Electrolite: Things I don't believe.
Grok Headline matches for Electrolite: Things I don't believe.
"Electrolite"
"Electrolite"
04/19/2004 09:36 AMElectrolite: If we only had a press.
Electrolite: If we only had a press.
05/10/2004 11:18 PMIf we only had a press .. email is being cut off ..
Several
nielsenhayden.com/electrolite/archives/005159.html#005159
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Electrolite: Recent history.
Electrolite: Recent history.
04/18/2004 06:55 PMRecent history ..
Electrolite
nielsenhayden.com/electrolite/archives/005031.html#00503
1
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Amazing Heinlein discussion on
Electrolite
Amazing Heinlein discussion on
Electrolite
01/10/2004 10:48 AMRespected science fiction critic John Clute
reviewed
Heinlein's long-lost, unpublished novel,
For Us, The Living, for SciFi.com, giving it a rave -- saying
that this was the kind of science fiction that, if it had been
published in its day, might have actually yeilded a generation of
futurists who more-or-less accurately described the
present-day-future.
The 140-comments-and-still-going discussion of this on Electrolite is
just about the most fascinating literary/political/historical
discussion I've ever read. You've got heavy-duty writers,
ex-space-program people, major editors, Heinlein trufans and assorted
others really digging into this idea: how much did Heinlein get right,
what did he get wrong, since when are sf writers supposed to predict
the future anyway, how did his politics change and how did he change
politics? Meaty stuff.
As I said in another thread on another Nielsen Hayden's blog, I
recently re-read "Friday," and then immediately picked up "For Us, the
Living" and read that next. "Friday" was published in 1982, and FUTL
was written in 1937-38. In both novels, Heinlein writes about a
world-spanning information network. The 1982 "Friday" version looks a
lot like the Internet of today; Heinlein's characters sit at
"terminals" and "punch" requests for information -- they can get
everything from the history of the city of Memphis, Tenn., to musical
recordings, to astronomical data. One character removes a "portable
terminal" from her purse and punches for her family financial records,
which she can examine in depth while sitting out in the garden.
Change some of the buzzwords there and you have an accurate portrayal
of the Internet in 2004.
Heinlein's Internet ca. 1938 AD was way cool for fans of retro
futures: users called operators on videophones (I forgot what Heinlein
called the videophones) and the operators sent documents on their way
via pneumatic tube; the tubes could reach from one coast to another.
Whoosh! (Why doesn't the world have long-distance pneumatic tubes,
dammit?!) At one point, a character in the 2085 wants to look up a
newspaper article from 1938; she calls the operator and has a
photostat in her hands within a few minutes.
LinkWhen Things On Your Mac Do Cool Things
You Didn't Expect Them To... Or
Adventures In Mac-Based Audio
When Things On Your Mac Do Cool Things
You Didn't Expect Them To... Or
Adventures In Mac-Based Audio
01/03/2004 12:11 AMIf you play an instrument, write songs, sing, or wish you could do any
or all of the above, take a look at DigiDesign's amazing little Mbox,
a complete audio production system with many uses. By Bob LeVitus (Mac
Observer via MyAppleMenu)
""I’m not the kind of artist who feels
that I have a mission of any kind
whatsoever. The 19th century was about
that. What right do I have? In many ways
it robs people of a lot of things. I’m
an average enough person to point to the
things that I’ve..."
""I’m not the kind of artist who feels
that I have a mission of any kind
whatsoever. The 19th century was about
that. What right do I have? In many ways
it robs people of a lot of things. I’m
an average enough person to point to the
things that I’ve..."
07/13/2004 03:21 AMGood things, bad things
Good things, bad things
03/06/2004 02:03 AMGood thing: to have surge protection on your computer array.
Bad thing: kick accidentally the surge protection thingy so that the
wall socket becomes loose, and have a big, catastrophic power failure.
Good thing: to be able to read your blogs while eating breakfast
Bad thing: to drop a bun in your cereal, and have milk splashed all
across your laptop
Good thing: iTunes for Windows
Bad thing: Windows
Good thing: actually having sunlight in the mornings.
Bad thing: the mornings.
Good thing: upcoming go
-tournament (http://takapotku.suomigo.net -
feel free to come by and say hi!) next weekend.
Bad thing: not sleeping enough before the weekend.
43 Things Web Service API on 43 Things
43 Things Web Service API on 43 Things
04/17/2005 10:05 PM43 Things Web Service API on 43 Things .. 43things adds web services
API
43things.com/about/view/web_service_api
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Jack Valenti says stupid things --
really, really stupid things
Jack Valenti says stupid things --
really, really stupid things
08/03/2004 07:46 PMTim Wu has rounded up some of the dumbest things that Jack Valenti
said -- and he's found some real howlers, things that make Jack's
infamous condemnation of the VCR ("the Boston Stranger of the American
film industry") look like a walk in the park.
