to match her mouth) Julia Roberts.
Here's to hoping that 2001 tops 2000 and puts out some truly great movies AND they get recognized for their greatness.
People are actually bidding on things people say are pieces of the MIR space station that fell to earth last night. Man are people stupid! [
Wired]
The wreckage" in question "looks suspiciously like a ball of duct tape and wire."
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Adaptive Path a new user experience consulting company has an
impressive team roster that includes:
Lane Becker,
Jesse James Garrett,
Peter Merholz, and
Jeffrey Veen. Having met these folks at conferences and the like or through correspondence, I can tell you that they are some bright folks. It makes me wonder if
Jason wouldn't want to join their venture, seeing as he is out there in the Bay area now.
I have written up a
review of this year's Academy Award nominations and posted it over at
Ben on Film. I haven't seen every movie nominated but almost.
Be sure to watch the Oscars Sunday night... and be sure to tell me what happened, cause I ain't watching that boring shit.
Miraculously I can post to Alt Text while I am away in beautiful Peoria, Illinois. (or I can just forward post a day so that you fine people can have something to read).
Enjoy.
More reviews over at Ben on Film, including reviews of Chicken Run, Chocolat, and The Contender.
I apologize for not sticking to my schedule. Worked called me away (to Peoria of all places) and I needed to get some other stuff done. I will post more about the Wired article when I return on Wednesday as promised/threatened.
The Protein Hunters from
Wired's Giga Trends article brings up some very intriguing ideas about using proteins to create customized drugs that are ready to treat just about any condition or ailment you may have. The article states:
"Drugs can be designed to lock into them (proteins and molecules), shutting them down or turning them on, an approach called rational drug design that is far more targeted than the trial and error used to make virtually every drug in history. And this is just the beginning. One day, when every person's genome has been sequenced, drugs will be tailored not just to specific diseases, but to people."
The primary focus of the article is on two southern California-based biotech companies,
Structural GenomiX and
Syrrx and how they are beginning to churn out protein structures faster than anyone thought possible: up to 30 proteins per week. Keep in mind that there are only about 3000 proteins out of tens of thousands of them that have actually been solved since 1960. These two companies are set to make some extraordinary profits and possibly even break into the drug-making business themselves if they can deliver on their promised 5000 new proteins solved in 5 years. Especially considering that a single protein structure can be sold to a drug company for upwards of $30 million dollars plus royalties on drugs developed with it.
An example they give is of a recently structured protein called KdsA. Here is what they have to say:
"We've chosen a protein call KdsA — taken not from a human but from a bacterium called Haemophilus influenzae. It lives inside the respiratory tract of three quarters of the human population. Though fairly benign, this microorganism shares KdsA with a host of nasty relatives, including the bugs that cause ulcers, tuberculosis, cholera, Lyme disease, syphilis, whooping cough, anthrax, and more...It's one of the most promising in the first batch of protein structures to roll off the Structural GenomiX line, and it may be the key to a new, precisely targeted antibiotic that will someday kill all those bugs."
How you ask? Here's how:
"KdsA helps build the cell walls of many bacteria. If you inhibit KdsA with a drug, the walls are not built properly, the bug collapses and dies."
They replicate the proteins by splicing the relevant part of the DNA into a common micro-organism and churn out tons of the stuff.
This is really very promising but there is a ton of work to be done before any of this really gets to market. FDA approval alone on most of these things takes 10 years and they are still likely several years off from even drugs utilizing KdsA. What this does show is what is possible now that we have mapped the human genome and are now delving into the next level, proteins and amino acids.
Here is some additional reading if you are interested:
The Protein Data Bank (PDB) - If you happen to have a new protein structure you would like to contribute go here. It is the "single international repository for the processing and distribution of 3-D macromolecular structure data primarily determined experimentally". That's a mouth full.
The Principles of Protein Structure - Brush up on your undergrad biology
A Beginners Guide to Molecular Biology - Pretty self explanatory.
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More from Wired (as you were promised or now I am starting to think threatened with):
Personal Fabrication on Demand (aka: the beginnings of the replicator as seen on Star Trek)
The idea here is that rapid prototyping (RP) machines can be used to create custom, on-demand product. Using liquid polymer, powdered ceramic, or sheets of paper, plastic or metal just about anything can be recreated from a CAD program or a slice-by-slice scan of the object.
Current applications of this technology (in use today) are creating mock-ups of air conditioning systems or infant skulls for children awaiting surgery.
Does this sound like the beginning of the end for quality, or a new world of crap on-demand? If these things get sophisticated enough do we even need manufacturing plants or does the emphasis swing fully toward research and development, coming up with the ideas and product prototypes that can be created by only those that want them?
Many companies are already selling 3D printers that can create replicas of 3D objects sent in email or downloaded from the web. Others are using this as a new tool for e-commerce sites, to allow consumers to truly preview what they are to receive or to receive what they order instantaneously.
Want more info?
Shared Replicators - A leader in freeform-fabrication research - sorry about the Flash here.
GeoMagic - Develops and markets 3D photography solutions
3D Systems - Ditto
The Replicator
The Plague Years (aka: Mad cows, crazy terrorists, which comes first)
We only have 15 million, 20 year old doses of small pox vaccine. How much of the stuff could terrorists possibly get their hands on?
Global travel and greater interaction between human populations is providing a fertile breeding ground for new and old diseases and pathogens. The spread of these bugs is on the rise, and so is the chance that they are growing immune to our current antibodies. The experts say it is only a matter of time before we have an outbreak of pandemic proportions; and that our current advances in genetics and biology aren't coming fast enough to stop it.
Want more info?
Updated Disease Outbreak News (courtesy of the
World Health Organization)
Morbidity and Mortality Report (courtesy of the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Stand - Stephen King
The latest
Wired mag's cover story this month is about what they call, giga trends. (which is really gross I know) In the issue there are 13 technologies, predictions, catastrophes, etc. that are outlined that will shape the future of the world.
I like predictions. I even like predicting (even though I am probably more often wrong than right). I especially like predicting on Alt Text and writing about the predictions of others, as Alt Text is a way that I can remember things I once thought important, noteworthy, or what have you.
The 12 giga trends (plus an extra bonus trend) outlined in Wired are listed below. I will be posting my comments about each in the coming week:
Sunday
- Proteins and how Unlocking the Molecular Structure Proteins will lead to individually customizable drugs
- Personal Fabrication will allow people to create goods in ways that are analogous towards a photo booth
- New and old Plagues and Viruses will wreak havoc on the population of the earth
Monday
- New, Multi-National Corporations are Teaming Together to Create New Satellite Companies on the high seas
- New machines to help Change the Way America Votes
- Start-up, Throw Away, Repeat - A new way of doing business?
Wednesday
- Paper is Back - Hack down your own tree today
- Napster shares songs, Now Patient-to-Patient Information Sharing is gaining momentum
- The Everywhere Stock Exchange will allow the trade of just about everything from everywhere
Friday
- The European Commission may be the pre-curser to the United States of Europe. Will it happen?
- You are in luck if you kept that Y2K Generator. How Generating Your Own Power is the way to go.
- Optical Networking
- BONUS: The Speed of Change is Accelerating
There are a whole slew of new movie reviews (The Caveman's Valentine, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Maltese Falcon, Three Kings, Princess Mononoke, Boiler Room, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Save the Last Dance, Rounders) over at
Ben on Film (you gotta love that name! 2 Minutes later!)
New
xbox site today. Aside from some flash animations and some new game info, there isn't much that is new. Some of the screenshots are stunning but it remains to be seen if the xbox will out perform the playability of the PS2. Put me down as agnostic.
Welcome to my hell. In most places spring is starting to show through, the tops of the grass lawns can be seen, birds are singing, and everything is well and good. Here in Minnesota, we can look forward to snow for weeks. As I look out my window right now all I see is white. 8 inches of new snow. What fun it is to laugh and sing!
[
weather.com]
Last night I took in a show at the
Uptown Bar in Minneapolis. My friend plays the viola in a band called
Twitch. She is very good and the band isn't bad either.
Tonight I took in a movie with some friends (Jena,
Mark,
Scottie, Anne,
Jesse, and Nick) at the
Oak Street Cinema.
The Maltese Falcon starring Humphrey Bogart was playing. I had seen it before and as older movies go it was pretty good. Old movies are just funny at times when they aren't supposed to be and Bogart is great in this one.
