ArtLung: Archive: 2003

02-Jan-2003

So the new year came yesterday. I spent it with Leah. We went and got lunch at a local Souplantation using the gift certificates Leah got for Christmas, and then we went and saw The Two Towers with the movie gift certificates I got for Christmas. We were an hour and a half early for…

02-Jan-2003

But not to you.

This Ryze Blog Social network map is pretty interesting. Well, to me.

02-Jan-2003

Interesting Thought on Aerospace/Space Tourism

Manned spaceflight is a government monopoly – and has been one for over 40 years. The marketplace has never been allowed to exist, and as a result, the dream of private tickets for a ride to orbit has all but died here in the US. Two tickets have been purchased, much to the chagrin of…

02-Jan-2003

That Lindows Publicity Machine Never Sleeps

Lindows founder offered Xbox Linux $200,000 prize — Michael Robertson, founder of the Lindows operating system, has offered two prizes of $100,000 to port Linux onto the Xbox, with and without hardware modifications.

02-Jan-2003

Whoa, A Compliment

Dori of BackupBrain described this blog as “excellent.” Very kind. I think Dori might have had too much brandy in her eggnog, but I’ll kindly thank her for the compliment. I’ll also return the compliment by saying that I’ve been a consistent reader of the very excellent BackupBrain for a long damn time. It’s at…

03-Jan-2003

Hey San Diego!

Recycle Your Christmas Tree.

03-Jan-2003

Remembered and Recognized

I think I remember George Girton’s name as a participant of the old Webmonster web design lists — and he recognized my name from the Ryze Blogmap. Interesting, no? Even more interesting is that it’s been several years since Webmonster was a going concern. They were some great, educational, fun discussion lists. George maintains a…

03-Jan-2003

Total Information Awareness Office: P.R.Dummies

Problem 1: John “Convicted Felon” Poindexter runs it. For other problems, see: Act Three of Poindexter’s Incredibly Shrinking Site: Still More! via Politechbot. The TIA office reminds me of the folks in George Orwell’s 1984 who are responsible for continually rewriting history to suit the current regime’s needs and enemies’ lists. Luckily, on the internet,…

03-Jan-2003

Sick!

Runny nose: check. Lower back ache: check. Headache: check. Sore throat: check. Tiredness/fatigue: check. Roommate: also sick. However: Cough: minimal. Appetite: okay. Environment: clean, hospitable. Girlfriend: brought me 7-Up last night. Roommate: also sick, but nice. Diagnosis: common flu. Prognosis & outlook: With luck and TLC, I will be through this in a few days….

04-Jan-2003

Penn Gillette. Patriot.

“Well, it’s not really the right word, but freedom is kind of a hobby with me, and I have disposable income that I’ll spend to find out how to get people more of it.” from Federal V.I.P. The above article seems sort of hopeful to me, actually. Though it takes a celebrity, I think, to…

04-Jan-2003

URLGo.net

Matt of LAMPHost has made his own short url service — http://urlgo.net/. Cool!

04-Jan-2003

Gates Mug!

It’s old, but I rather like this Bill Gates mugshot. There are many more celeb mugshots for the morbidly curious.

04-Jan-2003

Comics Business Brief

Pretty concise precis of the state of comics business in the USA. From The Comics Journal‘a own weblog, Journalista!

04-Jan-2003

Desktop Linux Summit in San Diego

The Desktop Linux Summit San Diego, California — February 20-21, 2003. Know anyone who is considering Linux? Reads like a great little conference.

04-Jan-2003

64bit Computing

You may not realize it, but most of us are still computing with 32bit Machines. Here’s an interesting story on how Intel may get whupped by AMD in the quest to get 64bit machines working and deployed. And there is of course, a big Microsoft angle.

04-Jan-2003

Personal

Still sick. But slightly better. Lots of phlegm coming up. Keep those nasopharyngeal secretions coming! Gonna sweat it out at racquetball. Later, some rest. Next week – some freelance and other stuff happening. Hope your weekend is rad. and…. Onward!

06-Jan-2003

Weekend Over

So this weekend was nice. I lost three straight games at racquetball Saturday morning. But I played gosh darnit. Yay me! More changes in the apartment over the weekend. Erin and I have made a lot of changes to the layout, kitchen, living room. more things to go to goodwill, and AmVets is coming tomorrow….

06-Jan-2003

The Cover Problem

The Cover Problem is really The Negro Problem doing covers. This article in the LA Times talks about them covering Saturday Night Fever — the whole album — live. I’d have loved to have seen it. I think Stew and those kids have a lot of fun.

06-Jan-2003

5 Tips for Independent Contractors

I like that cat Bill Rini. I really like his 5 Tips For Independent Contractors. The Cliff’s Notes version below (click “more…” below to read all the gory details). Never take on a client who has fired more than one previous contractor to do the same job. more… Never agree to do any work that…

06-Jan-2003

Year in Review

This GBN Global Perspectives by Gwynne Dyer is really worth a read. It’s from our neighbors to the north, Canada. Very thorough and rather evenhanded.

06-Jan-2003

Penn, Airport Patriot Followup:

Working Class Hero Penn (which I blogged about the other day)

06-Jan-2003

William Gibson, Blogging!

William Gibson now has a blog. This makes me remarkably happy. And he’s already talking about Pattern Recognition. And Bruce Sterling has been blogging for a while. If Neal Stephenson started blogging all three of my favorite writers (all three cyberpunks) would have blogs. Maybe it is the future.

08-Jan-2003

Safari, Services, Speech, Summarize

So a new Mac web browser came out today. Lots of folks are talking. Great stuff. Here’s my small contribution. Because Safari is a Cocoa application, it can take advantage of Mac OS X services. One of these is speech. If you highlight text on a web page in Safari, you can have your Mac…

08-Jan-2003

Mailto: Stinks

Form action mailto: stinks was updated to include Safari, Mozilla, and Chimera. Mailto: form actions still stink.

08-Jan-2003

Tired Boy Says: Sleep!

I actually have a lot to say. I have some new opportunities. I have some new challenges. Money is tight, but there is work. This is good. I went to a liquor store I used to go to near my former employer. The clerk recognized me and asked me if I’d lost weight, because I…

08-Jan-2003

Hire Me

My Resumé has been updated. I welcome feedback and job offers. Thank you.

08-Jan-2003

Bebe News

This article: Can Bebe Stores Fashion a Comeback? about Bebe is worth a read, if you follow such things as women’s apparel. Bebe?s top priority is staging a return from casualwear to what it does best-?career and dressier clothing that resonate with stylish 20- to 30-year-olds. Bebe veered off course about two years ago when…

08-Jan-2003

Work

Did more work today. More billable hours is good. I work so much better on-site than off it’s scary. This must mean I’m destined for a full-time job. At least that’s what I hope.

09-Jan-2003

Everyone a Book

So everyone I know or thereabouts has worked on a book. The latest is Rudy Limeback, who contributed to Practical Web Database Design. So so cool. Buy it! (or not, I’ve not seen it in person yet. But with Rudy on the team, I bet it’s great.

09-Jan-2003

Genius Flash: Fly Guy

View it: Fly Guy via San Diego Blog: Brianstorms)

09-Jan-2003

Safari Reading List

Apple’s Official Page: Safari David Hyatt, Safari developer Safari Review Why are Safari and Sherlock two different applications? “Like Gecko,” We Hope Thoughts on Apple’s new browser, Safari Zeldman on Safari Safari, Speech, Summarize Safari: First Look: Safari Information for Web Designers Initial Reactions to Safari Greetings from the Safari team at Apple Computer Apple…

10-Jan-2003

Wow, I’m Being Taught In At Least One Classroom

I got an email tonight that made my day: I am asking my 10th grade English students to write an essay about Wordsworth’s poem. Your poem captured its essence and I plan to share your words (with due credit) with them. Thanks. Tom I’m overwhelmed. This was in regards to my piece Two Ships in…

13-Jan-2003

Happy Birthday Leah!

A belated Happy Birthday to Leah! for whom I made some enchiladas (based on my Mom’s great recipe) which she really liked.

13-Jan-2003

Benediction

May we all have luck kicking the bad habits we scarcely understand.

13-Jan-2003

Top 10 Vulnerabilities in Web Applications

The Open Web Application Security Project

13-Jan-2003

High Hat and Mr. Hat: Separated At Birth

So James “Kibo” Parry has unveiled an interesting development in educational toys and South Park. In his alt.religion.kibology post of January 3rd “It’s official. Now I hate ‘South Park’” he writes: DAMN YOU, “SOUTH PARK”! YOUR OPEN MOCKERY OF THAT EVIL PUPPET HAS GIVEN THEM THE IDEA TO START SELLING IT AGAIN TO PURGE THE…

13-Jan-2003

Guaranteed to Offend Someone

Religions (or lack thereof) cast in a very specific and irreverent metaphor.

