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Sunday Memories - Otter Pops

Summer is here, and it's time we take a break from the heat and stupidity to enjoy an icy cold snack. For this week's Sunday Memory, I want to pay homage to my favorite frozen treat: Otter Pops.

Although less common and not as big as the mass-marketed Fla-vor-ice, Otter Pops were by far more fun to eat. Each of their Six Zippy Flavors was represented by a different aquatic mammal character, including Sir Isaac Lime, Little Orphan Orange, Poncho Punch, and my personal favorite Alexander the Grape. They always hit the spot after a long day riding my bike around the neighborhood.

When I first started thinking about Otter Pops again, I feared maybe they were a regional thing that only us lucky kids in the midwest got to enjoy, but I was pleased to find out they are a national phenomenon. There are fan pages with pictures, character bios, and even fun Otter Shot recipes. There's even a page dedicated to all frozen treats. Otter Pops have recently made a comeback and are now touring worldwide. That's it, I'm heading off to the grocery store right now.
posted by Matt Wood | 12:12 AM

Talk To Me and Bitch Slap the RIAA
The RIAA claims that music swapping results in lost revenues. While I doubt anyone would argue that online music swapping hasn't played some part in the recent decline of music sales, I think that other, unnoticed factors may be substantially contributing to the music slump. Factors such as...

Talk Radio

Think about it. What phenomenon has dynamically altered the balance of power in American media within the last 10 years more than anything since (possibly) the invention of the television? Talk Radio. Right wing, left wing, chicken wing, whatever you're flavor, talk radio is big in America. And getting bigger.

Whether you like political banter, call-in shows, sports talk (my favorite), NPR, BBC radio (second favorite), shock jocks or 24 hour news, talk radio has your poison. And you know what the dirty little secret of talk radio is? They don't play music on talk radio. That's right. But wait, there's one more secret. If you're listening to music-free talk radio, that means you AIN'T listening to music on a tape or CD (duh). And that's one more reason to NOT buy that Dave Matthews CD (as if you needed any other reason besides the fact that they suck to the curb).

As a result of my recent outrage at the RIAA I've done a little self evaluation. I wanted to truly understand why I wasn't buying CDs like I did 5-10 years ago (when I bought at least 2 CDs a week for several years). Was it because I am downloading music from the Net? No, not really. I haven't downloaded more than maybe 10 (unowned) songs in the past year. So then obviously there was another reason I have only bought 3 or 4 CDs since 2001. What I discovered is that I just don't listen to music much anymore and I have a feeling that I'm not alone.

I believe that if all music downloading suddenly (and magically) ended tomorrow, the RIAA would not notice a significant increase in music sales. In fact, I really believe that the declining sales will continue though maybe not as rapidly. My suspicion is that there is a growing trend among adult Americans to move away from music. As bizarre as that may sound I honestly believe it's true. I don't have any numbers to back up my suspicions, only personal observations and anecdotes. I just think that in our culture there are many trends and we, as a society, are moving away from the music obsessed mentality that gripped us for a few decades.

So, join the crowd. Tune your radio dial to AM for a change or slide it down the FM dial to the upper 80s or low 90s (that's usually where NPR and BBC radio lives). Leave your Case Logic CD folder on the shelf. Call up a talk show and add some intelligent comments to your favorite debate. Show the RIAA that they just don't matter anymore. Show them that if they want total control over every song then they can have it and shove it up their ass because we ain't playing dat game beeyatch. We do Talk Radio now Bay-Bee! Booyah.
posted by Eric J | 10:50 PM

Happy Anniversary!
Today marks the first anniversary of this blog. It's been a crazy year and I've thoroughly enjoyed the blogging experience. I've made some wonderful friends as a result of blogging and appreciate all the regular readers (and the irregular ones too!) of this blog. Since I've been blogging for one year I can finally say:

On this day in 2002...
My very first post was about the RIAA and copying music. The more things change, the more they stay the same. I had just finished reading The Future of Ideas and was blogging about a conversation I had with my younger sister about burning CDs.

It can happen even in your own family.

My sister believes that burning music onto a cd is wrong. Ethically. Morally. Spiritually wrong.

I have an idea how she came to believe such nonsense but the very notion that someone in my family could become so indoctrinated with false information sends chills up my cd-burning spine. She has succumbed to the propaganda churned out by the RIAA, MPAA and others that paints any form of fair use as an evil, illegal act.

I don't burn CDs anymore, not for music anyway. Just too much hassle for my busy schedule. I still hold the same beliefs, just don't put them into practice.

Anyway, happy anniversary! Wonder what next year will be like?
posted by Eric J | 9:44 AM

Thanks a bunch RIAA
Tonight I sit in stunned silence, unable to write. Earlier I spent almost an hour trying to put into words the thoughts and feelings that have been swirling around since I read the news about the RIAA's decision to go after the little guy. Armed with new "legal" powers, the RIAA has declared war on music swappers and I'm outraged.

I know it's silly. I should be able to take it all in stride and formulate my thoughts into some sort of reasonable, well worded commentary but I can't. Every time I think I know what I want to say I just get mad about something else. I read quotes like this:

The injection of personal responsibility is a sensible approach. It's like a speeding ticket. Everybody doesn't get one, but a few people do, and a lot of people slow down.

Only there has never been a speeding ticket in American history for $150,000. That's how much the RIAA wants to fine for each song. I guarantee, the first state that started issuing $150,000 speeding tickets would see rioting in the streets.

Then there is the fact that the RIAA can simply request information about me from my ISP and they are forced to give it to them. No warrant. No traditional judge sanctioned subpoena. Just suspicion that I'm trading files and, with the help of the (evil) DMCA, the RIAA is looking at all sorts of personal information. That chills me. That enrages me. That makes me spitting mad.

