Thursday, February 27, 2003
I've noticed that both Ev and Jason Shellen, following Google's acquisition of Pyra, now have disclaimers on their websites stating that everything written there is their personal opinion and not the views of their employer. I wonder if you see them in person if they have a similar message tattooed on their foreheads?
Update: This post isn't about Ev and Jason, for those who seem to have misconstrued it. It's about the fact that neither of them had disclaimers on their sites before the Google acquisition, and now they do. That seems odd to me and I wonder whether Google asked/forced/encouraged them to do it.
Further update: Matt points out that Nelson doesn't have a disclaimer. So maybe Google didn't have anything to do with it. Maybe Ev and Jason did it because they thought it was a good idea, in which case I wouldn't have written the post, because my point really was that I don't like the idea of companies telling employees what to do on their personal sites, or during their personal time, etc. And I know that running Blogger at Google, and in general using the web at work, blurs that line and makes it fuzzy and we haven't figured out what the balance is yet. But corporate disclaimers, at least when corporations demand them, make me feel icky. And that was the thought behind this post.
As an English major, this is a book club I can get behind! Oprah's bringing back her book club and Yahoo! reports she's, Sticking to Classics. She'll make three to five selections a year from authors like Shakespeare, Faulkner, Hemingway, and others. Hopefully she won't go dead-white-men overboard. You know what I hope she picks? The Awakening by Kate Chopin. It's so amazingly good and underrated.
Maciej's got a great essay in response to a Washington Post article about the technology of the space shuttle. In it he touches on important guidelines for the development of any technological project or system: the more complicated the system, the harder it will be to maintain; newer is not necessarily better; and one should use technology appropriate for the job at hand. Good things to keep in mind when embarking on that next project, whether it's a Mars-bound space ship or a Web application.
Wednesday, February 26, 2003
In San Francisco it's hard to tell, when you spot someone talking as they walk alone down the street, whether they're using a headset for their cell phone or they're an unstable homeless person talking to themselves. In New York the problem is whether they're on the phone, or simply talking to their dog. You be the judge, person-to-person or person-to-dog?
"You're a prince. Yes you are. You're my little prince. Yes, yes. You're my little prince."
"How many times have I told you? Do I have to tell you again? You never listen to me."
CNN reports that Pioneer 10, the first space craft to venture out of our solar system and the one that sent back all of the wonderful photos of Jupiter, has sent its last signal. It is more than 7.6 billion miles from Earth and its 21-month mission has continued for almost 31 years. Pioneer 10 has always held a special place in my heart because it was launched only a few months after my birth. [via Boing Boing]
I caught the second half of a great American Experience the other night on The Pill and it was fascinating. Being able to control my fertility is something I don't think I fully appreciated until now. The accompanying website is also really good, with a wonderful timeline of contraception and explanations of the female menstrual cycle both on the Pill and off. For those that have forgotten the lessons of 7th grade sex ed, or attended schools that didn't teach it, there's a lot to learn from the program and the site. Also worth revisiting, Malcolm Gladwell's March 10, 2000 New Yorker article, John Rock's Error: What the co-inventor of the Pill didn't know about menstruation can endanger women's health. There's a lot to be thankful for in life, but it's the work of the early feminists -- the suffragists and birth control advocates -- for which I am especially grateful.
Tuesday, February 25, 2003
A Salon article examines the weblog from the set of the upcoming movie I Love Your Work. While I think it's a really neat idea, I've been thinking since I was interviewed a few weeks ago for this piece that it's not much of a weblog if it's not released in real-time, or nearly so. (Also, links? There are no links.) Something about holding up all the content for weeks for the director's and Christina Ricci's publicist's approval seems decidedly unbloglike. But then again, it's Hollywood -- I supposed we have to start with babysteps. A movie web site with actual content is a good start.
And of course, by "first" I mean the first Hollywood-on-the-set blog, not the first movie blog, since Jason's Adaptation blog came before. Yeah, enough about that.
Monday, February 24, 2003
Last November while we were in Paris, Jason came up with a little ditty for le croque monsieur. Tonight, inspired by an episode of French in Action and Jason's burst into song, I came up with my own version of the tune for the venerable croque madame.
Croque Madame, Croque Madame
Avec un œuf sur le pain
(repeat)
The croque madame is just like the croque monsieur with the addition of a fried egg on top. It kind of rhymes, if you speak French with as bad an accent as I do.
