webraw/blog :: uncooked web goodness

Legos are the building blocks of life...or something

"Have you ever noticed that Lego plays a far more important role in the lives of computer people than in the general population? To a one, computer technicians spent huge portions of their youth heavily steeped in Lego and its highly focused, solitude-promoting culture. Lego was their common denominator toy."

- Douglas Coupland in microserfs

I spent huge amounts of my childhood playing with Legos. Legos and GI Joe. I wonder if any studies have been done to support the above quote? It really does seem to be true.

What brings this all to my mind is that my two-year-old son is CRAZY for Legos. He is constantly building airplanes, helicoptors, pirate ships, rockets, etc. They all look pretty much the same to me but to him each is an extremely detailed model of the actual vehicle. He also loves computers so maybe, just maybe he will be the next Steve Wozniac or Linus Torvalds. I would even be ok with the next Kevin Mitnick minus the jail time.
posted by Eric J | 3:22 PM

Spider-Man and Friends
Animated gif of Spider-Man and friends. Link mined from Boing Boing.
posted by Eric J | 12:34 PM

Seven Deadly Sins of Web Design
Repent ye sinners. Repent now and thy Web site shall be saved from eternal damnation. Ye know the transgressions thou hast committed upon the Web and you shall not escape the wrath of the Almighty. Repent and change thy ways before the end cometh.

Among the multitude of transgressions there are Six, nay Seven, that are exceedingly vile and deadly. These are the Seven Deadly Sins of Web Design. Avoid these sins and avoid the Lake of Fire.

1. Designing for Internet Explorer 6 - PC only (or whatever version the latest Microsoft PC browser happens to be).

2. Ignoring that much of the world is still on dial-up and creating a 200+k home page.

3. Neglecting ALT tags.

4. Having JavaScript errors on a page.

5. Any page that has the words "Skip Intro" on it.

6. Scrolling text of any kind. Anywhere. EVER.

7. Contact navigation that links to an e-mail instead of a page describing how to contact. Also included is any link to a PDF, EXE or some other file type without making it clear BEFORE the link is activated.

(Editors' Note: The 7 Deadly Sins are things that actually happen with some regularity on otherwise respectable Web sites. Things like blinking text, poorly used frames, multiple pop-up windows, etc. are obviously abominations of Web design but they don't qualify as SINS because most Web designers instinctively know to avoid such horrors. Secondly, webraw is guilty of at least one of these SINS but we are confessing and repenting.)
posted by Eric J | 12:04 PM

He said WHAT?

"Generally speaking, I view copyrights from two perspectives. Say you have a person who earns $50 a month. Should you expect him or her to pay $250 for software? I don't think it's immoral for that person to illegally copy the software and spend that five months' worth of salary on food. That kind of copyright infringement is morally okay. And it's immoral -- not to mention stupid -- to go after such a 'violator.' When it comes to Linux, who cares if an individual doesn't really follow the GPL if they're using the program for their own purposes? It's when somebody goes in for the quick money -- that's what I find immoral, whether it happens in the United States or Africa. And even then it's a matter of degree."

- Linus Torvalds from his book Just For Fun.

Now that's what I call a refreshing view of copyrights.
posted by Eric J | 8:57 AM

What Would Jesus Blog?

I talk to Jesus pretty much every day. We get along pretty well and everything but in all our discussions I've never heard Him mention exactly what type of car He drives.
Imagine my surprise when recent news reports informed me that a religious-environmental group (talk about a recipe for trouble) is asking the question "What Would Jesus Drive?" Wow, I've never even thought of asking that question. I guess I always imagined Him walking everywhere.

Of course this group is capitalizing on the already successful "What Would Jesus Do?" campaign in which people buy bracelets, bumper stickers, T-shirts, etc. so they can think about what Jesus would do in any given situation.

So now everyone is wondering what Jesus would drive. Well, my guess is the World's Most Fuel Efficient Car but maybe I'm not thinking like a deity. Maybe safety is more important to Jesus than fuel efficiency so then I guess He'd drive a Hummer or something like a Volvo. I honestly don't know and I feel kind of weird asking Him something like that.

