I'm not fanatical about using Free Software. I'm more on the lines of Open Source, but I also support shareware and commercial software. These have their advantages and disadvantages.

Mac OS X offers users all kinds of tools. The Fink project has ported a massive amount of free and open source software to Mac. MS Office is a massive commercial package. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of small software packages offering additional functionality for Mac OS X users. I hope the situation stays the same: there is enough room for all kinds of efforts in this garden.

What I'm against is using software as a strategic weapon, which leads to monopolistic aims and practices. The Free Software Movement has a point, which however is not realistic to implement. Thus, I'm ready to support all such software development which is based on open standards, free exchange of ideas, and free competition. No software patents, please!

MacJournal uses the reverse cronological sorting of entries, which is used in weblogs also. However, I didn't know about blogging then, and I did not use MacJournal for publishing my notebook. (This is possible using HTML export.)

Before using MacJournal, I have been using plain text files, Word, and bound paper notebooks for storing ideas. I think the MacJournal (and weblog) way of archiving information is rather nice. The reverse chronological order tends to emphasize the most current information, but makes it possible to search entries using various search criteria.

What is the difference between a personal journal and a weblog? I'm not quite sure about this. Perhaps it is the difference for writing to your desk drawer vs. writing for a publisher. But here the publishing is a sure thing, although finding readers is far from sure.

The update has taken on and off almost a year. Now, while finishing the book, I have become quite focused on the topic. It seems almost a pity to let go. There are facts to check, new developments to follow, and lots of things to verify. On the other hand, "best is an enemy of the good", as a professor of physics once said. Sometimes you just have to let go.

Technology for the now: mobile phones, television, e-mail, web, blogs, irc, newsgroups, www chat forums. All these tools focus on the current moment.

Life was different in the countryside only about 100 years ago. You had to plan for the next summer: having enough seeds to plant in the spring, enough livestock until next summer, and enough wood for keeping warm and preparing food.

The modern age is said to be rational, but where is the proof? We are increasingly basing our decisions on non-rational shortsighted thinking, not long-term survival. Science and technology may be rational endeavours, but our way of living is not.

My record with Mac OS X in reqular daily production use is 69 days - then the Mac went down because of a power failure which took down the whole office wing. After that I have been too keen on installing new software and updates to get much beyond 60 days.