The Wagner Blog

Saturday, July 13, 2002

She Built a Business in 'No Time'. A young New Yorker is building a fashion business out of nothing more than an iBook and a catchy phrase. By Leander Kahney. [Wired News]
4:59:33 PM

Dan says: "... Hey, the new issue of Motor Trend has an article about the G35/CTS/330i, which are presented on the cover as "The New World Order". Interestingly, the article starts with some whining about how people complain that they always side with BMW, then concludes with very nice compliments about the G35 implying that it is better than the Bimmer without really saying it. If they aren't in bed with BMW, then why not just admit that the G35 is a better choice instead of mincing words?

And, in typical Motor Trend fashion, they show a higher-end CTS with sport suspension on the cover (silver with thicker tires), then choose the low-end CTS without the sport suspension for the test (black with smaller tires), even though the sport-tuned version would have still made it cheaper than the 330. They admit that the CTS is better paired with the heavier 5-series and doesn't have the sport suspension, then complain that it isn't as light and nimble as the others!

There's also a nice article about the upcoming XLR, accompanied by the typical sidebar that questions its ability to pull off a sales success. This is the same magazine that predicted the new Escalade and CTS would both flop.

...but don't get me started. "

4:55:31 PM

Wheat Graffiti: "They show up every summer, spirals and interlocking rings, alchemical and shamanic symbols, massive mandalas and Mandelbrot sets, all cut into swaths of land — some as large as two football fields set side by side. These patterns, made from swirled wheat and flattened rapeseed, first appeared in the fields of southern England 30 years ago. Their mysterious origin caused a media frenzy until 1991, when two local farmers claimed responsibility for a few of the early formations. The press, satisfied that the whole thing was a hoax, decamped. But crop circles never went away. From the Netherlands to Japan to the farmlands of Canada and the Midwest, hundreds of new glyphs materialize every year — and they're growing in both size and complexity." [From the Desktop of Dane Carlson]
4:50:55 PM

Triangulation. Triangulation at work: Drew, Kimbro and Justin all liked this article about XML::XSH, so it made it over my "do I care?" bar. Thanks guys, it was well worth it - a great read, and potentially a great teaching tool. It most certainly makes the notion of the context node very explicit... ;-) [Peter Drayton's Radio Weblog]
8:14:43 AM

An extremely short article on .NET Attributes and some tips on securing ASP.NET apps, noted without comment. [Sam Gentile's Radio Weblog]
8:12:41 AM

Whole Lot of Happy Hacker Campers. Some came seeking jobs, but most arrived at the East Coast's largest hacking convention to see old pals, boast of new hacks and try to guess who's done what to whom. Michelle Delio reports from New York. [Wired News]
8:11:16 AM

New MSDN XML Web Services Site Goes Live

New MSDN XML Web Services site goes live!. Tim Ewald ships before Don does... [Don Box's Spoutlet]

Here's a direct link.

[Drew's Blog]
8:09:54 AM