However, this campaign has my little mental gears turning. How about a "What Would Jesus ______?" seal of approval campaign? Ok, the Jews have Kosher stuff so why can't the Christians have Jesus approved stuff?

I mean why not have a little sticker or icon that you can slap on everything that qualifies?

WWJDrink? Pepsi maybe?
WWJEat? Possibly SubWay? Or Deli-meats in general.
WWJBlog? Imagine having a Blog officially sponsored by Jesus.

The gears continue to turn but I must go. I've just been informed that I'm going to Hell for this particular blog so I've got to find my official WWJAsbestos Suit.
posted by Eric J | 2:30 AM

I may be a Hero...just maybe.
I think I saved a woman's life last night. Literally.

Our new neighbor has a large pit-bull type dog. Sometimes they chain the dog in the front yard (I have no idea why) and yesterday he broke his chain. This dog was roaming around, looking for trouble and I had the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

I kept watch over the dog from the relative safety of my front porch with appropriate weapons in hand just watched to be sure he didn't roam too far. A while later our other neighbor was walking home from work and sure enough the dog (his name is Kojak) took off at full speed directly for the passerby.

She screamed, he growled, I ran towards them both. He seemed to have every intention of eating this woman but backed off when he saw me running and shouting. He then retreated back to his yard across the street and we moved quickly to the safety of our porches. Much later the police came and issued fines.

I have no way to know whether that animal would have tried to kill my neighbor or not. I have no idea if I saved her life or not. However, she seems to think I did something heroic and maybe I did. I sure don't feel very heroic. However, I'm just glad nobody was hurt.
posted by Eric J | 7:50 AM

Time for a PhotoBlog

webraw now has a digital camera. It's a Nikon CoolPix 4300. Here is the very first digicam blog post. What you see is the webraw HQ workstation with the powerbook and the iMac behind for moral support

posted by Eric J | 9:58 PM

The Familyway

The Family-Way. Little sister works on The Hill. Because she is such a powerful, political force in Congressional politics she gets many perks. Her most recent perk is a brand new Segway. Here's a pic of her scooting around the Capitol building on her new wheels. Alas, I'm not quite so fortunate. I'm afraid I'm going to have to settle for the much cheaper and less glamorous Megway.
posted by Eric J | 3:16 PM

American Pie and more
Children are so adorable. Singing children are even more adorable. Sing it Eugene. Sing.
posted by Eric J | 10:36 AM

I just want some examples...is that too much to ask?
Wired News: Fox Exec Wants Help Ending Piracy - Article about what a Fox exec plans to speak about at the next Comdex.

"People say it's a bunch of fat cats in Hollywood getting what they deserve. Sure, there are a few fat cats, like me," he joked. "But there are thousands and thousands of people involved in the creation of content. Their careers are absolutely being affected."

Fine, but can he supply actual examples of individuals whose careers are affected? Maybe so but I want to see/hear them. In politics they always trot out the poor, marginalized individual to promote such and such a cause so I want the same type of real-life example for this anti-piracy argument.

Is that too much to ask?

posted by Eric J | 12:57 PM

The black meat of the giant, aquatic, Brazilian centipede
Vanilla, as we all know, is a wonderful flavoring. It's most famously used in ice cream.

However, crafty teenagers (are there any other types) have figured out that the 35 percent alcohol content of pure vanilla extract is a fine (and currently kind of legal) alternative to Budweiser.

My question is: Vanilla?!? Whatever happened to the good old standbys like huffing freon, swigging Robitussin or my personal favorite -- smoking banana peels.

I'm not a big fan of vanilla so maybe that's why I just don't "get it." I'm not a big fan of teenagers either. What I'm really a big fan of is "the black meat of the giant, aquatic, Brazilian centipede."
posted by Eric J | 2:35 AM

Make the Switch...(continued)
Spoofs are great. Apple is great. Canada is great. Fed up with America? Make the switch. Thanks booboolina!
posted by Eric J | 12:52 AM

I kid you not
I was briefly tuned into Larry King Live last night (ugh...the horrors of weekend programming on CNN ) and he was interviewing the lovely Halle Berry about her role in the latest Bond film. Larry, in usual fashion, asks really dumb questions like, "is it hard being beautiful?" Amazing. Maybe he asks this because he's so incredibly awful to look at? I dunno.

