Wednesday, May 21, 2003

Whitman Quits as Top Protector of Environment "Anyone serving on the environment in the Bush administration is more or less between a rock and a hard place. She pretty much had the world's worst job," said Rob Bradley of the Brussels-based environmental group Climate Action Network. 10:32:01 PM

eVectors @ BlogTalk. Some great pictures of the eVectors team on Paolo Valdemarin's weblog today. Are they demoing k-collector there? Comment [Second p0st] 8:46:50 PM

Microsoft has missed the boat, and they haven't ev .... Microsoft has missed the boat, and they haven't even realized it. Remember when "whoever controlled the browser controlled the Internet?" This engendered the bitter "browser wars" between Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Netscape, that ultimately led to the U.S. Government?s anti-trust suit against Microsoft. It was Microsoft?s intention to gain predominance over the access point to the Internet, and thereby, rule the world, more or less. Unfortunately, Microsoft's brain trust mistook the browser for the "access point to the Internet," by focusing on its function (i.e. accessing the Internet) as opposed to its effect - which was considerably different (and subject for a different essay.) The real access point to the Internet is search, and the winner is, of course, Google. Now before you say, "winner for now," and point to previous leaders in search, like Yahoo, Lycos, Excite and AltaVista, remember that all of these (but one) self-destructed when they attempted to become commercially-directed "portals." Google realizes that its power and influence remains not only in merely being the access point, but in being the manifestation of the effects of linkages and networking on people. In recognizing (perhaps instinctively) the true meaning of "the medium is the message," the true geniuses behind Google realized the importance of focusing on the effects (messages) of their technology (medium). By doing so, Google has attained the top MemeRank, and is now the most influential arbiter of what merits attention, and what doesn't, on the Internet. And as we all know, in today's world of instantaneous, multi-way communications, the most valuable commodity is attention. Discuss document.write("(" + ct_21_gYPL + ")"); [What is The Message?] 5:24:04 PM

It's all there. At nostalgiacentral. The 1960s. The 70s. The 80s. Nicely divided into sections: pop culture, year by year, television, music, movies. Great reference site. Believe me, I'm the cartoonist, I know about these things. [The Cartoonist] 5:16:54 PM

This Rockford College commencement speech by New York Times reporter Chris Hedges is getting a lot of attention. 1:22:45 PM

From Antipixel, auto-destructive art - an old interest of mine. Similar ideas influenced The Who and Pete Towshend, and even played a part in the name of this website. Whether it be rust, fire, a breaking wave, or a smashed guitar...feel the burn, baby! Rustlets. If I had a dollar for every photograph of rust that's ever been taken, I could buy that island in the Caribbean I've had my eye on. [Antipixel - Excerpts] 2:27:20 AM

Plato, patron saint of bloggers: ;0) Plato. "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." [Quotes of the Day] 12:20:24 AM