.: Archives :.

Saturday, February 08, 2003

Dave @ Harvard - [3:02 PM]

Scripting News: "We're working to get our new server up. Probably sporadic posts today." - This is cool. He already has the server up and running and the weblog space is setup. Excellent! It'll be fun to watch over the weekend and into next week. Is every student going to be allowed to have webspace? It could make for a very interesting net community at Harvard!

What my weblog is to me. - [2:16 PM]

A year and a half ago we bought a 100 year old home. Why? It's has style, it's in a wonderful part of town, and it has a front porch. Believe it or not there was once a time in America where people used to go sit on their front porch and visit. Nothing like it is today where you go to work, come home, eat, and veg in front of the TV, or go hang out in the back yard. No sir. Back then folks would sit out front and converse with their neighbors or whoever happened to walk by their home. That was a huge attraction for us. We wanted a home that would draw our family and neighbors outside to visit! It's worked out quite nicely, thanks for asking.

What does that have to do with weblogs? Well, my weblog is my front porch on the internet. It's a place where I can exchange ideas with folks in my neighborhood. Only we do it with folks in our blogroll instead of folks walking by on the sidewalk in front of our home.

Weblogs make for nice communities. This is what people need to understand, this is a piece that missing in most peoples understanding of weblogs.

So come on up, sit down, and let me pour you a glass of lemonade so we can have a nice friendly conversation. We'll enjoy it, trust me.

Friday, February 07, 2003

Troy, troy, troy... - [10:54 AM]

Troy Sandal is hooked, good.

Scoble Rant - [9:18 AM]

Robert Scoble has a pretty darned long list of reasons why Microsoft can't build strong communities. It's worth a read.

I think Microsoft could provide fine tools and a place to do weblog communities but the best communities seems to exist around zealots. You know the type. The man's holdin me down. Am I wrong? Slashdot is a fine example of teens and twenty-somethings expressing themselves. Hey, nothing wrong with that, more power to ya! I read it and get a kick out of it.

In the end most folks don't get weblogs or they think they're for teens and twenty-somethings. An online diary. A place to vent. The truth is they're about community and exchange of ideas. I for one would LOVE, absolutely LOVE, to work on a Microsoft sponsored weblogging tool. Why not? Then again it may be a good idea for Microsoft to stay out of this one? Support it from a distance, maybe even give MSN users blogging space and hook up Blogger, Manila, Radio, or MovableType to it? I dunno... only time will tell.

Movie line of the week answer - [8:55 AM]

Good morning everybody!

Apparently we have a lot of sci-fi lovers out there. I received more answers yesterday then I've received in a long time! In fact every answer I did receive was correct, including Steven Vore's reply with the name of the book the movie was based on!

Our winner is Bill Lazar, congratulations Bill.

The correct answer is...

Blade Runner

Oh, what was the name of the book? Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick.

Thursday, February 06, 2003

New find and a new design - [4:47 PM]

I got a movie line guess from a newcomer, Matt Kennedy. His weblog has a nifty name and the layout is very nice and clean. Stop by and say 'Hi' sometime.

Meanwhile Richard's been doing a bit of remodeling over at StonglyTyped. I like it. Can you guess what the binary on the left says? Send your guesses to Richard.

Abuse of the legal system? - [4:34 PM]

CNN: "Student sues to get A+, not A" - The law in the wrong hands can be as dangerous as a gun. Mom and Dad should have stopped this from happening. If you think he deserves an A+ go talk to the teacher. If you can't come to a reasonable agreement, just live with it. This isn't heroic, or groundbreaking, it's a waste of the courts time. Hopefully the judge will do the right thing, laugh, and toss it out of court. [via Snell]

Movie line of the week - [8:45 AM]

For the first time in a very long time I knew what movie I was going to take a line from before Thursday morning. So if you're ready, I'm ready, here 'tis.

The report read "Routine retirement of a replicant." That didn't make me feel any better about shooting a woman in the back.

Ok, quick, what movie! Send your guesses here.

Wednesday, February 05, 2003

Dang! - [5:45 PM]

And I thought the State of California had budget problems! How we're going to finance the stuff President Bush talked about during his State of the Union I have no idea.

Oh boy... - [10:07 AM]

MSNBC: "Powell: Iraq data ‘deeply troubling’" - The evidence is pretty good, and I'd wager to say it's NOT everything we have on them. I don't want a war, a peaceful solution would be better for the world. The problem is how do we ferret out all the weapons, documents, and factories used to create the weapons? That's the question that needs answering. Now more than every we need the full, unwavering, support of the UN and our allies to do the right thing.