13-Jan-2003

The Blind Watchmaker

The Blind Watchmaker was recommended to me by Madhu.

13-Jan-2003

More Clay Shirky

Customer-owned Networks: ZapMail and the Telecommunications Industry is another great essay by Clay Shirky, one of many links on the side of this blog.

13-Jan-2003

Offensiveness Today

F*** Hip Hop: A Eulogy to Hip Hop by Pierre Bennu is an essay that got a lot of play on the nettime mailing list in the past month. It’s obvious of course, but it needs to be said, Hip Hop has grown old and useless as a vibrant voice. It’s simply a tool to…

13-Jan-2003

Important Newsflash

had more leftover enchiladas. they were good. over and out.

14-Jan-2003

JFEST II @ The Scottish Rite Center in Mission Valley

(got this from Will himself) Announcing JFEST II @ The Scottish Rite Center in Mission Valley! This coming Saturday Jan. 18, 2003 – 5:30PM-2AM at The Scottish Rite Center This festival will range from Folk Music to Rock & Pop and includes many of San Diego’s favorite local artists & performers. Including: Jason & Jane…

14-Jan-2003

Evocative Phrase

“Star Trek” fistfight music

14-Jan-2003

Hey Miva!

Both email addresses for job applications with Miva (a local web technology company) bounce as unrecognized. That’s hr(at)miva.com and resumes(at)miva.com. It’s a bummer that they bounce! I’ll try support and webmaster next. Sigh.

14-Jan-2003

Referred to!

SDACM is using part of my review of their meeting featuring the Rocks Toolkit from last month. Nice! Also, I’m going to their meeting on Thursday. Should be cool.

14-Jan-2003

Standardized Testing for Web Geeks, Good News, Bad News

So I just had an interview with a recruiter. It went well, very professional. I did take some standardized tests though. I did very well on two of them, one was on ColdFusion and one was on ColdFusion Scripting (yes, a subtle difference) and I got better than 85% on each (a B in my…

15-Jan-2003

Lessig Loses Copyright Case

This is the most poignant post on the Lessig affair. Go read more about it on eldred.cc

15-Jan-2003

MSIE Rollover Caching Bug

This is a peculiar bug: JavaScript Tip: Avoid An IE Rollover Bug Browsers are still not that great, are they?

17-Jan-2003

Yo.

Woke up this mornin’ tired. Stuff to do. Gotta do it. Hope you all have a great day!

18-Jan-2003

Gibson Review

My friend Steve E passed me this link to the NYTimes review of the new William Gibson novel.(Thanks Steve!)

18-Jan-2003

Baby Spinach and Oatmeal Chocolate Chip

So today started with racquetball with my Aunt. As per usual, we had wonderful games. After that I did some “financial” errands which needed doing, and went well. That was vague, but had to be. The truth is that finances are a bit sketchy for me at the moment, but I have a line on…

19-Jan-2003

Pooh and Copyright

I don’t care for Winnie The Pooh, but the story The Curse of Pooh is quite interesting.

20-Jan-2003

Well Stated on the Music Biz

Very cool quote from Dana Blankenhorn of a-clue.com: I don’t know if Rosen knows this. I don’t know that Rosen cares. But it’s clear that RIAA is becoming increasingly frustrated with what appears to be an unannounced, unsponsored, unorganized, unsupervised, grassroots yet surprisingly effective economic boycott of a huge industry, namely musical recording.

20-Jan-2003

Al Hirschfeld, Dead at 99

Al Hirschfeld was a great cartoonist, and he will be missed. What a draughtsman!

22-Jan-2003

Bill Maudlin Dies

Rudy passes along that Bill Maudlin passed away. Expect the excellent The Comics Journal blog, Journalista to have something pertinent on them soon. Thanks Rudy!

23-Jan-2003

A Busy Boy

I’ve been busy lately. My last two posts have been about dead cartoonists. That’s a bit depressing. Suffice to say I’ve been busy. In the meantime, go read Defective Yeti. That guy’s funny. More this weekend. I promise!

23-Jan-2003

Why I Like Mozilla Today

So I’m doing some development – in ASP (but that doesn’t matter, could be anything). Things I love about Mozilla today for web development (using 1.21 on Windows 2000 Server): the installer lets me only put in a browser if I want (since it’s for testing, who needs a mail client?) the JavaScript debugger is…

23-Jan-2003

Wonderful, Scatalogical, Vulgar, Funny, Diary of a Music Business Mixer

Go read Mixerman’s anonymous diary. It’s a wonderful use of the web. I’ve read the first 8 weeks worth and laughed out loud several times. Amazing, appalling, and entertaining stuff. But a warning: there’s plenty of salty language. But it reads like truth. Check it: Mixerman’s Diary Week 1 Mixerman’s Diary Week 2 Mixerman’s Diary…

23-Jan-2003

Shut out of AIGA (aka) Not determined enough to fight with parking downtown

I tried to go the presentation “Designing in the Age of Experience” at The AIGA Center For Design downtown tonight. Unfortunately, Super Bowl madness has set in and there was no parking to be had within about a 10 block radius. I was simply too tired to fight with the massive amount of traffic in…

24-Jan-2003

Quote of The Day, via InformationWeek

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘press on’ has solved and always…

24-Jan-2003

Beck Audio/Video

This is some great Beck – performing and talking. Requires RealAudio Player. via RRE

24-Jan-2003

Usenet Rant

Recently, Steven Champeon pointed out Russ Alberry’s Rant to me, and it’s a pretty great rant about public forums and the attendent problems and responsibilities.

24-Jan-2003

Amazon Software Rebates

Amazon has a page devoted to software products which include rebates. As of this writing, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring video game is free when you factor in the rebate.

24-Jan-2003

New Lab Item: iTunes & XML

I added a new lab item today: iTunes Error: The iTunes Music Library file cannot be read because it does not appear to be a valid library file. I hope it proves to be of use to people.

25-Jan-2003

But Not Today

I want to tell you all about the exciting yesterday: featuring an adventure driving downtown, a parking lot attendant, a great job interview, a great lunch, progress on an ASP project, a beer, and seeing my girlfriend. But not today. Today I’m going to have lunch with said girlfriend and maybe a movie. And later,…

26-Jan-2003

DMZ is back!

The Digital Militarized Zone is back online at dmz.rini.org. Go DMZ! (Very silly)

26-Jan-2003

Internet Health Report

Check out Internet Health Report… The Internet Health Report delivers data about network performance (latency) between major United States Internet backbones. The measurement agents selected for the Internet Health Report have direct, single homed connections to a backbone so their connectivity is unambiguous. Each measurement agent connects to every other agent every 15 minutes and…

26-Jan-2003

What happened to the HTML Writer’s Guild?

This is an appalling story of (alleged) mismanagement and malfeasance. Wow.

26-Jan-2003

Super Bowl Prediction

So back on Thursday I couldn’t get parking in the Gaslamp Quarter, right? Right. Madness. That was only Thursday. Yesterday after a great BBQ with friends old and new we went and saw the Largest Fireworks Show in San Diego History – from Point Loma. I didn’t take pictures, but it was tres impressive. But…

27-Jan-2003

My Super Bowl Prediction: Incorrect

From NBC San Diego: More Than 100 Arrested In Gaslamp Quarter: Crowds Generally Well-Behaved, Police Say San Diego police arrested 109 people for various offenses at Super Bowl-related activities. … On the whole, (Officer) Hassen said, the crowds gathered to take in the pre-show festivities have been well-behaved. I’m glad I was wrong. I think…

27-Jan-2003

Lindows Trademark Case Going To Court

Lindows.com summary judgment motion dismissed — yeah, I’m still watching Lindows with interest.

27-Jan-2003

AIGA: Experience Design: San Diego: Update

So I wrote the other day about missing the AIGA Experience Design meeting — well, I got a note back from one of the organizers: You’re not the only one who got lost in the traffic mess. Our next event big event is slated for March 27th so mark your calendar. We will probably be…

27-Jan-2003

Maybe My Prediction Was Right

…but only in Oakland. More than 50 blocks of International had stretches of virtually lawless zones nearly three hours after the Super Bowl. At least 12 cars were set on fire, many windows were smashed, some businesses were broken into and looted, bus benches were pushed over and street signs ripped down as police battled…

27-Jan-2003

Dave Barry, Blogger

Dave Barry, National Treasure, has a new blog. The obvious line: I swear I’m not making this up.