The New York Times takes a deeper look at the Pyra/Google deal, Questions About Google Acquisition.
And if you're coming here today from the New York Times article, welcome! More about me and the site can be found here.
I have found a new love and his name is Paul Smith. Shopping this weekend with Choire (at an undisclosed Manhattan location) we stumbled across of hoard of Paul Smith's women's clothing at deep discount. Feminine and lovely yet wearable, Smith's designs had all the little details that drive me crazy when it comes to clothing: beautiful satin polka-dot lining inside a plain black coat, red seams and satin floral lining inside a plaid suit coat, and little pink bows on skirts and dresses. Delightful stuff, if only his website weren't such a Flash monstrosity, I could see what he's been up to lately.
Sunday, February 23, 2003
Inspired by Jason's foray into Photoshop Lomoization, I tried this morning to improve on my often dull and uninspiring photos. I used one from last fall taken in the Dahlia Dell in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park (located next to the Conservatory of Flowers). In the fall the Dahlia Dell contains the most amazing display of dahlias of all sizes, shapes, and colors.
Here's the before:
And here's the Lomo'd version:
So cool! I can't wait to play around with this more.
Saturday, February 22, 2003
Why Did Google Want Blogger? Wired News' Leander Kahney talks to Dieselpoint CEO Chris Cleveland, whose company worked with Pyra Labs last year, for the answer.
Cleveland said Google's acquisition of Pyra would, quite simply, help Google create a more accurate search engine by adding rich new sources of data gleaned from weblogs...The secret, Cleveland said, is in the scores of links webloggers create every day to content on the Web.
Friday, February 21, 2003
Yup, it's true. The Danger is coming out with a color hiptop, but not in the US until, "stocks of the monochrome one fall," according to this article. Rumor, according to an email from a person who talked to a rep, is that you'll be able to remove the monochrome screen and replace it with color once it's available. Now that's be pretty cool...
Update: Ben Brown says the rumor about being able to swap in the color screen is untrue and that Danger have been trying to squash it for months. Drat.
Today is my brother's birthday. Holy crap! I just realized he's 28. Can that possibly be true? I guess it is. Anyway, happy birthday Mike. Hope you have a great day!
Anita Ramasastry, a professor from the University of Washington School of Law, has a commentary on the Domestic Security Enhancement Act (aka Patriot II), Patriot II:
The Sequel Why It's Even Scarier than the First Patriot Act. There are a lot of scary things highlighted in this article, too many to even know which to select as an excerpt. But do note two things: this document wasn't publically released, it was leaked, and apparently Congress has played little to no part in its drafting. [via Dan]
Thursday, February 20, 2003
The Omaha World-Herald is running the AP story about the Google/Pyra deal, which is unfortunate because they're missing the local angle here. Co-founder Evan Williams is from Nebraska, as were Blogger's first two employees Paul Bausch and Matt Hamer. For nearly a year, Pyra Labs was 3/4 Husker. Football games were one of the few things that interrupted our weekend working. Lincoln Journal Star, here's a scoop for you! Or better yet, the Columbus Telegram. Go Big Red!
Two of the French Laundry's 17 tables are now bookable via OpenTable.com, according to this SF Examiner article. The phone reservation process is still in place for the remaining 15 tables. [via Sauté Wednesday]
The New York Post reports that the New York metropolitan area is in critical need of blood donations. There's been a decrease in donations due to the blizzard. "Donors are asked to call 1-800-933-BLOOD (2566) for the nearest donor location or blood drive."
After nearly three months living in New York City (and recently scoring a lowly 41% on the Hipster quiz) it was time to take advantage of the City's breadth of cinematic offerings so we went to see Gus Van Sant's Gerry last night at the Angelika. The story of two friends (Matt Damon and Casey Affleck) who get lost in the desert, it was full of sweeping panoramic shots that were gorgeous. What dialogue there was (not much) was pretty entertaining as well. But about 2/3rds of the way through, it lost me. mob61uk says it best in a comment at IMDb,
[T]he film loses itself in existential an[g]st, as it hammers home its "indie" credentials.
Ultimately it was a little too slow, a little too self-indulgent, and a little too strange to leave me feeling anything but annoyed at its conclusion. Well, annoyed and longing to go hiking again in the desert, with proper supplies.