Her answer stunned me so much that I had to write it down immediately:

"I think it's harder being a black woman than being beautiful."

Hmmmmm. Ya think? But beautiful women have it sooooooooooo hard!
posted by Eric J | 5:59 PM

Heads up Brent Simmons

I have no idea if I've stumbled across something interesting or something that everyone already knows about. Maybe it's a temporary thing and the directory won't be accessible for long? Who knows.

It is interesting to take some time to poke around this directory for a bit. Found this interesting apology from Jeff Bezos regarding some sort of mix-up over patents or something (?). Anyway, the domain is definitely registered to UserLand folks so I guess it's really their stuff. I had a similar experience with a CNN dev site back in August.

Anyway, I've sent them a heads up e-mail just in case.
posted by Eric J | 12:56 PM

Welcome to the "super-Blogger blog"
Recently webraw was mentioned in some sort of academic analysis of blogging. Interesting stuff. Apparently school is one of the most blogged about topics. Not sure how scientific this study really is but it had some nice things to say about webraw. We always like nice things.

"As far as aesthetic developments are concerned I refer you to my favourite super-Blogger blog (and you'll know what I mean after clicking the link) webraw."
- Adam

posted by Eric J | 11:35 AM

The Homeless Guy Links

If you've become a recent supporter of Kevin, The Homeless Guy, then you may want to display a simple graphic on your site to show your support. I've created a couple of these graphics for anyone to download and use. Just visit The Homeless Guy Links page and pick your favorite color.

If you're unfamiliar with Kevin he's become quite a celebrity. He's been featured in USA Today, Salon.com and some Brazillian magazine among others. He lives in Nashville and he really is homeless. Blogs are amazing.
posted by Eric J | 3:48 PM

Gap Kids/Baby Gap (and Websites?)
I almost "got into it" with the lady at Baby Gap yesterday. I had my two-year-old son with me window shopping for a decent winter coat and we entered the Gap Kids store after visiting Gymboree. Gap Kids didn't have a coat his size so we wandered next door to Baby Gap. We got a little confused and ended up trying on a girl's coat. OOPS.

The helpful GapLady said, "That's a girl's coat."

"I thought the Gap put boys clothes on one side of the store and girls on the other side," I said.

"Well I don't know about all that," said miss Gappy.

"Every Gap I've ever been in has boys/mens clothes on one side and girls/womens on the other," I explained.

"Well we have boys at the front of the store and girls in the middle and mixed in the back," she blurted, trying to get me to shut-up.

"Forget it" I said. "We'll go to the boys section.

Humans are creatures of habit. This is true in shopping, driving, entertainment, Web surfing, etc. I shouldn't have to figure out the layout of a store every time I walk in. If I do then that store should plaster very visible signage describing what is where (Baby Gap had no signs). Websites should do the same. If I get confused visiting a Website then I'm less likely to be impressed with it an may seek alternatives. I'll probably go back to the Baby Gap but I have been known to avoid stores simply because of the way they are laid out. I refuse to go into a Marshals or similar discounted, marked-down stores simply because they are a usability nightmare.
posted by Eric J | 7:44 AM

Holy Nose-Jobs Batman!
Saturday's are great days to dip into the memepool goodie bag and pull out something truly wonderful. The HisTory of Michael Jackson's face is one of those goodies too amazing to pass up.

I have always liked Michael Jackson in a distant Howard Hughes sort of manner. He's our less engaging but infinitely more freaky, modern-day Howard Hughes.
posted by Eric J | 7:07 AM

Tired, Tired, Tired.
In the latest issue of WIRED (the magazine, not the Website) a "rants + raves" letter responds to the piece they did on Lawrence Lessig before he argued the repeal of the Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act in front of the Supreme Court.

In the letter the guy mentions that when copyright laws are thrown out or ignored then the primary force that drives our economy is eliminated. PUH-LEASE. Then he ends by stating, "Are you willing to work for free?"

I'm so tired, tired, tired of people using this lazy method of demagoguery to protest file sharing. It's too easy to demagogue an issue and I'm frankly getting royally pissed off. Here's why:

Name one person in the WORLD who is out of work because of file sharing. Names please. Exactly.