On the nascent cable industry, in 1974
"[Cable will become] a huge parasite in the marketplace, feeding and
fattening itself off of local television stations and copyright owners
of copyrighted material. We do not like it because we think it wrong
and unfair."
On the dangers on media concentration, 1984 Op-Ed
"Will a democratic society allow just three corporate entities to
wield unprecedented dominion over television, the most decisive voice
in the land? There are now only three national networks .... There
will never be more than three national networks."
On the public domain, 1995
"A public domain work is an orphan. No one is responsible for its
life. But everyone exploits its use, until that time certain when it
becomes soiled and haggard, barren of its previous virtues. How does
the consumer benefit from the steady decline of a film's quality?"
Link
(
Thanks, Patricio!)
"ten things"
"ten things"
11/14/2003 03:32 AMTwo Things
Two Things
04/09/2004 03:55 PM Thing #1: The past month was one of the busiest, most beautiful, most
exciting months of my life. Everything... (175 words)
The little things
The little things
11/12/2003 08:00 PMWe put together a bookmarklet today that allows our editing staff
to jump instantly from looking at a story on one of our web sites to the
interface for editing it within our current content management system.
It took about 5 minutes development time, plus an extra 15 minutes
spent showing it to people, setting it up on machines and
demonstrating how it works. It's hard to over state how well this new
shortcut was received by the people who spend hours every day using
the system. For end users, a little feature can sometimes go a very
long way.
Getting Things Done with Your Mac
Getting Things Done with Your Mac
03/14/2005 05:33 PMMacDevCenter.com: “Being a smug Mac user is one thing,
but even the smuggest of us (including me) have problems staying
organized.”
all the things you can get it to do
all the things you can get it to do
04/09/2004 04:08 PMlist of the thousands of commands .. Subservient Chicken
exposed!
xeni.net/images/bb/clipData.html
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Getting Things Done
Getting Things Done
02/01/2005 09:12 PMThings that shouldn't need to be said
Things that shouldn't need to be said
02/10/2004 02:49 AM
But sometimes arguments cross a line beyond which everybody gets hurt,
including the Net. I see that happening here. Even though I'm no
technologist, it's clear to me that the Net has been improved,
radically and fundamentally, by RSS and other standards like it (even
if they come, as Mark claims RSS does, in 9 incompatible versions).
[Doc Searls]
Must we
still, at this late date, reiterate and underscore
Doc's point? Apparently, we must. Sigh.
...things you can't say
things you can't say
01/05/2004 04:58 AMruminations
paulgraham.com/say.html
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The top 1,000 things to know
The top 1,000 things to know
12/19/2004 03:06 PM
Seth blogs about the top 1,000 things for a 13 year old to
learn. I agree with him. The most important thing I learned in
school was how to touch type.
Comment -
TrackBack
"these things"
"these things"
09/27/2004 11:18 AMFC Now: It's the Little Things
FC Now: It's the Little Things
12/19/2004 03:36 PMFor lunch today, I went to Chipotle for a burrito. The server was
friendly, my order prepared quickly, and the burrito delish. But the
neat little touch -- the clue -- that helped make the experience worth
repeating? At the...
"wish you hadn't said certain things"
"wish you hadn't said certain things"
06/15/2004 12:12 AM40 things
40 things
12/22/2004 01:09 AM1. What did you do in 2004 that you’d never done
before?
- Suck up to clients and not say what I believed in - 'cause I
needed the money.
2. Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you
make more for next year?
N/A - I don't do resolutions - but I tried to lose weight and
failed.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
- Yes my wife. Her name is Lucy - she was born the day before my
biorthday on Jan. 12th.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
- Yes my father - Davis S. Canter - union leader, politician (the
good kind), my inspiration.
5. What countries did you visit?
- Italy, France, Belgium, Holland, England, Ireland, Canada - and I
live in a very strange, foriegn place - but at least we're in a blue
state (though CA voted 46% for evil.)
6. What would you like to have in 2005 that you lacked in
2004?
- Digital Lifestyle Aggregation -the PeopleAggregator, a finished
WebOutliner and lots of happy employees.
7. What dates from 2004 will remain etched upon your
memory?
- Jan. 12th - Lucy's birth, Aug. 30th my father's death, July 31st
my eldest son's and wife's birthday and Nov. 3rd my twin son's Bar
Mitzvah.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Finally figuring out what business Broadband Mechanics is in.
