It would only take seconds to create a weblog dedicated to covering weblogs that say nasty things about what other weblogs say about yet another weblog. At the moment, I have enough sense not to do so. Aside from questions of the increasing amount of time such an effort would take, such an action could have catastrophic effects.
In further news from the console world, Sony has found a "flaw" in its first batch of PlayStation 2 systems: They can play DVD movies coded for other regions. PS2 users will be able to purchase and watch inexpensive Region 1 (North America) discs as easily as pricey Region 2 (Europe and Japan) discs. Yeah, customers are going to line up around the block to get that fixed.
Cringely is in rare form this week as he dissects Microsoft's strategy for its X-Box game console. His premise is that whether or not Microsoft's plans for the X-Box make any sense by themselves, they do make sense in terms of Microsoft's overall strategy. Even if Microsoft loses millions on the X-Box, it will probably benefit from defending its other products.
What game developers should keep in mind is Microsoft's long tradition in the PC software business of introducing titles and initiatives that eventually just fade away. Every time Windows is threatened by some cross-platform software initiative, Microsoft announces its own version in a flurry of publicity only to have the effort misfire and go away. This happened in networking when the threat was from Novell, in the Internet space more than once when the threat was from Netscape, in office networking when it looked like Japanese office equipment companies might cut Microsoft out of that business. Whatever happened to MS-Net, to LAN Manager, to Microsoft at Work? Each was introduced with a crowd on licensees on the stage, yet hardly any products actually appeared.
Sheesh, does Microsoft make any product that is capable of standing on its own merits? Of course, there could be another reason for Microsoft to be afraid of Sony.
First, let me take the opportunity to say that the new design for Wired is butt-ugly. Now that that's over with, this article on the latest application of persuasive technology is creepy. The latest orthodontic headgear records how much time a kid spends wearing it. The inventor claims that it can detect whether it's actually on somebody's head, or they have just put it on a teddy bear.
Pretty nifty report from a convention for the growing hot sauce industry. Apparently, the net (with such sites as Hot Hot Hot and FireGirl) has really helped the industry take off. I've become a bit of a collector myself, mostly from the "Wall of Fire" at Figuero's, a local gourmet store. I personally go more for flavor than heat; my current favorites are Melinda's Habanero Pepper Sauces (especially the EXXXXtra Hot Reserve) and Try-Me Dragon Sauce.
I have to make a confession: I've become a professional wrestling fan. I've been watching Heat and Raw pretty regularly for a couple of months now. (Unfortunately, I live in a Smackdown-free zone, and have to get my results from the web.) Anyway, I was already looking forward to the new documentary, Beyond The Mat; this interview with the director, and discussion of WWF head Vince MacMahon's attempts to suppress the movie, make me want to see it even more.
Space aliens like hot, sweet food, at least according to the WB show Roswell. These guys put Tobasco sauce on anything. I'll admit that I haven't been watching the show much; it's been on opposite The West Wing, and is moving opposite WWF RAW. Still, I gotta respect fans who want to save their show, especially if they come up with a clever gimmick: instead of letters of support, they are sending small bottles of Tobasco to execs at the WB. So hot, it's cool. Unfortunately, some shows are beyond saving, even if the network plans to keep them on the air by any means necessary.
A columnist for the local paper remarks on the latest disturbing trend among the elite: "Power Stinginess". Seems the latest way to show off how powerful you are may be not merely to not leave a tip, but to prevent others from doing so. Hey, I'm not a great tipper, but I know how hard these folks work, and how low their wages are when they are expected to get tips. It takes exceptionally bad service to keep me from leaving a reasonable tip.
Looks like the next generation of mad scientists is coming along quite nicely. Undeterred by the lack of financing to build a Tesla Coil, this enterprising lad constructs a potato cannon to analyze the aerodynamic qualities of tubers. Ah, to be young again.
[via /.] Electric shoelaces. <blink> tags for your feet. The sad thing is, I actually want some. I'm tempted to ask Zannah Claus for a pair. Another slashdotter found some more cool glowing stuff: Cool Neon.