I'm not even kidding when I say I can't wait for Old School to open tomorrow night. Why? I love Luke Wilson and Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn aren't too bad either. The best cure for war/orange alert anxiety? Silly movies.
Wednesday, February 19, 2003
Forbes has an article on the acquisition, Google Goes Blog-Crazy. Blog-Crazy? Um, ok. [via Dave]
The T-Mobile Sidekick with Camera Attachment is now free at Amazon (via rebates, with service activation). I'm enjoying mine quite a bit, though I haven't yet started using it as an actual phone. I much prefer the AIM, email, and photo capabilities. If you were thinking about picking one up, you can't beat that price. But if they're now giving them away for free, makes me think a newer model might be on its way. Caveat emptor.
I'd noticed that my Amazon Associate fees this quarter were much lower than average. Then I notices that I wasn't getting any referral fees for some items readers emailed to say they'd purchased. Jason dig some digging and discovered that Amazon's URLs have changed. Apparently only one style of URL results in Associates fees. If you're using an Associates code on your site, be sure to read his post and double-check your URLs.
Matt's got a good essay on the current state of health care. When the focus is profits, not care, patients lose out.
When I was a kid, I knew my doctor personally, he watched me grow up, and took an interest in his patients' lives. Today, going to the doctor makes me feel like a carton of milk on a supermarket checkout lane.
With the news of Google's acquisition of Pyra Labs, watch software makers scramble to include a blogging feature in their products. Microsoft-Watch reports that Microsoft Tests the Blogging-Tool Waters with their Community Starter Kit. The article quotes Microsoft developer division product manager Shawn Nandi,
You could use this (Kit) to build a Weblog."
You can also use Microsoft Notepad and an FTP client to build a weblog, but that doesn't mean they were designed for that, or that it's easy to do.
Ask yourself when looking at "blogging" software: Was it designed with weblogging in mind (i.e. easy updating through simple posting interface, archives for posts, permalinks, templating control, comments, RSS output, etc.) or has the label "blogging" been slapped onto an existing publishing system designed around outputing web pages? That is, can your content be chunked up into posts, so that content can live in many places at once (your front page, your archive, your by-category page) or is the tool outputting pages, trapping your words in the page paradigm? (For more on posts vs. pages, see my megnut column, What We're Doing When We Blog.)
The answer to these questions is the difference between a tool designed for weblogging and one that's simply trying to capitalize on blogging's current popularity.
Tuesday, February 18, 2003
Caterina's wonderful tea recommendations make me wish I drank the stuff more often. Alas I find tea to be one of those beverages that sounds exotically different depending on blend and leaf ("deep overtones of amber and mint", "a mellow fruitfulness", etc.) but ends up all tasting like, well, tea to me. Perhaps my palate is just not refined enough? After all, for a long time I thought wine tasted like, well, wine. And I know that's no longer the case.
"Neither rain nor sleet nor snow" should be ammended to include, "except blizzards." The Patchin Post Office on West 10th Street was unable to open at its appointed hour (9 AM) this morning because a mound of snow prevented customers from opening the door. The sole employee who'd arrived for work was out in front shovelling the sidewalk.
Since I was a snowstorm behind with my moblog photos, I've removed them. The ones I shot on my way to work today as replacements didn't turn out very well, but look for further moblogging action as time passes. Meanwhile, it's still snowing here! The sidewalks and streets are filled with snow and being a pedestrian is hazardous because 3' high mounds of snow block street corners, forcing one to cross in the street with traffic.
A few more articles about the Google/Pyra deal. From the Guardian UK: Google gets Blogger and better and Google buys Blogger web service. The Washington Post chimes in with a webloggy summary, Blogs Get Google's Embrace. Web Host Industry Review has Google Buys Blogger Maker Pyra Labs. MSNBC (via Reuters) Google buys Blogger.com developer. Perhaps the best of the bunch is Search Engine Watch who offers some good thoughts about what Google might do with Blogger in Puzzling Out Google's Blogger Acquisition. Oops, almost missed this BBC article, Fame or misfortune beckons for weblogs? with some nice quotes from Matt Webb. Don't miss the wonderful graphic at the top of the page: a champagne bottle with the names Blogger and Google Photoshopped onto the label.
The New York Times has a slideshow of blizzard photos which are much nicer than the photos I took while out and about yesterday. I dedicate this post to all my friends on the west coast who are missing out on the blizzardy fun.