I was recently given the opportunity of teaching a class to some Masters students at St. Thomas here in Minneapolis and last night I actually presented the basics of HTML and some introductory information on the Web. A 3 hour class is long, but I actually was able to fill up 2 hours quite easily and then had time for questions and a short exercise in which 4 teams created "my first web page" type sites.
It was actually quite enjoyable and reconfirms my thoughts that I would actually like to do that in future. Except not HTML...maybe history, or literature, or possibly 21st Century Fantasy/Science Fiction, that would be cool?
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First a little rant about the only decent music radio station in the Twin Cities,
Zone 105 changing to an R&B station: GOD DAMMIT! Even though the signal sucked they played Radiohead, and Travis and some other groups that you can't here elsewhere now. And R&B? Don't get me wrong but the twin cities really cannot support an R&B station.
"Station spokeswoman Julie Honebrink said the new format was chosen because it fills a niche. 'No one else in the market is playing this' - Um yeah because it sucks! Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Al Green and Earth, Wind & Fire?!? Rhythmic oldies!?! Come on.
Now all I would need is for NPR to switch to death metal and KFAN to be an all cooking show format!
I saw
Pollock last night and I must say I was somewhat disappointed. Ed Harris was great but the movie dragged on despite his performance. Read
my full review.
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James Lileks is funny. He is also living in Minneapolis and has a lot of Minneapolis related content on
his site. If you like things that are funny, or if you live in Minneapolis, or even any combination of those to criteria, you will likely enjoy his site.
I really liked his
bit on interior design from the 50-70's but there is a ton of other stuff. Does this guy ever sleep?
Traffic was every bit as good as last year's Oscar winner,
American Beauty, and deserves its nomination as best picture and could easily walk away with it.
Read my full review.
I woke up this morning, rolled over shut off my alarm, stumbled to the bathroom and proceeded to shower, brush my teeth, get dressed, and head downstairs to the kitchen.
So far my day had begun just like anther for the past 10 years or so, or the next 10 for that matter. Here are some examples of ways my life could change in the next 10 years, via technology, wonderful technology:
Today I ...
...go to the grocery store
...use ID cards, credit cards, cash cards, rental cards, and library cards
...carry a PDA for phone numbers, appointments, other assorted data
...use a cell phone without text messaging or web capabilities
...get a paper paycheck every Friday
...buy CD's, DVD's, and video games
...have phone service into my house
...have separate data lines for phone, and TV/Internet
...own 3 personal computers
...create web sites that have integrated content and display
...use the Internet to gather information, purchase goods, communicate with others, express myself creatively
In 5 years I ...
...will have not stepped foot inside a grocery store for 4 years
...probably still use ID cards, credit cards, cash cards, rental cards, and library cards
...will carry a phone with me for phone numbers, appointments, and other assorted data
...use that phone to gather information, text messaging, purchasing goods, communicating with others
...have my income automatically deposited into various investments and automatically pay my creditors etc.
...will be buying CD's, DVD's, and probably video games, too.
...will not have in home phone service that is different from my portable phone service
...will receive all of my data lines via one "pipe"
...probably still own at least 3 personal computers
...will have been creating sites that completley separate content from display for about 3 and a half years
...start to see a little less clearly the lines between the Internet and everyday life
In 10 years I ...
...still not have gone in a grocery store for a long time
...hopefully have either 1 card that can be used as identification, purchasing and renting or some other mechanism that does the same thing (ie. an implant, retinal scan, etc.)
...still have that phone, but I may not be carrying it - it may be built into my clothes or something
...use my "phone" which is actually more of an all purpose communications device to access my data as well as other information from anywhere in the world
...finally see the banking systems starting to catch up to consumer and industry demand for micro-payments, true real-time transactions are the rule rather than the exception
...have access to true "on-demand" music, video, and game materials, I simply request them and pay for either lifetime or single use
...will have everything in my home controlled via a centralized computer that has preferences for each of the home occupants for lighting, music, and temperature settings.
...will access almost all of my data (media files, documents, preferences, medical records, etc.) via a centralized, home-based, storage device that can be accessed from anywhere (in home or away)
...may witness all land lines being replaced by a complete satellite network - on the other hand, unforeseen problems with satellites may warrant even faster land-based data lines
...will not own any personal computers (as they are defined today) but rather have specialized "terminals" that can access my centralized data storage device - some may aid in cooking meals, washing clothes, etc while others will have functions that are similar to today's PC's
...will be surprised if I am still creating "web sites" as the idea of a web site will be radically different
...will tell young children that I remember dialing up to the world wide web - they will laugh in disbelief and then ask what the world wide web is
You know something has really "hit the mainstream" when Newsweek publishes an article about it. And so we now know that this web log writing phenomenon, has really hit the big time.
There was mention of several web logs...
...and also several products used to create/update/perpetuate them.
I have also been meaning to post about a couple logs I find interesting or good or both (usually the case).
Here are some lists for this the 2nd day of March:
Top 5 Musical Items (I am listening to right now:)
- Flaming Lips - Zaireeka (anyone have 3 extra CD players?)
- Marvin Gaye (and other Motown legends)
- Nick Drake (not just Pink Moon either)
- Anything with Gwen Stefani singing in it (Southside w/Moby, Everybody is a Star w/Fishbone, So Far Please w/Prince, Rise and Shine w/Poe, and a bunch of songs with Sublime)
- Looper
Top 5 Books (I am reading at this moment):
- Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth
- A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
- The Redemption of Althalus
- Interface Culture
- Creating the Not So Big House
Top 7 Favorite things:
- My wife
- Movies
- The web (yeah I'm back in love)
- Upcoming trip to Hawaii
- Sadie
- Spring (if it would only get here)
- Dinner with Friends
- Surprises
Top 4 Things I would like to do this summer:
- Go camping
- Hang gliding
- Road Trips
- Get in shape
This list concept (stolen from High Fidelity, you could say) is going to be something I continue to do. I am not sure why, but I love making lists of favorites periodically. Upcoming: Favorite Movies of All-Time, Favorite Bands of All-Time, Favorite ways to spend $5, and more.
MissouriTrailerTrash.com
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Many people might have their own methods of finding this sort of information, but I just learned a neat little way to figure out where a site is being linked from.
At
AltaVista type
link:domainname.com into the search field, and you will see all of the sites that link to that domain name. (leave off the www for more comprehensive results) You can also add
-url:domainname.com to subtract out all the links from the site itself.
I searched for
hamster dance by doing this:
link:hamsterdance.com -url:hamsterdance.com
There were over 7000 links to it that have been indexed by Alta Vista. Not bad for an animated gif and a real catchy tune.
Now they are selling hamster dance t-shirts. LORD HELP US!
Today's (or rather last night's) lesson is that no matter how good you are at snowboarding in
SSX on the Playstation 2, it doesn't really help when it comes to your first real life attempt at it. Needless to say I got a few more bruises on my ass and knees last night then I ever did while sitting on my couch and landing 360 Backside Tail grabs.
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For some alternative file sharing programs try anything suggested at
Gnutella. I am currently using
BearShare and it seems to be working for me. I will give updates on my findings as the weeks progress as I find the best possible alternative for all you recovering Napsterites.
Maybe I am a little behind the times on this one but have you seen this
NakedNews site? Four news anchors deliver the daily news while stripping down to their birthday suits. All the while these reporters maintain a straight face and don't falter from letting the viewer know what's happening in the world, or what the weather will be like, etc.
This must have been what Tim Berners-Lee had in mind.
Thanks
Jason for filling me in while I don't pay attention to all the latest web happenings.
Have you seen/used
QuickClick from
NBCi? basically it is a way to allow you to get information such as definitions, related topics and even purchasing info about any word that appears on your computer screen, in any program.
You also get other words (underlined in yellow) if there is pertinent info and sites that pertain to that word.
You can customize QuickClick by adding what they call BoosterPacks, which is a group of keywords and Web pages that relate to a specific topic. "If you know of concepts you want QuickClick to underline within a topic area, and URL(s) related to each concept, BoosterPacks let you assemble this information and share it with others. They can take advantage of your word-to-URL associations wherever they are on the Web, thanks to your BoosterPack."
I haven't played with it enough to know if it will drive me crazy or be useful. Only time and a ton of surfing around will give me that knowledge.