We're buulding 'digital lifestyle aggregators'.
9. What was your biggest failure?
1UP.com - it could have been great - but we fucked up.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
- Baruch Ha'Shem - no. But my friend BigDave had his kidney
transplant!
11. What was the best thing you bought?
- BigDave's mom's used car. Great deal, great friend.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
- Twin son's Bar Mitzvah
- Mimi's learning how to sing and dance - on her own
- Lots of happy cleints, growing business
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and
depressed?
- Lack of imagination when it comes to new kinds of micro-content
and micro-contnet publishing in general. Sad and pathetic. And
podcasting. Even sadder.
14. Where did most of your money go?
- Babylon
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
- Open Source Infrastructure - and how ever effort I put into it -
not only helps me and our company, but also the world. Talk about
killing trhee birds with one stone!
16. What song/album will always remind you of 2004?
- "Ambush in the night" - Bob Marley (all guns pointed at me
now....)
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
happier or sadder? happier
thinner or fatter? always going up
richer or poorer? richer in money. richer in happiness
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
- Hung with my sons more.....
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
- Blog
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
- eating Chinese food and watching a movie. What all good Jews do
on X-Mas day.
21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?
- my wife - Lisa.
22. Did you fall in love in 2004?
- yes - over and over again with Lisa.
23. How many one night stands in this last year?
- yah, right
24. What was your favourite TV program?
- Alias
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time
last year?
- more than anyone else - I hate the entire concept of fascist,
imperialist, Amerika - and all it stands for. Fuck you - red
states.
26. What was the best book(s) you read?
- N/A - my 250+ feedskeep me busy.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
- Blind Guys from Alabama
28. What did you want and get?
- progress in DLAs, healthy children, bank account.
29. What did you want and not get?
- PeopleAggregator, WebOutliner
30. What were your favourite films of this year?
- um, gee, what films came out this year. I can't remember any.
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 47 and I went to the hospital with my eldest daughter to
see her new baby sister who was born the day before. You don't have
birthdays like that very often! BTW my eldest son was at Lucy's
birth.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably
more satisfying?
- Having money to build what I wanna build.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in
2004?
N/A
34. What kept you sane?
- family, blogosphere and knowing that I'm consistently about 10
years ahead.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the
most?
- Heather Graham
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
- Legalized Marijuana
37. Who did you miss?
- my friend Dave Winer
38. Who was the best new person you met?
- oh god, too many to mention. Simon Grice, Lucas Gonze, Carl
Wescott, Monette, Rich Seidner, the Marqui folk, Leonard Brody, Dick
Hardt, the Bryght dudes (Boris and Roland), the Tucows dudes (who I
haven't even met yet!), Alf Eaton, Kjetil Larsen, JD Lasica, the
Laszlo folks, Dave Toole, Seb Paquet, the list goes on and on - it's
been a hell of a year!
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2004.
- slow down, it'll all come to you, just stockpile those ideas,
they'll be usful - later.
40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year?
"Rasta Man virbration - yah, positive!"
"Got to have a good vibe"
Three things
Three things
12/28/2004 11:31 AM
Actually it turns out I do have a few things on my mind.
First, the scale of the human tragedy of the tsunami. An
interview on CNN with a young rock climber from Hawaii, vacationing in
Thailand, talks about how only a few of her colleagues died. In normal
times, the few that died would be the story. Many of the people they
interview are shaking and crying, many hours after the tragedy. It's
the rare thing, a real story involving human beings.
Second, think about the
billions we're spending on Iraq, and for what? The Republicans who
defend the war say Iraqis were suffering under Saddam, okay, this is a
lot of suffering and unlike the Iraqi suffering, this has a solution,
money spent here will rebuild and there won't be "insurgents" to tear
down the repairs and kill our people as they try to help.
Third, and I know there's no chance of this making a
difference, maybe the Iraqis could put down their guns, stop beheading
people, stop blowing things up, elect a damned government, and let us
leave so we can have a future and so we can help when other tragedies
happen. I'm sorry we invaded, and I'm sorry we re-elected the monster
that invaded you. Now we have to go. It's just a feeling I have. The
problems of the Iraqis seem so small when compared ot the problems of
Sri Lanka, Thailand and Malaysia. The problem in Iraq is in their
minds. Can't they solve it? We sure can't.
things aren't going so well
things aren't going so well
09/14/2004 07:17 AMThe American Spectator .. make this stuff ..
SCAMMED:"
spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=7099
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43 things
43 things
01/02/2005 06:34 AM43things
43things.com
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"43 things"
"43 things"
01/03/2005 05:15 PMThings to do...
Things to do...
