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July 31, 2001
About a month ago, I
About a month ago, I got an email from someone at Amazon, asking me about the Amazon Honor System. They mentioned some sort of press stunt about to take place, a barbeque with Jeff Bezos, and the need for quotes from participants in the AHS (to go in a press pack given to anyone that covered the event). I wrote down a couple glowing phrases, emailed it off, and got a quick email of thanks.
Today UPS dropped off a strange looking package. It was strange because it was from amazon, but it didn't look like anything from amazon. Inside was some swag, a sweatshirt and a coffee mug, along with a note of thanks.
Who knew the 800 pound gorilla of e-commerce still has nice, thoughtful humans working inside?
Posted by 10:39 AM | TrackBack
July 30, 2001
One of the pointless, goofy
One of the pointless, goofy ideas I had yesterday was to build a collaborative site at SicamExchange.com. I'd let people upload the sircam attachments they've decoded, share those with others for download, rate, and talk about the files metafilter-style. Basically like FilePile, but just for gathered attachments.
I found some real gems after I started using the virus decoder mentioned on lafefx here.
Posted by 08:34 AM | TrackBack
One week until Kay and
One week until Kay and I set foot into Australia for the first time (and the first time I think we'll both be out of North America). I read Bill Bryson's book and while I'm fearing the glut of poisonous and dangerous animals, I can't wait to see the beauty that lies within the continent. We'll be in Sydney, then Cairns, then Adelaide, then off to the wine country in Claire Valley to attend a friend's wedding (that also happens to be on a working sheep station).
Two weeks of offline adventure lie ahead and I've never looked forward to a vacation more than I am now (since late last year and early this year were so chaotic for us, this will be the honeymoon we've been delaying for so long).
Posted by 06:51 AM | TrackBack
I'm back, and my home
I'm back, and my home DSL is as well.
Spending a few hours driving up last night, I had another night of a thousand new ideas. Again I wish I possessed a magic clock, so I could stop time tonight and finish them all. One product of the brainstorming should be online in a couple days.
Posted by 06:48 AM | TrackBack
July 28, 2001
Meg's right! I popped
I popped on my server remotely and took away all references to "www.metafilter.com", so you should be able to reach the site at http://209.10.108.201/ (you'll have to log in again, and I'm traveling, so I can't fetch your forgotten password just yet).
I'm so happy for rcb and jjg today, and impressed that Rebecca even found time to post a comment on MetaFilter on her wedding day, which reminds me of something I did last year.
Posted by 11:04 AM | TrackBack
Just an FYI: Late last
Just an FYI: Late last night my home DSL connection went down, and with it, the nameserver for metafilter among numerous sites. I've hopefully got someone from XO/Covad coming to take a look Monday morning, but until then MetaFilter may be unreachable.
This is what happens when the world is built on sand, and a gust or a wave comes out of nowhere to knock it out.
I'd probably feel bad about the outage if I wasn't enjoying myself so much in Southern California right now. So if MetaFilter is down for you, do what I'm doing, go outside and enjoy the sunshine.
Posted by 03:49 AM | TrackBack
July 27, 2001
I found the site, Tom
I found the site, Tom Del Mundo about three years ago, from a link at zeldman's portal. Every six months or so, I remember to check it, and I'm never disappointed.
Posted by 12:15 PM | TrackBack
July 26, 2001
And now, for your moment
And now, for your moment of zen:
Keanu Reeves playing kickball with out-of-work dotcommers in SF
Posted by 11:16 AM | TrackBack
July 25, 2001
Lance Armstrong is the
Lance Armstrong is the one of the greatest athletes alive. He's beaten cancer, can push his body to levels never thought possible, and continues to dominate the Tour De France.
He's basically won the whole thing, and he won it by killing everyone in the mountain stages, by just blowing everyone away in the steepest sections. But the thing that really amazed me was seeing him win the 13th stage and finally take the lead and the yellow jersey. It wasn't just his performance that day, it was his tremendous sportsmanship.