/. is running an Iron Chef poll. Go, Chen, Go! In case you've never seen the show, it's an unbelievable series from Japan: Gourmet cooking as a spectator sport. The premise: An eccentric gourmet built a cooking arena called "Kitchen Arena" and hired a group of "Iron Chefs", top specialists in various cooking styles (Japanese, Chinese, French, and Italian). Each week, a challenger is invited to challenge the Iron Chef of his choice to cook a multi-course meal in one hour, using a special theme ingredient revealed (to both contestants) minutes before the contest begins. Commentators and their guests try to second-guess what the chefs are doing, and a panel judges each meal when they finish. Words can not do justice to the sight of two Asian chefs and their assistants rushing madly around the kitchen trying to finish original, improvised dishes (Squid Ink Ice Cream?) in limited time.
Update: A reader has submitted the following cooking weblog: Bachelor Iron Chef.
This culinary disaster defines bachelor cooking. Ok. Scratch that. Frog's peanut butter chicken defines bachelor cooking, but S.O.B. stew is still a popular option.
I'm not making this up, you know. I have people to do that for me.
I have recently started an online journal called Riddle Me This... to chronicle a project I'm working on. It seems to me that online journals and weblogs are not truly separate concepts, but points on a continuum. At one extreme is the pure personal diary, with no links to outside sites. At the other is the anonymous link list, with little or no personal commentary. Most journals and weblogs I've seen fall more towards the middle. I've seen diaries that link not only to web sites the author wants to mentions, but also to places the author has been, employers, etc. I've seen weblogs where the loggers explain their tastes, or what events in their life prompted them to find a given link. Most of my favorite sites seem to split the difference, giving both an account of the writer's life, and the links they find interesting.
Anyway, Considered Harmful may change over time, but right now, it's primarily links with commentary, with a few remarks about how the links are relevant to my life. Riddle Me This... is an atypical journal, which I like to call a "technical diary"; I don't plan to document my life as a whole, but rather one specific project. I'll probably link to a number of sites that I find helpful while working on that project, as well as related sites such as Linux news (with the occasional riddle or Batman link tossed in).
Yuck. That's more than enough navel-gazing for now; I'll leave the bulk of that to the folks at SXSW. I just hope those guys will get some of the meta-meta junk out of their systems, so they can get back to linking non-blog sites when they get home.
Later: Well, maybe not quite enough. Why am I keeping separate sites for different purposes? Because I want to organize data in different ways. However, the structures of the sites aren't that different. That's part of the idea of the Evil Master Plan I've mentioned a couple of times: I want to learn how to use certain tools, but I would also like to play with some different, more flexible ways of organizing information.
[via Ars Technica] Wow, I didn't think I had enough respect for PETA to lose any of it. Not only do they want people to stop drinking milk, they are encouraging people to drink beer instead. Of course, their page on the "benefits" of beer doesn't have one mention of caloric content, impairment of motor functions, alcoholism, or liver damage. There may be some valid science to support a criticism of milk, but this kind of selective pseudo-scientific garbage undermines any credibility they might have had.
Of course, while all this is true, PETA recommends fresh juices, soy milk, and mineral water—even soda—over milk or beer.
Well, if they'd chosen to promote one of these other beverages instead of beer, they might not have looked like such complete idiots. This sort of thing is why I'd rather test products on animal rights activists than animals.
Update: I'm glad somebody has chosen to speak out against PETA on this.
A ZDNN piece on the Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act (UCITA), one of the ugliest pieces of anti-consumer legislation ever considered by state legislatures. Virginia has passed this beast already.
When I saw one of these funky-lookin' multi-tools in an Eddie Bauer catalog, I thought it was pretty ridiculous. This is way too bulky even for my pockets. They made more sense when I searched the net for a better picture and found out they were intended as a bike toolkit; I could see putting one of these in a bike bag. Still, I'm pretty sure the TV MacGyver carried a Victorinox knife, though the show predated the CyberTool I carry.
Just not in a "cybercafe" in London. The Nutopia "cyberlounge" (yes, I feel I have to put any word starting with "cyber" in quotes) had to cancel its plans for a second nude web surfing night when someone complained to the local authorities. Apparently, cafes and bars with net access are big business in England, and in other countries where all phone calls are charged by the minute.
