19 years Ago
Ignorance Abides
Published on in Quotes
“I have never won a debate with an ignorant person.”
GTA San Andreas 100%
Published on in Video Games
The third edition of Grand Theft Auto, San Andreas, is chock full of dozens of different activities. There are three large, main cities, a whole countryside with several smaller towns and a number of rivers and bays to jet around on. There are naturally the story missions, but also jobs to be had around the city as well as more collection missions than ever. The number of things to do seems to have tripled since Vice City. The game is far from linear, but neither is everything available all at... [More]
A One-Party Republic
Published on in Public Policy & Politics
Much of the chatter from Washington these days is about corruption, misplaced values and partisan politics. This has probably ever been so, but it’s the last one, partisan politics, that truly colors everything one hears about the centers of power in the United States. Almost without exception, issues are discussed as if there are only two possible sides and those sides are adequately represented by the Democrats and the Republicans, whose opinions on all issues are diametrically opposed. It... [More]
Modern Communication
Published on in Quotes
“Never write when you can talk. Never talk when you can nod. And never put anything in an email.”
Sammy “The Eel” Alito
Published on in Public Policy & Politics
Most likely only those with the best endurance survived all 18 hours of the senate confirmation hearings for Samuel Alito. The entire transcript is also available online and runs to hundreds of pages. Reading 50 pages lends a strong feeling of deja vu whereas reading over 100 inspires more a feeling of disenchantment and nausea. Read The Shameless and Spineless by Will Durst (Alternet) for a comic synopsis of the entire transcript (see The hearing so far… (Plastic) for another). Democrats actually did ask pointed questions,... [More]
Going Along to Get Along
Published on in Quotes
“What [people] are mostly interested in, lad[ies] and gentlemen, is going along to get along. Which only shows up for what it is—monstrous—if you pull back and take the long view.”
Books read in 2005
Published on in Books
- Monstrous Regiment (2005) − Terry Pratchett
- Die Vergessliche Nation (2004) − Gore Vidal (de)
- Fight Club (1996) − Chuck Palahniuk
- Bush in Babylon (2003) − Tariq Ali
- The Poisonwood Bible (1998) − Barbara Kingsolver
- Across the Sea of Suns (1984) − Gregory Benford
- America (The Book) (2004) − The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
- A Small Death in Lisbon (1999) − Robert Lisbon
- Deception Point (2001) − Dan Brown
- Darwin’s Children (2003) − Greg Bear
- Amerikas Kreuzzüge (2005) − Claus Kleber (de)
- Gravity’s... [More]
Published on in WebCore
A good eight months since the last service pack, 2.6.1, comes a new release of the earthli WebCore, 2.7.0.
The minor version bump is, in the end, an understatement. Though WebCore applications include much of the same funtionality, there are significant under-the-hood and cosmetic changes:
For the user:
- Drastically improved search UI, including searching for users, comments, and all types of objects in an application. Search results include smart summaries showing... [More]
AJAX and Usability
Published on in Programming
Why Ajax Sucks (Most of the Time) by Jakob Nielson is a critique of Ajax that borrows almost all of its text from a critique of HTML frames made several years ago. The author claims the article is a spoof, but, given that the complaints made about frames were valid at the time — and still are — and that the complaints are just as valid for the current batch of web applications, it’s hard to see what’s so funny about this “spoof”.
There are those who argue that frames in fact have not died out, since they... [More]
Published on in WebCore
Though still not officially available, earthli.com has migrated to the latest and greatest version of the earthli WebCore. Look for a downloadable release within the next week or so. In the meantime, you can cruise around earthli and see some of the improvements for yourself. As with most WebCore releases, the differences are mainly non-cosmetic and of benefit to developers working with the library. However, there are noticeable improvements to the toolbars, menus and other UI elements.
Microsoft “Live”
Published on in Design
We’ve seen how firms large and small bring their sites up to speed. The screen shot to the left is Microsoft’s enchanting new Windows Live site. Granted, it looks like they’re still working on it, but let’s take a critical look at it anyway. (Not ready for prime time? Leave it offline.)
Their icons are fine, but don’t they have designers at that big old company? The content wraps around the icons in a way that was cool in 1995 when Netscape finally managed to do it without crashing all the... [More]
“Top of the Line” Workstation Redefined
Published on in Technology
The new quad processor solution from Apple for their G5 line is an amazing machine. It would certainly be good enough for any other company to trumpet as their flagship product. Not Apple. If you enter their online shop and start to configure a system, you’ll notice that there is a curious option under “Graphic Cards”.