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A List Apart is saying
to hell with crappy browsers and have re-developed their site to be HTML 4.01 and CSS 1.0 compliant. You can even read
how they did it. I for one, applaud them and hope to follow in their footsteps soon by going separating all content from display on alt text soon.
I need no other evidence, but some might. In typical "all fluff, no substance" style MSNBC published
this article proclaiming that the mapping of the human genome is proof positive that evolution is fact, not fiction. Of course they don't say much else in the article other than generalist, vauge statements like these:
"The genome reveals, indisputably and beyond any serious doubt, that Darwin was right — mankind evolved over a long period of time from primitive animal ancestors."
or
"No one can look at how the book of life is written and not come away fully understanding that our genetic instructions have evolved from the same programs that guided the development of earlier animals."
and so I am left to look elsewhere and research exactly how Darwin has been proven right and where that damn monkey-boy went.
Microsoft and DirecTV have teamed up to create "
UltimateTV". It's is basically just like ReplayTV or TiVo, but it does have some nice little differences like: the ability to record 2 shows at once, picture-in-picture to any TV, browse the internet or send email while you watch a show (with picture-in-picture), and up to 300x fast-forward and rewind, and some really nice searching features similar to what is promised for TiVo's next version of software (like searching for a specific show by name, or topic such as "music", or by the name of your favorite actor). Oh yeah, and it comes with a DirecTV satellite dish. All that for just $???, no sign of a price or when it will be available on the site.
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New on the
wish list:
new RollerBlades
I am really setting myself up for a fall. I know it. I just can't do anything about it. I don't think I have ever been more excited for a movie than I am for
The Lord of the Rings or rather
The Fellowship of the Ring due out in December. To help whet my appetite for this movie, the site has been supplying some good content in a nice looking package. I especially like the "Explore the Epic" section where you can learn about the locations and the sets they created (although it is not finished, they continually add to this section). Man New Zealand is beautiful!
Here is a fun ad by an Italian company that makes helmets. There are others and they all depict things that need to be protected and what those things are doing about it (wearing a Boeri helmet - for example). There are endless ways to go with this campaign - it's genius.
Here is what they have so far.
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Just days after the 100th US space walk, the speculation that we didn't actually
land on the moon has resurfaced from the so-called, conspiracy theorists.
I know I am not reporting anything new, I am just interested in the "facts" of these theories and happened to watch about 20 minutes of one of those Fox Conspiracy shows the other day.
The most compelling "facts" for me are the
photographic "anomalies" that show up in some of the film. Particularly the apparent doctoring of photos where some cross hairs that were etched into the camera lens actually show up behind certain images. A second strange occurrence that I could not find reference to online, was a couple scenes that were supposed to be at different locations but had identical terrain and rock placement. It seemed quite odd as they portrayed it on Fox, but of course that would be in their best interest, wouldn't it - feed conspiracy theory, get better ratings for the X-Files.
It's not the computer game,
The Sims, but it looks just like it. It's
Jon Haddock's latest creation:
Isometric Screenshots where Haddock recreates famous media scenes from the past and not-so-past, like the one shown at right depicting Wang Weilin's protest in front of an army tank at Tiananmen Square. Other screenshots show the seizing of Elián González, and scenes from the
Godfather and
Sound of Music. [
Newsweek]
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Besides moving offices, we here at
Risdall Linnihan Advertising Interactive have been busy creating some sites the last several months. It is quite amazing how many sites we actually churn out of our rather small shop. Unfortunately that churn doesn't always produce what I would call top shelf work. Here are some recent sites which I feel do fit the bill:
Theatre de la Jeune Lune - A site for a great little theatre that I have now gotten the chance to work on twice with two companies. I must say that the result this time around is much better.
LeasePoint.com - One of those dot coms still clinging to life. I think the site is rather nice looking.
Bachman's - This site is disappointing only in the fact that we could do ecommerce this time around. Hopefully soon.
Chronimed - I got to work on this one twice too - it seems these clients just follow me around. The budget constraints limited what we could do. Its not the best, but the site is a vast improvement over what they had. (and no that slowness isn't a result of poorly optimized graphics)
Risdall Linnihan Advertising - This site went against every usability standard I brought up, but "they" went ahead and built it anyway. You didn't hear me complaining. Those who saw the
previous site (that had been up for years and years) surely can understand why.
We have several large web projects underway right now and I hope to be able to post them here too. Feel free to send comments on the sites above. I'm sure I will hear a fair amount from a couple of you.
Here are some selected nominees for this years Oscars:
Best motion picture of the year:
"Chocolat"
"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"
"Erin Brockovich"
"Gladiator"
"Traffic"
Best Actor:
Javier Bardem in "Before Night Falls"
Russell Crowe in "Gladiator"
Tom Hanks in "Cast Away"
Ed Harris in "Pollock"
Geoffrey Rush in "Quills"
Best Actress:
Joan Allen in "The Contender"
Juliette Binoche in "Chocolat"
Ellen Burstyn in "Requiem for a Dream"
Laura Linney in "You Can Count On Me"
Julia Roberts in "Erin Brockovich"
Achievement in cinematography:
"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"
"Gladiator"
"Malèna"
"O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
"The Patriot"
Best foreign language film of the year:
"Amores Perros" - Mexico
"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" - Taiwan
"Divided We Fall" - Czech Republic
"Everybody Famous" - Belgium
"The Taste of Others" - France
For continuing Oscar coverage go to
Ben on Film.
I wanted to buy a heifer or a pig, but my accountant advised against it. Maybe next year. What am I talking about? A
great site set up to allow you to purchase livestock and other goods that help families around the world to subsist and survive:
Heifer.org Buy a pig for $150 or whole arc full of animals for just $5000, plus, it's all tax deductible (since it *is* about that time). I plan on doing this every year. All contributions go directly to the families in need, as all administrative costs are covered using alternate methods of funding.
I get really frustrated by looking at the designs of others. On one hand I am often impressed and sometimes inspired to do something new. But on the other hand, I feel like a failure when my work fails to inspire me in the same way.
I have been meaning to take some classes, read some books, and look over the shoulders of others, but my job and life keep getting in the way. I think the main problem stems from a lack of theory and only an adequate familiarity with the tools. Although I know what I like when I see it, I can't often put it into arty words. I can't tell you why color x compliments color y or why font 1 just doesn't work next to font 2, but I just know they do and don't. Although I think I am fairly good at getting around Photoshop (I know many of the key shortcuts, and can use it quickly) I haven't mastered what it can do, I do not know what all of the tools can do, nor how to use them all well. I have barely scratched the surface of the vector-based programs out there (Illustrator, Flash, etc.) and so my designs tend to reflect that.
I don't know if this is a cry for help or simply a way of stating my frustrations. I am doing some new concept generation for a couple other sites of mine and will, hopefully, be doing some design here at work in the near future. In any case I will be reposting a portfolio of sorts in a couple weeks. Feel free to comment on it when I do.
It seems some still forget the rules of calling "shotgun" for driving in the car. First, shame on you, and second,
go here to take a refresher course.
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While combing over my stats for Alt Text today, I came across an interesting search term someone used to get to the site: "i love you text in many ways."
Who searches like this? What does that even mean? How many ways can you *love* text, anyways?
Does the idea of a "real life" video game interest you? If you aren't afraid of the sun, or leaving your parent's basement try
geocaching. You can run around the world with your GPS and find caches of goodies that others have hidden. I think it would be much more interesting if the caches were guarded by something or were clues toward some other larger goal, though. [source:
The Register]
How does a light bulb become the
official light bulb on the Internet?
Is there anything as pure and good in life as a new plant at your desk? I mean, a new plant; before it is neglected and mistreated , gets bugs, and suffers from root rot. Ah, the green leafy goodness. Damn those vegetarians, that would harvest you for your succulent insides! Damn them!
~~~
Ok so we were in New Brighton before too. Now
Risdall Linnihan Advertising is in its new home about a mile south of its previous one (and only 4 blocks from my house. Is that a good or bad thing?)
This was supposed to be the first post from my company's new headquarters, however, due to some firewall issues I am posting from home.
In the works for me in the coming weeks (in no particular order): I am actually going to get back to some design (both in reading and theory as well as in practice), I am going to do some more testing and bug fixes on this site, I am also going to do some writing (maybe even in
episode form), and I just need to read for pleasure - you know when you don't finish a book in 2 days but savor it while curling up on the couch.
