Links for 2006-01-17
Posted January 17, 2006 12:20 AM.
- The Million Dollar Homepage has sold every single bloody pixel Some of them are being resold by rather unscrupulous people, but what the hey. Obviously you have to hate the person concerned because he thought of it and you didn't. I can't imagine what good Googlejuice people get from this...
- Laura Craik talks about how Brokeback Mountain is soft porn for girls I'm kind of delighted that she feels this way, although how she got more titillation from it than I did escapes me. Maybe I got too caught up in the plot or something. Who knew women could be more shallow than gay men!?
- Tim Berners-Lee has started a weblog He doesn't sound enormously thrilled about it, I have to say. Probably it's a bit of a disappointment after all these years of inventing things.
- Tim Berners-Lee is currently working for the rather awesomely named "Decentralized Information Group" "The Decentralized Information Group explores technical, institutional, and public policy questions necessary to advance the development of global, decentralized information environments."
- Bill Thompson declares that Mac users are 'too smug' over security, and you know what - for once I agree with him... But on the other hand, if - as he suggests - Macs are much safer against viruses and the like, then he should also be declaring Windows users irresponsible for using such a vulnerable OS in the first place.
- Mobile Community Design address what they perceive as bad design points in the iPod I've read what they say a couple of times, and I'm really not that impressed. Most of the suggested improvements seem to me to be profoundly misguided, and the reinterpretation of design history and suggestion that Apple gets by on cool... Don't buy it.
- "Yahoo! Announces Acquisition of Company Before Its Foundation" Nice parody! It's a parody right? "Yahoo saw the possibilities in the company I was thinking about building while waiting to get into a World of Warcraft battleground." Is this what happened to me?
- Chantelle from Celebrity Big Brother offered role in Travelodge ad campaign Best line ever - Greg Dawson, a spokesman for Travelodge, told The Sun: "Travelodge rooms cost from a tenner a night. That's a down-to-earth price that Chantelle's image would communicate brilliantly."
- The US version of 'Wife Swap" features a woman called Margaret who at the end of one episode slightly freaks out Protesting about the ungodliness of the home she'd been visiting, she loses her mind in front of the cameras ranting about Darksiders and the devil. Watch to the end of this terrifying piece of Google Video for the pay off. If you can...
Comments
Please stay on-topic, informative and polite. I reserve the right to remove comments for whatever vague capricious reasons seem reasonable at the time.
Dear lord, that Wife Swap clip is horrifying! That looks like the kind of Christianity i grew up with in Tennessee!
→ Posted by: danae at January 17, 2006 12:44 AM
That iPod "critique" isn't just off in terms of accuracy, it struck me as remarkably pretentious. Am I the only one who read "it will help to have HCI experience to avoid getting excruciatingly bored" as "I'm smarter than you, so don't question my expertise"?
→ Posted by: eric at January 17, 2006 1:20 AM
I'm so completely with you, Eric. But I'm trying to be nice because in three weeks I'm going to be standing up in public and doing a talk about design issues and how people should do it, and I'm more than a little worried that I'm going to sound just as cluefree.
→ Posted by: Tom Coates at January 17, 2006 1:32 AM
I respect the Million Dollar Homepage, but he doesn't even send any prizes.
→ Posted by: Brian at January 17, 2006 5:04 AM
Tom, I always find that a good way to avoid sounding like 'that guy' in public is to bounce ideas and drafts off people in private first. Maybe even just run through a couple versions on your own, which is something the iPod article doesn't seem to have had the benefit of. I know my rants and papers sound much better, and are more balanced, when I take the time to step back a bit.
Not that I'm telling you something you don't know, I just felt like saying it again to ease the ol' nerves a bit. :]
→ Posted by: eric at January 17, 2006 6:35 AM
Tom, please, if you find anything else as terrifying as the Wife Swap clip, please deliver it with a Warren Ellis style 'don't click on this'. I know what's good for me and I never do.
→ Posted by: Rob at January 17, 2006 8:33 AM
Re: Bill Thompson and Macs.
Tom, much as I applaud the debating skills move of deflecting a question onto another group of people Windows users) you've still missed the point of the Thompson article, namely Mac Users are smug and don't take Virus/Malware problems seriously becaus... well... just because. Would you agree on that point?
→ Posted by: Ewan Spence at January 17, 2006 9:18 AM
Wow, I'd heard about that Wife Swap freak out a while ago, but never seen the video. The look on those children's faces is terrifying! She's scarred them for life methinks. I didn't think anything could beat the "You're a lesbian so you're a child molester" but wow, seems I was wrong.