“Quadro FX 4500 / 512MB SDRAM [+ CHF2400.00]*”
*I was shopping in the store in Switzerland … that’s about $1875.
Cheeky.
Google will tell you that this is not a typo — the... [More]
Technology Reporting
Published on in Technology
Tech reporting is spiraling ever downward: information generally starts out in the form of a carefully vetted press release and is copied verbatim to one of the big “news” sites (CNet, I’m looking at you), where it’s adorned with banner ads and clever user comments. From there, other sites copy chunks of these “articles” and paste them on their own pages with their own ads and their own clever users. As an example, there is this short article called Microsoft Takes Aim At Google (Slashdot). It is quoted... [More]
Scott McClellan dead at age 37
Published on in Public Policy & Politics
According to Cheney Looms Large in Latest Twist of CIA Leak Drama (Common Dreams):
“McClellan was also asked by reporters whether Cheney always told Americans the truth. … ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘The vice president, like the president, is a straightforward, plainspoken person.’”
Scott McClellan died at 16:34 later that day from third degree burn wounds suffered from multiple lightning strikes.
Edgewall Software Services
Published on in Design
Another in an growing list of sites that make XHTML+CSS look really good. This is a consulting company for web and software services, which makes good use of shades of a single color (red) to differentiate between their 3 service areas. The generic graphic adds an elegant touch to the home page and the rest of the page doesn’t distract. There is a subtle news list on the right, with releases of their job tracking product, Trac, which also looks quite nice and functional. The product page for... [More]
RoundCube
Published on in Design
Now here’s an open-source project that knows how to look good. The banner at the top sets a bold color theme that the rest of the page uses and has a simple set of menus below with the important points for a software project. Subtle use of gradients gives it a professional look and the big screenshot (of an equally nice-looking UI) lets the graphics do the talking. All XHTML/CSS compliant (as is their product); the “made on a Mac” logo at the bottom shouldn’t come as a big surprise. The concise... [More]
Absolute Truth
Published on in Quotes
“It is the purest arrogance to suppose that an instrument so fallible as the human mind can even conceive absolute truth, much less comprehend it.”
Joyent
Published on in Design
Joyent is a web applications company with a suite of applications for small businesses. Their home page is a nice mix of browns and oranges; the menu side-bar has an especially clean feel to it. The purchase page looks good too, with a large “SALE” sticker in the upper left that seizes your attention. Excellent use of advanced styling for the links and callout boxes. (Joyent Home Page)
Opera “Feel Free” Promotion
Published on in Design
This just jumps out as a very nice, clean (and distinctly Apple-like) promotion for a big step in an existing product. It’s a great, colorful way of drawing attention to a product. (Opera “Feel Free” Promotion)
AimOneSoft
Published on in Design
This site has a very consistent and clean look, making good use of subtle gradients to give it a “painted” look without overdoing the colors. It looks happy and sophisticated — not at all dour and corporate, but exhuding confidence in the products. (AimOneSoft Home Page)
Camino Web Browser
Published on in Design
Camino is a Mac OS X-only product that also makes excellent use of color to draw attention to its download buttons and warning box at the top. Note the use of an abstract header graphic at the top to contain the logo. (Camino Browser Home Page)
Obvious Diversion
Published on in Design
There’s not much to say here, except that sometime many colors can look nice. The menus on the right are in several shades of soft pastel and are quite harmonious. Keep it in mind as a choice for themes. Nice that it matches the big background graphic. (Obvious Diversion Home Page)
Apple Nano
Published on in Design
And then there’s Apple. They have an enviable style to their pages. The large black block draws in the eye to the product. The product description uses a nice open line-spacing and magazine-style picture layout to make a pleasing picture. “Buy now” is nice and obvious against the white background (and doesn’t even introduce an extra color, matching instead the banner). The store page highlights the two colors available (matching the selection buttons to the products) and using small pictures... [More]
Bartleme
Published on in Design
Similar to the blue man web site, but less 3d, it makes good use for color for the different areas. The search at the top is “Live” and results update as you type above the Sidenotes. The green new icon also draws the eye. Click an article and scroll down to see the comments view, which is also a nice touch. (Bartleme Home Page)
Zaadz
Published on in Design
This is another pretty clean-looking design. In particular, the page navigation is nicely organized and presented. The breadcrumbs are integrated under the section tabs and the “Quote Size” buttons on the right are like a toolbar (with result count shown in the same area). All information is gathered at the top. The company web site and philosophy are also interesting (Zaadz Home Page)
Steel Gryhon Blog
Published on in Design
Another relatively clean look; the thing of note is that the tab folders here are nicely done, collecting the date and topic without being too disturbing. (Steel Gryphon Home Page)