02/10/2004 02:46 AM
Font for post-its remains Coates.ttf
as made with Fontifier.
Read the comments
The Next Big Things
The Next Big Things
11/06/2003 10:45 PM"Steve Jobs has come along and made it simple for us." By Doug Bedell
(Dalls Morning News via MyAppleMenu)
Getting Things Done?
Getting Things Done?
07/17/2004 01:15 AMI don't know what to think of things
like this
I don't know what to think of things
like this
06/22/2005 01:45 AMInteresting, I was awarded a spot on the A
lways On/Technorati Open Media 100 as a "trendsetter." I don't
know how they determined who is on the list or why, or even what "open
media" means, but I'll take it and add it to my list of dubious
accomplishments like "Shift Magazine's Top 25 Web Personalities."
One of these things is not like the
other one...
One of these things is not like the
other one...
03/20/2003 08:31 AMScoble compares
and contrasts ActiveWords with Smart Tags. He also links to
the record of how ang
ry he got about Smart Tags. That thread on the
decentralization list makes most of the arguments on either side of
the debate, and I have to admit the debate was a real eye-opener for
me. Many people reacted exactly opposite to how I would have
expected them to react to Smart Tags. I am still convinced that
Smart Tags represented a revolution in Renmin
Voice, and I want to see the concept become a natural part of
people's lives. But now I have a better understanding of
why Scoble objected.
Ari suggests that a more
cooperative approach may be what's necessary. And Scoble
raises the issue of "push vs. pull". I think Jon Udell's
LibraryLookup Bookmarklets represent a good example of "Smart
Tag"-like technology that is done in a cooperative and non-intrusive
way.
Jon Udell's LibraryLookup also puts the lie to Charles Cooper's
news.com piece claiming that IE dominance has thwarted
innovation. Jon proved that one guy can extend the browser to do
something very useful to people's lives, "semantic", and futuristic --
all without ever having to fire up a compiler. The only things
getting in the way of browser innovation right now are lack of
imagination, lack of volition, and the giant sucking sound of people
wasting their lives trying to rewrite software that's already matured
(like word processors and file servers).
~
On this first day of the current war, I for some reason keep
remembering the Yeats poem about "When you are old and gray and
full of sleep", and the poem below. I don't know why, but
they seem appropriate.
It's really incredible to think back to the first Gulf war, and
realize how much of what we live is new. In 1991, we wouldn't
have been able to argue about Smart Tags, we didn't have blogs, IM, or
even the web. I chafe with impatience at every roadblock that
keeps us from realizing our destiny of Renmin
Voice, but when put in perspective, the industry has made
vast progress between these wars. How can anyone be a
pessimist?
~
Wine comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye;
That's all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth,
I look at you, and sigh.
-W.F.B.
Yeats
All things come to an end.........
All things come to an end.........
11/13/2003 05:20 PM
The journey of my jacket is quickly coming to an end. Can you guess
who the last person in the...
"Things to Come"
"Things to Come"
03/19/2003 10:44 PM
Five Things I Know About Me
Five Things I Know About Me
07/13/2004 02:12 PM
Collect them all!
39 things I should do
39 things I should do
06/05/2005 11:56 PM
If you're into food, and wondering, "what the heck should I do
next?" check out the [UK] Observer's list, The top 50
things every foodie should do.
To celebrate OFM's fiftieth edition, we asked some of
our favourite bon viveurs what they considered most essential to do
before they died.
Amazingly, I've already done ten of the items they've listed! Is
that because I'm a "bon viveur"? Maybe a little, but also I've liked
cooking and food for a very long time. Of what they've recommended,
I've already completed the following:
3) Dismember a chicken
I learned this last summer when I was working at a restaurant. Our
chef said everyone needed to know how to break down a chicken. Now I
do. I haven't done it since.
6) Dine at the French Laundry
May 2002. I can't imagine you're reading my site and haven't read my
review, but if that's the case get thee to It's All About Finesse immediately! Now start saving your
dollar a day!
18) Shuck an oyster
I first learned this in 1994 on Cape Cod, where indeed just as they
recommend, I enjoyed 'wild native oysters, from a forgotten oyster
bed'. I last shucked two dozen for my family at Christmas.
20) Wolf down a hotdog on Coney Island
July 4, 2003. I ate one. Japanese super-eating legend Takeru Kobayashi
ate 44 1/2 in twelve minutes. A photo of Kobayashi in action!
24) Be cooked for by a legend
(See #6)
32) Shop till you drop [at La Boqueria in
Barcelona]
When I visited Barcelona in October, 2003 I spent many hours exploring
this amazing market, though I never bought anything because I was
staying in a hotel and had nowhere to cook.