I'm really not myself. I really just need to take a break and put this in perspective. It's probably not as bad as I imagine. Everything will probably be alright. But I can't help it. I just feel so pessimistic. It's like everything I read in The Future of Ideas is coming true. All the bad, scary stuff anyway. I really don't think the Internet will last. Not like it is now. How can it remain free and open in a world where we so willingly throw away our freedoms and allow the government and corporations to decimate our liberties?

Maybe I just need sleep. If you can guess what's special about tomorrow you'll get some sort of free goodie. Not sure what but I promise it will be nice. Ok, I'm out. Until tomorrow... unless the world ends.
posted by Eric J | 10:10 PM

To Tab or Not To Tab
Apple Moving Away From Traditional Tabs? is an interesting discussion from the UI and usability gurus at 37signals. Personally, I prefer tabs. The new centered buttons are nice but what exactly are they improving? Nothing from what I can see.
posted by Eric J | 12:31 PM

The New Blogger and Dotcomments
Notice: I did not delete any comments from this site. Blogger did... indirectly. The New Blogger Pro has increased the Blog Item Number (permalink) to 18 digits from the previous 8 or 9. This chokes the PHP script powering the comments on this site. If you use Dotcomments then you may be interested in knowing about this fix.

All this information comes from the wonderfully helpful Stephen Cavers of endofline.ca.

In the JavaScript comments link, put single quotes around the blog item
number tag. Here's an example from my template: <a href="javascript:viewComments('<$BlogItemNumber$>')"><? echo commentCount('<$BlogItemNumber$>'); ?></a>

An unfortunate side effect of this fix is that all comments posted since the Blogger conversion are no longer attached to the correct post, meaning they are essentially lost unless I manually repost them. I may get around to doing that soon but if I can't, don't feel neglected if you posted a comment that is now missing. It's nothing personal.

Oh, and I will refrain from another anti-Blogger tirade. I must confess, the new improvements (except for screwing up my comments) are welcomed and actually make Blogger a better tool.
posted by Eric J | 9:29 PM

New Favorite Pastime
I just love finding when the Times gets their facts wrong.
posted by Eric J | 11:08 PM

Is RSS right for you?
Control over presentation has constantly frustrated Web designers. Unlike our print cousins, we can rarely guarantee consistent display of content for every reader. This is one of the most frustrating and exciting aspects of Web design. Rarely will two people see the exact same thing when viewing a Web page. Applications like Flash have provided some level of control over display but varying monitor resolutions, connection speeds, processor power and color settings often produce very different results even within the tightly controlled Flash environment.

There are primarily two schools of thought about content presentation. One school believes that total control is paramount and utilizes every tool available to provide a very consistent representation of a designer's vision. The other school believes that accessibility is most important and creates sites that embrace the myriad differences in browsers, OSes, monitors, etc. By sacrificing some design control, they build sites that seek to include everyone. However, most Web design is a mixture of both schools of thought creating visually stunning sites that provide relatively consistent presentation among the majority of visitors.

Now let's look at blogs and RSS. What is RSS? To keep it simple let's just say that RSS (also XML and RDF) is the content of a site without the design. RSS allows easy syndication and also makes a site accessible via news aggregators (or news readers). The caveat is that when a site is syndicated or fed into an aggregator, the content is presented without any specific design. Visually, it's almost like reading an email, so most visual elements used on the originating site are stripped out and discarded. But does anyone care? The answer is yes.

The people who seem to care most are those from the first school of thought regarding Web design. They view their content and presentation as inseparable and bristle at the thought of having that presentation stripped from the content. There is nothing wrong with this view and there are many good reasons why content presentations should be controlled but the trade off is functionality. And functionality is where the Web is headed. The Web is slowly moving towards completely separating content from presentation. XHTML is a step in that direction and as the W3C continues to push for the Semantic Web, Web designers (like myself) will put more effort into keeping content and presentation separate.

Now, I'm not begrudging anyone's decision to limit the way a blog or site is displayed. I've made similar decisions and fully understand why such limitations can be appropriate. However, in the not-to-distant future, it won't matter if we decide to publish RSS or not because all sites will be coded in such a way that no separate feed will be necessary, it will all be structured in a way to allow a variety of display options... that is unless Flash takes over. But that's another issue altogether.
posted by Eric J | 3:50 PM

Thoughts on Newsreaders and other stuff
Today I started testing NewzCrawler, a web news reader & browser for Windows. So far I've only used NetNewsWire for Mac OS X (which I really like) but I'm really impressed by Newz Crawler. It's got a lot of features that I probably won't ever use but it's not too confusing like some feature laden applications. I like that it allows full html browsing within the reader and Blogger users will be happy to know it has a "Blog This" button (which I used to write this post).

Newsreaders simplify the lives of info-junkies like me but for some reason I don't use them nearly as much as originally thought I would. I've had friends relate the same experience. I'm not sure why it's so hard to add newsreaders to my daily routine of e-mail checking and Web browsing. Maybe it's as simple as developing the habit or maybe it's some subconscious UI issue. I'm more inclined to believe it's UI related because I have no problem visiting a Web page like Slashdot that lists a string of similar links and briefs but doing the same thing in a newsreader takes a conscious effort.

Part of my thinking on this stems from my belief that all Web text should be viewable at once on a single page. Hmmmm... that doesn't quite sound right. What I mean is that if I'm presenting something text driven, like a blog or news item, that text should not be restricted within something like a scrolling CSS box or frames or anything that contains the text within specific parameters. Essentially, except in rare cases where design is equal to content, text should flow down a page and be easily scannable. This is a spatial issue. I need to be able to scan the beginning and scan the end quickly and quite often Flashed, Framed or CSS-crazy sites restrict this ability.

An even better way of explaining is that text on the screen should be as close to the functionality of print as possible. If I'm reading a story in a paper I can look at the headline, scan down to the middle and then read the end (possibly on a jump page). I am immediately able to understand the estimated length of the content, get a feel for what it's about (often helped by images and breakout quotes) then if I read the story, I can come back later and know where a specific quote or sentence lives within the physical space of that story. When that text is somehow restricted (on the Web) this same functionality is eliminated.

