Before I Knew What a Blog Was

alternateorg on December 12, 2000

So before this whole weblog thing got started (or at least before I knew what ‘Blogger’ was…), I started reading this online journal. I’ve found it nearly impossible to pull myself away from it, and get really excited when I forget about it over a weekend, and there’s multiple posts to read on Monday morning. Isn’t that odd? I mean, I hardly know this guy (at least in person: he writes about just about anything), and yet I find it terribly fascinating that he writes about his life online, every day, or very nearly. I even got a postcard from him from Texas over his Thanksgiving trip home. So check it out, if you feel the need to know far too much about someone you don’t know. Strange, this internet thing.

Hrm. :/

alternateorg on December 12, 2000

This page is all of a sudden too cluttered. I just wanted to let you know that I know this. Hrm.

…And Why is Gates So Rich?

alternateorg on December 11, 2000

From MSNBC (am I actually referencing that POS? I guess so…):

Says Gates of Microsoft’s eventual UI path: “We want users to be able to run applications without even knowing it,”

Right. Because I love NOT BEING ABLE TO KNOW what my computer or OS is doing, especially when it’s doing things I DIDN’T TELL IT TO. Jesus.

And how would they go about doing that? Microsoft thinks that the answer might lie in a “universal type-in line,” an always-active blank space that intelligently processes what the user wants to do at a given moment—whether its a recalculation command, a URL address, a search query or the beginning of an e-mail composition. (Gates is well aware of the irony—the old command line, left for dead, is back!)

Right again, Mr. Gates. If it works for AOL users (it doesn’t) then it works for the world, I guess (it won’t). All of a sudden I don’t see Microsoft making out of this .NET monsrosity alive.

(Simplicity) helps keep the MSN screen coherent in the midst of a surprising amount of activity. Uh-huh. Did that screenshot look coherent to you?

X, 10, What's The Difference?

alternateorg on December 11, 2000

I just consciously realized something: when I read ‘OS X,’ I say ‘Oh-Ess-EX’ in my head, but when I say it out loud, I pronounce it ‘Oh-Ess-Ten.’ Which is weird.

If 37Signals Controlled The World (Or At Least Apple)

alternateorg on December 11, 2000

SU at SVN sent me his rendition of what it might look like if Apple sort of backed off on the ‘Aqua-bubble’ look, and stuck with a cooler Platinum-looking/IHT interface. Which brings up whether or not Apple will build into OSX what would make it truly a next-generation (no pun intended) operating system: full system-level control over the interface.

Remember The ArmyBook?

alternateorg on December 11, 2000

A reader sent in some info regarding the ‘Hack Mac‘ image I posted a few weeks ago.

Apparently, this French dude does mockups (referred to in the email as reality hacking) of false products, ads etc. Too bad my high-school French is wearing off. Beware: the site uses Flash, and rather poorly. But check it out anyway.

More Mac Books in Bookstores

alternateorg on December 10, 2000

I just went to Borders today, and was surprised by the increase in number of Mac-related books in the computer section, at least compared to my last visit (admittedly, that was probably 2 years ago). Although the number of Linux-oriented books was fully triple that of the Mac books. But still.

Quick Entourage / IE Fix

alternateorg on December 8, 2000

Have you installed MS Entourage with Office 2001 lately, only to have Internet Explorer crash on you every time you have them both running? I came across an easy fix for this: install Entourage or IE on a separate drive or partition, and they play nice together.

20 Years Ago Today

alternateorg on December 8, 2000

Before you read this post, just remember that I’m 21, and cut me some slack.

Okay. So today is the 20th anniversary of John Lennon’s assassination, and of course there has been story after story published all over the place about what a great man he was, etc. So this has brought back a confusion that’s been lying dormant in my mind since junior high. You see, my friends at the time were all about the Beatles, and I struggled (as a 14-year old) to understand exactly what was so great about them (The Beatles, not my friends). My parents weren’t Beatles fans, even when they were around in the 60s, so I never inherited a sense of wonder like my friends did from their parents. My father was more into Jethro Tull and Black Sabbath, and that sort of thing.

So now, today, I’m asking the same sorts of questions I asked 7 years ago.. ‘What’s the big deal about The Beatles?’ ‘Why is John Lennon still worshiped, 20 years after his death?’ So I, being the resourceful youth I am, downloaded ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ via Napster, just to see what the big deal was. And I gotta admit, I still don’t see it. I mean, I understand that what they did in the 60s sounds commonplace and normal today but was on the edge then, but it just seems like the Velvet Underground was more influential than The Beatles.

So. I’m sure I’ve enraged a lot of people by this point, but I would really appreciate some perspective on this. Keep in mind, I was not around when The Beatles ‘changed the world,’ and my parents never imparted any information to me, so please, let me know what you think, and maybe some ways for me to better understand this phenomenon. Thanks.

Funny

alternateorg on December 7, 2000

Those of you who know me (probably most) will dig this:

Kudos to Keil for the awsome icons.