27-Jan-2003

Latest San Diego Bloggers

01/03/2003: lifestudent.com 01/06/2003: Sector 7-G 01/09/2003: The Fishing Caper 01/14/2003: jason and jane 01/16/2003: House of MirAGe 01/17/2003: Global Error Log 01/24/2003: Jianda.net 01/24/2003: Adam Bishop 01/24/2003: Beware the Edge 01/24/2003: Sugar Mama PR Journal 01/26/2003: ArchaeologyOnline Blog 01/26/2003: MuseumGuru Blog 01/27/2003: Casual Reflection San Diego Bloggers continues to be a fun side project for…

27-Jan-2003

MAS on Slammer, The SQL Server Worm

MAS says, in his great curmudgeonly journal: You can lead a database administrator to a security patch , but you can not make him install. Between my job, INeedCoffee, and home I’ve got nine SQL Server 2000 installations. All of them have the latest Service Packs installed. Staying current with service packs for licensed programs…

28-Jan-2003

New Header… and I Got A New Job

I just made a new header out of some of my old Amiga images – the Katakana script says “Crawford” more or less. Back when Japan was my obsession. The sheep I found in some old Amiga clip art. I added the jet pack myself. The font that says “ARTLUNG” is based on a typography…

28-Jan-2003

Viridian Note: Venezuela’s Curse

A good one. Read it: Far from an anomaly, Venezuela is a classic example of that economists call the ‘natural resource curse.’ A 1995 analysis of developing countries by Jeffrey Sachs and Andrew Warner found that the more an economy relies on mineral wealth, the lower its growth rate. Venezuela isn’t poor despite its oil…

29-Jan-2003

Article about San Diego blogs in the Union Tribune Upcoming

Matt Pitcher notified me that the Union-Tribune will run an article about San Diego bloggers this Monday. Nobody asked me. Though the San Diego Bloggers page will be 1 year on Saturday. I wonder why I didn’t get an email? Maybe I’m “tired” and no longer “wired.”

29-Jan-2003

Sundance Review

Caleb Clark, a very nice fellow, has written up a Sundance Film Festival Report that’s worth your time.

29-Jan-2003

Ronny Vardy Art Show

Just got this email from Ronny Vardy… GALAXY GALLERY Is proud to present paintings and new illustrations by Ronny. Saturday, Feb 1st. From 8 p.m. till whenever. Galaxy Gallery known as the smokers universe and also home the the Chronic cafe, has a real Amsterdam coffee house feel to it. Other than their amazing atmosphere…

29-Jan-2003

Kynn In The News

Scoble picks up the Kynn/HWG/Navarro story.

29-Jan-2003

Songwriters I want to Investigate:

Jimmy Webb and Jimmy Dale Gilmore.

30-Jan-2003

Google Actually Works. Other Search Technologies, Don’t.

Someone on the WebSanDiego.org List said something very like what this article — City Ogles Google Impact: The city of San Diego’s search appliance left employees and citizens hanging. Then it turned to Google has to say. The essence was this — “Why bother with site architecture and information design? All you have to do…

30-Jan-2003

Duh

I still have not learned to fight scope-creep.

01-Feb-2003

Better

So I feel much better about things. Thursday night I let my temper get the best of me. As it turns out, I’m not a placid, perfect, serene and sublime person all the time. Thing is though, I immediately recognized my jerkiness as such. The folks affected steered clear, and I went through pain figuring…

01-Feb-2003

Aigh

Another Shuttle Loss. Terrible day.

01-Feb-2003

More Links

Still much catching up to do on the link front. Thanks for your patience! Now, this is a really peculiar site. (Not for the faint of heart) Gibson on Orwell, or, The Road To Oceana How’s the Iraqometer doing? I intend to read: Netscape’s JavaScript What Politech thinks is worthwhile other reading US ‘Negation’ Policy…

26-Jun-2003

Blogger Upgrade

Blogger has upgraded their backend software for free blogs. It’s much faster, and so far, much more stable. I’m quite glad I’ve stuck with Blogger. I think using a tool made by Google is part of it. But more, I think Blogger is a company that’s doing the right stuff.

26-Jun-2003

Am I RIAA Or Not

The RIAA Radar Bookmarklet

27-Jun-2003

Spinhead is back

Back and blogging. I wish Spinhead only the best, as he’s having a not great year. Why? Marital strife. Go go gadget go!

28-Jun-2003

lyrics never more apropos in my lifetime

you make me shiver i feel so tender we make a pretty good team don’t get exhausted i’ll do some driving you oughta get you some sleep get your instructions follow directions, then you should change your address maybe tomorrow maybe the next day, whatever you think is best burned all my notebooks what good…

28-Jun-2003

New Words

Well, not new. Actually it’s from last August. Doing some spring cleaning right now. Leah is on a road trip to see family with her kids. A long drive that’s not through. And I’m waiting for the “I got in fine” phone call. In the interim, I’m doing the archeology thing: New poem in words…

28-Jun-2003

I’m out

Got the call. She’s made it where she needs to be. I’m sleepy now. G’nite!

28-Jun-2003

Killer Notebook

Savoir-Faire makes this great, small notebook that’s very small, about the size of a wallet or a box of cigarettes. I had bought one very early last year. I never really used it until Jennifer left, and I had need to keep phone numbers and random information as things were changing rapidly for me. It’s…

29-Jun-2003

Archaeology and a tiny mural

This is me, last May, visiting my buddy Vince in Virginia. Impromptu he asked me to do a mural of a plane on his son’s wall (to accompany the existing clouds). I demurred at first. But in the end I was able to improvise something good. Note the chin. This picture is approximately 70 pounds…

29-Jun-2003

Movies You’d Think Would Not Exist

There’s a movie about indie cartoonist Harvey Pekar called ‘American Splendor’ and there’s a movie about They Might Be Giants called ‘Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns).’ In other news, today was a mild day. I missed Leah though. But it sounds like she’s having fun with her family and kids.

29-Jun-2003

I’m in the IMDB

Well, for appearing in Up From The Depths, and submitting myself, I got into IMDB: listing: Joe Crawford (I). But the other movie listed on that page is not me. I was just an extra, and I think I submitted myself about a year ago. IMDB stands for Internet Movie Database It’s the web’s greatest…

30-Jun-2003

Telescreen = EyeToy

I for one welcome our cute branded gaming Big Brothertm! Sony EyeToy = 1984 Telescreen

01-Jul-2003

Summertime, and the living…

Not easy, but it sure is pretty.

01-Jul-2003

Style Changes

I’ve made some changes to San Diego Blog. The styles are perhaps a bit more stylish. Anyone care to write for the blog? drop me a note!

02-Jul-2003

Social Software Makes Me Giddy

Clay Shirky’s latest essay, A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy, is so right on with what my gut, experience, and intellect tell me about groups and software that I find myself wishing I had written it. Some writing is so good it makes me jealous. Mind you, this essay is not for everyone. But…

02-Jul-2003

Inevitable

Celebrity moblogging (more about moblogging at joi.ito.com)

02-Jul-2003

Pulled Army Times Editorial

I found this interesting, particularly in light of claims made that the current administration is more on the side of the common member of the armed services than the previous: This Army Times article critical of the administration and congress was pulled. Nefarious forces are implied, but even if that’s not the case, it’s an…

03-Jul-2003

Hanging in Little Italy

So after work I went and saw the new Terminator movie at the Pacific Gaslamp theatre downtown. T3: Rise of the machines. I missed the bombastic music of the 1st and 2nd ones. Still, it was a worthy movie. It fits into the franchise, though there’s a great risk that they’re at once making the…

04-Jul-2003

Loosely Joined

Thanks for the link, Dan. Big notice for San Diego Blog, the local newspaper the U-T has got blogs now, and they have linked, and even trackbacked that fledgling blog. Read the whole scoop there! Speaking of social software, which I mentioned the other day. I wrote (read that: rambled) about that on the websandiego…

05-Jul-2003

I Walked From Pacific Beach To Old Town

…and boy are my arms tired but seriously… I had a culturally fascinating evening. I went to the beach (walked from Garnet and Ingraham to Crystal Pier). The water was choppy, but not bad for sunset. Then I walked south along the boardwalk, watching in turn the Sea World and Ocean Beach fireworks. My camera…

05-Jul-2003

Ouch

My feet hurt.