Monday, February 17, 2003
This month's Artforum Hot List is a to-the-point article about weblogs that mentions megnut.com.
Although blogs tend to focus on the author's immediate world, they are increasingly devoted to commentaries on current events and politics. The variety of ways in which news is incorporated into and disseminated from these sites is astounding; it underscores the potential of online self-publishing to both complement and challenge traditional media.
The very talented Chris Pew of Capsule9 sent the tip. Go buy some of his art in return.
The New York Times has a story
Google Deal Ties Company to Weblogs. Internet News reports in with Google Acquires Blog Software Firm. But Google still doesn't have anything up in their Press Center. And Blogger.com still, oddly, says nothing about the deal. Nor does the old Pyra page.
Influenced by my new hometown, I present you with "Subway megnut". I haven't done much testing, I just wanted to get something up before the weekend ended. Here's a .gif of the design I'm going for. Please let me know if that's not what you're seeing on this page. Alas with CSS and all, I suspect there are some bugs to still be fixed. But as I said a few weeks ago, I'm less set on perfection these days, and more interested in actually just getting a new design up. All aboard! (Wait, they don't say that on the subway...)
Update: if you're not seeing the design, or seeing half new design, half old design, you might need to load the new style sheet. Some browsers don't do a very good job of updating style sheets. Click here for the updated style sheet then reload this page.
Sunday, February 16, 2003
So the news is out: Google has bought Pyra Labs, the company I co-founded. I'm really pleased with the deal because Pyra's always struggled for the resources to really do cool stuff with Blogger. As Ev says in Gillmor's article, the acquisition gives Pyra, "resources to build on the vision I've been working on for years." It's also an exciting development for weblogs in general, and one that's sure to raise their level of exposure. What does this mean for the Lafayette Project? Not much. As I said on Friday, we're not doing weblog search, and we had no intention of going up against Google.
More discussions and interpretations here:
Saturday, February 15, 2003
There's an article in the Guardian stating the opponents of war on Iraq are not the appeasers and points out the fallacy in comparing Iraq to Nazi Germany and this era to the 1930's.
Friday, February 14, 2003
Nick and I haven't talked about the Lafayette Project, mainly because we
didn't want to inflate expectations. But -- we should have known -- mystery excites even more than disclosure. So, here are the mundane answers to frequently asked questions. More information will follow as we get closer to launch.
What is the Lafayette Project?
It's the working title for a weblog media project involving Meg Hourihan and Nick Denton. It's called Lafayette because that's the street in Manhattan from which we're working. It's a project because it seems pompous to call a self-funded three-person team anything else.
What do you mean by weblog media?
Systems such as Blogger and Movable Type have made it easy to publish to the web, but the reader experience leaves much to be desired. The more weblogs there are, the harder it is to keep track of them all. That's the problem we're addressing: turning the weblog network into accessible media.
So you're working on weblog search?
No, companies such as Google already provide keyword search over weblog posts. We want to help readers browse weblogs when they *don't* know what they're looking for. A best-of-the-blogs show, if you like.
Isn't that what services such as Technorati and Blogdex already do?
Yes, and we've learned a lot from the experience of Cameron Marlow at
Blogdex and Dave Sifry at Technorati.
What's the connection between Lafayette, and niche weblog sites such
as Gawker and Gizmodo?
There isn't one, except that they've all sprung out of a belief in the future of weblogs as media.
When will Lafayette go live?
There will be something to see by the second half of the year.
Oh right, right, Colin Farrell. I misread this and thought it said Colin Powell. Given my heightened state of alert, I suppose that's to be expected.
The Manhattan User's Guide is a week-daily email subscription and website offering tips and tricks on all things Manhattan. Today's warnings about Bally's Total Fitness apply to those far beyond Manhattan's borders, as Bally's is a national chain. Cautions MUG:
Misleading sales practices, high pressure to sign a contract, illegal debt collection tactics, failure to provide refunds, failure to provide services and contracts with serious 'gotchas' seemed more the company's stock-in-trade than providing fitness facilities.
There's an Anti-War rally tomorrow but the City is still refusing to issue a permit to march to the protest's organizers. A federal appeals court has upheld a judge's ruling supporting the City's refusal to do so because of, "safety and security considerations." This seems like a dangerous precedent and violation of our First Amendment. Perhaps next time, the City will refuse to issue any permit whatsoever. After all, safety and security considerations won't be disappearing anytime soon. I think I'd like to march tomorrow with a placard that reads, "Unconvinced about war right now, pro-Constitution and pro-March." Hmmm...that doesn't roll off the tongue like I'd hoped.