In a world of sculpted helmets and frame tubing, bladed spokes, and time trials, every second counts. When his main rival Jan Ullrich veered off the road next to him and crashed on a downhill turn, Lance didn't take advantage of it and charge onward. He let up, looked back and waited for Jan to return to the race. Later in the stage, he broke away from Jan and won by a minute, but during those few minutes he let up to wait for Jan to catch back up or hear if Jan was out, that's when he earned my respect.
(yeah, I know he used to be a real cocky bastard in the early 90's, during his pre-cancer days, but his transformation over the past few years has been amazing)
Posted by 05:56 AM | TrackBack
I always thought the joke
I always thought the joke in Best in Show about a Starbucks being across the street from another Starbucks was a bit of an exaggeration. Then I took a stroll down Mission Street, between First and the Ferry Building. After I passed by the 3rd or 4th one, I noticed they are so densely set, you can see at least one more Starbucks from any Starbucks you're passing by. Their store locator doesn't make it as clear (even considering the small scale on the map), but it's really shocking.
UPDATE: Bill points out that the Starbucks across the street from another Starbucks actually does exist in Vancouver (note the addresses), and that's where Christopher Guest noticed them during the filming. It all makes sense now.
Posted by 01:27 AM | TrackBack
July 24, 2001
An instant message conversation in
An instant message conversation in which I try to get Scott to see Jurassic Park III:
mathowie: I know what you need.
walkngbird: BBQ?
mathowie: 90 minutes of the rockingest Dinosaur action money can buy!!!
walkngbird: I'm afraid to ask.
mathowie: Thursday!!! Thursday!!! Thursday!!! Come see top-fueled Tyrannosaurus Rex take on two-time champ Triceratops in a wall-to-wall brawl the likes of which have never been seen!
walkngbird: bah. I'm rooting for the raptors.
walkngbird: oh yay, raptors, yet again.
walkngbird: They should rename JP3 to "Much Ado
About Raptors"
walkngbird: Or "Again With the Raptors"
Posted by 12:57 PM | TrackBack
This is a pretty
This is a pretty strange way to get a new Aeron chair in San Francisco.
I hope the friend's not in for stealing chairs.
Posted by 11:55 AM | TrackBack
July 23, 2001
Whether or not the internet
Whether or not the internet remains the economic boom everyone thought it would be, it will always be an incredible information resource. Today, while Kay was getting an estimate on fixing our car, the mechanic mentioned an expensive hub replacement due to faulty lug nuts and axles. It sounded like hogwash to me, but after searching the web for a bit, we found two references to the problem, and it sounded like a bad design on Isuzu's part.
Even up to a few years ago, this research wouldn't have been remotely possible, and I'd be sitting here thinking the mechanic was pulling my leg and trying to overcharge us for unnecessary work.
My hope is that the unfettered exchange of information continues online, and that the web continues to become more useful as a research tool, despite the passing of the gold rush days.
Posted by 10:49 AM | TrackBack
July 20, 2001
I gotta say, eDonkey2000 has
I gotta say, eDonkey2000 has best tagline of any website, ever.
Posted by 09:50 AM | TrackBack
I'm a complete sucker for
I'm a complete sucker for goof-rock, so bear that in mind when I say this is a great song.
Posted by 06:24 AM | TrackBack
July 18, 2001
Kazaa is the best
Kazaa is the best thing since sliced bread. It's pretty much like napster, but instead of only audio, it includes the sharing and transfer of video, images, documents, and software as well.
The interface and toolset of the client aren't as smooth as napster's, but it's an amazing piece of technology. The beauty of kazaa is that for the first time, bandwidth is now treated as a P2P commodity to share. Files that are available on more than one server are downloaded in parts, simultaneously, from multiple locations. This means the more popular a file, the more likely there is to be multiple locations, resulting in easier downloads. This also means very large popular files are downloaded faster than you could ever obtain them from a single server. Yesterday I downloaded a 110Mb file in about 15 minutes, thanks to the 8 people that all offered full bandwidth to obtain them.
