Sunday, November 10, 2002

Guarantee: It Will be Good Software. Macromedia to sell light-duty Web tool. After years of targeting professional Web developers and designers, Macromedia has a new type of customer in mind for its latest product--you. [CNET News.com] I don't know if Contribute (the new Macromedia product) will find a market. I don't know if the fact that Macromedia is releasing this first on Windows (where it slams into FrontPage) rather than on OS X (where competition would be less fierce and not entrenched) will do them in. I can say this: Macromedia (thanks largely to the genius of Kevin Lynch) will make a great product here. I plan to try to glom a review copy soon. 11:22:58 PM    Add your viewpoint [ comments so far]

Well, I Got My Answer About Robb. John, who is clearly a nice, thoughtful guy, is clearly at the very least a Republicrat. Pelosi was an awesome, courageous choice for the Democrats to make. Ford would have the Democrats try to win by out-GOPing the Republicans. Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dummer. The resurgence of the Democratic Party must come at the re-enfranchsiement of its core...people like me who are not afraid to stand for liberal positions and who have abandoned the party of our choice because of its continuing move to the right. Ford would have been the final straw, resulting in an irreparable rupture. The only winner if Ford were to win the post would be the Republicans. I'm disappointed, John. Ford: Leadership contest 'not over' [CNN - Politics]  Harold is right.  Pelosi is a horrible choice.  She lives and runs in a reality distortion zone.  The positions that get her elected in her district would get her fired in almost every other district in Amercia.  As a matter of process, the Dems probably need one or two more humiliating defeats before they are receptive to real change (those things that will make it a better opposition party).   After that, it is a long road to retaking the positions of power.  Ford sounds like a winner.  Pelosi, with all regrets to the people of her district, is a LOSER, with a capital L. [John Robb's Radio Weblog] 5:59:26 PM    Add your viewpoint [ comments so far]

Niners Lacking Killer Instinct. A few weeks ago, SF 49er wide receiver Terrell Owens got into trouble for suggesting that his team lacks a killer instinct. The team went on to win several games in a row, but was never called on to demonstrate its killer instinct. Today, the Niners, on a 3rd-and-seven near the end of the game called a dead inside run that ended at fourth-and-four. The Chiefs got the ball back on the ensuing punt just inside two minutes to play. It could have been a disaster against the potent KC offense but it wasn't. Still, I tend to agree with T.O. The Niners need to develop a drive and desire to ram the game home as it winds down. 4:04:19 PM    Add your viewpoint [ comments so far]

Cortez Just Has to Go. Writing this as I watch the 49ers-Chiefs game, I'm struck again by the poor quality place kicker the Niners have. The Chiefs' second TD that tied the game at 10 was more than half Cortez' fault. His kickoff following the Niners' go-ahead TD was a bouncing kick that resulted in KC having the ball near mid-field. Your D can't play a short field like that against an offense as potent as the Chiefs. Surely there are better kickers out there in free agent land. Let's at least stage some tryouts. 2:13:09 PM    Add your viewpoint [ comments so far]

Tablet Computers: Not One, But Two Big Debates. My buddy Robert Scoble, who works for NEC, one of the manufacturers of tablet computers created with M$ new software, says there is one big debate that will face the tablet world. The big debate this fall? Whether the "true Tablet" or "convertible Tablet" design will win.... [The Scobleizer Weblog] For me, there's another debate. The handwriting recognition on tablets (which I have admittedly not used) has been widely reported to be good enough that "careful cursive" or "block printing" will be readable and translated with great accuracy. But I find myself wanting to write rather than type in situations where the abililty to create careful cursive, let alone the more time-consuming block printing, just doesn't exist. So for me, the big debate is whether the tablet can be really useful given this limitation. I suspect the answer for me is no. 10:43:08 AM    Add your viewpoint [ comments so far]

Victor Hugo. "A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is a visible labor and there is an invisible labor." [Motivational Quotes of the Day] 10:37:47 AM    Add your viewpoint [ comments so far]

John Robb's Ideas on Democratic Responses. I don't know if John Robb is a Democrat, a Republican, or an independent. I don't completely agree with his notion that the GOP, by retaining legislative control and even increasing it during mid-term elections, has proven to be the "leading political party." I note that less than 50% of Americans voted in the election, that nationally more Democratic votes were cast than Republican, and that this means something like 25% of Americans actually actively support the Republican line. Still, John has some good ideas in his Weblog piece today and I commend them to your reading. A New Approach to American Politics (or how can the Democrats get their groove back).    A JRo essay.  If I was working with an editor and spent some more time on it, it could be a very good article.  Okay, back to work. [John Robb's Radio Weblog] Specifically, he recommends the Democrats jump on inevitable GOP blunders and call them for what they are, provide the American people with a hope-filled message, and take stances on the following three issues: Smart defense. Defense of America within a connected world. Multilateralist. Defense without an erosion of personal rights. Social responsibility. Each according to their ability to contribute. Ethical management of corporations. Fiscal responsibility. Balanced budgets. Personal choice. Access to advanced medical techniques without restriction. A freedom to own and use technology without restriction. I'm not sure I'd have the same list, but it's clear that the Democrats need to come up with some fresh new ideas of their own. That's why I voted Green in the last election: neither major party has an idea worth supporting. 10:31:48 AM    Add your viewpoint [ comments so far]

Eric S. Raymond, Dan Gillmor Check Out MS Open Source Tactics. New Microsoft Open Source Analysis, Deconstructed [Dan Gillmor's eJournal] Dan says M$ still plans a full-on assault against Open Source, probably using patent suits, and that the attack will begin soon. Forewarned is forearmed. 9:50:45 AM    Add your viewpoint [ comments so far]

This program didn't work for me iBlog is a standalone blogging tool for Mac OS X. It's not a Blogger API or MetaWeblog API app. It does its own content management. It also appears to have a news aggregator built in. It's a free beta right now. It would be interesting to see a weblog created with this software. [Scripting News] I downloaded it. I tried it. After some initial problems (mine), I got it to post one blog entry. No subsequent entry would work. If anyone reading this has an idea why, I'm open to suggestions. I like the app a lot. I wish there were one like it for Radio. 9:43:08 AM    Add your viewpoint [ comments so far]

OS X Mail: Getting Happier All the Time. I switched one of my main email accounts over to the Mail app in OS X about a week ago now. I'm pretty happy with the result. I had heard the app was sluggish. It's clearly a bit slower than Eudora, but the time I "lose" waiting for mail to process is more than made up for by the time I'm saving not having to deal with spam. The spam filter in this program is really quite awesome. I am at a point after just a week -- and having just added a second main email account a couple of days ago -- where I see one or two spams a day. Contrast that with a couple dozen prior to the switch. Very cool. This morning, Mail did something else cool for me. My primary SMTP server was down or unreachable for some reason. I tried to send an email. After trying for a bit, I got a dialog that said, "That mail server isn't responding. Want to try one of your others?" It gave me a choice of using my .mac SMTP server. I said, "sure." Mail zipped right out. Cool. Eudora doesn't have that feature. 9:24:52 AM    Add your viewpoint [ comments so far]

© Copyright 2002 Dan Shafer.