...more recent posts
Barbelith reprinted this funny open letter to Dr. Laura.
Brig (no, I don't really know her, but I'll call her Brig as if I did...) has a poll on her page today about webloggers and gender. Pretty even score so far (boys just slightly in the lead.)
Rasterweb has a funny page of insults for computer geeks. A little repetitive, but some gems. I liked: "He's not the fastest router on the network." His call for other quips is my big chance to interact: must...think...of something...funny...
Today's photo is of the Hindenburg burning over Lakehurst, NJ on May 6, 1937. No reason except it is kind of a cool picture. As usual, this is stolen from the BBC which is running an article on a new German Zeppelin being made for large cargo lifting needs. (Not too interesting, but I liked the picture.)
I finally found a table which explains those cryptic Mac error messages.
I've been wasting time lately in the FoRK Archive. Smart (insider-ish) discussions on what is happening in the high tech world. Like many cool things, I found this through Hack the Planet which is also full of smart (insider-ish) discussions on ...
Photoshop 6.0 hits beta. If you work with images, you probably work with Photoshop. Adobe is calling this a major upgrade (but of course they would.) Apple Insider has the preview scoop.
From Barbelith comes this gem: "I'm sorry, but Jeffrey Zeldman rocks so hard and fast he could vibrate himself through a mountain." Here's the Zeldman piece in question, which Tom calls, "a call to arms, a Manifesto for the true digerati - the people that like to play and create and communicate, rather than the people who consider a "good internet idea" to be selling sportswear (however ineffectively)...."
What about the idea that keeping a weblog (especially if you work in front of a computer all day, and take small random breaks from your work to do a little blogging) is a way for information workers to maintain a sense of self in an otherwise depersonalizing situation (i.e., the long hours many spend doing mundane information processing tasks for their corporate benefactors.) Maybe the small amount of time lost to these personal pursuits is O.K. in the end as it allows workers to always maintain a little loop of their own personality in the background. The weblog is an excuse to see and comment on things that are important to you personally, and you can do this pretty much continuously (espcially, like I said, if you work in front of a computer all day.) I know Alex has commented that this sort of personal project can really make working for someone else bearable (or even just acceptable.) And while people have always done this (like reading on the job when things are slow, or writing a personal letter) the concept of micropublishing your thoughts for others, and the pressure to keep updating your blog, makes the weblog sort of time wasting much more valuable for maintaining a sense of self that is separate from your job. I'll have to work on this idea a little.
It didn't reduce very well, but today's picture is a piece by Paul Laffoley. A bigger version of this picture is here (112kb) I first heard about him at the disinfo conference a few months ago. In my opinion, the most interesting speaker at that strange event. Anyway, I bought a book of his work at that time, and then MB gave me an original for my birthday. I'll try to get a picture of that up. Here's some more info about him. And here's a reproduction of his piece "Geochronmechane: The Time Machine from the Earth." Yes, he has actually designed a time machine, and I don't doubt that it will work. Unfortunately, to test his idea, we'd have to put this huge machine into orbit, and then drill a hole all the way through the earth. I'll guess there will be a little delay before the jury comes back in on that one.