Ok, not the best argument but I'm just getting warmed up. The logic of their argument is based upon a theoretical extrapolation that if the technology exists for a few then it can exist for the masses. And that if it exists for the masses then not only will the masses use this technology but it will be used so much that eventually only one copy of any CD will ever be purchased (or stolen) to be distributed globally via the Internet's Peer-to-Peer technology. BUNK. (I must look up that word later).

However, the technology that allows individuals to pirate/steal/share copyrighted material has existed for 20-30 years and this has never put anyone out of work. Why now? Well, they argue because now it's really, really easy to copy. OK. It's always been getting easier. Remember those old reel-to-reel tape recorders? Remember later the dual-cassette decks? Copy machines. VCRs. CD burners. etc.

Technology evolves. In 15 years maybe we'll be able to copy everything we hear onto mini ear-phones or something (I'm no futurist for sure). My point is that nobody has said, "you know, I won't create such and such because it is going to be copied instead of bought" for many years. And, frankly, nobody is saying that now. Name one artist, author or coder who has not created because of fear of having material copied. The names may exist but why doesn't the anti-sharing lobby use the names as poster-people for the cause. Jimmy the coder who didn't release the PhotoShop upgrade because he's afraid of having the material stolen.

What I'm really trying to say is before you ask, "Are you willing to work for free?" answer the question, "Is anyone being asked to work for free?" If you are honest, history and common sense say that the answer is NO.
posted by Eric J | 10:47 PM

The Heart of Design
Is there such a thing as the "perfect" design? In other words, can an object reach the ultimate state of design evolution in which any further modifications are superfluous and actually detract from its value instead of increasing the overall value of the object? The paper clip, mousetrap, golden spiral and geodesic dome are all arguably examples of "pefect" design.

If a sense of "perfect" design can and does exist for some objects can it also be argued that it could potentially exist for all objects? Maybe so. While some things may be in a state of absolute perfection can others be in a state of evolving perfection? As human needs change and evolve can the parameters that define a "perfect" design also change as well?

For instance, could a Website exist that meets specific needs and demands in such a way as to be "perfect?" Is there an optimum level of modification and a balance between content and structure that could potentially be met in order to produce a "perfect" Website? Additionally, as technology advances and as human needs change can the qualifications for this state of "perfection" evolve as well so that it exists as a state of dynamic instead of static design purity?

Or are there two different types of design "perfection?" The absolute, measurable kind and the subjective, emotional kind. The subjective, emotional design would be something like the Sydney Opera House while the objective, measurable kind would be the Egyptian Pyramids. Both could be arguably defined as "perfect" designs but for very different reasons. Maybe Websites exist primarily as the subjective, emotional type of design and if so is there a way to reach the heart of the design? Or maybe Websites aren't the objects themselves but they are the tools and materials used to create the objects and the objects are the combination of these elements. As the wood, springs and structure come together to form the mousetrap so too might the Website, server, connection, etc. make up the "online shopping experience" or the "learning center."

Just some things to consider on a wonderful autum day.
posted by Eric J | 1:41 PM

A Message to You!
A message to you, gentle readers. Webraw's 15 minutes (actually about 40 days) of fame are over. We have cycled off the famed Blogger.com Blogs of Note listing. It was a wild ride and to all the loyal webraw readers a hearty THANK YOU is in order. I've read about the withdrawals associated with cycling off of the BON list but fear not, I am prepared. The content will remain as well crafted and informative (or crappy depending upon your perspective) as ever.

Webraw has been replaced by Tireli.com which seems to be a pretty cool site actually. Something about Mobile Lifestyles.

Not Resting
While many would consider this the perfect opportunity for webraw to "take a break" or "chill out" for a bit I say "Neah!" Or is it Ney? Or Nay? Or Neigh. Oh what the hell. Our new mission at webraw is to get SLASHDOTTED!

Anyway, just wanted to say thanks to all you folks for kindly dropping in.
posted by Eric J | 10:50 PM

Further Proof that THEY Just Don't "Get It"
The movie industry has joined together to offer Movielink, the latest effort by these corporate types to cash in on the Napster-style demand for movies (and music).