Now I realize that the Web is enormously different than print, but I also understand that most of these differences actually impede reading and few improve upon the process. So, it's my duty (and the duty of every good designer, writer, whatever) to structure that text in a way to reduce the impact of those inevitable Web impediments. And yes, I've gone off on a bit of a tangent but to bring it back, I think this fact of the Web is why newsreaders are not as intuitive as Web browsing. The text that actually lives within a relatively (very relatively) uncontained space, is forced into a restricted space within the newsreader. Room for channels, thread headers, content display, etc. must restrict the space used for the actual content. Also, the very functionality of newsreaders demand this restriction but that demand also requires increased dedication to overcome what I perceive as an unavoidable UI issue.

So, I trudge along, constantly vowing to use newsreaders only discovering on days like today, that I don't really use them as much as I probably should. Maybe someone will build a better newsreader and the world will beat a path to his door. Or maybe I'm the only one who feels that newsreaders are cumbersome? It wouldn't be the first time I was alone in my opinions.

Oh, and I saw the Hulk movie this weekend. My review: It's long. Too long. Imagine the Dance/Sex scene from Matrix Reloaded extended to about 45 minutes and you'll understand what about half of the Hulk is like. It's not bad. The CGI is wonderfully better than I expected but it's just really slow and long and the ending kind of sucks. That's all I got.
posted by Eric J | 8:36 PM

You'll hear from us soon
A couple of months ago I noticed a problem with how Google listed on of my other Web sites. Instead of displaying the title of the page the listing somehow showed the directory path like this: Index of/directory. The link took visitors to the existing site but what Google displayed did not give any indication of what my site was about so traffic dropped precipitously.

I wrote an email to Google asking them to fix this problem and got this wonderful little response:

>Thank you for writing to Google.
>We read all of the email we receive and try to send personal responses
>to each message.
>This note is just to let you know that we've received your letter,
>and you'll hear from us soon. We appreciate your taking the time to
>contact us.
>Thank you for using Google.
>Regards,
>The Google Team

I was hopeful when I received the above response. "Great, Google is different than most corporations. They actually answer email."

Well, it's been a couple of months since that response and still no word from Google. I've got a little customer service tip for Google and anyone else who'll listen. Don't lie to the customers. If you aren't going to answer emails then don't send messages leading customers to believe that you will answer the emails. I'd rather have my email deleted upon arrival than get a response teasing me with promises of personal attention. Lying is much worse than ignoring email. Incidentally, my listing went from a page 3 Google result to a page 6 result. Coincidence? Probably. But still, it makes me wonder... hmmmmm....
posted by Eric J | 11:19 AM

Glaser Doughnuts
Bloggers Rate the Most Influential Blogs is a column that demonstrates why I read Mark Glaser. He's done a pretty good job of showing "which Weblogs are influencing the media the most." Yeah, I know, you're thinking "I could have done this just from memory" and you're probably right. But you didn't. Mark did. And it's some good stuff.

It's no surprise that the list is topped by people like Dave Winer, Andrew Sullivan, Glenn Reynolds, Joshua Micah Marshall and Matt Drudge (with an asterisk because, well, we're not sure if he's a blogger or not). It's also interesting to see the Top Ten lists of the Influential bloggers themselves. It's funny that Dave Winer doesn't list himself but Andrew Sullivan puts himself at the top of the list... above Instapundit. Ha. That's what I'd like to see, a death match between Glenn Reynolds and Andrew Sullivan. In the ring, no holds barred. Let's get ready to Rumble!
posted by Eric J | 4:43 PM

Geek Pr0n
What is it about those big, clunky computer books that is so seductive? Can someone explain to me why anytime I decide I want to learn about some new technology, I can't walk out of B&N or leave Amazon without buying two or three 700-page manuals? To this day, I've yet to find one that was any more informative than documentation I find online. The only time I've ever used one consistently is when I needed a very specific one for a work project or class. The rest of the time they serve as paperweights for all the how-to's and knowledge base articles I printed out that really answered my questions.

Is it just a status thing? I have all these imposing tomes on my desk with titles written strictly in acronyms, so I must know my shit. Or do I really believe that I'll have the stamina to work through 34 chapters on the ins and outs of J2EE database programming? Personally, I think it's those sexy photos of the authors they put on the cover, but that's just me.
posted by Matt Wood | 10:10 AM

Road Runner Blues
My Cable Internet Service is down. Since yesterday it will go down for about 30 minutes and come up for maybe 5 or 10 minutes. I'm not happy. I called to complain and they say it's my modem. So I go to get a new modem tomorrow. It's times like this I realize how important the Internet is to my life. I mean it's really important. I miss my Internet. Well, the Cable's about to go out again so keep those fingers crossed.
posted by Eric J | 10:16 PM

Hello Infone!
I've been using Infone for about a week and really like it. What is Infone? Well, it's this amped up phone service that cheaply improves upon the traditional 411 service we all know and love. I've only used it with my cell phone and it's come in handy on a couple of occasions.

But it's much more than a directory service. You can call to make reservations for dinner, check on appointments (it syncs up with Outlook) and use it as a long distance service. Wow. The thing I like best about Infone is the Web site. It has this refreshingly irreverent attitude that many corporations shy away from. Not so for Infone.

Q: What is that animal in your commercial?
A: That would be a capybara, the world's largest rodent (not counting our lawyer). The capybara, native to South America, is about two feet tall and can reach about 145 pounds...

Q: What is a 10-10 number?
A: Who cares?

You get the idea. If you haven't seen the commercials you should check them out... somehow... I can't seem to find any on the Web so I guess just sit and watch your television for a while till one comes on. Works for me.
posted by Eric J | 7:14 PM

Saved From Obscurity: Vigilantes of Love

The Songs You've Never Heard Project continues with this latest contribution from Jason Killingsworth. The song Skin is from obscure band Vigilantes of Love and Jason does an excellent job explaining why you should sample this tune.