It's just incredible... at pirating music, movies, and software.
(when installing kazaa, be sure you deselect the option to include the HotText plugin, I've heard that apparently it's the spawn of satan and impossible to remove from your computer once enabled)
Posted by 11:16 AM | TrackBack
July 17, 2001
I can't get enough of
I can't get enough of the new Ben Folds record. Ben Folds Five broke up a while ago, and it seems that Ben wrote a bunch of songs on his own, played all the instruments, and laid down the tracks. Although his previous solo work was a bit more experimental (but still enjoyable), this one sounds like a return to the melodies similar to his group's first album.
What's most surprising is that without the former band members' contributions, the songs sound as good as anything the old band could have done. It never occurred to me that perhaps Ben Folds himself was holding that group up.
Posted by 12:01 PM | TrackBack
July 14, 2001
I finally landed a new
I finally landed a new job, it's good to be working again.
Starting Monday the 16th, I'm the "design guy" (it's a technical term) at Bitzi.com. It feels a lot like Pyra, as I'm the fifth person here now, and I'll be working on redoing how the site looks and acts, and how users interact with the features. It's kinda hard to explain what the company does, but basically it's metadata for p2p networks. The latest NTK newsletter has a small blurb about Bitzi in it. Here's a good article on why p2p metadata is important.
Posted by 03:48 AM | TrackBack
July 13, 2001
Posted by 11:35 AM | TrackBack
"We protest the use of
"We protest the use of public funds in order to finance religion-based social programs, or pay for the operation, maintenance or repair of churches and other houses of worship. No American, including those 27 million who profess no belief in deities or religious creeds, should be compelled through taxation to finance in any way, shape or form religious teaching, ceremony or program. We oppose the new federal faith-based initiative as a violation of the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. This program levies a Religion Tax on the citizens of this country, and clearly violates the separation of church and state."
-- http://www.thedaythatcounts.org/
Posted by 04:55 AM | TrackBack
July 12, 2001
It's like looking into a
It's like looking into a mirror: Unemployed Theo is my new hero.
(via megan)
Posted by 11:57 AM | TrackBack
July 11, 2001
Next This week's CNNdotcom TV
Next This week's CNNdotcom TV show should be worth watching.
Posted by 12:45 PM | TrackBack
While searching for an old
While searching for an old email message today, I noticed an interesting message sitting in my mail archives.
I just hope Amazon survives, if they go under, we're all toast.
Posted by 10:54 AM | TrackBack
July 10, 2001
My bike is a
My bike is a constant reminder of my own mortality. I want to ride every hour of the waking day, but after a month of riding, just an hour turns me into a sweating, out-of-breath, pathetic mess. My body is covered in more bruises than Johnny Knoxville, and even small things like stepping off my bike or falling correctly results in sprains, cuts, and contusions. When I was in my teens and early twenties, none of this happened, and I could ride for 6-8 hours without pause. I'm having the time of my life riding and re-learning everything though.
My hope is to someday get a sponsorship from Advil. That'd be the life.
Posted by 10:06 AM | TrackBack
July 09, 2001
Oklahoma was interesting. As a
Oklahoma was interesting.
As a city, it was sprawling, bursting at the seams as prairie land was paved over to make way for new suburbs. The housing was disgustingly cheap, we saw lots of 4 bedroom houses on 5 acres that could be had for less than $150k. We even found 3,800 sq. ft. estates with indoor basketball courts for around what you'd pay for a 2 bdrm apartment/condo in San Francisco. But it was over 100 degrees everyday, and it was quite humid, so I doubt I could live there.
Kay's Dad's family functions got me acquainted with a big family of strangers that felt familiar quickly. I saw a lot of parallels with my mom's extended family. About 90% of the family members still live in their home state, with almost all in the city they were born in. You can see genetic predispositions to certain things pop-up along the family tree.