Movielink offers individual titles for $1.99 to $4.99. The compressed files average about 500 megabytes in size and take about an hour to download with a high-speed DSL or cable modem connection.
The films can be watched using media players from RealNetworks and Microsoft. The full-screen quality is roughly equivalent to that of a VHS tape, but suffers as the image is enlarged. Viewers can pause, fast forward and rewind the films.
The movies can be viewed an unlimited number of times during a 24-hour period. The movies delete themselves after the one-day license expires, and will sit on the computer hard drive for 30 days if not watched.

So, let me make sure I understand this. To have the luxury of watching "any" movie I want within about an hour of when I want to watch it I must pay around $2-$5 and I can only watch it for 24 hours on my computer? An argument could be made that Pay-Per-View movies offer less flexibility because the mostly just play once and cost about the same and you can't watch any movie at any time but it's not quite analogous. I have always recorded any Pay-Per-View movie I watched onto a VHS tape so that I could watch it again and again and again. That's why I don't mind paying the money, I'm "buying" an entire movie.

So with Movielink I guess the money is really for the "on demand" aspect of the service but it just seems like a lot of money for something that is completely gone after a day of viewing. Regardless of the hacks that will evolve to defeat the protection software this project still seems like a bad idea mainly because it isn't what I want. I want to be able to watch any movie I want, at any time, on my TELEVISION. Imagine that. In fact, I'd be willing to pay for this service (a flat monthly fee please) and not have recording capabilities if I could watch it on my tv. In my mind, if I have to view a movie on my computer I better have some sort of trade-off such as having a copy to watch repeatedly.

However, all of this is only part of the equation. The other major part of the equation is that Movielink only works on Windows. Got a Mac? Too bad. Linux? I don't think so. Maybe Wine will run it but still, Windows only? This is 5 major Hollywood studios getting together to provide a service and it only works on WINDOWS?

Thank you for your interest in Movielink. We want you to take part in the powerful Internet movie rental experience that Movielink delivers; however, you currently do not meet our minimum system requirements. You will need to adjust the following: You Need Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP

These folks don't get it and I'm not sure they ever will. Do I have an alternative? Yeah, I do actually. Pull a cable and hope for the best. That's right. Offer a flat rate of $30 a month and offer every movie, ever made for download as a file that can be copied and burned onto a DVD and just let the market evolve. I know it's crazy but I have a gut feeling that people will respond positively to this meaning the studios won't lose as much money to piracy as they think. Maybe I'm naive but I just don't think most families are going to spend the time pirating movies and would just find it easier to go to the same site each weekend and download whatever fits their fancy.

I call this the lazy factor. Sure, I can still search around and download any song I want and then burn it onto a CD but I just don't want to spend the time fooling with that. I'll spend $13 at Amazon and just get the freaking CD. Unless it's just that ONE SONG I must have RIGHT NOW I'm not going to fool with P2P (never thought I'd be saying that). I think the same sentiment will hold true with movies. I'm probably wrong but who knows? They thought similar things about the VCR and Tape Recorder.

Why can't these guys try something risky just once?
posted by Eric J | 9:45 AM

The White Horse in a Blizzard
ANTIGIRL.THEWEBISBORING™. Be sure to look at the source code.

Is this art? I dunno but I kinda like its simple pinkness.
posted by Eric J | 2:17 AM

Serious Constricting-path
That's Ernest Hemingway for anyone not familiar with The Game (Ambiguous literary reference).

I've been noticing that when I'm reading a book (not newspapers or magazines, but a good, meaty book) my mind becomes sharp and finely tuned. Thoughts come screaming into my brain and ideas that were once muddled and confusing slowly reach a point of clarity and understanding. To some extent this effect is amplified by adding books to the scenario. I've been reading as many as 4 books at once and my mental state achieved a level of awareness that almost scared me.

I've obviously noticed that the inverse is true. When I rely on periodicals and the like for my reading my mind becomes dull and sluggish. Thoughts get all stuck together and mixed up. This is curious to me. Why is it that books seem to have such a profound effect while other material has an almost opposite effect?