Cooperation is our last hope.

Tuesday, February 04, 2003

Book V - [8:51 PM]

If you're a Harry Potter fan you've probably already pre-ordered your copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix but if you haven't you might want to venture over to Borders and reserve your very own copy today.

Dumbledore lowered his hands and surveyed Harry through his half-moon glasses. "It is time," he said "for me to tell you what I should have told you five years ago, Harry. Please sit down. I am going to tell you everything."

Ya I know.... yadda, yadda, yadda. I can't help myself.

Check out the press release at Scholastic, the book is going to be huge! Kim, I think it's time for a road trip! We should have this book in hand in time for our annual trip to Hume Lake. And remember honey, I get to read it first.

Springville Video - [8:17 PM]

Early Saturday morning a man from Springville, California, taped what is believed to be the initial breakup of Columbia. His video tape shows a flash of light and a stream of debris following the shuttle.

Has anyone seen an article related to this story? It's been all over the local news but I can't find it in print anywhere.

The Swiss Connection - [7:21 PM]

I wonder if Sascha has ever been to Fahrni? How 'bout it Sascha, ever visit the home of my last name?

I need to go back through our family album and find out just where it was great-great grandpa came from, I believe it was Berne. A search for Fahrni at Ellis Island produces a list that doesn't quite jive. I need to go mess with it a bit some other time. According to grandma they came over in the mid 1800's.

Pathetic - [10:05 AM]

NY Times: "...little or nothing could have been done to address the problem, NASA officials say." - This is the most pathetic thing I've ever read. How in the world can you send someone into space with NO BACKUP options. Reading this made me sick to my stomach. NASA is supposed to be full of the best and the brightest but it seems like they don't actually plan for the unknown any longer? [via Scripting News]

It's time, as my boss likes to say, to "sit down and have a think" about the future of manned space flight using shuttles.

Happy 2nd Birthday A.T.C! - [9:01 AM]

With life going on around me I completely forgot to celebrate the second birthday of this weblog! On February 1, 2001 I started ATC after reading an article in Mac World.

Happy Birthday ATC!

Please embrace RSS, purdy please with sugar on top... - [8:58 AM]

Note to MSN and MSNBC: Please take advantage of RSS, here's the spec. I like the little toaster popup thing I get with Messenger but I'd rather have an RSS feed of breaking news items. What's the benefit? Well for one you don't have to send me an e-mail or a notification when something happens, I'll just come to you and ask for it when I see fit.

On the flip side, if someone knows about MSN and MSNBC RSS feeds please point me at them. Thanks!

Monday, February 03, 2003

A word on C# and productivity - [3:00 PM]

Charles Cook: "After writing a lot of C#, returning to C++ make me realize how unproductive C++ is." - This has been my experience as well. I'm looking forward to the day when I can spend most of my time implementing code in C#.

A man after my own heart! - [11:41 AM]

James Snell: "What I want is for each of my data providers to give me nothing more than a data feed (e.g. RSS) that allows me to select the style of presentation that best suits my work style and habbits. Essentially, I want a Web Aggregator, not a Web Browser." - This is EXACTLY what I want as well. Why someone hasn't kicked out a killer product based on these ideas I don't know. The market is ripe for the picking IMHO. I could see creation of a new type of application, a pure data collection tool, e-mail and RSS are naturals for those of us that love the web and weblogging but it could go so much further than that. No more separate e-mail, news aggregator, PIM, insert your favorite tool here. Instead it would be nice to have a unification of those trough a common user interface. An interface that is totally extensible through a well defined set of interfaces. The thought of such a tool gives me goose bumps, talk about data-mining! You have the entire web at your finger tips!

Happy Birthday!!! - [10:52 AM]

Happy Birthday Tay!

Sunday, February 02, 2003

Afternoon Y'All - [1:47 PM]

Rodent Regatta: "Greedy subplot: I'm in the hunt for two jobs at Microsoft" - Steve needs a helping hand, let's give him one.

.: Microsoft Bloggers :.
Andrew Conrad
Benjamin Voigt
Chris Anderson
Chris Hollander
Dare Obasanjo
David P. Cole
David Weller
Don Box
Douglas Purdy
Harry Pierson
Jimmy Grewal
Joe Beda
Joe Bork
John Lambert
Joshua Allen
Keith Ballinger
Matt Williams
Michael Murray
Michael Winser
Peter Drayton
Sascha Corti
Tantek Celik
Tim Ewald
Wolfgang Manousek
Ziv Caspi