05-Jul-2003

Word of the Day (yesterday)

poultice

05-Jul-2003

Sleepy Missing

I’ve been sleeping most of the day. Recovering from yesterday. Off and on I do some cleaning, drinking and eating. Right now the main thing I’m doing is missing Leah.

06-Jul-2003

Marginalia

New pictures area: Miscellany. Some fun stuff in there. Why? Well, it was stuck in other locations, and it needed to move. Today I’m doing what Leah calls puttering, not really work per se, but useful things nonetheless.

06-Jul-2003

Great Thoughts

Mitch Wagner’s post about gay marriage and marriage in general gives voice to many of my own thoughts on the subject.

06-Jul-2003

One of the Funniest Web Sites Ever

Squirrel Fishing … ever seen it? Well, now you have. *chuckle* … Liftoff … heh.

06-Jul-2003

Sunset

The other night Leah were several hundred miles away, but we did something together regardless. We decided to take a picture of the sunset. Here’s mine:

06-Jul-2003

San Diego Spots Domain

San Diego Spots now has its own domain — san diego spots dot com. And the boards are open for business, still Though there are no posts except for 2 now. Perhaps it will grow with time? I certainly hope it will.

07-Jul-2003

Up!

It’s a new week! Hit it!

07-Jul-2003

Blogs added since February, San Diego Blogs, by Date of Addition:

2003-02-02 – sd homies (xml) 2003-02-04 – Star Lady Speaks 2003-02-04 – JWalk Blog (xml) 2003-02-04 – A little bit bad 2003-02-04 – a jaunty little blog 2003-02-04 – lisa violet’s diary 2003-02-04 – MastersTrack.com (xml) 2003-02-07 – Search Engines: Cranky Guru 2003-02-07 – Primary Main Objective… (xml) 2003-02-07 – Cranky Guru: bits on organizations…

07-Jul-2003

St

It seems like it would be cool to work for SocialText.

07-Jul-2003

New Header

New header, old ones here. That’s me in a lab coat. One of my old ones.

08-Jul-2003

I’m Joe Crawford, Your Official Transit Greeter

So now two times in the past 10 days I have answered the questions of people riding the bus or trolley, and have handed over a copy of the pamphlet for the bus they’re interested in. I gave an older gentleman a copy of the route 7 the other day (he was visiting with his…

08-Jul-2003

CM

Leah is returning from her trip. Wish her a safe one!

08-Jul-2003

I love this guy!

As a hobby, this guy spots new pipeline the length of Kuwait out of Iraq! I love that kind of obsessive competence!

09-Jul-2003

Celebrity Moblogging – From idea to reality in 1 week

If you… Have a phone cam… And spot a celebrity… And take a picture… You can now put them online… Find out more at Andy’s site (No pictures yet. But give it time.)

10-Jul-2003

I’m not bowling.

More edits to San Diego Blog today. Mainly of the backend variety. It’s improving bit by bit. Had a chance to bowl today. Didn’t. Glad I didn’t. Going to the WebDesign Meetup tonight to geek-net-work. Should be jazzy. I mentioned Leah is back right? That’s cool. Also, more pix online at Miscellany. Gotta go hop…

10-Jul-2003

Decision.

The meetup was great! Met some new folks, and some folks I knew before. Nice turnout. Good talk. Open source, moblogging, digital photographers, open source CMSs, vegan roommates, vegetarianism, real estate… the talk ran the gamut! I think I’ve decided to play with some python. My folks are coming into town really soon, and I’m…

11-Jul-2003

Now playing:

King Kong by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention.

11-Jul-2003

Goin’ Out, with my baby

Tonight I’m going out on the town (read: to the movies) with my girlfriend. It’s been a pretty good week all in all. Can’t hardly wait!

13-Jul-2003

Wow.

So at random, I, Leah, and my parents went to see Santana tonight. Who was great. I was nervous about my folks meeting Leah, but things work out well, I come to find out. More evidence that I lead a charmed life, today was.

16-Jul-2003

When the world is running down…

It’s a busy week But it’s all gonna work out My parents are in town Comic-con is this weekend Big beach party this weekend Sister coming soon Helping Leah move Laundry to do Bills to pay New place to find Work is okay Blogging not done Racquetball missed Taking time off Haircut gotten Lunches with…

17-Jul-2003

Comic-Con To Go!

So today is Comic-Con. I’m leaving real soon, and it should be rad. You can talk about it over on San Diego Blog if ya want. I see my favorite comics blog, The Comics Journal’s Journalista! is taking a hiatus while Con is on. That site (Journlista I mean) keeps up with comics news better…

17-Jul-2003

Back

Unbelievably tired now that I’m back from comicon. Coolness: there’s a killer pic on San Diego Blog from a 1970s Con Let me chill. Will I blog now, or at the end of Con. Dunno. Too tired to think.

18-Jul-2003

California Community Colleges in Peril?

Support Your Community Colleges: Check: Save Our Schools, and Keep The Doors Open! (via Steve E)

19-Jul-2003

Bad Boys 2 Sounds Astonishingly Bad

The rest of Bad Boys II, which runs on for an unfathomable, unforgivable 2-1/2 hours, is like being cornered by a drunkard at a party who insistson yelling unfunny jokes in your ear, complete with sound effects. In the past, Bay’s movies sent you out of the theater feeling like you had been beaten up….

19-Jul-2003

Woke Up

Con again yesterday. Awesome. Ronny Vardy has a site! Met the guy who does Diesel Sweeties. Saw my co-workers on their lunch break, and found out someone else reads this blog (thank goodness for my discretion!). Bought some new comic book boxes. Then came home, and went to family dinner with Leah. It was really…

20-Jul-2003

Tomorrow?

Teen Titans starts tomorrow? — it seems like I should have seen something about this at Con…

20-Jul-2003

Things I Have Learned At San Diego Comic-Con So Far

Lynne Naylor makes some spiffy cute girly art. Dean Yeagle is an older fellow who does some great work as well. The Mighty Heroes is the name of the cartoon featuring a bunch of peculiar goofy super-heories I remember as a kid. TwoMorrows Publishing does a nice job with their books (like Mark Evanier’s collected…

21-Jul-2003

What a Weekend

It was a long and rewarding Sunday. Leah and I looked at some houses yesterday to rent, and have a good line on two of them. So that’s up in the air. I helped Leah take some pictures of garbage for North Magazine. Then we went to Comic-Con. And then we went to a signing…

22-Jul-2003

Beachtime, Familytime

So yesterday was a whirlwind of going to the beach at Coronado (bodysurfing!) and hanging out with my family. I’m very glad I took the first days of this week off — it gives me more time with my parents and sister. It’s a great week. My grandparents have a tetherball pole. Leah and I…

22-Jul-2003

Comic-Con Article and Photos

My friend and colleague Pinguino has posted Pinguino’s ComiCon Adventure. She’s got pictures too!

22-Jul-2003

Ronny Vardy

I’m going hiking early in the morning, so I’ll try and keep this brief. For the last several years, when one did a search for “ronny vardy” on google, like this, you got my fansite: artlung.com/fansite/ronnyvardy, well, now that she has her own site at ronnyvardy.com, you really should go there! I met her on…

23-Jul-2003

(Young) Women Suicide Bombers

The Role of Palestinian Women in Suicide Terrorism via Bruce Sterling

23-Jul-2003

Waiting for the man

Going hiking this morning. Racquetball in the evening. Signing papers for the new apartment somewhere in-between or after. It’s going to be a full day. Back to work tomorrow.

23-Jul-2003

Today’s Wrap Up

Hiking to the top of Cowles Mountain with my parents, sister and uncle: check Brunch at D.Z. Akins, same crew: check Home to recuperate with a hot bath: check Bus to grandparents, then racquetball with dad, an uncle and two aunts: check Trip to sign papers and give deposit for new house rental: check Home,…

25-Jul-2003

Family, Clots, TV, Worktime!

So things are good. Busy. Back at work. This is good. See my folks and sister again today, this is good. They leave tomorrow. My pal Erin was sick again yesterday — blood clots — including lung ones, that’s “pulmonary embolism” — as in life threatening, get a VQ scan. That kind of thing is…

26-Jul-2003

Debunking Paintballs and Nudity: Media Scammed

Have I mentioned that I really love that snopes.com exists? Well, I do. Here, they debunk Hunting for Bambi, which got reported (via Reuters) on CNN! Chalk the coverage of this non-event publicity stunt to the general shoddiness of the mass media’s brand of “journalism.” Of particular note: this story featured violence and included video…

27-Jul-2003

I Am Not Brett Jackson!