Thursday, February 13, 2003
The New York City City Council has overridden Mayor Bloomberg's veto of a cell phone ban at public performances. Says City Council Speaker Gifford Miller of the ban that will fine violators $50 per incidence, "I don't expect the police to spend any time enforcing it." What does he expect, a rash of citizens' arrests in Times Square?
France's refusal to hop aboard the war-monger train is angering Republicans. Now some congressmen are are suggesting the United States impose trade sanctions on France. Other people are calling for a boycott of French wine. My hope? That the reduction in demand for these products will drop their prices. And that there will be less annoying American tourists in Paris next time I go there.
Speaking of France's hesitation, is France the funeral-parlor owning Bonasera and the US some sort of Godfather?
Cue FDR + 50 lbs., in white suit, Charles de Gaulle kisses his hand, etc.
Some day, and that day may never come, I'll call upon you to do a service for me.
Some think that day's arrived.
A cheese FAQ from Murray's Cheese Shop in the Village (257 Bleecker, NYC). It addresses cheese types, how to serve, how to store, and pairings with wine.
Wednesday, February 12, 2003
If you're missing Paris as much as I am, you'll like looking at these wonderful photos of the city. Makes me want to go back right now. [thanks Heather!]
In the article Taillevent stays on top Patricia Wells writes about Paris' Michelin 3-star restaurant Taillevent.
[The] remoulade of truffled celery root topped with paper-thin slices of scallops and truffles is fantastic. This pristine and elegant first course arrived like a pastry shop millefeuille, a neat, crisp-looking rectangle with tiny chopped celery root laced with truffle bits. Atop it, alternating black and white disks of fragrant black truffle and sweet sea scallops added a cool, refreshing balance.
Oh yum yum yum. [via The Morning News]
Tuesday, February 11, 2003
Ross Mayfield chimes in on the increasingly-complex discussion of power laws, inequality, and weblogs. My biggest question from all this: How, if at all, will the inequality change when more efficient ways to read weblogs are developed? Ross writes,
One design challenge for social software is extending the capabilities of people to hold a higher number of meaningful conversations and cultivate relationships.
Assuming we can meet that challenge, and you could read five or ten times as many weblogs as you read now, in the same time span, what would happen to the curve? As a weblog publisher, would it diversify the sites you link to, reducing its steepness? Or would it make it easier for more people to read all the popular sites (using Jason's example, Mary now has time for BoingBoing and MetaFilter) and increase the number of links to the more popular sites? That's what I'm wondering about, and I don't know the answer.
I caught some of the Westminster Dog Show on TV last night and it was just like the movie! Men in tuxes doing the commentary, ridiculous dogs being trotted around the ring, garish handlers and judges, etc. And yet, it was great. I watched the toy dog competition -- my God, I didn't even know dogs like that existed! It was like watching live ottomans run the floor. I want to watch the second day of competition tonight.
There's a new book published by New Riders called Speed Up Your Site: Web Site Optimization (accompanying website here) aimed at helping you "speed up your site from primarily a client-side perspective." My Dialup Revelations in France reinforced how critical page size and load time is for a good user experience. A review copy is on its way to me, once I've had a look-over, I'll post my thoughts. Based on the advanced praise (from Nielsen, Morville, and Rosenfeld), it looks promising.
When it comes to having kids these days, 3 is the new 2.
The good: James Howard Kunstler, the author of one of my favorite books Home From Nowhere, has a website.
The bad: He has a weblog type thing, but it was last updated May 10, 2002.
The ugly: The site's colors and layout is a mess. Like a city, a web page also needs planning: in terms of color, information architecture, and design. I think a site renovation is in order. [via Steven]
Monday, February 10, 2003
Shelley at Burningbird offers her response to Clay's essay on power laws and weblogs and Clay participates in the comment thread.
If Champagne isn't your thing for Valentine's Day, why not try Madeira? "Madeira truly is the drink of love," writes Richard Ehrlich in the (UK) Independent.
We Must Drink Champagne. It Must Be Pink. This is the drink of love. Well, to hell with that. If I'm going to buy my true love something special for Valentine's Day, I want it to be something she'll remember. Which is why I'm proposing Madeira.