"Skin" is ultimately a song about trusting in the choices you make, in your art, in the validity of your life. How do you respond after investing your whole life into something, only to be dismissed in an instant, rejected? Or, even worse, ignored? If the Vigilantes' music were less obscure, enjoyed a wider audience or perhaps greater financial return, this song might never have been written. Mallonee seems to confront his own fear of failure within these verses, contributing to the intensely personal nature of his performance. He assures the listener (and reminds himself) that there's a certain point where you simply do what you love, regardless of how it's received, even if that means waiting around for the backlash.

Good stuff. Anyway, read Jason's entire review and download the song. It's free so what have you got to lose? Also, if you know of some killer song that needs to be saved from the clutches of obscurity then send an email to obscurity@webraw.com.
posted by Eric J | 9:52 PM

ScooterMan
I saw ScooterMan on Comedy Central's Insomniac last night and loved the idea. Basically you drive your car somewhere, get really drunk, call ScooterMan and a scooter guy motors to your location and drives YOUR car home (with you drunk in the car and the scooter folded up in the trunk - aka boot).

It's genius. This reminds me of an idea I had several years ago of a booze and tobacco delivery service. I don't think it's an original idea and I'm sure that it's legally impossible, but I've always thought it would be cool to have a service that delivered booze and smokes instead of pizza. Perfect for those late night parties at home when the booze runs dry, everyone is bumming clove cigarettes from the raver chic and nobody is sober enough to drive to the 24 hour MiniMart for supplies. Solution: Just call up Booze & Smokes Delivery Service. 20% gratuity included.
posted by Eric J | 1:53 AM

Sunday Memories: Blue Thunder vs. Airwolf
Airwolf

Television shows about futuristic machines were common during the early 1980s. Hits like Knight Rider, Small Wonder, Max Headroom and Automan all featured some sort of machine or computer as the central character. Each show developed its own unique method of using the technological "character" (some more successful than others) as a primary plot device every week. However, there were two shows that were basically identical and inevitably served as fuel for numerous playground arguments: Airwolf and Blue Thunder.

Both shows featured tricked out renegade helicopters. Airwolf featured Ernest Borgnine and possibly the best character name ever, Stringfellow Hawk (how many kids are named Stringfellow now?). Blue Thunder featured Dana Carvey (yes, the Church Lady), Dick Butkus and Bubba Smith. Airwolf sat inside some giant natural chimney in the desert and Blue Thunder had the ultra-cool "live" button (we had endless arguments about why the trigger for the guns said "live" on it). Airwolf was sleek, smooth and futuristic while Blue Thunder had that "Blade Runner-esque" quality.

All childhood debates ultimately end up being about who would win in a fight and the Airwolf/Blue Thunder debate was no exception. I really can't remember if we ever came to any sort of consensus but I do remember a separation of the debaters. Those who like Airwolf (I was one of them) ended up liking shows like The X-Files and Twin Peaks while those kids that favored Blue Thunder liked The A-Team and MacGyver.

I saw an ad for the new Freddy vs. Jason movie and I couldn't help but wish for a similar showdown between Airwolf and Blue Thunder. It would probably suck but I'd still spend the $7.50 to see it.
posted by Eric J | 3:16 PM

Back
Kevin Barbieux (The Homeless Guy) is blogging again. Doesn't say why he took a month off but glad to have him back. Blog on brotha'.
posted by Eric J | 7:17 PM

Pop Quiz with Mr. Popdex (and MetaPop)
Shanti Braford is a 23-year-old programmer, database geek, blogger and much, much more. He's the creator of Popdex, the wildly popular news and blog index, as well as the founder of MetaPop, a community Web log. He decided to take some time away from his busy schedule and chat with webraw about his projects, blogs, the Web and a bit more.

Read the interview or else.
posted by Eric J | 6:42 AM

Hope for Wireless
I have a web-enabled cell phone, a Handspring Treo 300 to be exact. Since it has a large color screen, using it to browse the web seemed like a more attractive prospect than on the tiny monochrome screens of most phones, so I paid for the wireless web service. I had always treated this functionality as a novelty; I'd use it to check baseball scores or the weather forecast just because I could. I never really saw it as a very useful tool until now.

I sold something in the Amazon Marketplace this week, and I received the buyer's confirmation and shipping address at my Yahoo email account. Today I went to the post office to ship the package, and realized that I had stupidly forgotten to write down the address. So instead of walking three blocks back to my office, I whipped out the Treo and looked it up while I stood in line. Mission accomplished, package sent, we're all happy. The wireless web has actually gotten past the point of cool gadgetry and has made its way into genuine utility for me. I'll never be the same.
posted by Matt Wood | 12:56 PM

More than meets the eye
Shape-shifting 1980's 'Transformer' robots seek film deal

I will go see this movie.
posted by Eric J | 10:21 AM

Released too late?
QuarkXpress 6 works in OS X. Everyone who did any publishing a few years ago did so using QuarkXpress. It was practically a law. Quark ruled the industry. For a while the only "competition" was Adobe but their PageMaker software was inferior to Quark. Then Adobe released InDesign and things started changing. InDesign worked well and provided a bit of competition to the Mighty Quark. Yet, InDesign was still just an "alternative" much like many of the "alternative" browsers. They are fun but still only represent a small share of the market.

And then came OS X. Adobe was quick (ok, not quick enough) to build applications for OS X. Sure, they took their sweet time on some applications but nothing compared to the sluggishness of Quark. Quark flaunted the industry by refusing to create an OS X compatible application. Publishing houses were switching to OS X but had to run OS 9 to use Quark... but not InDesign. InDesign worked fine in OS X, thank you very much.

I don't have any numbers but anecdotally I've heard that many publications have switched to InDesign because Quark took so long to make the switch. To put this in some sort of perspective, it would be like making Office XP work only on Windows 98. Not the best comparison but close enough. Another thing is that Apple (who swore they were making OS X only boxes after 2003) continued to build OS 9 boxes just for the Quark crowd. Ridiculous.