I'm currently reading my first Philip K. Dick novel called Galactic Pot-Healer. It's interesting I guess.
posted by Eric J | 2:09 AM

A Culture of Copying
Zeropaid.com seems to have undergone a redesign of sorts and they now have a BellSouth DSL ad on their homepage. Also the multiple pop-up ads are gone. Any site that has more than one pop-up ad has a "second-rate" feel to it regardless of who's running it or its content.

Conflicts
Anyway, what is interesting to me is the conflicted nature of businesses who are directly or indirectly related to music and music "sharing." For instance, the fact that BellSouth DSL makes p2p file sharing much easier and faster than a dial-up connection is not lost on Zeropaid visitors. Obviously BellSouth is trying to appeal to the file sharing folks who frequent Zeropaid. So this is a very large corporation indirectly encouraging file sharing.

Another example is the mp3 player manufacturers. They are legally making a device that indirectly encourages file sharing. Also, the CD Burners can be viewed in the same way.

Less conflicting but just as contributory to the culture of copying is the many journalists, opinion columnists, technology pundits, talking heads, etc. who all wink and nod when talking about file sharing. Most seem to say that it's fine to do and even fun to do without actually coming out and saying, "You should share music."

Lastly there is the alternatives. The music industry does not have any alternatives to file sharing...yet. Hopefully they will soon. But until then there is an entire culture of copying that they must fight in order to maintain their old business model. They are going to lose that fight.
posted by Eric J | 10:19 AM

Ok Kids, check this out
Found this link at the lab and have been playing around with it lately and am thoroughly impressed. I don't quite understand it but it's pretty fun to listen to and try to figure out.
posted by Eric J | 7:26 AM

Library Shmibrary
Just got back from the library. The new Public Library in Memphis is pretty cool. Went there for some peace and quiet while I worked on a project with my PowerBook. They have computers there but not for stuff like what I'm doing. Mainly for surfing the Web and playing games from what I could observe.

Anyway, the library is not quiet any more. There was an infant about 30 feet away that kept gurgling the entire 3 hours I was there. Gurgling is not crying, not laughing and not talking...just making those weird noises that infants tend to make. Only this infant was going for some sort of world record because she/he/it just wouldn't stop. On and on and on. I got up twice to be sure the kid wasn't drowning in drool or something. Besides the infant there were also the kids. Kids used to come to library to do projects or study or look up crap but now they come to play computer games, chat, run around and whatever else kids do BESIDES work. I didn't see a single kid actually appearing productive. And the place was full of the lil brats. Oh well, better the library than the streets I guess.

My big complaint is that they don't have any easily accessible plugs for my PowerBook. I had to run on battery juice the whole time which luckily is a decent amount of time on the PowerBook. My second complaint is that there is no wireless access. The perfect place for a Wi-Fi is the public library. But alas, no Wi-Fi stations in sight.

The real issue I'm having today is finding a digital camera to buy. I don't need anything fancy but I want to be able to get really close shots (1-2 inches) and something rechargeable and something that hooks up to my PowerBook. That's about it. So I'm leaning towards the Nikon CoolPix 4300 but it's $500 and that seems like a lot for a non-professional camera. Oh well. I'm done now.
posted by Eric J | 4:21 PM

Amazon's got clothes
It's complete. I've said that Amazon should sell clothes for a long time and now they are finally doing it. The next thing they need to sell is food.
posted by Eric J | 11:51 AM

Planning for your Website
A new article is out about planning for your Website. The focus is on maintenance and how to work in the beginning to make site maintenance easier later. Read it and enjoy.
posted by Eric J | 12:19 AM

The Joys of Vinyl and Jazz
I just got a shipment of vinyl Jazz records from my wonderful grandmother. She's a Jazz enthusiast in the truest sense of the word. She's written a couple of out of print books on Jazz, many articles, knew and partied with some of the greats (Nat Cole, Fats Waller, Milt Buckner, The Duke, etc.) and had at one time something like 10,000 Jazz lps. Anyway, she's giving me some of them as a present and I'm ecstatic. There is something magical and bold about listening to good Jazz on a good turntable. I'm not an audiophile but I enjoy the quiet crackle of a record. It feels warm somehow. In no way can the feel and sound of a good Jazz record be traded over the Internet.