Props to viticulturally-inclined Nick for the tip. Perhaps I will revise my menu.
Jason also has a piece on power laws and weblogs on his site and comments. Lots to think about here, reminds me again that I really should read Barabási's Linked: The New Science of Networks. It's even sitting in my pile of "to be read" books. And yet, all I want to read is Steingarten.
The only Michael Jackson related link and quote you will ever see on this site comes from Paul Ford's wonderful Selections from My Name is Blanket, © 2046 Blanket Jackson:
That day, as the robot surgeons transformed his flesh-and-blood body into the biomechanical Peter Pan construct he had so long coveted, with its promise of infinite power and eternal life, I hastily packed a bag and ran for the gate.
There's a book available in the UK which examines Abortion in the Ancient World by University of Floriday classics professor Konstantinos Kapparis. There's a UFL review here.
David Weinberger's reposted Questions for Conversations about Iraq, questions designed to start a real conversation about the Iraq issue. They also seem useful as an individual exercise to help you figure out why you feel and believe what you do.
Sunday, February 9, 2003
February 14th is right around the corner, and the restaurants (at least here in NYC) would have you believe that $75 is a perfectly reasonable price to pay for three-course meal if you really care about your special someone. But if you're really willing to throw-down that kind of cash on a meal, why not cook at home and do it up right? Let the web be your assistant as you plan the meal of your dreams.
Your fois gras questions can be answered here. Caviar tips and recipes are available here. Manhattan wine store Sherry-Lehmann can set you up with any number of exceptional wines (Champagne, amazing Bordeaux, etc.) and they'll deliver to most states. Buon Italia, in the Chelsea Market, currently has black winter truffles. At $35/oz. it's really a splurge, but they can overnight them to you wherever you are. I know Valentine's Day isn't supposed to be about economics, but you can eat much better food for the price if you stay home and make your own romantic dinner for two.
Saturday, February 8, 2003
Clay Shirky's got a new essay examining Shirky: Power Laws, Weblogs, and Inequality. I've only briefly skimmed it but it looks very interesting.
Friday, February 7, 2003
Two Shoshone sisters in Nevada refuse to pay grazing fees for their horses and cattle on public land because they say the land was never ceded to the US government by the Shoshone.
[T]he Ruby Valley Treaty, reached by the government and the Western bands of the Shoshone Nation in 1863...granted white settlers access to Shoshone lands, but not title.
The federal Indian Claims Commission, however, decided in the 1970's that the Shoshones had lost the land through 'gradual encroachment' of the settlers. The commission awarded the Shoshones $26 million in compensation, and the Supreme Court ruled in 1985 that the tribe lost title when that money was deposited as payment, even though the Shoshones have never accepted it.
Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, introduced legislation last year that would distribute $20,000 to each member of the tribe, thus ending the matter as far as the government is concerned.
They have been fined $3 million "for willful trespass", had 232 head of cattle taken by armed federal agents and sold auction, and now ~800 horses have been rounded up by the federal Bureau of Land Management. The sisters say they will never pay.
First Trent Lott pines for the days of segregation, now North Carolina's Republican congressman Howard Coble is saying he believes Roosevelt made the right decision to intern Japanese-Americans during WWII. Mr. Coble is chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security and made his remarks on a radio call-in program. Tons of detail about Coblegate over at IsThatLegal?. Apparently Coble doesn't feel he's said anything that warrants an apology.
Tonight's the first Big Apple Blogger Bash of 2003. If you're a big appler and a blogger, tonight's your night to meet up. I've heard some strange tales about these events but I think I'll try to stop by nonetheless.
Yippee! My Danger Hiptop (aka T-Mobile Sidekick) has finally arrived. As you can see, I've wasted no time (assuming stopping to take photos while walking to work is not wasting time) getting some photos posted from the handy-dandy camera that came with. It's snowing today in NYC and my neighborhood looks lovely blanketed in white fluff. Can you tell from the tiny pictures?
Send cookies from the Lower East Side Girls Club for Valentine's Day! Your purchase "supports programs that teach inner-city girls ages 13-18 culinary arts and business skills." Unfortunately, delivery is limited to Manhattan. If you decide to order, please list "Nikia" as the salesperson when you place your order. I am now volunteering every week at the Girls' Club as a mentor and Nikia is my mentee. She will get $1 for every order of cookies I sell. Nikia and I both thank you for supporting the Lower East Side Girls' Club.