So now QuarkXpress 6 is out and it works in OS X. Yippee. I don't use Quark much anymore so it won't really impact my life. I haven't read a single review or commentary on the new Quark so I have nothing to gauge the success of the newest version but my guess is that it's Quark's last effort to keep from self-destructing. There's got to be something wrong with a company that refuses to listen to it's customers and uses it's market dominance to force other companies to play by their rules instead of making their own, damn Bill Gates... oh wait. I was talking about Quark wasn't I? Damn anonymous Quark CEO.
posted by Eric J | 7:37 PM

Publication barriers
Dave Winer makes an obvious observation about publication and how Weblogs fit into the ever decreasing cost of publishing:

In the 70s, to run a publication you needed a million-dollar printing plant, or you needed to lease time on one, to print and distribute your publication. In the 80s, with the advent of laser printers, GUIs and desktop publishing software, the cost dropped to $100,000. So more people could publish. In the 90s, publishing technology took off in a new way, all-electronic, and the cost dropped to a few thousand dollars. Enter weblogs, and the cost drops virtually to hundreds of dollars, maybe even tens.

What I would add to this is that as the cost decreases the skill level required to participate in publication also decreases. While this may be an equally obvious observation I believe that the required skill level is almost more significant than the cost reduction. I've mentioned this before but free home page tools were all the rage in the late '90s but those did not result in a Weblog style glut of online publishing mostly because they still required a certain level of skill to produce, design, maintain and post to them. The cost was virtually the same as Weblogs but the skill level required was somewhat higher.

And while on the subject of blogs, it just occurred to me that one reason many journalists might fear Weblogs has less to do with competition or "horizontal" knowledge and more to do with the "de-mystification" of their trade. Maybe it's all part of the same stew but I think of it as being similar to that IT guy at the office who just "knows" how to fix the e-mail or set up a new user account. What he actually does is really simple and probably only a small part of his job but he refuses to "teach" anyone else to do his "job" because he wants to be needed. He likes having the knowledge and having people call him to do some simple task. Then when some geek on the 4th floor figures out that what he does is really simple, well the IT guy starts huffing and puffing and saying stuff like, "well, there's this thing here that you're doing wrong" and "you forgot to unload the frapulator first" and on and on. He basically belittles the 4th floor geek by pointing out some obscure technical crap that was done wrong but didn't really affect the overall result.

In this same way, I think many journalists fear that when Joe Public starts publishing "content" and realizes that reporting news isn't all that complicated, the awe and mystery surrounding the profession will be removed and the journalist won't feel needed. And deep down, most journalists just want to feel needed.
posted by Eric J | 1:40 PM

Around the World with Jen Boxer
My favorite photoblogger, Jen Boxer, is back from her trip around the world and she's set up a part of her site to showcase her adventures. I recommend checking it out.

Warning: If you're not a globetrotter (not talking about the basketball team) viewing this site may result in an anxious, itchy feeling to start some extreme travelling.
posted by Eric J | 11:12 AM

Triple X Church dot Com
Found x x x c h u r c h . c o m several months ago and was impressed by the Flash design and Web integration (expertly combining Flash and html) as well as the innovative way it tackles a sometimes controversial issue. The stated mission of the site:

XXXchurch exists to bring awareness, openness, accountability and recovery to the church, society and individuals in the issues of pornography and to begin to provide solutions through non-judgmental and creative means. XXXchurch is here to make you think, react and to decide where you stand on the issues of porn. We're not here to sling mud, but to shove the envelope and try and do some good.

Agree or disagree, these guys are definitely deviating from the traditional Fundamentalist Christian Stereotype (Jerry Fallwell, Pat Robertson, Billy Graham, etc.). "We refuse to have this be your typical Christian crap website with crosses and bibles all over the place and communicating things that most in the world can't relate to. Just the truth communicated in a no-nonsense way."

No doubt, this edgy and irreverent attitude has resulted in a fair amount of criticism. Browse through the hate mail to read a sampling of what the offended have to say about "Christian porn."

Anyway, whatever your beliefs, this is a compelling site for both the design and the manner that a controversial topic is handled within a community not known for its open-mindedness.
posted by Eric J | 7:16 PM

My Mac favors the right

I've noticed this odd problem with my audio output settings in Mac OS X. Since version 10.2.5 (now running 2.6) I've had my Sound Output settings mysteriously shift to emphasize the right speaker and partially mute the left speaker. This has happened three times now. First time I almost trashed my Radio Shack amplifier for a newer model thinking that it had a short circuit or something (the amplifier powers my Infinity bookshelf speakers that then connects to my laptop for groovy sounds). It just happened again. Has anyone else had this problem? Can't figure out what's triggering this shift. Maybe it's those mischievous Mac gremlins I've heard about. Or maybe my Mac is making some sort of subtle, metaphorical political statement.

Clarification Update: I should point out the the graphic seems to show that the Mac is favoring the left but in fact, when the slider is moved towards the left, it is the left speaker that gets quieter and not the right. So, move towards the left and the right gets louder. Got it? Me neither.
posted by Eric J | 3:48 PM

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men
Monday morning. Sitting in my boxers, sipping Bold java, Tony Kornheiser yapping on the radio and sleep still tugging little tears from the corners of my eyes with each residual yawn.

Nope. Didn't switch this blog to Movable Type.

Yep. Still hate Blogger but sometimes analog life has this nasty habit of interfering with the plans of digital life.

Sunday Memories?
How bout Monday Memories. Today's contribution to the ongoing collection of Sunday Memories may be 24 hours late but still as poignant as ever.

Metal Kids - Summer of 1984. We arrived at my aunt's mobile home in the middle of the night. My four pajama clad cousins bolted outside to greet us as we unloaded our gear from the road-weary Chevy pickup.

Greetings. Hugs. Kisses. Handshakes. Corny jokes (have you heard the one about the 3-legged pig?). The smell of cigarette smoke and pine trees. Family. Lugging overloaded suitcases through narrow halls, we dispersed to our assigned rooms. I was to bunk with my two older cousins, Billy and Danny.

