Sometimes, given the right context, what was meant to be meaningless and absurd can have an eerily real meaning. Here's what Scott Pakin's Automatic Complaint Letter Generator has to say about the recent Metallica/Napster Debacle:

"To some extent, Mr. Ulrich is careless with data, makes all sorts of causal interpretations of things without any real justification, has a way of combining disparate ideas that don't seem to hang together, seems to show a sort of pride in his own biases, gets into all sorts of detestable speculation and then makes no effort to test out his speculations -- and that's just the short list!"

But then you should see what it has to say about me.
posted 10:22 AM | link

So, a couple of things I found through a mailing list:

1. I don't know what it is about Steve Champeon, but I find myself believing in his work almost without question. The latest example? At Webmonkey there's an article he wrote on Cross-Site Scripting. (Which he has justifiably taken the liberty of dubbing XCC, to avoid obvious confusions with the oh-so-handy HTML spec.) There even seems to be an opportunity to actually perform the hacks he talks about. And who says online learning wasn't fun and productive? [Note: I cannot vouch for the validity of the second link; something somewhere seems broken. I'm sure it's fun].
2. Secondly: As of right now, we're all just clients. In the future, we will all be servers, too. At least according to this article. Seems like a neat idea; an extension of the idea that the web decentralizes everything; however, I wonder what this is going to mean for people who think the Web is going in a different direction. (Actually, it probably won't mean all that much to them at all... I'm just not sure if we can all be servers if we're running machines designed specifically as clients.)

The rest of this post is just filler. Trust me; it is necessary.
posted 12:41 PM | link

With the recently added piece, Blurbs, McSweeney's once again has pushed the envolope on self-referential composition. Does this put a ceiling on the art of self-concious expression? Or is it possible for someone to write a piece that's about a person who is reading Blurbs and what's going on inside his/her head as s/he reads it?

Or would that just be too much?
posted 3:01 PM | link

It was with much enthusiasm that I read Lawrence Lessig's rebuttal to Eric Raymond's surprisingly Libertarian rant against governmental regulation on the Web. I'm sure just about anyone who reads this has already seen reference to it on Slashdot (and it was a post from yesterday, no less!), but still it's good; and Lessig's viewpoints do nothing but further my belief that he's the best thing to happen to Consititutional Law in a while.
posted 1:55 PM | link

Call me an old-fashioned, provincial, midwestern carnivore all you want, but I think the following to be true:

Digital Camera(Sunny Wednesday After in Park + Extra Hot Chili) = Happiness.

Some pictures to follow...
posted 1:39 PM | link

Ahhhhh....

I've decided: as a professional Microsoft Everything User, happiness is being able to come home to Linux, and code in Emacs.

Not that I'm coding in Emacs as I write this - this is Blogger, silly. But I will soon be coding in Emacs. Just you wait.

In other Personal Open Source News: I've just downloaded and installed the M15 build of Mozilla. Although I'm not sure how I feel about it's interface being more than a bit inconsistent with everything else running on my desktop, I like it. I think.

Actually, all I can really say is that I like the idea of it; i.e., the focus of its development being on open, agreed-upon standards, rather than on proprietary features that do little more than get in our collective way (read: IE 5.5).

Random Note, If for No Other Reason Than to Provide Closure and Because, Well, Everyone Needs Closure:

I've decided the current rendition of this site is generally too dark, colorless and wintery; worse, it's hindering my creative energies, which are headed in a much more sunshiny, springlike direction. I think it time for a redesign: something more springy.

Yes, definitely. Watch this space
posted 9:57 PM | link

Rule: Do not go out and consume 12 ounces of Fire Roasted Red Pepper Bisque with Shrimp and expect to get anything done with or afternoon.

Ug. I mean, yum.
posted 1:59 PM | link

But then you might ask, "what if I don't like Lou Reed?"

Then I might say that I really like Yo La Tengo's Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out. Especially "Tears Are in Her Eyes."
posted 11:14 AM | link

Maybe I should move to Amsterdam...

The fifth track on Lou Reed's Ecstasy is called "Modern Dance." It's beautiful, and it strikes this amazing balace between dissatisfaction with now and hope for the future. I identify with it so much it's hard to breathe.
posted 10:41 AM | link

And from the ashes...

The first post is always the hardest one. It's like starting out the conversation -- it's gotta be, well, if not perfect, then at least not completely lame. Does a statement about my self-conciousness constitute a perfect one? Or a totally lame one? I'm not sure.

Speaking of not sure, I'm also not sure if it's a good idea to hit the reset button on your blog...

Which, if you've been coming around at all, or been here before even once, is what you'll notice I've done here. I'm not going to feel too bad about it, because, well, aren't there times in your Real Life when you want to hit the reset button, but you can't find it? You know, just start the day over? The week, or maybe the month?

Not that it's something I'll be doing on a regular basis; this system will not be going down for reboot very often at all; hopefully never again, actually. Because, you see, I've come to something of an epiphany.
posted 8:59 AM | link