OK, this is not a family-friendly link. I was lurking talk.bizarre pretty regularly back when this guy made his debut. I remember printing out the, uhh, harp story and passing it around the cafeteria tables where we all hung out in college. Great days. [If you believe in link stealing, I stole this one from the evilgenius who's minding the shop while Jason's out of town.]
I'm trying to link less copied and more original material, but Zannah Marketing, Inc. had one I couldn't resist. You can now buy your own replica space suit. The title for this entry is, if you didn't know, stolen from an old Heinlein novel, in which a young man wins a spacesuit in a contest, fixes it up to working conditions, and gets abducted by aliens. Hey, it's not as cheesy as it probably sounds; Heinlein's juvenile novels were some of his best work.
I've started a new website using another of Andrew's free-website tools: Diaryland. I plan for Riddle Me This to be a technical diary rather than a personal one. I want to build a Linux box out of some old spare parts I have lying around, and hope to chronicle my experiences. Not much there yet, but feel free to harass me if I don't seem to be making any progress.
We're getting snow in St. Louis, possibly already more than we've seen all winter, and it's still coming down. Can't even see the Big Silver Partially Buried Coathanger (aka the Gateway Arch) from the ArchCam.
According to my father, the infamous "Bill 602P" e-mail is making the rounds again. In case you're lucky enough not to have received it, the premise is that Congress is currently considering a bill to place surcharges on e-mail. This is complete and utter BS. The first time a family member passed it on, I spent maybe five minutes debunking it:
I knew the bill number was bogus; bills before the Senate have a number like S602. Bills before the House have numbers like HR602. Basic high school civics.
THOMAS is the Library of Congress's searchable index of legislation. Nothing on 602. In fact, the "email surcharge" story is mentioned, and denied, in the FAQ.
The bill is usually attributed to "Congressman Schnell". There is no member of the House or Senate by that name.
Finally, the most comprehensive source for debunking e-mail rumours is the Urban Legends Archive. A quick search turned up a commentary on 602P.
Just goes to show that it doesn't take much effort to check the background of stories that sound too good to be true; after all, they usually are.
A useful tool I found: The Lynx Viewer will give you an approximation of what a web page will look like when viewed in the Lynx textmode browser. I want to do some nice design (RSN! Really!), but I also want to make sure that pages are accessible to Lynx users. Aside from some line lengths (which I suspect may display properly in true Lynx) and a couple of problems with the webring code, I'd say this page comes up surprisingly well.
To all those people saying there were no devices in the works using Transmeta's Crusoe processor: Nyaaah! Unfortunately, it looks like they have no plans to support architectures other than x86. I'm highly amused that one of the prototype models looks like an Etch-a-Sketch. A few years ago, there was a Dilbert cartoon where they gave the PHB an Etch-a-Sketch and told him it was a laptop. At the time, the most technically incompetent guy in the company I was working for was using a buggy, pen-based notebook computer that looked like (you guessed it) an Etch-a-Sketch.
[via Cam] Ouch! OS Opinion doesn't even try to keep up a pretense of being unbiased, they just seem to give anybody with a bias an equal shot. This is one of the most venomous indictments of Microsoft I've seen. The bit about the true current state of the economy ($12 trillion in debt?) is kind of scary even without the MS-bashing. OSO also has a piece on browser incompatibilities, which is one of my biggest pet peeves. Sorry, guys, I'm way down on MS today.
To whoever tried to contact me via AOL Instant Messenger last night: I'm sorry that I didn't accept your invitation to talk. I was in an anti-social mood, but it was rude of me to not at least say hi. I have to assume that the message-sender was a reader, since I've only ever AIM'ed with a few family members before, and posted my AIM ID (bmokeefe) just a couple of days ago. I'll try to be more polite if anyone else messages me.
Anyone who's spent any time using search engines knows how hard it is for a novice to find the data he's really looking for. Anyone who's spent much time on them has learned a few tricks about how to find good information anyway. Well, some companies are starting to put that sort of expertise to work. iNetNow does web searches to answer telephone queries; WebHelp gives online help from an operator through a chat system. Looks like both of these comapnies will (if they aren't now) start charging fees for at least some of their services, but I can imagine this would be well worth it. One of my favorite science fiction authors, Charles Sheffield, may have been one of the first to realize that a major problem with massively networked computers was going to be not the availability of data, but the ability to find it. These services sound a lot like the "Auson's Information Service" he visualized in The Web Between The Worlds, which is also the best beanstalk story I've ever read.