Here's a list of what I am now adding to my collection:

1. Nat Cole meets the Master Saxes (Lester Young, Dexter Gordon and Illinois Jacquet)
2. Dizzy Gillespie
3. Arnett Cobb (he's a new name to me)
4. Stan Getz with Lionel Hampton, Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown and Herb Ellis.
5. The Montreux Collection with tons of folks. Some of them are Count Basie, Roy Eldridge, Ella Fitzgerald, Toots Thielemans and Clark Terry.
6. Herb Alpert (another new one)
7. Fats Waller
8. Lester Young (my favorite tenor sax) and Charlie Christian
9. Recording of Finian's Rainbow. A broadway show. Looks good.
10. Frank Sinatra's Swingin' Sessions !!! (it actually has the three exlamation marks on the album).
11. Jonah Jones.

I'm not a Jazz student so I don't know all that much about it. I know some names and some styles and I know what I like and what I don't like. You can take your modern Jazz and put it somewhere unpleasant, just give me some good, classic Jazz. I do like some Coltrane and Davis but only in specific moods. Also, while my son was born we had Lester Young playing on the cd player in the OR. Needless to say, he likes Jazz too.
posted by Eric J | 1:20 PM

Who is reading your blog?
The answer: Probably no one. Say WHAT?

Ok, stay with me here and I’ll explain. You ever seen that movie Being John Malkovich? Well in that film some people basically discover a way to sort of crawl inside of John Malkovich and actually BE him. If you haven’t seen it then it’s a bit complicated to explain but trust me, that’s the basic thrust of the film.

Well most blogs enable the visitor to sort of crawl inside of the blogger. You are getting to know the blogger in a much more intimate and revealing way than is possible in any other medium. Reading the diary or journal of someone is nothing compared to the almost real time exchange provided by a good blog. So generally speaking people aren't so much reading your blog as they are "being" you in a way.

This is why I think blogging is often misunderstood by the traditional media. William Safire, the Online Journalism Review and The LA Times all have what I consider to be the wrong take on the success of blogging. The consensus seems to be that blogs are the evolution of the gossip party line or that they are a harvesting of someone’s research of existing news sources or even like a "digital campfire." All of these assesments are wrong and I’ve known that for some time but I never knew exactly how to explain it till now (if this can pass as an explanation).

There is some real journalism going on in the realm of blogs and there is some definitely valuable information being exchanged but I think the true value of a blog is getting this feeling of being inside of the blogger. Getting to know them in a way that is othewise impossible. It's just so much more than gossip or a diary or a community.

Ok, maybe this is a bit grandiose and I'm simply hoping that blogs are somehow much more than what most people in the media seem to perceive them as and maybe blogs are just a global party line (you do know what a party line is right?) but I really don't think so. I think that something else is going on here and the fact that there is not overall agreement on why blogs are successful seems to indicate that nobody has quite figured out the real reason blogs have become the phenomenon that they are.

Blogs are a way to "be" John Malkovich. By the way, does John Malkovich have a blog? I couldn't find one. Hmmmm...now there is an idea.

Thanks to Jason for giving me the Malkovich/Blog metaphor idea.
posted by Eric J | 10:48 AM

BREAKING NEWS: Winona Ryder is God
When did this Winona Ryder become such a big freaking deal? I turn on the news the day after one of the most historic mid-term elections in history and all I see on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and CNBC is that the Winona Ryder Jury Reaches Verdict. Who Cares? Tell me the verdict sure. But wall to wall coverage? Give me a break. Thank God for the Internet. I had to go on the Web to find out who won the Minnesota Senate race (sorry Mondale).
posted by Eric J | 1:27 PM

Presentation with CSS vs. Tables (Simple version)
A re-enactment of an actual digital conversation. The names have been changed because it's fun to do that.

Emilio: Hey, I want to have some content in a box of a specific width and have that box centered in my browser window. How do I do this with CSS? Margins don't work. Here's a tabled example.

Donald: Well, that's easy. Use this style:

body {
margin: 30px 0;
background-color: #f3f3f3;
text-align: center;
}

.content {
border: 2px solid #000;
background-color: #fff;
text-align: left;
margin: 0 auto;
width: 500px;
}

Emilio: Hmmm, why a text-align AND an auto for margin? Is this a hack?