Thursday, February 6, 2003
Until a few moments ago, I didn't really get the recent outbreak of the link bar on the blog (e.g. Anil and Jason) but now I do. It allows one to link to crappy weblog articles without having to waste one's time responding to all the recycled dismissals and misobservations about blogging. [via Dave]
Over the the (UK) Times A dove's guide: how to be an honest critic of the war by Matthew Parris makes some very good points about possible war with Iraq.
[T]o our doves' hearts' content, we may make sport with the arguments of Bush and Blair. But when the mockery dies away do we not have to ask ourselves one awkward little remaining question? What if the undeclared major premise is true? What if the weaponry is there, just as Washington and London believed all along?
[via Nick]
Wednesday, February 5, 2003
Back in early December I asked readers for health insurance recommendations. I received the following:
I also called Empire Blue Cross for some quotes because I had a Blue Cross/Shield policy for a while in California. They were the most expensive quote by far ($450+ a month for individual coverage), though they also offered a sort-of "emergency only" policy for around $150/month. But it didn't cover doctor fees, so from what I could tell, if you got run over by the bus, it would cover the ambulance and hospital charges, but not the surgeon's fees for reassembling you.
I've decided to go with Working Today because it seemed to provide the most benefits for the price, offered a good website which explained what I needed to know, was recommended by many people, and provided (so far) a pretty painless sign-up process.
It's still insanely expensive compared to what I paid in California -- four times more a month -- but I haven't turned up anything else that meets my requirements (which were individual coverage, low monthly rate, protect me from bankruptcy if some disaster befalls me). What I've ended up with is far more comprehensive coverage at a much higher rate than I wanted to spend.
According to this AP article, Groups Sue NYC Over Rally Permit Refusal, New York City has refused to issue a permit for the anti-war march United for Peace and Justice wants to hold on February 15, 2003.
Chris Dunn, a staff attorney for the New York Civil Liberties Union, who filed the lawsuit for the anti-war group, said the city had refused to permit a parade under any circumstances, citing concerns over congestion and related issues.
The court papers noted that the city routinely issues permits for large-scale marches in midtown Manhattan, including the St. Patrick's Day parade and the Thanksgiving Day parade.
Apparently the City wants a, "stationary rally on a plaza across the street from the United Nations."
Thanks to a recommendation from a friend, I started reading The Man Who Ate Everything: And Other Gastronomic Feats, Disputes, and Pleasurable Pursuits by Jeffrey Steingarten and it is hysterical, perhaps even the best thing I've ever read. I was laughing out loud as I read it last night, wondering why it had taken me all these years to discover him.
Tuesday, February 4, 2003
The organizers of the The World Says No to War march scheduled for February 15 in New York City say:
With less than two weeks left before Feb. 15, the City of New York has still not granted our request for a permit to march and rally.
Like Tom, I'm still unsure about the necessity of deposing Saddam Hussein right now without a more convincing argument from my government. What I am sure about is our constitutional right to peaceably assemble. Why the heck should a permit for a march even be required? And if it's just a formality, why hasn't it been granted? And if it's not a formality, and it in fact may not be granted, well then I think we have a lot more to be protesting than just the potential war with Iraq. [thanks Jason]
Has anyone else been experiencing problems loading images over at Amazon? It's like their image server is seriously dying or under attack, and it's been this way for a few days. With many sites it's not such a big deal, but because Amazon relies on images for all their tabbed navigation, it makes the site nearly impossible to use when the images won't load.
Update: a megnut reader writes, "I live in Wisconsin and have had great difficulty using Amazon for about 6 weeks now. It has practically become useless to me.
I have a broadband connection, and I have not been able to load a page from Amazon since the holidays." Amazon, what gives?
Monday, February 3, 2003
Outside my window, someone's got their car (?) radio blasting Bryan Adam's Summer of '69.
Standin' on your mama's porch
You told me that you'd wait forever
Oh and when you held my hand
I knew that it was now or never
Those were the best days of my life
I'm not one to post dreams on my weblog, but this one I had on Saturday night just seems appropriate. It's part mystery, part sci-fi adventure, where the year is 2049 and weblogs are a geographic construct. Huh?