33) Catch your own dinner
They recommend deep-sea fishing for tuna in Barbados. I went fishing
for bluefish off Nantucket in August, 2003 and cooked up the riches
for dinner with my family. Bluefish is my favorite, and I think one of
the best meals you can eat (but only if you're in the northeast of the
United States in July or August) is bluefish baked with breadcrumbs,
butter, and lemon; steamed sweet corn, with butter and salt; and
boiled red potatoes. If you don't have strawberry shortcake for
dessert, with real whipped cream and homemade shortcake, you haven't
gone all out.
39) Visit Pierre Gagnaire in Paris
I did this in June 2003. For some reason, I never wrote about it.
Drat, I wish I had.
40) Bake a loaf of bread
I can't even remember the first time I baked a loaf of bread, but it
must have been around 1986. I started my culinary adventures in the
baking arena (cakes and sweets) before moving into the savory world of
cooking. Of course, the Guardian says, "If your loaf is a true San
Francisco-style sourdough then all the better." And I say, "No!" Yuck.
I don't like sourdough. I had enough "San Francisco-style sourdough"
when I lived in San Francisco to last my whole life.
47) Kill a pig
The last on the list, I did this over the 4th of July weekend, 1994.
Some folks I knew in college had a little tradition of doing this. At
a farm in New Hampshire, we (by which I mean a friend named Danny)
killed the pig and bled it. Then we all took part in gutting and
skinning it (writing now, it sounds more "Lord of the Flies" than it
was). We roasted it in a pit for a very long time, and the result was
the best thing I'd ever tasted. I had never liked pork before that,
and I didn't for a very long time after. But everything we ate that
day was incredible.
They also recommend that you:
9) Pick your own [mushrooms]
But I've never done this. I had a class in college called Plants and Humanity and we
learned from our biology professor never to pick mushrooms in the
wild. He said it was too dangerous, even with books and training,
because the possibility of making a mistake was too great. I learned a
lot from Prof. Ellmore, and to this day I
still recall much of what he taught, so I'm going to trust my gut and
skip the picking of wild mushrooms. The 39 remaining items could
easily take the rest of my life as it is, I don't want to end it
prematurely by eating a Death Cap!
Oh, the Things They'll Know
Oh, the Things They'll Know
04/11/2005 11:32 PM
Brent was playing outside with his friends after dinner tonight.
When he came inside, he plopped down on the couch next to me and
watched me respond to some email. After a few minutes, he said,
“Can I talk to one of your friends?” I said, “You
mean you want to chat with one of them online? Sure.”
So
we opened up Trillian and found
Karen was online.
Even though I know she’s terribly busy, she was kind enough to
chat with Brent for a few minutes. I told him she had been in the
military, so he asked a couple of questions about that. She most
graciously responded. As I watched their conversation, I noticed Brent
using IM language that I didn’t even know he knew. In fact, when
he threw “nvm” out there, both Karen and I were stumped.
(Turns out it stands for “never mind.”) Then he threw in
ppl, kewl, and cya at various points. Astounded (remember, he’s
only nine-years old and he hasn’t gotten into IM yet), I asked
him where he was learning all of this. Guess where?
Yep –
Runescape.
One of the
big motivations for Brent learning to read has always been video
games. He played Playstation before he could read, and when I used to
tell him it was time to shut down, he’d pull up the options
screen and ask how to save his game. My response was always,
“You tell me. Find the one that says ‘save.’”
Runescape has helped him learn to read faster, because the text others
type can scroll by pretty quickly.
So now he’s learned to
read (certainly faster), learned to type (certainly faster), and now
he’s learning IM slang, all thanks to Runescape. Interesting
literacy lessons there.
Of course, I wonder what else he’s
learning….
The Two Things
The Two Things
06/12/2004 04:45 AM
The Two Things: People love to play the Two Things game, but they
rarely agree about what the Two Things are .. Glen Whitman's Two
Things .. has put up a
webpagecsun.edu/~dgw61315/thetwothings.html
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Ten Things to Do with IIS
Ten Things to Do with IIS
10/25/2002 03:31 PM
It would be nice if everything ran in a vacuum so that when something
goes wrong you know what caused it, but in the real world most
software is dependent on other software. ASP, ASP.NET, ColdFusion,
JSP, Perl are no different... they run on top of IIS. Here's a list of
ten ways to make IIS the best it can be.
"The Two Things"
"The Two Things"
06/15/2004 12:12 AM
Grok Description matches for Electrolite: Things I don't believe.
GrokA matches for Electrolite: Things I don't believe.
Electrolite: Things I don't believe.