It was great to meet Sean Meade. I'll be making an effort to hook up with MetaFilter members wherever I go from now on. Later this month I'll be in LA, next month Australia, and at some point this summer I might be going to Indiana and then onto Chicago for a Cubs game.
Overall, it was a fun trip.
Posted by 11:14 AM | TrackBack
July 05, 2001
Why oh why don't they
Why oh why don't they sell TimTams in the US?
Greatest. Candy/Cookie. Ever.
Posted by 12:32 PM | TrackBack
Tomorrow morning, I'm off to
Tomorrow morning, I'm off to my first visit to the midwest, spending the next few days in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Did you know that OK didn't become a state until 1907 and their state song is from the musical Oklahoma?
Any sooners that want to contact me should send a message to my phone.
Posted by 11:39 AM | TrackBack
July 04, 2001
Posted by 11:28 AM | TrackBack
I've finally figured something out,
I've finally figured something out, and I'm about 15 years late on coming up with it but it isn't due to lack of intelligence, it's only because I never paid enough attention or cared to figure it out.
Steven Spielberg doesn't make art, he makes things that make money.
While others are creating movies that challenge and delight, Spielberg is busy making things a five year old can understand, so he can reach the greatest number of people (read: and get their admiration and ticket money). He clearly does this at the expense of art. And it's not a harmless thing, when he bookended Saving Private Ryan with 5 pointless opening minutes and 5 even more pointless closing minutes (so he could make his point with a sledgehammer), he killed any sense of imagination or enlightenment on the part of the viewer, he destroyed the artistic integrity and blemished otherwise fine acting performances.
I came to this conclusion watching A.I. yesterday, when the extraneous third act flashed up on screen for the last 30 minutes. All I could think the entire time was "why are they showing this to us? why couldn't we figure it out on our own or come up with our own 'ending'?" A.I. would have been pretty good if it ended on the bottom of the ocean, but instead we get all sorts of wacky explanations handed to us as baby food -- no chewing necessary, easy to digest and forget.
Last night I had a dream Spielberg did a remake of The Usual Suspects, but instead of ending when Kevin Spacey's Verbal Kint character walks out of the police station and gets into a car, the camera follows Agent Dave Kujan back into the station, where for ten minutes a conversation like this takes place:
(Chaz Palminteri's character) Kujan: Dammit, he got away!
(Dan Hedaya's character) Rabin: What are you talking about?
Kujan: Well, you see, our man Verbal Kint? He made up the whole Kaiser Soze thing up!
Rabin: Really? How?
Kujan: Look around your office, see the stuff on the bulletin board? He created a fake past of several stories based on the snips of paper and words on this board, do you understand now?
Rabin: I'm starting to get it, go on, please.
Kujan: Yeah, so it's possible that Verbal is Kaiser Soze, and the disabled thing is an act too.
Rabin: I think I have it, could you possibly draw for me some charts and graphs explaining it again?
Kujan: (drawing) see, first this happened, then this, then this other thing, make sense now?
Rabin: Wow, I would have never put all that together, thanks Dave.
Kujan: No problem, too bad we let someone that is evil, pure, pure evil get away though.
(Fade to black, run credits)
Posted by 09:52 AM | TrackBack
July 03, 2001
Proof that those stupid
Proof that those stupid Cal-Fed advertisements found all over the Bay Area can be improved.
Vastly improved.
Posted by 11:32 AM | TrackBack
July 02, 2001
I don't know everything in
I don't know everything in this world, but there's one thing I do know: If you're a psychic, and you're advertising your services by putting flyers on my car, you're a shitty psychic.
Because if they really were good at being a psychic, they'd know I hate stupid flyers stuffed under my winshield, getting damp each morning, and generally becoming a mess when I go out to my car.
Posted by 04:25 AM | TrackBack
July 01, 2001
The best news I've heard
The best news I've heard in weeks. The D is finally coming to a CD player near you.
Posted by 11:55 AM | TrackBack
Posted by 04:58 AM | TrackBack