XFL = crappy, very bad, error-ridden, football.
I am now in the midst of my second corporate move. This time we are moving right up the street. It is funny how much bullshit comes up when a company moves: new office reallocation, "who gets a window", who is the favored son, and who is in the dog house. It's all political and crappy. I hate that part of business. I wish work relationships could be built on merit, honesty, and trust. Maybe that's too much to ask these days.
Sega
announced it would discontinue the Dreamcast. Well, it was a good run.
Meanwhile on the political front, Bush calls for more non-partisan politics...asks democrats to "just vote how we do."
"CHAPTER XI. The Selection of a Wife.
More happiness or misery is wrapped up in this one transaction than in any other upon which a man is permitted to exercise his judgment. The frogs in Æsop's fable had a great fondness for water, but they were not disposed to leap into the well, because they could not get out again."
Excerpt from
What A Young Man Ought to Know 1897
Finally,
Go.com is dead. I hated this concept from the very beginning, with this "network of sites" all that was really gained was an automatic redirect whenever you tried to type in
ABCNEWS.com,
Disney.com,
ESPN.com, or
MrShowbiz.com. Nothing was improved, it was just a waste of marketing dollars.
I finally got the windowing thing going now, with a little help from my
friends. Now when you click on one of the icons on the left, you will be setting your preferences for how links open up: in this window, in one pop-up window, or each link in its own window. The default is one window. I was getting quite an earful from visitors complaining about the ill-planned javascript windowing scheme that I had partially in place before. I think this way is much better. I hope you all agree.
After several weeks of using and abusing the Playstation 2, and seeing the best games the system currently has to offer, I can honestly say... eh, no big deal. Although they are the best console games on the market, nothing has awed me. The jump from the 64-bit systems to these new ones has not impressed me like the jump from the old 8-bit Nintendo system to the Super Nintendo, or the Super Nintendo to the Nintendo 64. Those were some serious upgrades.
But I still will comment on the games I have played:
Madden 2001 - Bar none, the best football game since Super Techmo Bowl. I really get into the franchise mode where you can draft, sign free agents and make trades, but the graphics are very good as well, and the game seems very "polished" and complete.
NBA Live 2001 - Now this game seems a little too far from being complete. Still one of the best basketball games out, but it just doesn't seem as complete as Madden and it really seems like they left out some big things like: multiple player trades (and multiple team?) division standings (this seems like a serious oversight), and a franchise mode. Don't get me started on the players faces! My god, they said they took photographs of every player or something? What happened! They look nothing like the players.
SSX - Although I am in the "web industry" I am not a snowboarder. In fact, I have never snowboarded. But, SSX makes me feel as though I am one. This game demonstrates a great use of feedback through the (usually stupid) dual shock built into the controllers. You can feel it when you land a jump and the feeling fits with what you are seeing. It is really cool. Plus there are tons of tricks and stuff you can do, plus it's challenging. A cool game. Really cool...even if you are barely a gen Xer.
I could go on and on about a number of topics that have come up recently: Bush, corporate welfare, pardons, the web, design, the fall of the dot.com's, and more. I just find I am tired right now. I am tired of all these things, and others are saying the same things.
I'm sure I'll be better in the morning. Best be
on your way.
"Every young man who desires to remain strong, or to regain his physical, intillectual and moral powers, should have an absorbing purpose in life. Live with an aim, and let that aim be high. The man who aims at the sun will shoot higher than the man who aims at the earth. If you do not build a few castles in the air, you never will own any that are built on earth."
From
What a Young Man Ought to Know, 1897
The Golden Globes are over and it looks like there were some good decisions and some questionable ones.
Almost Famous won for best Comedy w/Kate Hudson as best supporting actress, which I think is great (although I think Best in Show should have edged it out)
I think Traffic should have won for best Drama, but alas, Gladiator wowed them with what I can only imagine is its great technical qualities (cause the story and acting weren't all that)
Yawn, Tom Hanks wins best actor in a Drama (Cast Away). Julia Roberts wins it for Erin Brokovich.
I liked the picks for best comedic performance: Renée Zellweger in Nurse Betty and George Clooney in O Brother, Where Art Thou? (I never saw the Grinch so I can't say for sure if Jim Carrey deserved it or not)
In the next couple days I will have a complete recap at
BenOnFilm.com but for now...on to
Sundance
Ok, so a few days ago I gave some mini reviews of some movies I have recently seen. I have received some flak for giving Save the Last Dance and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon the same score: a C+. While I too, believe Crouching Tiger is a better movie, I think I was expecting much more from it and so was more deeply disappointed by it. On the other hand, I really didn't expect much from Last Dance and got a little bit more than that. Am I trying to teach Crouching Tiger a lesson? Make it start living up to its potential? Whatever. It's a movie. Only a best movie of the year candidate for the foreign film category, I don't think it could hold its own versus some of the year's best.
Another movie I recently saw, State and Main, (another underachiever)has been reviewed for your viewing pleasure at
benonfilm.com
"The general tendency among young men and young women is to devote the hours designed for rest and sleep to social enjoyment, and oftentimes to exhausting and even debasing amusement and recreation."
- Excerpt from the book
What A Young Man Ought to Know from the Self and Sex Series by Sylvanus Stall, 1897 that I happened to pick up this weekend at an antique shop.
A couple movies to tell you about:
Brother Where Art Thou?, is a movie by the Coen brothers based (very) loosely around
The Odyssey by Homer is a fun movie, with some really funny parts and some rather slow parts. I like George Clooney in this role. The cinematography is surprisingly stunning in parts and although some of the points in the plot don't necessarily all work themselves out, I believe it to be a solid B+ effort.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, was a disappointment to me. I expected it to be a great movie about the "ass-kicking" aspects of martial arts AND something about the spirituality of the martial arts. What I got was a movie that didn't touch at all on how these warriors could perform such feats of physical and ethereal prowess and didn't even have enough fight scenes in it. When the fight scenes were there they were amazing... almost too amazing, to the point of being ridiculous without explanation. Could have been better: C+.
Save the Last Dance. A teen movie about grown-up issues? Well about issues that most grown-ups don't even have to face but many of America's youth are facing daily. Not just about dancing, this movie tries to touch on some heavy topics and ways of dealing with tough issues. Sean Patrick Thomas is really great in this movie. Everyone else is simply adequate. This all told, I give it a C+.
Pending no further technical setbacks you will be able to see more in-depth reviews of recent movies soon at
BenOnFilm.com
Just a little bit of a break these last couple days to celebrate my wife's birthday at a little
bed and breakfast. No TV, no computer, no radio. Just me and her and I wouldn't have had it any other way.
Working this weekend and liking it?
In the "have you seen this site yet?" category: It seems that Scott over at the
vlaminck.com family of sites is back on the web bandwagon and posting his thoughts on science and the like. His latest post points to
this article about black holes and how we are even closer to *proving* they exist. (he is almost a rocket scientist after all)
Along a similar vein,
this article at Space.com describes a "new sport" known as space diving, which is similar to skydiving except from *much* higher altitudes.
After playing with the PlayStation 2 for several days now I can honestly say...yawn...I guess I am only slightly impressed. What's that? You say they rushed out this first batch of games and that the next generation will be really cool? By then will the Xbox be out? Is the Xbox just a souped up PC with nothing else on the OS? Many questions grasshopper, few answers.
One thing, in particular, bothers me: all the consoles that use CD's, and now DVD's, access the information so slowly. I am talking about loading up the game for the first time, etc. And gameplay just does not feel as responsive as good ol' Nintendo64 and its seemingly old fashioned, low tech cartridges.
I guess it could be worse. I could have the threat of
random and selected power outages? How's it going
Jason?
I seem to have quite a following this fine day. It seems a ton of people are looking at me. Odd indeed. Current record number of simultaneous users: 11.
Wanna look at me? (note: the chat part may not be working correctly for the moment)
I have had a chance of late to do some "hands on" work in my profession. Usually I do a lot of proposal writing, UI storyboarding, and strategic direction type stuff, but lately the need has arisen for me to do some coding and graphics work and I like it just fine. I wouldn't mind doing some more visual interface design and get paid, too. Although Interaction and information design are fine for now.
The "tech world" is abuzz with speculation on what
IT" is. MSNBC says it is an "Invention said to be bigger than PC's and the Internet.