Brett Jackson has a cool moblog: interests include color, typoraphy, and other oddities in Gotham: ibjlogo.textamerica.com Brett is a kill Flash guy, visit his home, home on the web

27-Jul-2003

1 Wedding Down, 1 To Go (This Weekend)

Leah and I went to one wedding yesterday – a house party wedding northeast of Escondido. That was fun! Some impromptu dancing did occur. Today, another wedding, but this one closer to home. In other news, good racquetball yesterday morning. But in sadder news, my folks and sister flew back east after a very successful…

27-Jul-2003

liking my life

The wedding we (Leah and I) went to today went swimmingly. Later, we went and did laundry. I’m relaxed, and ready for a new week. New challenges and puzzlements, as per usual, but I am lucky. I like my life.

28-Jul-2003

Robots ate my job!

I thought this was a pretty thoughtful article: Robotic Nation, by Marshall Brain. Hyperbolic? The author makes the science fictional notion that robots will take over most service jobs in the next 50 years and makes it seem plausible.

28-Jul-2003

Movie of the Day

Office Space

29-Jul-2003

Big Shamus in Big Controversy

I posted to San Diego Blog a query on the proposed Spirit of the Seas. What do you think?

29-Jul-2003

Relaunch: URM Cargo

The former URMCargo dot com will relaunch sometime in the next 12-96 hours as URM Cargo Services (dot com). This was probably the first site I built where I did every piece. The html is old old old school (spacer gifs!), but I made sure it validated and worked and looked right in all browsers….

29-Jul-2003

SD .NET Group

This looks pretty good: San Diego .NET Developers Group — also added to WebSanDiego.org’s resources for web developers (mostly a list of other local geek networking organizations).

30-Jul-2003

Goodness

Had a good mellow day. Sorting out some stuff. Things are busy but good. Lots of email. Had grilled cheese for dinner. Sometimes, it’s about the simple things. Now: bedtime.

30-Jul-2003

I want to remember this

Artist & Craftsman Supply – Store Locations, Hours and Contact Info … specifically the one on San Diego Avenue.

30-Jul-2003

de Facto and de Jure, a meditation in File Formats

Ogg Vorbis, beaten by MP3 SVG, beaten by Flash PNG, beaten by JPEG & GIF yeah, this post for geeks only

30-Jul-2003

A whole bunch of links and I think they all work and are current. But no promises.

Environmental collapse with massive casualties? Moblogs Seen as a Crystal Ball for a New Era in Online Journalism Antiword _freeware Microsoft Word document reader/converter Engineer’s focus: accessible technology for all blind fellow and his extraordinary emphasis and unique perspective on accessibility Why Java Should Not Temper ColdFusionML Talents Open Source, Proprietary Code Quality Comparable Cool!…

31-Jul-2003

Party like it’s 1999?

Networking On The Rocks! – a San Diego networking thing. I’ve noticed that the “buzz” these days is rather dot-com behavior. Toys at work. CD multimedia presentations delivered in paper magazines. The world seems to be returning to bubble-style nuttiness. Or am I misreading lush Flash presentations promising: Our purpose is to bring Venture Capitalists,…

31-Jul-2003

Rereading; 1 Year Ago

I’ve been rereading Snow Crash and am nearly done. It is insightful, bawdy, violent, intelligent, mindbending, and funny. I first read it when I moved back to California in about 1994. Damn. Have I been in California 10 years? What an amazing 10 years. Incidentally, I think this is the longest in a row I’ve…

02-Aug-2003

Breakfast…

Today was a delicious breakfast of smoked salmon and eggs, splendiferous rye toast, cinnamon toast, coffee, and excellent company. The word for the day is “Bubweiser” Last night watched a terrible movie and bed-and-breakfasted with friends in their place. Best. Sleepover. Ever.

02-Aug-2003

Et Cetera

That is what I said. And I’m not moving far. Downtown San Diego. So to those of you far away, sorry, I’m not moving near you. And to those of you who are not far away (aka close), I’m not leaving. Finished re-reading Snow Crash a few minutes ago. It’s a beautiful day. Perhaps some…

02-Aug-2003

It’s Tchotchke-rific!

This: Making Over Mona, is an excellent example of using a viral game to market a product or service. (via M. Romen of mromen.com)

02-Aug-2003

I Love Chuck D

It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back seared through my brain the year it came out. Lyrical density, noise and sound and multivariate references all over the place. I think I may have to add it to the playlist this week. Meanwhile, Chuck D is still around, and kicks ass on Fox…

04-Aug-2003

RonnyVardy.com in google!

Cool. A search for ronny vardy now includes a key result. Go Ronny!

04-Aug-2003

Weekend

Weekend good. Time for work. …boy, that was brief

04-Aug-2003

New Stew!

For those who were wondering, the new Stew album, “Something Deeper Than These Changes” is slated to hit the shelves on September 23rd. I’m sure more details will be trickling in soon. via the negro problem mailing list. more info at stewsongs.com

04-Aug-2003

Cool Laptop Tool

My laptop is temporarily out of commission, but when it’s back in biz I think this tool: RAPS Advanced Protection System Wrap, looks quite useful. It’s like a strong ultra-laptop-diaper!

04-Aug-2003

Ocean Beach Gaming Place

GameLords.net is some kind of O.B. network gaming establishment. Interesting.

04-Aug-2003

Reciprocity

The Web Design Meetup Links Page linked to ye olde WebSanDiego.org, and hey, we linked to them too. Doncha love reciprocity?

04-Aug-2003

Life is Real

So. Last year the sh*t hit the fan in my life. My wife left me and everything turned inside-out and backwards and it all hurt like hell. (Everything is healing nicely, thank you) So when all that happened last year, something interesting happened. I kept blogging. I said: I’m at a loss right now as…

04-Aug-2003

Suggestions to News Sites For How To Use Blogs

A wonderful, rambling series of suggestions for news organizations for how to use blogs to grab content from the public – moblogs, photoblogs, internal blogs, columnist blogs: Blogs have a place on news sites Back on July 4, I noted that the Union Tribune started blogging After they had a somewhat derisive take on blogs…

05-Aug-2003

Pylon

Right now I’m listening to a band called Pylon. I am going through my CDs (I have many) and encoding them in iTunes onto my Mac. For 14 years I’ve been proudly displaying my CDs in whatever was my living room. In the new place, I’m less excited to do this. And more, having them…

05-Aug-2003

Gig

I accepted in principle a position with the company I’ve been contracting with. Paperwork should be signed in a few more days. All things equal, I should rejoin the land of the medical-benefits-equipped in a few weeks.

06-Aug-2003

I’ll buy this next month

The Lullabies record is now available for purchase. Additional details (bios, sound clips, etc.) can be found at: www.thelullabies.com (that band includes stew) And be sure to check stew’s interesting journal, stewsez And have you visited my stew/negro problem lyrics and links page? Yes, as a matter of fact I do think stew is a…

06-Aug-2003

That guy IS a crank

Google Watch Watch – Who watches the watchmen, indeed.

06-Aug-2003

Hedgehog@Molokini

Nifty thing to to at night.

06-Aug-2003

Pop Gun War

Tuesday I started and finished (on the bus) reading something I bought back at comic-con this year: Pop Gun War Trade Paperback. I am left a little mystified by it, but it was moving. It is part allegory, part simple story, with really engaging and whimsical art. I liked it a great deal. Check it…

06-Aug-2003

Tired/Alright/Onward

It’s only the 6th and I’m already tired of this Month. But tonight I’m catching up on things I’ve been behind on. Site corrections. Correspondence. The whole nine. Right now I could use some serenity. But I know it’s gonna be alright. Onward.

06-Aug-2003

Encoding:

I have a lot of: They Might Be Giants, Matthew Sweet, New Order (and all related: Joy Division / Electronic / The Other Two / Revenge / Monaco), Zappa (of course), Christina Aguilera, Steely Dan, Roxy Music + Bryan Ferry, Tori Amos. More stuff done. Feeling less surly. Time for bed.

07-Aug-2003

Christina Trip: $2000

European Travel, Xtina!… no, actually even if I had the money I don’t think I’d do that with it.

07-Aug-2003

Talk Radio (Rush) vs. Blogs

Doc Searls comments on how talk radio and blogging could be synergistic (as opposed to antagonistic).

07-Aug-2003

That Textamerica is something!

