"RAPPERS WE CRUSH, FINGERS TO DUST
KOMPRESSOR DIGEST VOCALS AND SPIT OUT MUSH
YOU TRY TO FRONT WITH RHYMES
STOLEN FROM THE JACKSON FIVE
ERASE YOUR TAPES AT NIGHT
YOU COWER FROM KOMPRESSOR MIGHT" _
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03:47:19 PM, Monday 24 December 2001

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New feature idea for Wobble: a Flash interface. _
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07:23:13 PM, Sunday 23 December 2001

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Just got home from a party with a bunch of my friends from high school. 'Twas perfectly splendid to see everyone. Talked philosophy a bit--I think Jerusha started to give me some clue why Heidegger might be good after all--and talked about most everything else, too. Got to see the children of those that have them, which is Good. Talked to Craig about programming a bit--it's nice to talk programming with someone who both is a programmer and is bleedin' loony in some of the same ways as me. Of course, all of these names mean nothing to anyone who reads this, but I figure I write enough fairly solid content to get away with the occasional meaningless diaristic entry. And tommorow a bunch of us are going dancing. Yum.

Music recommendation: Kate and Anna McGarrigle, "Talk To Me Of Mendocino" _
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06:25:48 AM, Saturday 22 December 2001

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"When I was just a baby, my mama told me, 'Son, always be a good boy, don't ever play with guns,' but I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die." _
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07:58:26 PM, Friday 21 December 2001

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Will this work? Why yes, yes it will._
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05:34:18 PM, Friday 21 December 2001

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Well, Cassie got to the airport this time, with plenty of time to spare, and I've gotten myself home safely. This is good. Now for a tiny bit of sleep. Today will be interesting. Mmmmmm... lack of sleep. _
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09:23:07 AM, Thursday 20 December 2001

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Argh! Stupid fucking car! _
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06:41:20 PM, Wednesday 19 December 2001

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blt tracks blogs on teasmoke.net and m14m.net and tells you when they've been updated. Because you waste enough time just reading the ones you haven't already read. It's a thing of beauty, designed and built by the illustrious Kerne Fahey--manifestly a true hacker. Nice work, Kerne. And now, I'm going to bed. _
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04:51:53 AM, Sunday 16 December 2001

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Augh! I'm going to be late! Just a little bit late--no worries. _
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11:41:50 PM, Friday 14 December 2001

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AudioGalaxy suggests that if I like Dylan Thomas, I might also like: Kurt Weill, Lotte Lenya & Kurt Weill, William S. Burroughs and REM. _
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02:13:09 AM, Friday 14 December 2001

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23 hours. _
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01:56:05 AM, Friday 14 December 2001

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I can't seem to find the dirty circle of fifths mnemonic online. That's sad. _
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11:24:02 PM, Thursday 13 December 2001

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But even if I don't like everything about their approach to encouraging standards compliance, I'm sorry to see them go. _
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06:27:15 PM, Thursday 13 December 2001

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So Google now has a fairly substantial archive of USENET posts going back 20 years. This is reasonably impressive. What I hadn't known until a few minutes ago is that they've also compiled a list of a few of the more significant posts from those 20 years. I just read through it. It's lots of fun. My favorites were the Kremvax hoax, RMS's announcement of the GNU project (way back in 1983), and the first Bastard Operator From Hell post (which I had no idea was originally posted to (among others) t.b). _
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06:23:44 PM, Thursday 13 December 2001

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I'm not sure it's possible to underestimate my capacity for inaction. _
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05:01:15 PM, Thursday 13 December 2001

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non-self-describing _
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02:09:46 PM, Thursday 13 December 2001

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In all the Mexican restaurants around here, you can get bottled Coke imported from Mexico. It's yummier than normal Coke--indeed, it's the only variety of Coke that I'll willingly drink. Can you get it in other places, too (besides Mexico, obviously), or is it just a California thing? _
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01:19:39 PM, Thursday 13 December 2001