→ Posted by: Natali at January 17, 2006 11:00 AM
Ewan - I sort of accept that. I mean, certainly I'll agree that people with Macs tend not to worry about viruses or Malware as much as perhaps they should. But then there's probably a good reason for that - mac users are complacent on the whole because they have reason to be. I've taken no special precautions than I can think of with any of my Macs (except religiously doing the security updates) and I've never had the slightest problem. My family, on the other hand, with very little use of the internet, have had their PC overrun with spyware and viruses and things that dial up premium rate phone numbers. You basically have to be much more careful on a PC than on a Mac.
Two stories to help illustrate my point - two people in a computer shop. One buys the most commonly used operating system in the world, the one that everyone understands and can use, but also has huge security flaws that are easy to exploit and require constant interventions to protect. The other one buys a more expensive computer which is supposed to have less software on it because it has a good UI, is known to be stable and doesn't suffer from anywhere near as many security holes. Who is being complacent in this picture? Who is being smug?
The second story is one about the amount of effort that people put into maintaining their computers. I would put an enormous amount of faith in the idea that most PC users don't know how to protect their computers and keep them secure. Pretty much any dial-up user is screwed for software updates and patches for a start. Is a dial-up user - then - acting irresponsibly. Are they smug and complacent by default?
Basically my feeling is that Mac users tend to feel more confident that their computers are safe from attack by viruses and stuff. They shouldn't feel complacent. That is wrong, and dangerous. But whether or not - given the different levels of risk they are dealing with - they are any more complacent on average than PC users, I seriously doubt.
→ Posted by: Tom Coates at January 17, 2006 11:51 AM
There are some good points in the iPod piece, but try clicking the 'comments' link on the bottom of the screen... there goes your credibility as a user interface expert!
→ Posted by: Roy at January 17, 2006 12:07 PM
I thought BB mountain was quite erotic, because of what it didn't show. The short story even more so, great use of language and suggestion throughout.
→ Posted by: Lubin Odana at January 17, 2006 1:10 PM
Is this comment of Craik's even half serious?
"I don't know what straight men will make of Brokeback Mountain, but I suspect it won't be much. Now that it has been labelled 'the gay cowboy movie', they probably won't make it as far as the ticket booth."
If it is it's pretty insulting to anyone with a modicum of common sense?
→ Posted by: Rob at January 17, 2006 1:35 PM
Proulx herself is a lot more sensible on the matter:
"AP: Do you think straight men will watch this movie?
Proulx: They are watching this movie. Of course, why wouldn't they watch it? Straight men fall in love. Not necessarily with each other or with a gay man. My son-in-law, who prides himself on being a Bud-drinking, NRA-member redneck, liked the movie so much, he went to it twice. Straight men are seeing it, and they're not having any problem with it. The only people who would have problems with it are people who are very insecure about themselves and their own sexuality and who would be putting up a defense, and that's usually young men who haven't figured things out yet. Jack and Ennis would probably have trouble with this movie."
From http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid23486.asp
→ Posted by: Rob at January 17, 2006 1:41 PM
Wow, that iPod article was bad. In fact, it really seemed to be a troll article meant to cause controversy. Yes, the iPod interface can be a bit tedious when trying to play games or rate songs, but for the far and away the main purpose of the device, it is great.
Also, criticizing the lack of a social element to the iPod is silly. It is a device designed for you and you alone to listen to your music. When I ride the subway, I enjoy the lack of a social element. If I want social digital media, I have a computer which is far and away better at all of those tasks (especially music discovery and photo sharing).
→ Posted by: Dave at January 17, 2006 2:53 PM
I am a Christian myself, and I am sad to see that this woman represented Christianity this way. I hope that you can discern the difference between Jesus Christ, and the faulty followers of Christ. They are humans and humans are faulty. I apologize for the hypocrital actions of Christians throughout the ages!
→ Posted by: Techwreck at January 17, 2006 5:09 PM
Apology accepted Techwreck.
I didn't think she was very representative of most Christians as she seems to mixing it up with the mythology of the Star Wars universe in her head. I don't recall any mention of the darkside in my readings of the Bible.
I can just imagine Darth Vader turning up and declaring "Margaret, I am your father."
I think her youngest child was especially traumatised by the events of her mother's return.
→ Posted by: electricinca at January 18, 2006 2:42 AM
CONCERNING WIFE SWAP VIDEO:
Sime says:
yesssss, YEESSSS!!!!!!