Larry: Yes, it's a hack. ...the auto value for horizontal margins centers in browsers that get it right, and the text-align is for IE5 and IE6 in backwards-compatible mode (although IE6 in standards mode will incorrectly center block-level elements anyway).

Emilio: What happened to Donald?

Larry: He's out getting coffee.

Emilio: So your saying the above code replaces this:

<body bgcolor="#999999"><table width="400" border="2"
align="center" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0"
bordercolor="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <tr>
<td> <div align="center"> </div> </td> </tr>
</table>

How is that better? I mean the code is pretty much the same.

Larry: Well sonny, this CSS can be used many, many times on the same site by simply calling in these three lines of code:

<style type="text/css" media="all">@import "main.css";</style>

<body>

<div class="content">

Emilio: Wow. So it will look something like this.

Larry: And the best part is that you can change the width or alignment or whatever, almost instantly, over the entire site.

Emilio: Thanks Larry. Tell Donald thanks as well.

-- Thanks to Tom Gilder, CSS Discuss and Big John --

posted by Eric J | 1:03 PM

A trip down memory lane...
I've gotten quite a bit of feedback about this site from people who seem to really like the design. There's even Ben Maudlin who REALLY likes the design. He likes it so much he's been featured on Pirated-Sites. Or maybe he's planning some great satire of webraw.com? Who knows. I can place a pretty safe bet that he didn't pay for that $40 image he's got plastered on his homepage. I may be sending an email to GettyImages soon. Not sure. I'm not big on ratting people out. But I digress.

The point is that in spite of some definite design flaws (the site is 1000 pixels wide) it's received a generally positive response. The design of webraw was influenced and inspired by many sites but the largest influence was Curt Cloninger's book, Fresh Styles for Web Designers. I read this book after I had just completed the original design of webraw but hadn't yet "released" it to the world. After reading the book I was inspired to do better and work harder and this current webraw design is what ultimately resulted.

So, now you know the webraw that IS but I'd like to provide the opportunity for you to know the WebRaw that almost was. Yipes. Sounds like the title of one of those old 'B' horror movies.
posted by Eric J | 2:46 AM

Why didn't anyone think of this sooner?
Verbatim is releasing a "Digital Vinyl" CD-R. They look like little 45s. Found the link from Boing Boing in my brand new, super cool NetNewsWire Lite news reader.
posted by Eric J | 6:21 PM

Truly Portable?
Just noticed that I had 6 hits yesterday by AvantGo. I have no idea if these hits were actual people or some AvantGo-bot (Remember the GoBots cartoon? They were Transformers rip-off, or maybe the Transformers were a more successful GoBot rip-off in the way that Windows was a more successful Apple rip-off. There is also the Mighty Orbots. This was one of my favorite cartoons. I even made a tape recording of the theme song and would listen to it all day long. "Go, Mighty Orbots, defenders of the Universe." Wait, maybe that wasn't the song. Now I can't totally trust my memory anymore. It's at the point where I get several memories jumbled together and create new memories. Fun. How's that for a Dave Barry style digression from the original topic?).

So, obviously AvantGo is hitting my site now which is extremely cool to think about. This makes me want to double my efforts to convert this site to standards compliant xhtml (just like Wired).
posted by Eric J | 9:16 AM

Global Blogging
Just realizing the truly global nature of the Web and more specifically, Blogging. I know one language, English. I can read a Spanish language newspaper very slowly but I can't speak Spanish at all. The only country I've ever been to is Mexico, if Tijuana counts. However, through the Web I've made friends in Singapore, Iran, France, UK, Finland, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Luxemburg, New Zealand and Japan to name a few. A few of these people are what I'd call close friends.

Because I live in America I often forget that the Web is global and not solely for U.S. citizens. In designing and developing I have almost never considered the sensitivities, cultural differences and world view that exists outside of the States. Just realizing that I should probably start thinking about my work in more global terms. I doubt that there is a need to create a foreign language version of any work I do but designing globally is something to definitely consider. Ok, enough for today. Happy Nov. 1.
posted by Eric J | 5:57 PM