Raped At The Pump – people use phonecams to show terrible gas prices. (via bb)

07-Aug-2003

Typographical Humor and History

Behind the Typeface: Cooper Black

08-Aug-2003

Doclinked

Hey! Unsolicited link from Doc Searls — I talked to Doc briefly at the blogosphere thing and shook his hand. I particularly like his informal voice, and how he’s passionate without being a person who flames others. There are people it would be infinitely FUN for me to flame, but it’s not my style.

08-Aug-2003

The outer edges of my music collection

Still importing tonight. Latest imports include Digable Planets, Neneh Cherry, Motorhead, Mono Puff, Miles Davis, Bud Powell, more Tom Waits, and a lot of Mighty Might Bosstones. Good day today. Productive work. I went to a used bookstore today and appreciated some old books on typography. Wandering and enjoying the phenomenon of downtown San Diego….

09-Aug-2003

Oh…

Oh, so this is how we lose touch with reality about how women actually look Check out these shots of a bikini woman — you see the “final” image when you first visit. Then put your cursor over the image to see what it looked like before digital processing: Bikini Girl. If one is wondering…

09-Aug-2003

eliyon CorporateAlumni

This is interesting. A lookup for people (I think executives?) in business here’s me – I squeak by with two mentions for The Web Standards Project, and one from a conference I attended in 2000. But not for other companies I was a part of. It looks like it’s not using resumes, but rather using…

10-Aug-2003

Blogger Continuous Quality Improvement; Blog Software Musings

Blogger.com Help is up. I tell you, since its’ acquisition by Google, the service is better, faster, and more reliable. I set up a demo blog for a colleague a few weeks ago, and with Blogger it was trivially easy. I was pleasantly surprised by how well it worked, and how quickly they could get…

11-Aug-2003

I can’t think of a good title today.

Weekend is over. Almost done importing music. Today listening to lots of Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music at work. Spoils of that manual labor importing mp3s into iTunes. Only one link today: Jessie “The Body” Ventura” gives advice to Arnold Schwartzenegger Brief Political Musing: I was against the recall (we have ELECTIONS to do what’s…

11-Aug-2003

Zappa News Alert

Gail Zappa is also running for Governor (Gail is Frank’s widow)

11-Aug-2003

New U-T Blog

The San Diego Union Tribune has yet another new blog: the hungry i: A Weblog dedicated to food, wine and the good life — you can see others here at San Diego U-T Blogs. Go Union Trib! I’ve talked about the U-T blogging since they started.

12-Aug-2003

How to remove fink

I don’t use any of the fink tools. So it’s time to remove them: how to remove fink. this post for OS X geeks only

12-Aug-2003

Celeb Moblogging In The Wild.

Andy of waxy.org updated his Celebrity Moblogging posting with an active one: http://celebs.buzznet.com/cat/ — which currently has Randy Newman as the main phone-shot-pic. And interestingly, Andy had commented on my post about Newman some time back. A wee bit of circuitous synchronicity for a Tuesday evening.

12-Aug-2003

FOAF

I added a FOAF file to the root of my webserver. Though I’ve not added any friends. Can FOAF even work? Can machine-based semantic web ever hope to approximate the nuances of human relationships, which change over time with subtlety? Anyway, more about FOAF here.

14-Aug-2003

Web Design Meetup San Diego: TONIGHT

Web Design Meetup, 108 members, 25 affirmative RSVPs. Nice. Should be awesome.

14-Aug-2003

@ The Meetup

So my laptop is out of commission, so this is a post from one of the public and anonymous terminals at The Living Room. Meetup in half an hour. I hope the turnout is as good as the RVSP page seems to indicate. Good stuff happening. Moving this week and through the end of the…

15-Aug-2003

Whew

What a day yesterday! Too much to say. Gotta work. What a week! Onwardness!

18-Aug-2003

New New News

None yet. Stay tuned. Packing is happening in earnest. Today I started the new job officially. Just fine. Emotionally I’m good, though I wish more things were settled. I’m ready to be 100% in the new new place. But the change is going to be incremental. Sometimes that’s how life is. Stay tuned. There’s lots…

20-Aug-2003

Tired

Moving phase 1 is complete. Leah’s stuff is at the new place. Phase 2 will be my stuff, happening through the end of the month. Broadband access will be at the new place on Monday. More to do than I can possibly say. Leah is doing GREAT.

20-Aug-2003

Glad to be of service

QA fellow by the name of Thierry leaves this comment: used this page to solve my problem (exactly the content of the page – I’m using PHP). The most relevant page I found. Thanks !!!! I love little notes like that! You’re welcome Thierry!

21-Aug-2003

Now THAT is putting your life in your blog

Ben Hammersley’s going to Afghanistan to blog about it. Gutsy. Crazy. Awesome.

22-Aug-2003

Truck

Gotten. Here I go.

23-Aug-2003

Moving Continues.

There is internet here. I’m stunned. I am incredibly achy though. Even more moving tomorrow. Everything I have is in boxes. My pal John helped out a lot today. Leah’s stuff is all here. Leah made pasta tonight. Even though much of what is here is in boxes, it feels homey. I love Leah. This…

24-Aug-2003

Early Start

I’m up. I set up Airport/WiFi/802.11b just now. The technology works. We like it. More moving today. Rock on.

27-Aug-2003

Bruce Sterling Stops Infinite Matrix Blog, Will Start Wired Blog

Bruce Sterling will start blogging for Wired Magazine. Color me intrigued. I supposed Wired should have been blogging years ago though.

27-Aug-2003

Mr. Crawford, We’re So Sorry This Happened

So I was so delighted that Cox had the cable here and working – both TV and cable modem – I thought finally, the cable companies get it right. Well, turns out they’re idiots. In addition to executing MY MONDAY ORDER to transfer service to me and my name for my new place; they executed…

27-Aug-2003

Moving Update

Still not entirely moved out of the old place Love that we have an avocado tree in the back yard Claw-foot tub $1.07 shower curtain Boxes galore Scary crawlspace High ceilings Cool breezes View of San Diego skyline Big kitchen No “designated” parking Working-class neighborhood Shared but good washing machines Killer art room Good fridge…

28-Aug-2003

My New AOL Journal

AOL Journals launches here’s my test journal: http://journals.aol.com/artlung/thoughts/ likes: simple layout rss by default comments enabled (can be disabled) easy to edit very friendly can all be done via the web can have more than one journal love: post via AIM dislike: limited customization lots of AOL branding slightly too long url

29-Aug-2003

A new high? Or a new low?

A mention on la casa de los jergs, eyunta.com.

30-Aug-2003

Update

Leah’s kids are here for the weekend. The new place is surprisingly scalable for having them over. I have more to do at the old place today. The last of the “stuff” to remove, many small boxes, plus cleaning of the kitchen and the bathroom needs to be done. And nails to remove. It’s going…

31-Aug-2003

Move: COMPLETE

The move is done. We have evermore boxes. I am extremely achy, but I feel good to have it done. I still have some services I need to transfer (renter’s insurance, home phone) but things are good. Leah rocks, and her kids are here this labor day weekend. All in all, the whole thing has…

01-Sep-2003

September?

Is it a cliché to ask how we got here so fast?

01-Sep-2003

Zappa, Thursday

Zappa talking, Thursday. I’ll have to record this! (for personal use only silly!) Thanks rudy!

01-Sep-2003

Archeology: Respiratory Therapy & Neighbors

Hello sports fans. The three day weekend is nearly over. L. is taking her kids back up north. I’m here unpacking boxes, making goodwill piles, all the while watching TV stalwarts The West Wing and Law & Order. Unpacking things quite naturally leads one to throw things away. Some things are noteworthy. Some things garner…

02-Sep-2003

And another…

traveling RT gig via Platinum Select Staffing

03-Sep-2003

Snickeringly Funny Phil G Post

I think this explanation of the USA’s two parties current operating methodologies is apt: Democrats = mediocrity; Republicans = lottery ticket. It’s undeniably snarky, but rings true. Myself, I think most politicians of both these parties are dunderheads, and when not dunderheaded, deceptive. Though I tell you, that Howard Dean makes a heckuvan impression. But…

03-Sep-2003

Miva Acquired

Miva is an interesting small company. They’ve got their own server-parsed language, and they build (especially) eCommerce type functionality. It’s not as well known as PHP or ASP, but they’ve done a good job marketing and are still around, several years later (I once interviewed with them for a job as a designer, probably in…

03-Sep-2003

Archaeology – Comic Con Stuff; And More

More stuff going to the trash and filling our landfills while perpetuating our throwaway culture… Comcollect: non-sports card collecting site… I have a few cards. There’s a movie now filming in Prague, Rome, Paris, and Los Angeles called Van Helsing and it features The Wolfman, Dracula, and Frankenstein’s Monster. Sharon George is an artist of…

07-Sep-2003

4 Meetup Photos

Back in August Leah took some photos of the webdesign meetup. I’m doing some hard-drive cleaning, so here are some meetup photos. The next one is this week, on September 11th.

