...more recent posts
Off to Long Island for afternoon dinner with MB's parents. Be back tonight.
Tomorrow will be a bit of a loss, so I'm trying to make progress today. I'm talking about that work over here to keep this page clear for the constant stream of witty and amusing anecdotes that have made this weblog so popular with ones of readers. I owe it all to my fans! Thank you, thank you, thank you. And, oh yeah, thank you. That should cover it.
I guess I should come clean. Minutes (well, O.K., days) away from finishing the new system software I had one of my strokes of genius™ and decided to start the whole project completely over. Long time observers may begin to notice a pattern of delusional behavior in terms of actually finishing anything, but the management requests them to just pipe down.
This madness will absolutely not continue past the first of May. No, really.
Took the subway out to Fort Greene, Brooklyn last night for some Cambodian food. We got the F at Delancey and then switched to the C at Jay St. / Borough Hall. We just made it through the closing doors on the transfer, it was crowded, and I didn't get a chance to grab hold of anything. The train started forward with a lurch and I stumbled back a few steps.
Now I hadn't seen him of course. I tend to keep my eyes to myself. But let's just say I had a sense of the crowd. And in the moment after it was all too quickly clear: the large afro, the impeccable head to toe baby blue track suit, and most importantly, the orange plastic Nike bag holding the oversized sneaker box of urban consumer conquest.
Train moves forward. I stumble back and my very black shoe lands squarely on his pristine minutes old all white Air Jordans. Yes it left a smudge. He shot me a look that managed to both frighten me and simultaneously conveying that killing me would be too much effort, and might well further dirty his shoes. Needless to say I tried to support that latter feeling in the tone of my quick and heartfelt apology. "Sorry" I said, meaning "don't waste your time with the hapless hippie - HE'S NOT WORTH IT."
Jumped off at Lafayette, relieved. Had a great dinner at Cambodian Cuisine, 87 South Elliot Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Just be careful on the subway.
I have completely lost my mind. Possibly in a good way. No time for posting...
I loaned Janet my video camera this morning. It was last minute, and I didn't have a blank tape to give her, so I started looking through some unlabeled tapes in my drawer to see if any had enough space for her to use. The first one I popped into the VCR had my shots of the WTC on fire. Strong stuff.
Disregarding all the emotional and political issues surrounding that specific event, what most struck me was the degree to which I was immediately transported back to that moment. I could literally feel myself up on the roof shooting that footage. Part of this total recall was, undoubtedly, due to the rather charged nature of that day. But another big part of it was that I took those shots. I don't think seeing someone else's footage would have quite the same effect.
Maybe this is something to be mined in terms of supporting personal media (personal publishing? weblogging?) Maybe one important thing about weblogging is that the process of recording events gives you much better future access to those events. In other words, it helps you remember. And not just because you could always go back and look something up on your site.
This is also connected somehow with the memory effect where I often forget people's names right after being introduced if I don't repeat the name out loud. "Nice to meet you John Smith." Maybe weblogging is like repeating important facts out loud so that you remember them.
I guess the counter argument would be that you are remembering your recording of an event, and not the event itself. Hmmm. Does this matter?
Yes, this would satisfy me on the digital rights front.
Fritz Hollings has introduced the newly renamed SSSCA to Congress. This is the big one. They are actually going to try to outlaw general purpose computers.
Once known as the Security Systems Standards and Certification Act, the newly named CBDTPA says that all "digital media devices" sold in the United States or shipped across state lines must include copy-protection mechanisms to be defined by the Federal Communications Commission.Decan McCullagh has lots of documents at Politech. Here's the slashdot thread.
I know from trying to explain this to people - even to smart people in the industry! - that most do not understand the gravity of the situation. This is a serious threat to the future of freedom in general.
Apple introduced a new 10 GB iPod yesterday (twice as big as the old one.) But it's $499, and the 5 GB model stays at $399. People were reasonably expecting at least a small drop for the old unit ($350? C'mon, give us something!) It rules, no doubt, but ouch.
Also introduced was a 23 inch flat screen with 1920 x 1200 native resolution. Mmmmm.
And they demonstrated a new USB bluetooth adapter. To be available soon. I can't wait to see what they do with that.
Do-It-Yourself DMCA Counter Notification Letter.
One of the favorite tools of both cults and corporations seeking to take embarassing information off the Internet is to falsely claim violation of a copyright or trademark. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, enacted in 1998, set out a notification procedure that can be used to request an ISP to remove allegedly infringing material from a web page. However, there is a defense against this attack: it's called a counter notification letter. Most people don't know how to write such a letter, which is why I've put together this helpful form.