My luggage in tow, I scrambled into their dimly lit room and began unpacking my pajamas. A light switched on. I glanced around and there, staring down at me from the wall, was the image of a long haired man drinking blood from a human skull. Behind me. An image of a decaying, yet animated corpse. To the right. A group of outlaws, covered in blood, were holding guitars and drumsticks. To the left. A cauldron filled with smoke and a goat head was being stirred by some red eyed creature. My sheltered, 11-year-old mind was slipping into shock. Had I walked into some sort of Devil's lair? What the hell was going on?

I knew these posters were images from "popular" Metal Bands but I was deeply disturbed nonetheless. Black Sabbath. Judas Priest. Alice Cooper. Iron Maiden. Slayer. The records and tapes stacked in a corner of the room, next to the stereo. These bands were evil right? Listening to their songs (forwards or backwards) caused suicides, devil worship and animal sacrifices right? But my cousins weren't devil worshippers. My cousins were still the same, goofy kids I climbed trees with just a couple of years ago. My little mind was swirling.

The following morning we ventured out into the North Carolina forrest and scaled some pine trees. In the daylight, 30 feet above the ground, the "devil posters" seemed less ominous. My cousins were just normal kids. Nothing mysterious or evil about them. Everything would be just fine. Maybe the "devil music" didn't really destroy souls like my Sunday School teacher claimed. Maybe it was just music after all. It wasn't long before I was jamming to "Jump" and learning to play "Iron Man" on Billy's guitar. However, I still refused to look at the "bloody skull" poster and kept my back to it the rest of our visit.
posted by Eric J | 11:29 AM

What the Hell?
Sitting here watching the NBA Finals (I'm asking myself why too) and look up to see neo-Hippy Folk Pop Singer Jewel glammed out in short, short shorts and the midriff baring uniform of Pop Divas everywhere. What the hell did I miss? I've never been into Jewel but wasn't this the blue jeans wearing chic that sang such Folk Pop hits as "Who Will Save Your Soul" and "Standing Still?" I dunno. Maybe she's always had the Mariah Carey rip-off look (read slut) but it's just weird seeing her this way. It would be like seeing Natalie Merchant in a Britney Spears outfit singing some amped-up bubble gum pop diddy. Or Dave Matthews in a baggy hip-hop outfit trying to rap. Anyway, I'm switching the channel to Meet the Press rebroadcast. At least Tim Russert never showed up to work in short shorts and a halter top.
posted by Eric J | 9:09 PM

Hail To the Thief
> So, tell me, why do you like RADIOHEAD so much?
- Well, basically this explains my many reasons.
> No doubt.
posted by Eric J | 1:50 PM

End of Habboing

Habbo Hotel Furni Contest is over and the winner is Kieran Eves (Habbo name HerMajesty...). There were many contestants but several neglected to follow the rules correctly. Of those who did follow the rules, Kieran came out on top with this little poem undoubtedly inspired by the theme song to Ghostbusters.

Theres a scammer
In the neighbourhood,
Who ya gonna call?

A HOBBA!

Its something strange,
And it don't look good,
Who ya gonna call?

A HOBBA!

I aint afraid of no scammer
he might be like a monkey
I aint afraid of no scammer
i just call a hobbba

Seeing scams
In front of your head
Who you gonna call?

A HOBBA!

Idiotic scammer
His brain must be made from lead
Who you gonna call?

A HOBBA!

I aint afraid of no scammer
I aint afraid of no scammer
I aint afraid of no scammer

Theres a scammer
In the neighbourhood,
Who ya gonna call?

A HOBBA!

Its something strange,
And it don't look good,
Who ya gonna call?

A HOBBA!

I aint afraid of no scammer
I aint afraid of no scammer
I aint afraid of no scammer

Seeing scams
In front of your head
Who you gonna call?

A HOBBA!

Idiotic scammer
His brain must be made from lead
Who you gonna call?

A HOBBA!

I aint afraid of no scammer
I aint afraid of no scammer
I aint afraid of no scammer

Who ya gonna call? A HOBBA!
Who ya gonna call? A HOBBA!
Who ya gonna call? A HOBBA!

I aint afraid of no scammer

Ok, I must make clear that the contest was to find the best of those submitted and this one narrowly beat out the competition. At the risk of offending the contest participants I think I can safely say that no Robert Frost will emerge from the pack.

Anyway, the contest was fun. Got some really "interesting" responses and became an unofficial "authority" on Habbo lore. Now I retire from the fascinating world of Habbos and hopefully Kieran will make use of all my furniture.
posted by Eric J | 5:49 PM

A List Apart Back!
A List Apart is back with an interview of Anil Dash. Look for the next issue of ALA sometime next year.
posted by Eric J | 12:38 PM

Sammy Sosa says, "Al Quaida corked my bat!"
In response to continued media criticism, corked bat king Sammy Sosa issued a statement Thursday evening accusing Al Qaeda of corking his infamous bat.

Sosa's lawyer, reading from a prepared statement during a last minute press conference, claimed that "Al Qaeda operatives tampered with (the bat) to strike terror in the hearts of baseball fans everywhere."

"I did not cork my bat," Sosa's statement declared. "I feel that the Department of Homeland Security has failed to protect me, failed to protect the game of baseball and failed to protect the United States of America from the evil Al Qaeda."

The statement went on to claim that some "suspicious characters of Middle Eastern appearance" were seen snooping around the dugout prior to the game. When asked why the incident was not reported to authorities Sosa's lawyer started sneezing uncontrollably and left the room.