From digging up info (and having a lot of info dug for me. Thanks
Jason) there seems to be consensus that Dean Kamen has invented some sort of personal transport (like a hovercraft/skateboard thing), or some sort of clean power supply (portable fuel cell).
Start below and then do your own digging:
If it turns out to be neither of these, I still want to get me one of them "hover scooters".
Has anyone played around with the new
Google tool bar? It does some nice things like:
- You can choose to only search the site you are currently on regardless of whether or not they provide search functionality.
- You can also find your search terms wherever they appear on the page.
- And access additional info on the page, including Google's ranking of it.
But the best thing is the simplest. You can use Google's great search from your browser at any time. Simple and fast.
~~~
Some things I have come to understand in the past year:
- I am a hard person to please
- Having a dog changes your life
- Computers are fine but "people rule" (Gateway paid me for that remark)
- Designing on a laptop (even a good one with a huge screen) has very clear shortcomings
- The Velvet Underground is so highly praised because they are damn good.
- Pi (the movie) wasn't a fluke.
- There is no such thing as the perfect job.
- Having a webcam up kinda sucks.
- I want/need to learn more about this world/universe I live in. Corollary: Science is interesting.
- Being with friends as much as you can is a good idea.
Some things that happened in the last year:
- The American people got a lesson in the Electorate, now we all have to take our medicine for the next 4 years
- I got a new job
- my "cursed", new SUV has not rolled over and helped me through one of Minnesota's snowiest winters.
- 2 of my sites became 1
- Arnold realized what Willis was talking about.
- The tech stock bubble broke
- I made a post here and there
If you didn't get a PlayStation 2, you may have been lucky. We've all heard about the Xbox and what it can supposedly do. I don't think most people really thought it would be out this year, but it looks like it will be.
Here are some sites containing more and more details:
I am really looking forward to see and hearing the sound and graphics quality of this thing, and I am very interested to see if the games will be better than the typical PlayStation game. Because really, I think PlayStation game designers have traditionally suffered from creating games that utilize the graphics of the system and are stunning but bore me. They just aren't interesting; the stories are not imaginative.
The numbers for the U.S. Census are in and they do not bode well for those of us to the left of the political center. The U.S. population rose 13% over the last 10 years but most of the gains were in the southern states of Texas, Georgia, and Florida, as well as some new found conservative centers in Arizona, Colorado, and Nevada.
You can check out the
U.S. Census site and the
U.S. Census 2000 site for some very good information and links. I especially commend them on spending our taxes on the following site:
the factfinder that allows you to do an amazing number of diverse sorts on current data and view it in maps, charts, and more.
On a somewhat related note, there is a new book called the
New Geography that's all about how the Internet is changing where people live. There was also a
program on NPR (RealAudio) discussing the ideas presented in this book by Joel Kotkin. The gist? That the Internet allows people to move out of the big cities and typical technology havens like Silicon Valley and Alley to live wherever the hell they want. It's actually much more interesting than that sounded however.
I hate when weblogs have "conversations" with other weblogs by responding to something on them, but...
I thought this was interesting from
kottke.org. Jason states:
"People have been trying to figure out what the 90's were all about. The 70's decade is referred to as the 'Me Decade' and the 80's were the 'Greed Decade'. What about the 90's? I would like to propose that the 90's were the 'Where's That From? Decade' or, alternatively, the 'Meta Decade'."
While I agree that the 90's were sort of an aggregate of past decades in some superficial ways like, clothing styles, movies, and music, I don't think there was any great change in the mindset of the average person*. I think that, beginning in the 60's, the average American thinks almost solely of themselves (and at a distant second, is their family). The "Me" and "Greed" decades simply gave way to the "I" decade of the 90's. The sensitive 90's man is encouraged to state things like "I think" this or "I feel" that. Image means more today than ever before, it's all about the individual now. I don't think this was always the case.
I wonder if there was a moment in time somewhere that could be pinpointed to as when the American public lost its sense of community, its sense of being together in some great endeavor. Granted there were a lot of bad things that were still far more prevalent in the 50's: racism, sexism, etc. I still believe however that something was lost. Something changed in the way people feel and act toward each other and this new manner of interaction has persisted for the last 30+ years.
Comments?
* the average person is defined for my purposes as a U.S. citizen.
What's with Amazon.com "closing" temporarily yesterday? Think it didn't happen? Take a
look at this.
The new millennium is upon us. It looks sort of the same as the old one. In the last year much happened but did anything really change? Have we progressed as a species?
What you expect me to answer that right now. Nope. But some things did happen in the last 10 years. NASA posted it's
Top Ten Stories for the Year 2000
Want something to look forward to? I can't tell you about hovering cars or automatic dinner making machines, but I can say that the first year of this millennium is shaping up to be
A Feast of Film. That is if you're into that sort of movie-going, fun, type of thing.
Just in time for the new year, the new site finally launches (without a couple features, unfortunately). I am already sick to death of this design and I know it needs some help on the Mac.
Tell me what you think.
The reasons for the changes were quite simple. I was basically doing the visitors of both of my primary sites (aberro.com and alttext.com) a disservice by not keeping them each up sufficiently and at a high enough quality level.
I am hoping that by combining these sites I will be able to, not only, provide a higher quality experience for my visitors but also combine the best points of each of the previous sites.
Some of the good things that I will try to continue are:
- commentary on everyday things, media, and the web
- episodic content from me and others showcasing creative writing and design
- resources for web designers (information, interaction, or visual)
- retaining the ability for visitors, themselves, to rant about various topics
There will also be some new things on the site. Some examples are: the new webcam, so you can look at my ugly mug while I work, and a text based version, for when you really don't need to wait for the site to download.
I hope you enjoy the changes.
Ben on Film has "launched" thus, ending my hiatus on reviewing movies. There are still a lot of kinks to work out and features to add. And there are going to be a ton of reviews added shortly. But enjoy what's there for now and
tell me what you think.
Work, work, work. Back to work.
On a science note: Carl Sagan's
Cosmos is coming on DVD.
Can anyone
get me a PS2????
Christmas was good this year. I got to see most of my family, including my ailing grandparents and was able to spend time just being with relatives. Sometimes that doesn't seem like a lot of fun, but on this occasion it was. It is sort of grounding to be with them and forget about being an adult. This Christmas I got to be a kid again. That was fun. Merry Christmas everyone, or happy whatever holiday you may celebrate.
Christmas hasn't lost its luster for me. Nope, I feel great and finally in the "spirit of the season". My spirit doesn't care much for the biblical significance of the holiday, my spirit cares more for the finding of gifts for the people close to me — gifts that fit them, but not necessarily that they have asked for. I really love that. Well that and all those claymation movies on TV.
The
Mall of America here in Minnesota is planning a
huge expansion that would more than double its size to more than 10 million square feet. The expansion will include several hotels, a 5000 seat performing arts center, offices, more stores (including a 70,000 square foot "specialty sports" retailer - whatever that means), and amazingly - residences.
Imagine living at the mall! All they need is a grocery store and people would never feel compelled to leave. (Well at least *sick* people)
One of my passions has always been homes, buildings, and architecture. I wanted to be an architect, like many kids, but then I realized that it is a dying profession - thanks, in large part, to the cookie cutter mentality of many builders today.
It has always been clear that eventually I would want to aid in planning and building my own home. After reading
The Not So Big House by Sarah Susanka, some of the ways to do it became clearer. The Not So Big House presents several very attractive ideas for home building. Most center around building a home that you would want to live in for your entire life and even pass on to future generations much like homes of the past. This idea serves as a stark contrast to the huge suburban homes being built with only square footage figures and cheap materials in mind.
Here's a quote illustrating this point:
"The current pattern of building big to allow for quantities of furniture with still more room to spare is more akin to wearing a sack than a tailored suit. It may offer capacity, but at the cost of comfort and charm."
Additional thoughts expressed in the book are of building simpler homes with higher quality, recycled and recyclable materials, that are energy efficient, and provide their inhabitants with practical, and in some senses, spiritual satisfaction.
The Site, though not much to look at, has some very interesting information (with links to more) in regards to concepts such as New Urbanism, the Arts and Crafts Movement, and spatial proportions and geometry (including some very interesting links to geometry related sites, including:
The Fibonacci Numbers and the Golden Section,
The Infinite Fractal Loop, and
The Meru Foundation. When I get some time I will try to post something about "sacred geometry" - a topic I am very interested in. Here's
a link in the mean time.