I see that Microsoft has finally officially announced its plans for the X-Box videogame console. As much attention as I normally pay to the console market, I haven't been taking much interest in the X-Box. One of the main reasons I enjoy console games (like my Playstation) is that they don't involve the headaches of dealing with Windows. As I understand it, the main developer selling point for the X-Box is that it will be simple to port PC games to it. I'm going to have a PC that I can do real work on in addition to playing games; also, the Playstation games I most enjoy tend to be an entirely different type of game that the PC games I'm into. Also, the X-Box is going to be DVD based, which brings up the same issues I have with the PlayStation 2 due to the DeCSS flap. The more I hear about the X-Box, the more it sounds like the worst of both worlds.
Is every city going to jump on the fancifully decorated critters bangwagon? I've already linked Chicago's Parade of Cows and New Orleans's upcoming Festival of Fins. Well, looks like Cincinnati is getting in on the act with the Big Pig Gig. (Be sure and check out the pictures' ALT tags, which show up on mouseovers in the most popular browsers.) I love the Dr. Seuss and Charlotte's Web deigns; I'm sure some bank is going to take the obvious route with a piggy bank, but I hope some record store is clever enough to go for some kind of Pink Floyd pig on the wing. Update: The fact that Zannah linked to Flying Pig today is pure coincidence.
Last month, a German family television company bought out the Jim Henson Company; it looks like this was a Good Thing. EM.TV is planning to shoot a full season (26 episodes) of The Muppet Show next year! <kermit>Yaaaaaayyy!</kermit>
There's a new webloglog in town. I'm going to have to take steps to make sure this site doesn't turn into another bloody webloglog myself. [After all, I lifted this link from rebecca's pocket.] Maybe I should just skip to the obvious next level: the weblogloglog, linking to logs which link to logs which link to original content. Update:Metacubed has been there, done that. Soon, somebody else will do the same thing, and some yahoo will create a webloglogloglog to keep an eye on the two of them.
As someone who just can't get enough of eighties new wave music ("Reagan Rock", as a local radio station called it before they got boring), I can really identify with this page. [Thanks, GirlHacker.]
A certain evil genius mentioned earlier has created the Scripting News Drinking Game! If the first two rules wouldn't get anyone drunk in and of themselves, I'd suggest a few rules of my own. Some people read Scripting out of technical geek lust; to carry the automotive metaphor further, some of us watch just to see 10-car pileups. Update: I suggested rules anyway. They've been added. Awesome!
Yes, I am enough of a geek to want a cool-looking case for my computer. I picked this one up at the computer show last weekend, and have now transferred madhatter, my K6-2/500, into it. The scary part is that I now have enough spare parts (plus a KVM switch I also picked up at the show) to rebuild riddler, my old Pentium Pro/200. I'll use some parts from manbat, the pile of components (including a Pentium/120 mobo that never did POST) I bought from a cow orker, but not any parts from penguin, the 486/66 I've loaned to a cousin. For those of you keeping score, that's 1 geek, 4 motherboards, 3 (at least potentially) working computers; good thing I don't have a life, huh? I want a Linux box to play around with, and had done a little bit on penguin (hence the double Tux/Batman reference) before my cousin needed a computer. Anyway, I'm probably going to rebuild riddler as a Linux system, and am considering keeping an online diary of my Linux experiences. Update: My father asked me last night on AIM (I'm bmokeefe, by the way) if I wanted another old 486/66 that he had loaned to someone who has now bought his own system. I told him I at least want a chance to scavenge it for parts. Hmm, killercroc, maybe?
Before you jump blindly into net activism, be sure to learn a little about the parties involved. Case in point: A "protest" against violent cartoons appears to be nothing more than a smokescreen for a domain-name squabble.
According to Reverend Jim Peasboro of Savannah, your computer may be possessed: "Any PC built after 1985 has the storage capacity to house an evil spirit." Hmm, just how much hard disk space does a Lesser Abyssal take up, anyway? [This isn't the FOAF you're looking for.] Update:One in ten computers is posessed. So, when does Norton Exorcist come out?