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You know what would kick ass? No, you don't, so I'll tell you what would kick ass: a Python script that would automatically extract all the fares and fare rules from a power search at www.cheap-tickets.com, so that you could do more complex queries against them. It would have to be able to parse the limited subset of English that's used in airline fare rules, but I'm not sure how hard that could be, really. Mostly it would just have to extract bits of certain key phrases like "MUST STAY AT LEAST 30 DAYS". Right now, one of the main reasons an online tool can't replace a travel agent is that a travel agent can intelligently examine what's out there and suggest possible changes to your itinerary. But with a tool to marshall the data from different sources, it would become easier to do that yourself. _
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04:02:40 PM, Wednesday 12 December 2001

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"If I stay up any longer, I'll be so fucking ironic I make Dave Eggers look like Alanis Morisette." _
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03:24:33 AM, Wednesday 12 December 2001

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Alternately, of course, I suppose I could just do the Right Thing. It's imperfect, of course--it makes the user do something (decide how to view the comment popup) that should happen seamlessly--but it's much better than either of my earlier solutions.

Wait... no, what I'm doing right now isn't quite The Right Thing, though it's good enough for now. I have figured out what The Right Thing is, and I will try to implement it soon. _
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07:12:03 PM, Tuesday 11 December 2001

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Method 1 is the only real problem I have with the Web Standards Project. Not coding around broken browsers is good--there's no reason to use such browsers anymore, and you can accomplish much more by sticking to the standards. But blocking older browsers from viewing your page--even those that support earlier versions of the standards--is virtually never a good idea. The one exception I would make is for a browser-based application that requires ECMAScript and DOM support--in this case, failure on older browsers is unavoidable, and Method 1 is just a way to fail gracefully. But to read the description of it, you'd think it's a perfectly valid choice for when you just can't stand the thought of someone seeing your brilliant design. _
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04:59:28 PM, Tuesday 11 December 2001

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I've taken out the code that spawns a new window for comment boxes. I figured that, since I spend so much time bitching about sites that automatically pop up new windows instead of letting me shift-click when I want a new window, I probably ought to do something about the beam in my own eye. _
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04:52:08 PM, Tuesday 11 December 2001

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There's an interesting connection implied in what Katherine says here, which I'd like to draw out a bit.

"Good people, things cannot go right in England and never will, until goods are held in common and there are no more villeins and gentlefolk, but we are all one and the same. In what way are are those whom we call lords greater masters than ourselves? How have they deserved it? Why do they hold us in bondage? If we all spring from a single father and mother, Adam and Eve, how can they claim or prove that they are lords more than us, except by making us produce and grow the wealth which they spend? They are clad in velvet and camlet lined with squirrel and ermine, while we go dressed in coarse cloth. They have the wines, the spices and the good bread: we have the rye, the husks and the straw, and we drink water. They have shelter and ease in their fine manors, and we have hardship and toil, the wind and the rain in the fields. And from us must come, from our labour, the things whcih keep them in luxury. We are called serfs and beaten if we are slow in our service to them, yet we have no sovereign lord we can complain to, none to hear us and do us justice. Let us go to the king--he is young--and show him how we are oppressed, and tell him that we want things to be changed, or else we will change them ourselves. If we go in good earnest and all together, very many people who are called serfs and are held in subjection will follow us to get their freedom. And when the king sees and hears us, he will remedy the evil, either willingly or otherwise."
-- John Ball

"This strike is all the farm workers standing up together and saying FROM THIS DAY WE DEMAND TO BE TREATED LIKE THE MEN WE ARE! We are not slaves and we are not animals. And we are not alone.

This strike is good men standing side by side and telling the growers WE WILL NO LONGER WORK FOR LOW WAGES! We are not afraid of the growers because we are strong. We want a union contract that will guarantee us our jobs.

This strike is all farm workers telling the growers WE WILL NO LONGER WORK FOR YOU UNTIL WE CAN SHARE IN THE GREAT DEAL OF MONEY YOU HAVE MADE! You live in big, warm homes and we live in boxes. You have plenty to eat while our children work in your fields. You wear good clothing while we are dressed in rags. Your wives are free to make a good home while our wives work in the fields. We do the work and you make most of the money. THIS GREAT INEQUALITY MUST END!