Damn funny
~~~
Movies I want to see soon:
Well it's over. The one with "integrity" won. The one who "didn't bring it to the courts" won. The question is, who lost? The majority of the American people? The integrity of the courts? The sanctity of the vote?
I apologize for the intermittent server outages this weekend and for the lack of updates (and the lack of the new site launch). There are still some pending DNS change problems. Man, does Network Solutions suck!
For waiting so patiently, I thought I could point you to some stuff I have found recently:
- You can now purchase the
world's longest fingernails. No kidding.
-
One movie I won't be seeing.
-
Linus Torvald is set to release a new kernel (2.4) for Linux that will be targeting more corporate usage.
The
New Scientist is a new science magazine with some new ideas and interesting articles. Here's an example:
"moderate drinkers have a higher IQ."
There are still some remaining "known issues" with the new version of the site:
- Macintosh - oh the humanity!
- Only guaranteed Netscape 4.7 & Internet Explorer 5 compliant - Anything else? You're on your own.
- some draggable layers go behind the text fields in Netscape.[resources page]
I have to get these resolved before I launch.
Still counting down, 10, 9, 8, ...
If you are seeing this post, it means that I have yet to launch the new version of the site. The new site will be up in T-minus 24 hours...
Friskit is a new service in beta that allows you to search "every corner of the Web" for music and then stream it to your desktop. If I could only figure out how to download from it now...
~~~
Have you heard the one about the guy who
worked at a dotcom for 3 weeks without anyone noticing he didn't really work there? He got free snacks, massages, and his own phone extension without doing any real work. Do you want a job
there?
~~~
Apparently the
Dune mini-series that is playing this week on the Sci Fi channel is pretty good. I have the first part taped (from yesterday), the rest is on tonight and tomorrow.
The new site is 99% done. Pending a little more polishing and a quick run-through on a Mac, it should launch in the next couple days. I really hope it does, since I am sick of working on it and want to move on to some other things.
I just saw
Pay it Forward. What a great movie, and an even greater concept. My optimistic side says, "If I try this, I could make a difference in a lot of lives." My realistic side says, "At least I will try."
A day without content...nothing new around here, but check out
the World Aids Day site anyway.
Just some nice stuff to look at:
Speaking of Requiem for Dream,
Darren Aronofsky, the film's creator/director etc. has been making a science fiction film. I can't wait! But he is also making the next series of Batman movies — huh? I wish him well on that. [thanks
Jason, for pointing me to much of this info]
Kevin Garnett is making a good move by leaving Nike and going with upstart shoe and clothing company
And1. He is leaving Nike, the brand that Jordan made, to try his hand at building a new one. At first the move appears risky, but consider this: 1. Nike isn't putting up the money that they used to when "megastars" were made in the late 80's and early 90's. And1 probably threw a ton of money at him and he has a chance to create a brand as Jordan did. I am not saying that he is going to have the same exposure that he did at Nike, but he is Kevin Garnett. People are going to watch him.
New
sakebomb. I love those crazy guys. If they have a tenth of as much fun as it looks like they are having, it's gotta be illegal.
~~~
I saw
Requiem for a Dream tonight. It's sort of a "feel good" movie, in that you feel good that you are not like anyone in this film. Seriously — a haunting movie with a powerful sound track, and very solid acting. I don't really know what to think of it yet, though.
Much praise to the person who can
tell me who made that site. Wow, how fun that would have been to make!
Jeff Greenfield, of Time Magazine, shares a
similar opinion to mine about how G. W. winning the presidency is not really a bad thing for America's Democrats. I agree with him right up until the final statements:
"So now," he said, "we wait while G.W. turns into Jimmy Carter — and kick his butt in four years with our Ronald Reagan."
"And who," the E.Y.D. asked, "would that be?"
"Son," the old man said, "Even I can't see that far around the corner."
Where I disagree is, of course we know who will be running. For better or worse, Al Gore has extended his political career by winning the popular vote and arguably winning the Electoral College. I, for one, don't want Gore in 2004.
I recently received a letter (with no return address, mind you) that included only an ad supposedly ripped out of a magazine by someone who "knows" my interests and thinks this ad is among them. It even has a handwritten post-it note (tm) that reads:
Ben,
Try this. It's really good!
J
Not only is this trend (it's a trend cause I have received 2 of these now) very annoying, but it is very deceiving, too. It is much harder to sort it as junk mail with these tactics - I actually had to think for a second about who I might know that would sign their name, J. (Of course, these marketers know that J is the most common first initial and that you will have to think about it.)
Something that has always bothered me (at least since IE 5 came out) is that IE 5 tries to give its own 404 Error message. You can disable that by making your 404 page be a certain file size. [courtesy of the
404 Research Lab at
Plinko.net]
Ok, so regardless of what happens, and whomever becomes the 43rd president of the United States, there are some things that we should all take away from this year's election.
- The Butterfly Ballot...um no. Let's begin the process of standardizing our ballot style across all the precincts of all the states in the county. We cannot have 19,000 votes thrown out in one county do to user error, when there are perfectly clear and concise ways to present the information that do not involve the use of friggin' punch cards!
- Let us also work towards updating the systems we are using to accept and count votes. It is estimated that some of the equipment being used in some parts of the county is over a hundred years old! They cannot even find replacement parts for these things! We should provide touch screens that capture data and send it to a central server (at that voting place - never over the internet). These screens should provide feedback as to what is being chosen and allow for confirmation. That server (or its data) is then transported to a tabulation center where votes can be counted (and recounted) in seconds.
- We should have a national discussion about the electorate college and the way we vote on the president. I am not sure that it should be ditched, but it could possibly be reformed?
- We need to, as a country, investigate every instance of irregularities in the practice of voting in the country and strive to eliminate them. We cannot have things like: blacks and others being asked to leave polling places up to an hour before the polls close, highway patrols setting up checkpoints near a polling area outside of predominantly black areas of voters (thus prohibiting many from getting to vote), or the spread of disinformation that confuses people or convinces them they cannot vote for some reason like stating that 2 forms of ID are required when only one was. (incidentally all of these things reportedly happened in the Florida elections)
- Stop the polling! There is no need for hourly polls stating who is leading, and up to the second counts of votes and state predictions. Results of any election should not be predicted until after the last polls in the country have closed. Calling states and predicting winners can affect elections, idiots!
- All absentee ballots must be in by election day and not just postmarked by then. New rule. Also the process of absentee voting should be scrutinized carefully as in many cases, there is widespread corruption in absentee ballots.
Good luck to whomever "wins", it will be a tough 4 years and your political career will be over in 2004. Gore in 2004 has a certain ring to it.
First off I want you all to know that I am not done with this topic. For now, though, I will simply post this
link to an article on Salon about the design of the "notorious" Palm Beach Butterfly ballot.
Our election practices are showing their age here in the Ol' U.S. of A. First we continue to adhere to the
outdated system of the Electorate College and then we have all sorts of
shenanigans and problems with the actual act of voting.
What's next?
Pets.com is shutting down. Get your
talking sock puppet while you can.
~~~
Could Mac OS X run on PC hardware? Well, probably but this seems like the opposite of what should be happening. Mac hardware has always been better and faster, why not run Windows on it?
~~~
Expect to see more information here on the
Web 2000 conference I just got back from.
Sick of all those cell phones going off in meetings, restaurants and theaters? For some good fun, check out
www.phonebashing.com. These people run around and smash the phones of people that they see being obnoxious. Oh yeah, and they are dressed like a big cell phone too. Funny.
San Francisco has been "off the hook" so far. Aside from
the conference, which has been good, there has been a lot of crazy events going on.
Since I last posted, I have seen Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters again, saw just about the coolest movie ever (Cyberworld 3D) at the
Sony IMAX theater here, and partied in the Castro district for the wildest Halloween party I have ever attended (where my friend Marc of
m40.com fame was hit on by
Jenna (of "Survivor" fame).
I ran into Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters today. Almost literally. He was right outside my hotel here in San Fran, just sort of damning around on the sidewalk. I said something to him and he just smiled. Apperently he was in town for the Miller Genuine Draft Blind Date. It was pretty cool.
My feet are sore.
The new site is 80% complete and I hope to launch it while I am out at
Web 2000. Much of it was created while in Minneapolis, some in Salt Lake City, still other parts here in San Francisco and in the air in between. At first it will simply be a new look, however there are some other bits of functionality that will be added soon after.