The FBI is rumored to be investigating the surveillance tape that recorded dugout activities prior to the game.
posted by Eric J | 9:50 PM

Dirty Little Secrets
The dirty little secret of blogging is that everyone who blogs is addicted to stats. For one reason or another every blogger watches his or her stats. Maybe it's hourly, daily, weekly or monthly. We all do it. Those that say they don't care about stats are the same people who claim they've never masturbated. We all do it for different reasons, this much is true. Some need to feel loved, others rate their blog status by who's linking to them and others just like to find cool sites by trolling referrer logs. There are also the often humorous and disturbing search results which never fail to fascinate.

Yet, as much as we bloggers like stats I'm here to testify that not all stats tools are created equal. Each has its own idiosyncracies. I've tested a few and I've finally found one I really, really like. It's called RE_INVIGORATE and it is awesome. I've been using it since mid-March and love it. The features include real time ping alerts, referrer logs, time zone logs and much more. However, the coolest thing in my book is that it's free, transparent and contains no ads. Yippee. Gotta love that.

So, now you know my little secret. Go check it out. What the hell are you waiting for you stats obsessed blogger fiend!
posted by Eric J | 6:29 PM

'The RIAA cheered the ruling...'
I somehow missed this story (from CNET) yesterday in the midst of Martha Stewart, Sammy Sosa and the Congressional grilling of the FCC. The story is the final conclusion of an RIAA effort to force Verizon (an ISP) to disclose the identities of P2P file sharers. The "chilling effects" factor of this story is that the RIAA does not need a "judge's blessing" to subpoena this information.

What does this mean? Well, practically speaking it means that the RIAA (or MPAA) can ask your ISP for records of your Internet activity without needing to file a lawsuit or other bothersome legal actions. The precedent set here is obviously not good for consumers. I'm not even sure it's good for copyright holders but that's another debate.
posted by Eric J | 9:01 AM

Gotta Have My Juice
I just dropped $227.24 at the Apple Store for a new PowerBook battery and an extra Power Adapter. Ouch. I don't know how long these batteries are supposed to last but mine lasted about 13 months and then quit holding a charge. I could recharge it in 20 minutes and that was about how long a full charge would last. So now I have a new battery and new mobility. Oh, and did I mention I hate Blogger.
posted by Eric J | 9:02 PM

Blogger Hater
Dammit, I hate blogger. I will transfer this entire blog to Movable Type by Sunday. That's a promise. Bite me Blogger.
posted by Eric J | 10:11 AM

Safari Bug?
I've noticed that Safari has trouble displaying the text of some pages. Is this a bug or something wrong with my settings? It seems like the text is the same color as the page background which makes it unreadable unless selected. Here's an example page.
posted by Eric J | 9:47 AM

Will the RIAA sue me for ripping my CDs?
If I understand this story the RIAA is suing Morpheus for essentially ripping a bunch of CDs they bought in preparation for a Web radio station that was never launched.

Record labels allege in the suit that in preparing to launch the radio service, Streamcast bought thousands of CDs with thousands of songs and then transferred the music onto a digital database on computer hard drives and other memory devices without the permission of the copyright owners.

Since when does anyone (business or otherwise) need permission to transfer music onto hard drives? Did I miss something? Headline Prediction: RIAA files suit against several consumers for freely transferring actual CDs to individuals without permission -- Sub Headline: Consumer claims "It was a birthday present for my sister".
posted by Eric J | 9:26 AM

iTunes Morass Cleared Up
Some people are baffled about the stir created by the recent iTunes upgrade. It's really not so baffling. If anyone can clear up the iTunes 4.0.1 morass it's me.

Here's the problem. Apple released iTunes 4 with the capability to share music over the Internet. People liked this capability. People used it. Some used it "illegally." Apple decided to remove the capability in its iTunes upgrade and now many people are mad (including me).

That's what happened. No matter how you slice it that's exactly what happened. Now, let's crack this baby open and look inside. Here's why people are mad.

1. No matter what anyone says the ability to stream music from your computer at home and listen to it on your computer at work is a cool feature. This feature made iTunes much more valuable to those (like me) who have Macs at home and work. Apple's decision to disable/remove/destroy this feature has decreased the value of iTunes for me and many others.

2. Apple (and others) claims that a few iTunes users were abusing this feature and to avoid legal battles with the RIAA they decided to strip out the feature. There are two problems with this: a.) Why punish the many for the crimes of the few? b.) If Apple (or whoever) knew individuals were "illegally" trading music why didn't they tag team with the RIAA and go after the criminals. Surely the RIAA wouldn't sue Apple if the "Big Fruit" provided a list of abusers for the RIAA lawyers.

So, in a nutshell people are mad because Apple removed a feature that they liked. Plain and simple. Instead of punishing the abusers Apple punished everyone. I understand that Apple has every right to remove the feature but we Mac lovers also have a right to get a little pissed at One Infinite Loop.

Isn't MORASS a great word?
posted by Eric J | 12:09 AM

Man this stuff gets confusing
So the FCC has relaxed the media ownership rules. What does this mean for the future of media in the U.S.? Many believe it will lead to merger mania, a further consolidation of the media MegaCorps and bad news for intelligent consumers. I have a less gloomy view of the FCC action.

I believe in the Free Market. I trust that consumer demand is a powerful force that has historically worked to balance the need for industry consolidation while providing various and diverse products and services. Examples like the auto industry, computer hardware manufacturers and food production demonstrate that some amount of consolidation can benefit all by lowering costs, increasing availability and improving the the product.

In fact, monopolies are rare in American and usually (but not always) are appropriately checked by the government. This does not mean that I am happy about the relaxation of ownership restrictions. I fear MegaCorps because they are impersonal and generally care more about the bottom line than their employees or customers. Also the bureaucracy that is inevitable in MegaCorps often prohibits them from adjusting to changes in the market as quickly as they should (RIAA and the music industry for example). Yet in spite of this fear I realize that MegaCorps enable us to do things that are not possible without them. They are a necessary "evil." So while I trust the market I'm also wary of the FCC action. We'll see what happens.

