30/07/02

a. beam of light in blogistan: "WOOF! Must be the dog days! People are getting cranky and pullin' out the old broad brush to do a little summer painting! Even Jarvis! I admit it. I'm prejudiced. I'm a bike bigot. I hate bike riders. Not kids on bike. Not dumpy guys in shorts on bikes. Not moms on bikes. I can't stand the show-off dorks in their too-tight Spiderman outfits and padded codpieces who hog the road as if they think it was built for them... comment [] 9:11:17 PM | permalink

Radio UserLand : NAVIGATION QUESTION: How can I make it easier for my visitors?: "Perhaps you want to look at Mark Pilgrim's series on making our sites friendly to visitors who include people with various handicaps or native language is not English. He explains who benefits from each of these things, and specifically how to do it for many different softwares, including Radio and Manila."  via Brunmarde comment [] 9:07:47 PM | permalink

Follow Me Here: "Medical myth, marketing opportunity? NPR's The Connection considers Andropause: "If you're over forty and a man, it could be coming to your body soon. Andropause, or male menopause. Symptoms include fatigue, moodiness, and decreased sex-drive." comment [] 8:58:46 PM | permalink

Happy Fun Pundit: "We Get Mail D3re Happy Phun Pundit:" comment [] 8:25:31 PM | permalink

::: wood s lot ::: "why then............." ": "Pongping: a vidial exercise in narratology sparks Follow the bouncing ping pong ball. If you concentrate long enough, you can pass significant portions of your day in meditative contemplation. In fact, the emptiness of the universe is contained in this animated gif. All you need for universal understanding can be found right here. Give it a try! " Pongping: a vidial exercise in narratology sparks comment [] 8:15:04 PM | permalink

lgf: today's outrage: "FBI agents struggled to find someone with enough technical know-how to set up the sting. By the time they did, the opportunity was lost as militant Islamic Web users figured out the site was a decoy, said Messner of Ocean City, Md." comment [] 8:10:09 PM | permalink

Daily Pundit Archives: "How Wrong Can You Be? The Indepundit tells a tale of horror that didn't quite come true." comment [] 8:06:06 PM | permalink

One Size Fits All. I'm in LA, on my way to SF. Just did a number of interviews for strange things. An ABC special on the anniversary of 9/11, and a Fox News interview about my AOL piece, below. I suppose news people are just like us book writers. They use interview subjects to mouth the things they really want to say, anyway. [rushkoff.blog] comment [] 7:52:06 PM | permalink

I love this stuff! Scott Rosenberg reports today that (some) folks have been bitching about Salon charging for the software/hosting deal that supports these blogs. While I haven't paid my 39 bucks yet, I certainly will! My blogging experience is limited -- I've occasionally run a scathingly honest and dangerous hand-coded one (currently on hiatus) called Farr-o-Meter at my Zoozone site -- but I support this Salon enterprise a thousand percent. In just one week I've heard from more people who've read my work than I have since God knows when.  [FarrFeed] comment [] 7:47:47 PM | permalink

How the New York Times hacks Op-Eds. Op-Ed columns are supposed to represent the point of view of the writer, and not that of the paper in... [Richard Bennett's Omphalos] comment [] 7:44:20 PM | permalink

Cuban Catholics Defect in Canada. Canadian blogger extraordinaire Damian Penny has the lowdown on 23 Cuban Catholic pilgrims who defected to Canada during Tuesday's Papal... [The Indepundit] comment [] 7:42:45 PM | permalink

posted by thunder July 30 9:55 AM | 23 comments. D-O-S attack disables RIAA site. Do you think someone's trying to make a point about one group lobbying for the power to shut down individual's computers if they SUSPECT them of doing something they don't like, and another group ALREADY having that power? [MetaFilter] comment [] 7:31:25 PM | permalink

KEN LAYNE: "Please, Time-Warner, fire Steve Case. I'm sure he's a nice guy and all, but Steve Case is the Internet Bubble in semi-human form. " via: Ye Olde Phart comment [] 7:24:10 PM | permalink

Fresh Air: Tuesday - July 30, 2002: "Deaths caused by hospital germs are now the fourth-leading cause of mortality among Americans, and can largely be prevented. Plus the problem is often kept secret by hospitals and it persists because of a lack of government oversight." comment [] 7:18:01 PM | permalink

Salon.com Technology | Sour notes: "Sour notes The legal crackdown hasn't squelched MP3 trading -- it's just made it more of a pain. But the music industry would still rather fight than give its online customers what they want. - - - - - - - - - - - - By Farhad Manjoo" comment [] 9:25:26 AM | permalink