I am preparing for
Web 2000 and 10 days in San Francisco. I am really looking forward to both the conference as well as meeting many of the people I have been in correspondence with over the years.
I enjoyed Web 98 in San Fran, but I felt it was lacking in some key areas. I believe it has probably grown up some and should be great.
If you are going to be out in San Fran between October 27th and November 6th, please
drop me a line and maybe we can get together for coffee or sushi (maybe not together though).
Here are some interesting
ways that the world could end. Among my favorites are the collapse of the vacuum and a particle accelerator mishap. Very interesting stuff. I somehow like the idea of the universe expanding until it "cools" and then having tiny bubbles of a new type of vacuum appearing and spreading at the speed of light throughout the universe.
I have been meaning to post this link for some time, but feared it may mark me a dork. Then I realized I am one and decided to post it.
I have mostly sworn off computer games, but every once and a while a game will come along and get me really excited. The new
NeverWinter Nights is such a game.
It is based on the goal of bringing the pen and paper version of Dungeons and Dragons to the computer screen.
I think they have done a fine job. It is based on AD&D 3rd Edition Rules (the rules aren't even out yet). The Dungeon Master (the one who creates the story and world to adventure in) can create the world, story etc. just like traditional D & D and then can manifest himself in the world however he chooses (i.e. in a dragon, any non- player character, etc)
Some of the things they do with lighting effects and graphics are really nice.
Take a look at
these movies (they take a while on a modem but they are worth it) Be sure to find the top one too, it's the one titled "Never Winter Nights Movie"
MalePregnancy.com
Ummm, yeah. I have heard of this before but can't determine if this is legit or not.
I just came across a great resource explaining why it is important to use diagrams that are whiteboard-compatible, tool-independent, and small and self-contained: the
visual vocabulary for describing information architecture at
jjg.net [
xblog]
~~~
Also some new links and stuff have been added to the
resource section.
~~~
Have you seen
m40.com lately?
I think
this is a bad sign of things to come.
To say that Madonna has more of a right to madonna.com than anyone else is just plain wrong. Especially when you consider these factors:
- Madonna is a dictionary word
- There was no intent to harm Madonna's character or mislead Madonna fans
- The domain was being used for a legitimate purpose: it served up pornography. It wasn't just sitting there and not being used.
I really do not like domain name squatters, but at what point does this stuff end?
Do this: [thanks Darrel]
1. dial 1-800-888-3999 (it's free)
2. listen to all of the options
3. after hearing #7, hit 7
If that doesn't put a smile on your face, you need a vacation.
Is this really the
best name for a product that removes hair?
In breaking news,
Scour is bankrupt.
~~~
What is their problem? Have
things escalated enough for the U.S. to deploy troops?
Scottie Says:
"Religion (and other moral beliefs) is so deeply ingrained in people that it sometimes provokes irrational behavior, sometimes to the extent that people go beyond what they feel is morally right and often times they act in such ways that it goes entirely against what their beliefs state.
And you can quote me on that shit."
~~~
So I went to the
Plural Party (Version 2.0) last night in Minneapolis and it was quite the affair. There was a club-like atmosphere, models and whatnot, and free drinks for a good portion of the night. Best of all, there wasn't a URL anywhere to be found. In fact, I would say the geek factor at the event was remarkably low considering the industry.
~~~
And there is
a new Aibo "dog" from Sony.
I find it interesting how many articles there are that claim "XYZ has arrived" or "The fall of XYZ" only to look foolish in 6 months.
A couple such articles about micropayments are pointed to below:
The problem with these articles is not what they are saying, but rather what they are NOT saying. These articles should be focusing on the reason the push for micropayments has been a steady, if not pretty weak, one.
That reason being the need to figure out new ways for content and service providers to charge for their innovation and products/services. What these writers fail to say is that we are currently in a short period between 2 eras. The era of advertising attached to content and media is ending and "on-demand" everything is coming. Just the essentials will be demanded, no ads. We just happen to be living in a time when the people who do it the old way don't know yet that their days are numbered or don't care, and the new ways are still in their infancy.
Solve the problems that usher us into the new era, and you will find yourself a pretty rich person.
Here is what I have been doing lately:
- eating, sleeping, working (sometimes in that order)
- coming up with ways to improve aberro.com/alttext.com
- reevaluating my goals
- buying and reading books about information, design, architecture, information design, and information architecture
- playing with TiVo
- working on rearview.org (no, seriously)
- wishing I lived in San Francisco
- biking, camping, and walking my dog
- waiting for Playstaion 2 to end all of the things above
If anyone can help me find the source of
this short little film I would appreciate if you send it along to me. It is damn funny, but I have spent the better part of an hour trying to find a better quality version of it, to no avail.
Capitalism meets Democracy
Not planning on voting in the upcoming elections? Then
sell your vote to the highest bidder at
www.voteauction.com
So is anyone going to
Web 2000? We should hook up and talk about geeky stuff. I'll be
staying here.
~~~
I am trying really hard to only use one space after a period. (not that it matters on the web) But it is oh so hard!
~~~
I really like what Jason has done with
kottke.org. The new design is clean, much easier on the eyes than previous versions and presents a great deal of content in a small amount of space.
He is one smart feller'.
I drew some interesting conclusions from an article at
shirky.com entitled:
View Source... Lessons from the Web's massively parallel development. [from
kottke.org]
One relates to a point that is made that I hadn't really thought of in a formalized manner before:
"An interface can be integrated with the information it is displaying, instead of with the display software itself.
This transfer of the interface from 'something that resides in the
software and is applied to the data' to 'something that resides in the
data and is applied to the software' is the single most important
innovation of the early Web."
Because of the fact that designers and architects have the freedom to develop the interfaces that they do, they are allowed to innovate or make mistakes in turn. The freedom and pace at which new interfaces are developed has allowed for greater change and an increase in the number of improvements that users benefit from.
~~~
In a completely unrelated note, after watching most of the first presidential debates, I really feel that you have to tune out the rhetoric and lip service to this issue or that issue, and focus on which of the candidates you would feel comfortable as the leader of your nation. And as Forest Gump might say, "That's all I have to say about that."
~~~
Now I will offer one last observation from on high and that is this: has the "art" of forming coherent, well formulated sentences been lost? After listening to a number of *young people* (listen to me, I sound like my grandpa) I am beginning to believe that this is the case.
I have quite a bit of work cut out for myself as I have just received my latest shipment of books from
Fatbrain (which incidentally just got a facelift). Among them are
The Design of Everyday Things,
Designing Web Usability, and
Envisioning Information; just some basics I have been meaning to brush up on for some time. I'll post my thoughts of these and other books here in the coming weeks.
If you have not seen
this yet, you really have to. At first this Vince Carter dunk may not seem so spectacular, but look, he is jumping over a guy that is 7'2"!
Many of you may have been to my other sites:
alttext.com and
benonfilm.com. What you may not know is that both are in a state of evolution. While
benonfilm.com will be re-architected and redesigned, with added content and functionality,
alttext.com will undergo an even greater transformation... or I should say this site itself will be changing.
At some point in the not so distant future, this site's name and domain will change. It will take on the alt text name and some of its purpose.
What is now aberro.com will remain nearly the same, but another section called episodes will be added. This section will allow me and others to collaborate on various projects and experiments and have them posted to this site for others to view and comment on.
This move will also allow me to once again improve this site's focus and perhaps capitalize on a better, more well suited name: alt text and provide a better experience to its visitors.
I was pretty impressed with the new Apple G4 Cube when I saw it online. But after seeing it in real life, up close and in person, I am *very* impressed.
Not only is it very beautiful and elegant, but it is very-well engineered. Here are some reasons why:
- The power button is so cool. It senses your finger optically and as it turns on it glows *through* the case.
- The "pull out" design. You can easily replace the system battery or add more RAM, even swap out the hard drive in it. (although half or so of the inside of the computer is made up of it, heat sinks so that no fan is needed)
- The speakers are simply beautiful - like art.
Want a couple negatives? Well, here are some:
- The reason it doesn't need a fan is because it comes with an external power supply. Funny, you never see that pictured with it.
- The mouse. When will they get this right. Try looking for a button. Oh yeah, the whole mouse is a button!
It is pretty funny when our entire office huddled around when we opened the thing up. It was like a big Christmas gift opening.