This strike is to force the growers to RECOGNIZE THE UNION OF FARM WORKERS! We will not work in the growers' fields until they sign a contract that shows they respect us as men and that they respect our union. This strike is a great sacrifice for all farm workers, but WE ARE MAKING THIS SACRIFICE BECAUSE WE KNOW OUR ONLY HOPE IS IN THE STRENGTH OF A UNION!"
-- Cesar Chavez
_
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01:57:26 PM, Tuesday 11 December 2001

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I have a story to tell about hexagram 61, but not just yet, I don't think. _
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12:14:58 PM, Tuesday 11 December 2001

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Harry Potter and the Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, from The Modern Humorist. Read it. It's funny.
(Well, okay, it's probably only funny if you're at least somewhat familiar with both Eggers and Rowling. But y'all are a literate bunch--I'm sure that won't be a problem.) _
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07:56:59 PM, Monday 10 December 2001

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Page five of Get Your War On is now up. _
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06:13:52 PM, Monday 10 December 2001

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I want to be nomadic. Anyone care to offer advice on how to sustain a nomadic lifestyle in the modern world for an extended period of time? _
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04:56:07 PM, Monday 10 December 2001

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Preparing to go meta...
10...
9...
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1...

I'm The James Bond Villain Personality Test!
I live in a fictional world of spies and blonde women with ridiculous names, and I like to give people plenty of options. Although whether they're villainous is not optional.
Click here to find out which test you are!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have meta. I repeat, we have meta. _
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04:27:52 PM, Monday 10 December 2001

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McSweeney's adds several new lists to its collection of lists every Monday. I hadn't been aware of it till recently, but now that I have found it, I am happier. My favorites so far are Ineffective Ways to Subdue a Jaguar and Meatless Pop.

Sometimes I feel I've got to run away, I've got to get away from the pain you drive into the heart of me. The [tofu] we share seems to go nowhere, and I've lost my light, for I toss and turn, I can't sleep at night. _
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02:48:46 PM, Monday 10 December 2001

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By the time you read this, I will already have finished typing it. _
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01:21:25 AM, Monday 10 December 2001

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Clearly, you should see Bladerunner. Everybody should see Bladerunner. _
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12:45:50 AM, Monday 10 December 2001

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The mispeling "ASScroft" may be one of the most inane and ineffective rhetorical devices I have ever seen. _
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07:28:55 PM, Friday 7 December 2001

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Why not read some Donald Barthelme? _
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05:35:39 PM, Friday 7 December 2001

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I was actually thinking about this during lunch, and seeing Dan's response to this post on Cecily's blog convinced me to post it:

The curious thing about atheism is that, if it is correct, it is entirely trivial. This is what atheists and agnostics usually seem to be getting at when they say that it's not important to them whether God exists or not. If God does exist, then this changes everything--there is nothing about the world that is not intimately connected to this one central truth. There is nothing more important, nothing more worthy of consideration. But if there is not a god, then the importance of this fact, in relation to the rest of the world, is infinitesimal. Nothing in the world depends upon the no-such-thingness of God. Its only importance is negative--in its contrast with how things would be if there were a God. And so, if belief in God doesn't seem like a serious possibility, than your lack of belief will indeed feel deeply and profoundly uninteresting and unimportant.

Who notices or cares that they cannot fly? Oh, but if they could! _
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04:39:02 PM, Friday 7 December 2001

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Slashdot: News for Nerds, Stuff that matters, and preserved ancient cities two times a week. _
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03:39:54 PM, Friday 7 December 2001

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The Atlantic has a popup add when you leave their web page, and I find that the immediate effect it had was to make me far less willing to consider subscribing. Do these things really work? Do people actually throw money at websites that won't even let them leave? Fucking disgraceful. _
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03:16:27 PM, Friday 7 December 2001

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