Sime says:
SHE IS DARK-SIDED!!!!!!!!
Sime says:
whats in the envelope she is trying to rip up?
Guy says:
Satan has a hold of her now.
Guy says:
Basically $50,000
Guy says:
That the other wife decides how it will be spent on the family
Guy says:
Her family looked like they had a pretty cool time and were looking forward to mum getting home.
Guy says:
little did they know...
Sime says:
hahah
Sime says:
a
Sime says:
20,000 for gastric bypass surgery
Guy says:
wtf is that anyway
Guy says:
is that if u eat too much?
Sime says:
yes, probaly something to do with her horrid weight problem
Guy says:
its what jesus would want her to do
Sime says:
two of her daughters were relatively slim aswell
Guy says:
and non-crazy
Sime says:
im da krYst WarrIoR
Guy says:
only fat
Sime says:
FAt KrySt WarRIoR
Guy says:
hehehe
Guy says:
im like a fat, christ-loving warrior who fights ppl who arent christ-loving warriors and have tye-died curtains or incence
Guy says:
and stuff
Sime says:
hahaha did she talk about tye-died stuff and incense?
Guy says:
maybe
Guy says:
i could be making that up though
Sime says:
wats with her teeth as well
Guy says:
she was ranting about tarot cards at some point
Guy says:
they are warrior teeth my friend
Guy says:
why is it that the more you believe in good the more evil you get?
Sime says:
i think thats more of a statement rather than a question.....it is very true
Guy says:
food for thoughy
Guy says:
thought
Guy says:
like anakin- he really, really wanted to be a kick arse good guy
Guy says:
but ended up molesting all the young jedi
Sime says:
we should all stop trying to succeed then i spose
Sime says:
and live in a life of mediocrity
Guy says:
do you reckon if you tried to be really, really evil you'd turn out good?
Guy says:
probably not huh?
Sime says:
hmm
Sime says:
how do you try and be evil though
Guy says:
hehe
Guy says:
kick puppies and shit
Sime says:
hahahaha
Sime says:
ok thats a start
Guy says:
TO PET's PARADISE!
Sime says:
ahhah kitten stomping
Guy says:
nah you kick puppies and punch kittens
Guy says:
bonus points if they squeak
Sime says:
hahaa
Sime says:
lollies
Guy says:
im feeling gooder just thinking about it
Sime says:
GOODER
Guy says:
Lets start the Church Of Gooder
Guy says:
founded on the notion of being bad
Guy says:
and we can convince ppl to have sex with us and stuff
Sime says:
ohh yeah
Sime says:
we need to draft some doctrines
Sime says:
maybe something losely based on the 10 commandments
Guy says:
whats the first commandment?
Sime says:
uhmm
Sime says:
yeah
Sime says:
heh
Guy says:
something about not shitting everywhere or something?
Guy says:
wikipediaing...
Guy says:
1. "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt..." - This commandment is to believe in the existence of God.
Guy says:
I propose: "I am the christ warrior who bought you your gastric bypass" ... or some such mumbo jumbo
Sime says:
DARK SIDED!
Guy says:
ok...
Guy says:
1. "DARK SIDED!" it is
Guy says:
This commandment is to believe in following the path of bad.
Guy says:
2. "You shall have no other gods besides Me...Do not make a sculpted image or any likeness of what is in the heavens above..."
Guy says:
Well the catholics and christians sure blew that one didnt they?
Sime says:
THAts a real commandment ??
Guy says:
For sho
Guy says:
Wikipedia doesnt lie
Sime says:
that doesnt sound like something god would say...what a self righteous son of a bitch
Guy says:
geez spread the love god- you can still hang out with us and stuff
Guy says:
3. "You shalt not swear falsely by the name of the Lord..." - This commandment is to never take the name of God in a vain oath. In Exodus, the text reads "in a vain oath"
Guy says:
christ that's a tough one
Sime says:
hmmm yeah... but it definitely needs to include hissing sounds
→ Posted by: Guy at January 18, 2006 3:14 AM
RE: Brokeback Mountain. I went with three girls and they became all rosy cheeked and a bit out of breath during some scenes...
Also read my - 8 Ways Brokeback Mountain has Changed the World (on my blog). I think you'll like it. Or find it slightly offensive. But I think you'll like it.
→ Posted by: Drew at January 18, 2006 10:14 AM
How can anyone take an article on typography seriously when its full of horrible "grunge" text.
→ Posted by: James Hicks at January 23, 2006 11:26 PM