07-Sep-2003

QuixLink

Quixtar Blog linked to my Quixtar Links page. And vice versa.

09-Sep-2003

Some stray updates

Went to a party on Saturday — that was boss. Saw Step Into Liquid — that was moving (I cried!) The house is coming along great We’re going to have a garage sale Saturday We’ve scheduled a housewarming party — choosing the invite list was fun — I know a lot of people, but I…

10-Sep-2003

Blogger Pro no longer for-pay

I guess the revenue model is textads. Blogger Pro features to get rolled into free product, refunds going to go to Blogger Pro users. I’m glad I’ve stuck with Blogger.

11-Sep-2003

Remember

A small useless token of remembrance

11-Sep-2003

For Today

San Diego Web Design Meetup today! My folks got in safe last night, yay! I got rid of many boxes last night — gave them to a friend and his wife who are moving! So fun! Tuesday night, Racquetball class was good. It put me low – I was achey and creaky and fell directly…

12-Sep-2003

New Header

Okay, so I didn’t want to leave up the 9/11 header, so here’s a new one. The meetup tonight was good. I am tired.

13-Sep-2003

Snapshot

This morning: parents to airport at 6am Now playing: Montana by Zappa Need to: pay for racquetball class Must: car insurance Eating: canned corn and Tiger’s Milk Drinking: orange juice Downloading: gentoo linux for PPC Wearing: Zappa t-shirt Doing: blogging and depacking Leah: out doing her stuff Tonight: more depacking with Leah Tomorrow (we hope):…

14-Sep-2003

First Sterling, Then Gibson

First Bruce stopped his main blog, but he’ll return on a Wired blog at some point, now William Gibson has stopped blogging. He says, and he’s been writing for more than two decades, that blogging takes away from novel writing. I know there are other novelists who blog, Neil Gaiman for instance, so it can’t…

14-Sep-2003

Stuff Done: Progress: 2003

Helped a bit with a pal moving. More progress today on the house. Leah created our living room today! Well, the basics were there, but it looks awesome. Didn’t do a yard sale yet. Renter’s insurance and car insurance is in place here now as well. The new vehicle is wonderful and useful. The bedroom…

16-Sep-2003

Now That’s Unexpected

So I had a long talk with my friend Chris last night, and we caught up and talked and talked. He and his wife recently had another child. Young Zachary. I’ve been asked to be a Godparent. I wept and was honored. So how well does an unorthodox lapsed Catholic agnostic do that? I don’t…

16-Sep-2003

San Diego Computer / Web / Geek Events for This Month

SDWUG / Golden Hills Free Web Meeting on Community Wireless [16-Sep-2003] Perl Mongers [16-Sep-2003] SanDCHI’s September Meeting Announcement [17-Sep-2003] Hacking – ACM San Diego [18-Sep-2003] UX SIG meeting at Mitchell [23-Sep-2003] Toorcon [26-28-Sep-2003]

16-Sep-2003

Three word updates

Work not bad Car insurance enabled Racquetball class rewarding Two feet aching Truck driving well College parking sucking Dishes need doing Rearviewmirror fall down okay, cheated there Address changes pending Bills paid today Still in arrears Home office chaos Leah stomach churning New curtains awesome Hot dogs enjoyable This entry over

21-Sep-2003

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Awesome party last night. You really had to be there. Leah and I are blessed with wonderful friends. I’m tired but I’m working, yeah The new place is officially christened. In spoons and beer and the kind of excellent talk you get when people have no agendas and chill out the way human beings can…

22-Sep-2003

These Changes

Something Deeper Than These Changes comes out tuesday. I went to Tower today and they had one in the bins. I won’t quibble that it’s out a day early. I was hoping it would be there. So far I like it very much. But then, I’m a fan. The Statue Song makes me want to…

23-Sep-2003

Aches And A Lame Whine

New blister on 4th toe or right foot. Still undefeated in my racquetball class. Tired but feeling good. I have procured the signature to add the class. This time not in pencil, so when I take it to the Dean’s office they won’t look at me like an idiot when I look offended when they…

24-Sep-2003

The lines that’re stuck in my head

frederick douglass hip-hop king (mind the noose and fare thee well) came to me inside my dream (mind the noose and fare thee well) his advice rang like a bell: (mind the noose and fare the well) mind the noose and fare thee well (mind the noose and fare thee well) … well, love is…

24-Sep-2003

Neal Stephenson’s Quicksilver

And oh yeah, last night Quicksilver came out. And I bought it. And so far I like it. And it weighs a ton. And it’s so dense NS has launched a wiki to let readers annotate and explicate the thing. Welcome to the 21st Century, where concordances happen in real-time.

26-Sep-2003

WebSanDiego.org Press Mention

A little bird (named Lilia Phleger Benjamin) told me… Hey Joe, I’m in the Fall/Winter issue of Entrepreneur Magazine‘s “Be Your Own Boss” edition… page 6, talking about online groups, and she included my mention of WebSanDiego.org! So, that’s pretty cool. Thanks mucho Lilia!

29-Sep-2003

Weekend Unique

Took off early Friday Packed up the truck Drove up north Talking Heads on CD Slowgoing, but good company Made it there in a few hours Picked up kids Met Leah’s parents Hung out till sleep Morning kid’s football game Got there too early Breakfast at Denny’s with Leah’s parents and kids Back to the…

02-Oct-2003

Remind Me…

To tell you about: Filled buses, mousetraps, chocolate, peanut butter, boysenberry shakes, AAA memberships, creditors, hard-boiled eggs, freelance work, blisters, racquetball class, Reg-e, Nisus Writer, Omnigraffle, custom doors, plants fall down go boom, and AdSense. No time to talk now.

02-Oct-2003

Some Bruce

Bruce Sterling: Ten Technologies That Deserve to Die Technologies are habits. And it’s time to shed some bad ones. Re-hab even. I was blown away in the recent (September 2003) Harper’s Index that: Maximum number of miles that Ford’s most fuel-efficient 2003 car can drive on a gallon of gas : 36 Maximum number its…

02-Oct-2003

San Jose

Sassy’s post The Way, about Microsofttm‘s hokiness got me singing San Jose (The Way) (The Frankie Goes To Hollywood version). So of course I had to grab it via iTunes. Totally worth 99 cents. I’ve never done Karaoke. But I bet I could do that song. (Aside: only part of posting this is procrastination).

02-Oct-2003

Mouse.

Leah and I have a mouse in the new place. Tuesday night I was going for a chocolate bar in a basket on the kitchen counter. And I notice there’s about a 1 inch by 1/4 inch chunk out of a corner — with the attendant aluminum foil wrapper also gone. When I say “gone,”…

07-Oct-2003

Election Day + Racquetball

Work today. Also, I need to figure out when I’m going to vote — hey that was easy. I think I can vote before work. Other news: racquetball tonight. Also, the office is much cleaner now. Oh, and I added some Smorg items yesterday: my July 4th walk, further documented in the blog, also, a…

07-Oct-2003

It’s true.

I voted.

08-Oct-2003

Change is the only constant in the universe.

No time to really talk now, but I offer you a diptych of myself in 1988 (directionless and morose) and 1992 (graduating with honors for Respiratory Care from CHS:CHRV). Lesson: Things can always change for the better. This is a lesson that I, and many people, learn continually.

09-Oct-2003

Publish philg

Philip Greenspun is having trouble publishing his latest book: Two publishers have approached us wanting to do a hardcopy version of http://philip.greenspun.com/internet-application-workbook/ (the textbook for 6.171 at MIT). Both have lost interest when we said that we wanted to keep the text online. To a traditional publisher the Web is a place for stuff that…

09-Oct-2003

Recall Numbers Rethought

I keep hearing the word “mandate” bandied about with regards to the Recall election. I don’t like that word. Not everyone agrees with me. Let me tell you why I think what I think. To do so, let’s explore, in a very How To Lie With Statistics way. Statistics and numbers always come with what…

13-Oct-2003

Ye Update

I’m still reading Quicksilver, and enjoying its excursion into 1600 and 1700s history. It’s illuminating and fascinating. I’m still only 150 pages in of the 900-some pages. I’m thinking of it as not cyberpunk, not steampunk, but rather, NaturalPhilosophyPunk. In other news, in a month my divorce from Jennifer will be final. Time passeth.. This…

15-Oct-2003

Word for the day

Tired! But seriously, it’s all good. Won at racquetball class last night. Only one net loss so far. However, I did get hit in the cheek with a ball. And I fell once, though I recovered pretty fast, and I think I really do know how to fall properly. Work proceeds on several fronts in…

15-Oct-2003

Historical Event Of The Day

Man in space from China: Taikonaut! previous blog mention. Red Star, Spring Orbit.