The dream starts with me receiving an eight page letter (not email, an in the mail, handwritten, old-fashioned letter) from someone purporting to have attended summer camp with me in the 1980s. She writes for seven pages about our shared experiences, drops names of all sorts of people I know from camp, etc. But oddly, I don't remember the writer or recognize her name. On the last page, she gets to her point: she is writing to me in confidence, her father has been deposed and murdered in Nigeria. She has a large sum of money, which she'd like to entrust me with for safe-keeping, etc.
This is some sneaky spam I think -- she's established a very personal connection with me, making it hard for me to turn down her request. But how did she find out about my camp experience? I head to my camp's headquarters to find out. That's when I meet the protagonists in my dream, a man and a woman. The man explains to me that they're trying to, "craft a perfect 3." You see, weblogs are actual buildings in 2049, and we each have our own. The ground floor represents the present, and everyone has access to everyone else's blog/building/mind (the physical world is less physical in 2049) to a certain level/height.
To get more information about a person, you need to get access to the higher floors of their building/blog. To "craft a perfect 3" you needed access to three things: someone's present, something in the middle that was unclear, and "their ultimate personal past." Once you had this, you could craft the perfect 3, which was a type of person (the man and woman were doing it to create ideal mates) who would know everything there was to know about you. The man and I discussed how bot-like these 3s would be, how uninteresting they would be to interact with because they would know too much, be too similar to one's own interests. And then the dream ended.
It was a pretty scary dream because for part of it I was trying to illegally access someone's archives/top floors and had to climb along the outside of a building for many stories. But there was something wonderfully futuristic about the whole dream as well: weblogs as these physical systems by which we organize our lives, hyper-personalized spam, and the strange parallels between weblogs having the newest content at the top of the page (easiest access) and your "present" being on the ground floor of your blog building (again, easiest access). Or maybe it was only interesting to me, as is the case with 99.99% of dreams written about on weblogs.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a weblog article with a seriously wrong fact. Author Chris Mooney writes:
Although scattered blogs existed during the late 1990s, it wasn't until 1999 that San Francisco's Pyra Labs created the free Web application Blogger. Originally, the hope was that the innovation would help those collaborating on business projects to coordinate and share information on an internal Web server, a kind of company bulletin board.
Perhaps there was a mis-reading of Pyra's history (we started the company to build project management software and Blogger was something extra we released) or maybe there's a misunderstanding of how Blogger came to be (we published an internal weblog and used that codebase as part of the original Blogger release). But Blogger was never released with business projects in mind, nor with a focus on internal Web server content. It was built to make it easier for people to publish online, no matter where one's content was hosted. Mr. Mooney continues by saying:
There seems to have been little thought about the central role blogging would play in the very external media world.
To which I have to respond: we had dreams about its potential, we just didn't know how it all would play out. I'm not sure how one could be certain of blogging's role when there were at most a few thousand people doing it at the time. To assume that it would play a central role in the media world is much easier in retrospect. At the time it seemed more than a little hubristic to me. [via Anil]
There's a new sports weblog on the block called The Sports Frog, offering in-depth coverage of all sorts of sports stuff. Recent posts reflect strong interests in football, basketball, and gambling. But these guys know their stuff and have lots to say, always a good combination for a weblog. And as you know, I love a good vertically-focused blog. One disclaimer: my cousin is one of the contributors, but don't think that biases my review. He only posts about the gambling, and I don't have any idea what he's talking about.
where ham comes from, Bryan's picture from Mexico will remind you.
I've got a question for someone with some knowledge of pre-Columbian North American artifacts. If you fit the bill and could help me out, please drop me an email at meg at megnut.com. Thanks. Update: All set, thanks!
Sunday, February 2, 2003
Steve over at Saltire's got a comprehensive post about Columbia. Lots of interesting information there. [via Cory]
Saturday, February 1, 2003
It appears the space shuttle Columbia exploded or disintegrated upon re-entry this morning, over the state of Texas. NASA reports they lost contact around 9 AM EST. Dave's doing a superb job of collecting facts as the news comes in. It was January 28, 1986 that Challenger exploded 72 seconds after launch, with Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher in space, aboard. 17 years and 3 days later, Columbia explodes on return, with Col. Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut and Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian-born woman, on board.
I'm going to be writing a cooking column for the "new Web magazine about enjoying new media and creating beautiful software," TEKKA. A cooking column in a software magazine? Well, there's an art to programming and to cooking. I'll write for people who code by day and cook by night, or as the publisher said, "Food hackers." Right-on! I can't wait. A TEKKA charter subscription is $50 a year.
