Saturday 30 August 2003

events update

Seybold San Francisco | Stanford InterLab | User Interface 8 Cambridge | League for Innovation | Comdex Las Vegas |

You wanted to click on those, didn’t you? Sorry, the usability devil made me do it.

I’ve updated the events page to more accurately reflect my fall speaking and training schedule. I hope to meet you somewhere along the way! Leave a comment if you plan on being at any of these events. Or any other events that might be of interest.

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Posted by:   site admin | 11:26 | Comments (55)

Thursday 28 August 2003

is a VW bus in my future?

Well I do want to say thanks for all the very cool feedback regarding my thoughts on going back to school to get my Ph.D. I don’t know what I’m going to do yet, but I’m going to think a lot about it. I am normally very impulsive (surprise, surprise) but thinking this one through seems a smarter approach.

I’m going to keep the poll gone for one more day, currently it appears that most people think I should sell it all, buy a van, and run around naked. I’m truly glad to have my free spirit be so, erm, appreciated.

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Posted by:   site admin | 04:34 | Comments (35)

Wednesday 27 August 2003

skin dive

My favorite mix of the moment is Skindive’s “Tranquilizer.”

I really need some help finding music that has this kind of driving house bass n’ drums. Sexy, intelligent vocals. Over-the-top energy.

Please, got something for me, leave a comment.

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Posted by:   site admin | 06:56 | Comments (3)

Tuesday 26 August 2003

wandering jewess

I’m well into my 40th year and I simply do not know what I want to do with my life. Stay in the “industry”? Everyone knows it’s been very difficult, and I’m tired of feeling like I’m a hamster in perpetual motion. I love writing and I love the Web and I don’t want to remove myself from it, but at the same time, something is missing from life.

I need goals. I need a plan. And I mean beyond making a book or article deadline. I mean like I should be focused on some thing. But what?

The only real possibility I’m aware of currently that would give me a real goal would be to go back to school to get my Ph.D.

This isn’t at all an easy subject for me to broach. I’ve been struggling with this for a long time and I figured I’d toss the issue out there and see what others
had to say about it.

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Posted by:   site admin | 06:11 | Comments (39)

Monday 25 August 2003

egg on face for the riaa?

Apparently, the RIAA is a little concerned about its “let’s sue some file sharers” strategy. I mean, what if they sue a teenage boy dying of cancer stuck in his room sick to death from chemo with only his computer and music for comfort? What if they sue a truly sweet grandma, who owns the computer upon which her teenage granddaughter, whom grandma took in after the poor young girl’s parents were killed in a horrible car accident?

What will people say? Will they see the RIAA as an evil entity, crushing the lives of already crushed young lives?

Rumor has it that while the RIAA is surely going to move ahead with its legal but ludicrous plot to sue file sharers, it is concerned about possible backlash from public image problems that might arise out of their lawsuits.

If Madison Avenue ever means so much to me that I would venture to think about things in this typically American “me-first” way, someone shoot me.

See, so maybe I will die at the hands of a murderer after all.

RIAA: Stupidity incarnate, or doing the right thing? Comment below.

Source: Declan McCullagh’s End of an era for file-sharing chic? on news.com

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Posted by:   site admin | 07:04 | Comments (71)

Saturday 23 August 2003

death test

Hey, remember the Purity Test? I was stumbling into some dusty corners of the Web tonight and came across the Death Test, by the oh-so-not-sane folks at TheSpark.com

Here are my death statistics:

• I will die on August 22, 2024, at the age of 61 years old.
• I will most likely die from:
  • Cancer (27%)
  • Homicide (19%)
  • Alien Abduction (9%)
  • Heart Attack (8%)
  • Alcoholism (6%)
  • Overdose (5%)

So according to this, I’m more likely to die of cancer or some misguided soul deciding I don’t belong on the planet than alcoholism or overdose? I mean, it’s not like these tests are meant to be anything but amusing, but really now. Who’d want to murder me?

Want to take the Death Test? If so, come back and comment on your stats.

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Posted by:   site admin | 04:05 | Comments (100)

Friday 22 August 2003

if you can’t beat them off

then I guess you join them.

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Posted by:   site admin | 07:29 | Comments (2)

let us go eat worms

Nobody loves me
everybody hates me
think I’ll go eat worms

Everything seems distorted today. It started with a stunning sunrise and has turned into a wild afternoon. The wind bends the palms. It is hot and there are wild storms but not here at my house.

I can see the storms to the South. I smell them, creosote and dry dust.

Hey look! I finally installed Movable Type. Forgive my dust, but please leave a comment. Say whatever you want. I love the company.

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Posted by:   site admin | 06:04 | Comments (2)

head line

Sitting here working on a chapter, 2:47 a.m. in whichever time zone it is that I live . . . and across my syndicated news feed I get pushed this little headline from Wired News:

Microsoft Fixes Web Browser Flaw

Okay, so
the article is referring to two new patches aimed at band-aiding “critical vulnerabilities” in IE. But whoever wrote this headline either has a great sense of humor or has no idea how many flaws exist in Microsoft’s Web browser.

Of course, I have no idea how many flaws exist, but that’s only because I stopped counting years ago.

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Posted by:   site admin | 03:50 | Comments (4)