15-Oct-2003

Go Lemur!

The head lemur has a new blog: raving lunacy.

15-Oct-2003

Mmmm, Good Reading

Anyone troubled by questions about why I, or any blogger, posts what they post when they post it — how they decide what is public — how to think about maintaining a public web site of any kind — should check out this piece on Danny O’Brien’s Oblomovka that talks about inherent differences between public…

19-Oct-2003

Munge

1. To imperfectly transform information 2. A comprehensive rewrite of a routine, data structure or the whole program. (source and complete definition at The Jargon File) Lately I’ve been noticing sometimes I, and others, “munge” together related concepts in ways that interfere with understanding the original concepts. Sometimes, one does not even realize that one…

20-Oct-2003

New Header

For those who did not notice, there’s a new header on the blog.

20-Oct-2003

Search Result: Satay

I find it idiotic that the first search result for “satay” is the “Flash Satay” method of including a .swf file. http://www.google.com/search?q=satay

20-Oct-2003

Randomness

Here comes a bucketful of randomness.

20-Oct-2003

From Scots Historian Professor Alexander Tyler, circa 1787, Re: The Fall of the Athenian Republic

“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse (generous gifts) from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy…

20-Oct-2003

Photoblogging and Phototography?

Emese wonders Is photoblogging good for photography? — Emese’s Photoblog has wonderful photos, is local, and is readable. What more could you ask for? bookmark the site now. Excellent pictures on a regular basis.

20-Oct-2003

More local thoughtfulness

Mitch Wagner’s post Blame the mother is thought provoking as well. I was sometimes a latch-key kid, but had something happened to me I can’t see holding my parents responsible for whatever that might have been. Read it, it will make you think.

20-Oct-2003

Glass Houses

Bill McClellan wonders: if Bill Clinton were an addict, how might Rush Limbaugh spin it?

20-Oct-2003

Yup, I’m cute.

Check me out: I believe I’m predicting the Cubs loss in 2003 in that picture. Just kidding, I don’t follow baseball. that’s what Tony Pierce of Busblog does.

20-Oct-2003

Black Panther Party

I am, in fact, excited about Mac OS 10.3: Panther coming out this Friday. I intend to be at some Apple Store, either Fashion Valley or UTC, which is having its GRAND opening. Oh, and iTunes for Windows is great on the home network Leah and I share. On a sadder note, the power cord…

20-Oct-2003

Instant Classic; Bloody Samurai

Incidentally, some several days ago I saw School of Rock, and I laughed so so so hard. Leah and I saw it to “cleanse our palate” after being gored and stimulated to the redline while seeing Kill Bill Volume 1, which was quite a lot to take, and a movie I want to see again,…

21-Oct-2003

Twenty Three Things; Some Links; Some personal

The biological basis for creativity is linked to mental illness mod_bandwidth documentation — simulating bandwidth variations Study finds direct link between misinformation and public misconception (or FoxNews misinforms) Margaret Cho has a blog America owes talk host Rush Limbaugh a debt of gratitude, Libertarians say What is Leet speak? An Evolution of Alphabets! Google AdSense…

22-Oct-2003

Digging the Samurai Groove

The other day I mentioned I dig Samurai, and then a few days later I was reminded of this lyric from Barenaked Ladies, the song, “One Week”: Like Kurasawa I make mad films Okay, I don’t make films But if I did they’d have a Samurai

22-Oct-2003

Suicide

So there’s another pop suicide: Elliot Smith. I’m no fan of suicide, in fact my cousin Eddie’s death by his own hand is heavy marker on my map of life and how to live it. Some words from Stew on the Negro Problem Mailing list: for many of us this terribly sad info will come…

22-Oct-2003

Oh, wait, I have one lesson from that last post

DRUGS SUCK.

22-Oct-2003

And now, the good news

The new Mandy Moore record, Coverage (kids love it when I call CDs “records”) is really wonderful. Great choices on covers. The Elton John, Waterboys and Joan Armatrading covers rock. Heck, almost all of them rock.

23-Oct-2003

art7ung.com?

So the OCR on the new amazon within-book search is not that great. In my tiny quote in the GoLive 5 Bible they’ve read artlung.com as art7ung.com. But still, I do show up in a book, which is nifty. Interesting thoughts on this new service over at backupbrain and nettle.

23-Oct-2003

If I had a sidebar blog, These are what I’d put in it.

Maybe it’s time, like Jason Kottke, Andy Baio, or Anil Dash, to have a sidebar blog. The Philippines is the model for Iraq?, Get settled, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride. Rex Navarette, funny Filipino comedian Feynman at work! What’s wrong with the ‘Left Behind’ books? Making computer generated women even more real Kynn goes…

24-Oct-2003

Wednesday November 5th, Stew in Los Angeles prior to his New York Move

STEW will be performing new songs and old faves in celebration of the latest release “Something Deeper Than These Changes” on WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 5TH 9pm (yes, 9pm) (And that’s 9pm SHARP like cheddar) at CAFE LARGO 432 N. Fairfax Los Angeles between Melrose and Beverly across from Canter’s There will be no STEW shows in…

24-Oct-2003

Night of the Panther

Getting in touch with my inner nerd tonight. Going to Get Panther at the new University Town Center Apple Store tonight. Anyone else going?

24-Oct-2003

I’m in.

Got in the UTC Apple store. Got in line at about 7:35pm. Not shabby. Panther in hand. Dog tags procured. Several hundred people here. Won a bet with the woman in front of me in line that we’d get in the door before 9pm. So I’m ahead a dollar already! New little iBooks look sweet….

25-Oct-2003

Panther

Installed Panther this morning. Under an hour to do the install. My job: click okay a few times, wonder if my old video cards in the G4 would work properly — my XClaim 3D Plus and Rage Orion seem to be working fine. I’m not taking advantage of Quartz Extreme with these old video cards…

25-Oct-2003

Thanks, Mr. Lung

Fun cartoon via Erin: Apparently a character from Shutterbug Follies. Thanks Erin!

26-Oct-2003

Clamshell Down

It is with a heavy heart that I report that my iBook SE “clamshell” — “Revision B” is what they call it here … appears to be irrevocably dead. Mind you, this happened before I tried to install Panther. The patient would not boot up as of last Wednesday. Attempts to boot it would result…

26-Oct-2003

Oh yeah, the fire

I forgot to mention. My entire neighborhood is bathed in amber light, a glow which is the result of half the sky being blotted out by lots of fires to the east and northeast. It’s otherworldly, which only adds to my disorientation from the time change and from staying up late. In better news, my…

26-Oct-2003

More Fire Coverage

I’ve linked some more links over at San Diego Blog on current events. Here are two pictures snatched from Yahoo News and Weather Underground.

27-Oct-2003

Fire Fotos

Well, fire fallout photos in Downtown San Diego, by me. Painting the town brown.

27-Oct-2003

San Diego Bloggers Fallout

So the fallout from the fires continues. I went to work today but most of the city had the day off. Downtown San Diego was eerie. Upside: I could park free anywhere because parking enforcement had the day off. I worked till 1, took lunch, and when I got back there was a memo from…

29-Oct-2003

Fog versus Smoke

Here in downtown San Diego, business appears to be back in business as the courthouses are back on. Leah drove me to the bus and I bussed it in and the activity level is much higher than it was Monday and Tuesday. Looks like a light, and mercifully grey fog has beaten back the smoke!…

31-Oct-2003

In Really Brief!

Since the last update: fires being beaten back. More homes lost. Fires still going. Smoke is largely cleared in downtown. Freedexter corrected me on the issue of the schools being open. San Diego City Schools were/are off all week. Saw Shaolin Soccer last night. It’s absolutely brilliant. BRILLIANTLY funny. I made these for the potluck…

02-Nov-2003

Super-brief and incomplete

Leah and I went to the opening of “The Grove” in South Park, a bookstore and more next to M-Theory — we got there late, but it was kinda neat. The music playing was nice though. Yesterday was racquetball and chilling out mostly, after a hard week. I worked late Halloween, so missed out on…

03-Nov-2003

Whew

That was a full weekend.

03-Nov-2003

2003: 540 posts.