I've learned about a "Blog This" bookmarklet for Radio called "Radio Express" Radio Free Blogistan is where I found it, in the comments box for his Blogger vs. Radio post.  (xian even linked my rant in defense of Salon, thanks)  Now let's see if I can get Radio Express to work for me, it looks straightforward, even "pour moi". :o) Update: It works great so far. comment [] 9:05:42 AM | permalink

I'm Feeling Lucky: Homework In The Era Of Google. Plastic::SciTech::School: Does being two clicks away from a potential answer create the conditions for a decline in critical thinking, or are concerned professors just nostalgic for the days of the dusty bookstack? [Plastic: Most Recent] comment [] 4:16:02 AM | permalink

Everything Gives You Cancer. Following up on Friday's post on the acrylamide cancer scare, Toren Smith pointed me to this article on the American... [The Indepundit] comment [] 4:08:30 AM | permalink

Huge gaps in northern US border. Canadian invasion plans still in readiness. (FARK) [News Is Free: Offbeat] comment [] 4:04:43 AM | permalink

Gays, lesbians slam Ottawa for appeal of same-sex marriage ruling. AP via New Jersey Online Jul 29 2002 9:02PM ET [Moreover - Canada news] I was excited about the ruling, it's time to move on people, let them get married, not like everyone marries these days anyway.  Christ, the governments should be focusing on other things -- like enforcing laws, rather than giving criminals a free lunch, and not necessarily in prisons either -- and leave their religious views out of this.  I'm still trying to get over the brainwashing I endured from the Catholic Church, AIDS could be controlled in other worlds, but not this one.  comment [] 2:30:47 AM | permalink

Scott recommends EMusic, just like I did tried to do here: In the meantime, anyone who's looking for an online music service that offers variety and depth and doesn't try to control your behavior or limit how you can listen to the music you pay for, I recommend EMusic. For $10 a month you get unlimited access to their catalog. No, they don't have the major labels' hot hits. But they have enough interesting stuff to keep the alternative/indie fan happy for months -- like vast quantities of Guided by Voices, They Might Be Giants, Yo La Tengo and Pavement -- plus oldies, jazz and other eclectica.((Full disclosure: EMusic has worked with Salon on the music mixes we offer our Premium subscribers. I'm not involved with that -- and I gladly pay the company for its service.) [Scott Rosenberg's Links & Comment] comment [] 2:07:52 AM | permalink

Kalashnikov Wishes He'd Invented a Lawnmower. (Yahoo! News: Oddly Enough) Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of the assault rifle which bears his name, said Saturday he was proud of developing the AK-47 but wishes he'd designed something to help people instead -- like a lawnmower. [News Is Free: Offbeat] comment [] 1:54:00 AM | permalink

Cat Saves Lives Before Dying in House Blaze. (Yahoo! News: Oddly Enough) A cat saved several people's lives by alerting them to a fire in a German apartment block before dying in the flames, police said on Monday. [News Is Free: Offbeat] comment [] 1:41:34 AM | permalink

Salon Blogs Many bloggers are still criticizing Salon and to them I ask, why?  Who is Salon hurting by offering this service?  Blogspot sucks, the YACCS comments do not always load -- and the comment box had to be added by me, while Salon Blogs has a comment box included and the server has improved a lot since the first day or two. Here at Salon, if you can't get in at first, you know you have to wait a bit or come back in a few minutes, but once you're in, you're okay.  And in my first week nothing has disappeared either -- last year when I had a blog at Blogger for a few weeks, some messages disappeared, the server rarely worked, the javascript in the banner at the top of the page was very slow to load since it was hosted elsewhere, at least that's what I believed.  I really like the XML newsfeeds that I can get via my Salon Blog too, saves me a lot of surfing time. Sure, I could call my ISP and add everything but that's too expensive for me right now, I also don't want to tell someone what colours I want, etc. on my blog when Salon Blogs has the look I want.  I thought bloggers would appreciate this service, but how many have even tried the trial to see if it's superior to others?  It's the same as those who bitch about Salon Premium while they, themselves, are not subscribers, but they have no problem begging for others to forward them the good stuff.  I also think Salon Blogs, like Salon.com, is gorgeous, a lot better looking than what I had at Blogger last year.  When and if I'm ready, I'll move up to Moveable Type, hire Blogatelle, pay for a server, etc., but for now I enjoy this alternative.  Many others would as well if they would ignore most of the blogosphere, the rumours of Salon's demise, and try it for themselves.  I don't want Salon to die, but many, obviously do.  I'll switch this blog to Userland, not Blogspot, should this unfortunate event occur.  Saudi Arabia may be run by Al-Qaeda soon, I would like to read Salon's take on it, and not have to visit the spam-filled Slate, MSNBC, and the NYT who don't know how to present interviews on their website yet. comment [] 12:53:45 AM | permalink