I figured the main purpose of exercising for weight loss was simply to burn off calories; the latest studies suggest that regular exercise may alter the body's hormone balance in ways that reduce fat as well. Right now, I'm finding any news about the benefits of exercise to be encouraging. I've only been working out at the Y for a few weeks now, but it really does seem to be helping me feel better.
One of huckster P. T. Barnum's most famous sayings was, "There's a sucker born every minute." Given the rate of population growth since Barnum's time, and the spread of mass media, I'm sure the rate of sucker production has grown dramatically. I therefore propose the Barnum (bm) as a unit of the measurement of the spread of meme plagues. Obviously, this measurement would refer to suckers per minute, and could be used to measure such trends as day trading, boy bands, and Fox reality show viewers. For example, a company selling 500,000 units of an excessively convoluted and unreliable product over a two-week period could be measured at approximately 24.8 bm.
Cam points out a bit more detail that backs up my objections to buying a DVD player. The DVD release of Disney's Tarzan requires you to watch (although fast-forward may be possible) four minutes of advertisements before the movie. Not that I'm that interested in Tarzan, but while it may be the first, I doubt it will be the last DVD to place such artificial limitations on the format. Even if I conced the MPAA's objections to DeCSS, discussions of DVD encryption have brought up a number of points, such as zone restrictions and mandatory playbacks, that I find unacceptable. As a result, I have no plans to buy a DVD player or movies until the industry removes these restrictions, or VHS is no longer a viable format. A pity; I was really looking forward to the PlayStation 2.
(via kottke) There's nothing else to say, except my mantra: I will not get involved in inter-blog squabbles. I will not get involved in inter-blog squabbles. I will not...
Justin is off to New Orleans, so somebody (or perhaps everybody) has to keep up his log. (Via Jish, whose webring I intend to join at my earliest convenience.) Update: Webring joined. Most webring links involve huge, jarring graphics and overly verbose text; I like the simplicity and compactness of the weblog webring links. And no, I'm not a stats junkie. I can quit tracking any time I want to.
A well-heeled AC/DC fan has paid $28,100 for a guitar lesson from the group's lead guitarist. Angus Young put his time and expertise up for sale for an online charity auction. A lot of money for a band which has put out 11 12 identical-sounding albums. (Hey, I like the band, I just don't do smileys.)
The Roundabout Theater Company is renaming its Selwyn Theater on Broadway to the American Airlines Theater. OK, this is getting ridiculous. How long before we start naming schools after sponsoring corporations? And will students be expelled for wearing Pepsi T-Shirts to Coca-Cola Middle School? Update: Here's an article about the suspension to which I was alluding.
(via Bricklin) I'm linking to this in order to make sure I read this later. Bob Frankston has an article about separating content from connectivity. I've only skimmed it so far, but his point seems to be that there is a conflict of interest when the companies providing consumers with a connection to the internet provide content as well. A question for any Earthlink users who may be reading: Does Earthlink provide its own content or just a pipe to the net? The latter is what I really want.
Yesterday when I was looking for information on Dr. Bronner's Pure-Castile Soap, I managed to miss the company site entirely. I tried "bronner soap" in three different search engines; nothing. (I'm surprised I didn't get karaoke links.) Aside from the company site link (thanks Simcoe!) I picked up some of the soap at Wild Oats. All-One or None!
considered harmful adj.
[very common] Edsger W. Dijkstra's note in the March 1968 "Communications of the ACM", "Goto Statement Considered Harmful", fired the first salvo in the structured programming wars (text at http://www.acm.org/classics). Amusingly, the ACM considered the resulting acrimony sufficiently harmful that it will (by policy) no longer print an article taking so assertive a position against a coding practice. (Years afterwards, a contrary view was uttered in a CACM letter called, inevitably, "`Goto considered harmful' considered harmful'"). In the ensuing decades, a large number of both serious papers and parodies have borne titles of the form "X considered Y". The structured-programming wars eventually blew over with the realization that both sides were wrong, but use of such titles has remained as a persistent minor in-joke (the `considered silly' found at various places in this lexicon is related).
-- from The Jargon File, version 4.1.4.