If you are in the market for a cell phone (not that I am) you should really check out
point.com. They provide a wealth of phone related info and great comparisons of phones and service plans.
~~~
A couple new things have been added to aberro since yesterday. First, with a ton of help from
Scott, I have added a search feature to the site which searches the database for keywords. Right now it only searches for the exact word or phrase you enter. It does not do and/or searches but will someday.
The other new addition is a new section called
resources, where you will find some links to various design and user experience books, tools, sites, etc. I will be adding a ton more to that section soon. Please feel free to
point out other resources that you have found helpful.
I don't know if there is anything more disheartening than trying to recruit and hire talented graphic designers. This has been my life now for several months. With Producers and with Developers I see the correct acronyms and buzzwords and I nearly always have to bring them in for an interview, but with designers I get these URL's of their previous work and it all stinks. I mean can you please try not to use so many Photoshop filters?!
What's better than
winning a TiVo? Winning a TiVo and sitting in bed, in your underwear, with a cable modem connection.
~~~
Fatbrain is having a
great sale on its best-selling books. All of the books listed are 40-50% off the already low Fatbrain prices. There are a lot of Java books there for you developers out there. I even got me a book by that funny Swede, Jakob:
Designing Web Usability
.
Hurry though, only 3 more days!
aberro.com has been WAPed. Next time you are on your cell phone or other WAP-enabled device check out
wap.aberro.com. Right now there is only some WAP resources and some links to other WAP sites including a drink and cocktail recipe site and movie listings.
On other related notes,
WAP Land is a nice site devoted to all things WAP.
If you don't have a phone or other WAP device you can check out how things would look using
this simulator.
You will start to notice some changes to the site. They will be gradual, but I am going to be adding some content (no really) and some features in the coming days.
If you are perceptive you may have already noticed the "permalink" feature to the right of each title. I wasn't going to do this because I thought ya'll could figure out how to link to these on your own, but then I thought "hey, if these people are at this site, they can't be too smart, can they?"
Next up will be a windowing selector and a search.
Want anything else?
For A Cool Half Million You Too Can Own Your Space Ship
Yeah, but you only get to go up 200 KM (not into orbit) and you have to BUILD IT YOURSELF!
That's right, for the paultry sum of a half a million dollars, you can buy a kit from the
Cerulean Freight Forwarding Company and build a ship that can go mach 4. Still pretty cool.
You have to take a look at the
company's site! Do you trust a company to make a futuristic space ship when they can't make a website that doesn't look like it's from 1996?
ReplayTV began shipping a 60-hour unit that sells for $800 yesterday. I really want one of these things but I feel compelled to wait for the 2nd generation to come out. Right now
the Sony is in the lead, though.
It seems like '98 and '99 were banner years for movies, yet 2000 has yet to produce any great movies. There have been a couple decent ones, and maybe even one or two good ones, but all in all, I have been disappointed.
Where is the the Fight Club, Being John Malkovich, The Green Mile, Magnolia, Shakespeare in Love, There's Something About Mary , American History X, La Vita è bella, Rushmore, Pi of today?
Are there any even coming up? Maybe. Could
Almost Famous be one of those movies? I hope. But probably not.
It seems I have found another film site. At
CinemaNow.com you can watch a ton of movies. Most of them seem to be full length features. Here is
a shorter one.
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Sony's new
Digital Network Recorder looks like a slicker version of the TiVo hardware used to digitally record TV. I am not sure this is worth the $399 yet, but I am getting damn close to convincing myself.
Fuck Gramaglia Up is a damn funny movie. I have to give major props to the directors/instigators, Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland. If I can assume this to be real, then I have a little twinge of guilt and sadness for the participants, as this kinda gets to the heart of some ugly issues. But it's still funny.
This still happens? Here is a
list of books that were banned or "challenged" in the 1990's. I cannot believe that this still goes on in our libraries and schools.
Really, what are Harry Potter books doing on this list? Sorcery is witchcraft? And how about these:
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
- Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
- The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
- Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
- A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
- The Color Purple by Alice Walker
- Blubber by Judy Blume
- The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
- A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
Reportedly the book: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou was banned for portraying "white people as being horrible, nasty, stupid people." um ... yeah? Thanks
Jesse
An
unfortunate but expected side-effect of
TiVo's great TV viewing experience is the fact that TiVo watches what you watch...and sells that info.
This would be fine if I were only watching the Discovery channel and the Simpson's, but do I really want people knowing that I watched 9 hours of a Real World marathon?
In a recent
article "web bugs" are presented as a horrible invasion of privacy. But I ask what is the difference between a web bug and the stats a site collects? Answer: only that a web bug delivers the information directly to the advertiser by sending the following info:
- The IP address of the computer that fetched the Web Bug
- The URL of the page that the Web Bug is located on
- The URL of the Web Bug image
- The time the Web Bug was viewed
- The type of browser that fetched the Web Bug image
- A previously set cookie value
Big deal.
Salon had
an article about chip implants that I thought was interesting. Ok, the article really wasn't that interesting because it focused almost entirely on the tracking aspect of implant chips.
There is so much more to this issue than
keeping track of your kids or the government tracking our every move. There can be implants that allow us to pay for things without wallets, cards, or checks; or implants that monitor our vital statistics and maintain our medical records wherever we go.
Arguing about whether or not we should have implants is pointless. We will at some point have implants, just like humans will be cloned. Paranoid people, groups and governments can only try to delay the inevitable.
Although I sometimes want to claim to be a designer, I have a long ways to go before I reach a level where I am comfortable calling myself one.
Photoshop 6 (due out later this month) won't get me any closer to my goal, but it may make getting there a little easier (OK so it will really only allow me to not open Illustrator so much). There are some great new features that make Photoshop 6 worth upgrading for (unless you have to pay the full price for it). Here they are in no particular order:
- Text directly on the canvas - No more writing in a box!
- Support for more layers - form 99 to 8000. Is this really necessary? How big would an 8000 layer document be?
- Layer sets - I am really excited about this as it will allow for the organization of layers into logical groups like "header" and "sidebar".
- Vectors! - you can now draw vector shapes in Photoshop - goodbye Illustrator!
- Text on a curve - enough said.
- Toolbars replace some palettes - This is the one thing some die-hards may not appreciate but I feel will make the program more efficient to use and keep more functionality at the users "fingertips".
- PDF support - kinda cool?
- Improved optimization - by using alpha channels you can now optimize different parts of an image differently
Those are some highlights. There are still some notable exclusions (or at least I haven't heard of them, namely:
- Multiple sets of guides or guide layers.
- the ability to discard all hidden layers in one action
- multiple undo's without using the history palette
But all in all, a good product getting better. I am looking forward to it.
Most of this goes in the "stuff I wanted to report for the last couple days" column. Here it finally is:
I don't know how this slipped under my radar screen but the
new Allen Telescope Array is going to be searching the heavens for extra-terrestrials 24/7. It will be "the world’s most powerful instrument designed to seek out signals from civilizations elsewhere in our galaxy." Named for Paul Allen of Microsoft fame (and for a 12 million dollar donation you too can have an array named after you), this array will be made up of 500 to 1,000 dishes resembling those used for DirecTV and can be used to study up to a dozen star systems simultaneously.
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While we're on the subject of Microsoft (ok, I know that is a pretty weak segue but...) how about this
new Xbox from Microsoft? Basically it is a new gaming console due out for fall 2001.
Nintendo unveiled its latest console (due out around the same time), the
GameCube looks like too little too late.
But will any of this matter when we are all playing our
PlayStation 2's? Here is
a comparison of the 3 systems.
Magnolia is now out on DVD. Go ahead.
Go buy it.
~~~
This is a weird little thing I was pointed to: the
Iowa Electronic Markets its like a stock exchange for political occurrences and events. You can buy and sell based on what you think the outcome of the country's elections will be. Thanks,
Scott
The W3C are working on a new standard for web based forms:
XForms. Basically, they are trying to catch up to how we all want to use forms for data submission.
Talks of creating an "open data dialog between the recipient of a hypertext document and the sender" and the "need to provide effective support for various kinds of data exchange" are among the ideas being addressed.
Here's more:
"To enable Web content developers to meet these challenges, XForms will be designed to cleanly distinguish between form instance data, form description (called the XForms Model), and form presentation (called the XForms User Interface). The same form will be accessible on a full screen display, a