Local Communities
However, the biggest complaint about the ruling is that small, local media could be completely and irrevocably altered. It is now possible for essentially all of the media in a local market (newspapers, radio and television) to be owned by one MegaCorp and this is NOT beneficial. And that is the biggest crack in the plan. Allowing what would be a monopoly in a local market is wrong. Very wrong. Wrong because media are the voice of reason used to keep government and others in check and who is there to keep the media in check if there is no media competition?

I have long thought that we should dramatically alter the way the FCC operates and delegate much of its power from a central body to the local communities. Instead of having some committee in Washington deciding what is best for Jonesboro, Ark., let the citizens of Jonesboro decide for themselves. Allow the FCC to set overall standards to prevent problems with broadcast signals but leave the actual rule making in the hands of the communities.

An example in practice is that of community zoning. Many communities don't want giant retail outlets like Wal-Mart so they set zoning standards that prevents Wal-Mart from dominating the market. Other communities love Wal-Mart and gladly welcome the $4.99 fishing rods. Similarly, if a community wants to allow Fox to dominate the local media then so be it. Yet if they decide that diversity is important then they have the option to mandate such diversity.

And so it's these two views that have me so conflicted. While I believe in the power of consumers I also understand the ability of MegaCorps to devastate local communities. I can understand how this ruling could be beneficial while a part of me is scared to death. To sum it all up, I'm torn. There is no simple answer and I think it's that fact, more than anything, that has frustrated me about this debate. It's too easy to say MegaCorps bad, FCC bad, diverse ownership good (or the opposite) and the go along your merry way. What is hard is trying to understand the market and balance the need for change with the need to allow diversity within our most precious of rights: the freedom of speech. I want some easy issues to wrestle with please. Something like the iTunes 4 debate.
posted by Eric J | 11:42 PM

Tales of the Blog Addicted
Last week I took a break from reading blogs (except this one of course). The time away allowed me to step back from the blogging community and take a fresh look at what blogging means to me. Beyond my initial observations I recognized a certain complacency with my personal blog reading habits. Where I once followed links and randomly surfed new and exciting blogs I now found myself reading the same list of blog favorites day after day.

This complacency is really just a fact of life. We fall into routines and get comfortable with the things we know best. It takes greater and greater effort to try something new and this also applies to my blog reading habits.

So, to keep my blog reading fresh I've developed a sort of blog rotation schedule. It may be overkill (I have a certain propensity for overdoing things) but I think it will help keep me reading fresh ideas, opinions, witticisms and whatever else blogs have to offer.

The rotation goes something like this:

Made a list of all my blog favorites, my daily reads (around 25-35)

Assigned a certain day for groups of 4 or 5 of those favorites

Threw those favorites into a folder (Mon, Tues, Wed, etc.) on my Safari bookmarks bar

Plan to add at least 5 new blogs to each day of the week

Increase use of NetNewsWire

Use weblogs.com and also links on popular blogs to follow for possible new and interesting blog reads

Get a life

Like I said, I have a tendency to overdo things and this may just end up being a giant waste of time. I just feel that it's important to force myself to actively find fresh content to consume (blog or otherwise). Inevitably I'll have to quit reading some of the old stuff (there are only so many hours in a day) but that's probably not such a bad thing. I have this bad habit of going to the same blogs 4 and 5 times a day just to see if anything new has been added. Now I can just read some new blog instead.

God I need therapy.
posted by Eric J | 3:30 PM

Finding Nemo: The Movie Review

As of late, this blog has become a hotbed of "children's" movie reviews. After the less than brilliant review of Daddy Day Care we now take a look at what is currently America's favorite movie: Finding Nemo!.

First off, it really is a great movie (Has Pixar ever disappointed?). I should note that I rate "children's" movies on two scales. 1.) I rate it as a critical, experienced movie patron that knows crap (Scooby Doo the Movie) when he sees it and 2.) How well the movie holds the attention of a three year old boy. A movie that succeeds on both scales is truly a gem. Finding Nemo is that movie.

Ok, the movie. It was great. Great script. Great cast or voices or whatever you call it. Great animation. Great everything. Now, one thing that I didn't notice at all was probably the best part of the movie. The water. Not once did I think, "This water is digital" or "that water looks soooo real." I just didn't notice it at all. I mean I noticed it but I didn't really think about it at all. I've seen many computer animated movies and this was the very first time that the water was so real that I just took it for granted and I think that's exactly what is supposed to happen. Props to Pixar for getting the water right.

The second thing I noticed is that on opening night the theater was about 1/3 families with children. The rest of the crowd was teenagers, young adults and older, married couples without kids in tow. That's the sign of a good movie right there. When you can get a crowd that crosses every single demographic on opening you know you've got something. To contrast crowds, Daddy Day Care was exclusively families. Everyone in the theater had kids. It wasn't opening night but still, a contrast is visible.

Anyway, go see the movie. If you don't have kids you can still go see it.
posted by Eric J | 3:13 PM

Sunday Memories: Transformers

My Sunday Memory this week is Transformers (thetransformers.net - turn the sound way up). Who didn't love these guys? They're more than meets the eye. They were robots, then they were cars or airplanes or dinosaurs or whatever else they turned into. They had a million parts that drove parents absolutely batty trying to figure out how to assemble them. I used to have races with my friends to see who could transform each one the fastest. And of course, there was the dope cartoon.

My favorite Transformer was Metroplex. He was a city that turned into a giant robot. Thinking back about this concept I realize it was kinda stupid, but then again, if a place like, say, Detroit, could turn into a robot, he'd be a pretty badass robot too. I liked Metroplex because he made his own playset or headquarters when he was a city. He was also the biggest robot in my collection by far.

Unless my mom has done something treasonous, all my Transformers are still in a box back home. As I grew older, we sold off most of my toys, GI Joes, etc to second hand shops, but we never sold the Transformers. I convinced my mom to keep them because, as I reasoned with her, who's going to teach the new kids how to transform them? So maybe on my next trip back home I can climb up in the attic and dig out Metroplex, Optimus Prime, and the rest of the gang.
posted by Matt Wood | 4:33 PM