blueblog

Romz in my Breakfast Cereal

Yes, the emucult is back with a vengenance. Which, again, no one cares about.

Also, Andy's mailing list sucks. Which of course makes perfect sense, because it's andy's. I'm going to start my own competing mailing list and call it "The Robots Will Never Rise, so instead let's talk about how much cooler adam is than andy."

Finally, the good news is that I have come to an important spiritual conclusion regarding the morality of using Turing machines to prove things about binary representations of Turing machines that has changed my entire outlook on life. The bad news is that I will probably have to fail my Automata and Complexity Theory final due to my new, deep religious convictions.

5/31/2000 02:57:19 PM | +

So you're not worried about Gnutella or FreeNet, similar services that are not businesses and have no need to sell music or pizzas?

"No. That's sort of the David Weekly school of thought. He's 21, he's totally outrageous. He's a computer science student at Stanford. He's one of the smartest people I've ever met in my life. But David says Napster is irrelevant because of Gnutella, FreeNet, etc. I just don't think that's true. We've got more than just an application. We've got an index; we've got a great set of users who believe in the community, who believe in the concept of file sharing."

1. don't realize that by running the program they're sharing all their music
2. don't know how to set it up so that it doesn't share all their music
3. never turn it off since hitting the close button in the top right just minimizes it to the system tray

5/30/2000 07:20:36 PM | +

Blah blah my crappy writing at über.nu blah blah good night.

5/30/2000 01:10:22 AM | +

5/29/2000 11:04:37 PM | +

We missed our first deadline. I take no responsibility, it was all Ben's fault.

5/29/2000 01:28:36 PM | +

5/28/2000 09:08:11 PM | +

From the referrer logs -

google.com/search?q="fuck+google"

You need to see all the results to get the full effect.

5/28/2000 02:40:14 AM | +

Then my last final is on Monday June 5 in the morning, and then I'm hopping on a plane back to Chicago that afternoon. Then a few days later, it's off to Austin for the rest of the summer.

So, please don't expect "content" or "updates". I know, I know, there's never content or updates anyway...

5/27/2000 08:53:10 PM | +

"What I was trying to say by that was ... there's one thing that people kind of keep forgetting, which is that Napster, they have this sort of innocent smirk in front of their face and they hold up their hand and they go 'We're not really pirates, we're not really doing anything illegal, we're just offering a service,' but what people have to remember, and obviously some of this has developed in the last month, is that Napster is a corporation, OK? They just got $15 million in funding from some of the major venture capitalists out here. They have all along, ultimately getting to the point where they could have a major IPO, which is the one option, or get basically bought out by an AOL type of company. So at some point there will be a major, major profit going on for the people who've invested in Napster. And that money is basically the same as profiting from stolen property."

5/26/2000 01:13:12 PM | +

Today is filler no-content Friday at uber.nu

Basically, I've unilaterally declared all Fridays to be bullshit no content days at uber.nu.

My "real" article should be up Monday. Maybe.

Also, Andy rocks my world -

5/26/2000 01:49:38 AM | +

5/25/2000 07:01:44 PM | +

It's true. Everything in life can be learned from those "and knowing is half the battle" endings of GI Joe.

5/25/2000 03:46:07 PM | +

5/24/2000 04:53:44 PM | +

Lane -

"Here's the thing: everybody wants you to make money. Now, before you come a-knockin' -- yes, that's the goal of a company. And it's a good goal for a company to have. :) But that doesn't mean it has to be the only goal. Companies don't have to be fully evil and 100% corporate. Companies don't have to be relentless in their self-mythologizing. Companies don't have to not care."

5/24/2000 02:46:46 PM | +

deepleap dot org has further convinced me that I'm working for a great company this summer.

5/24/2000 12:47:16 AM | +

I think the cam works.

5/23/2000 01:15:49 PM | +

5/22/2000 01:07:02 PM | +

Super-secret project revealed - Über.nu has launched with Ben writing about, what else, How to Become an Internet Rockstar

5/22/2000 02:11:31 AM | +

Way back when I first started using the web, back when I was a "journalist" in high school, I was utterly fascinated by online newspapers. Right, I mean, the New York Times is there whenever I want to read it? Way cool? But you couldn't read their archives without paying ridiculous fees, which really bothered me, and I think now I've figured out why.

Let's just say I'm reading a current news story from my local paper. What's the advantage of reading it online? Why am I reading this on my computer screen that is slowly but surely destroying what little is left of my vision instead of in the comfort of my kitchen with the print version?

Almost every single story I read online exists in isolation, that is, there is no context. There's no follow this story with direct links to stories from the archives. There's no connections to anything else. And that's the whole damned point of this crazy hypertext system we call the world wide web, right?

Some sites attempt to do this. Almost anything on cnet will have relevant links to past cnet stories. At the bottom of this story on Napster, you can basically read all about what has happened recently with that crazy piece of software.

But there should be more. How great would it be if I could click on a little button in my browser that would immediately and automatically query my favorite news sites to get me related archived articles so I could scan through the old stuff to see how a story developed? And get the same story from different perspectives from across the web? Because these are the cool kinds of things that just aren't possible in traditional media.

Wouldn't it be great if searches actually worked based on what the story was actually about rather than useless keywords?

And even though I can't understand half of what Tim is talking about because I sleep through all my cs theory classes, this is what the semantic web is all about, right? And don't we have the protocols to start doing things like that? And when does cool shit with SOAP and xml-rpc start showing up?

And how is that little green thing that provides info based on context from the crazy little company I'm going to work for this summer fit into all this?

Hell, I don't know. I'm just some geeky college kid. But it's exciting, I think. You know, because I'm a geek.

Hey, remember when blueblog used to link to fun stuff? Wow, that was crazy, back in the day.

5/21/2000 08:42:06 PM | +

Two unimportant bits for today -

• It's true - you will see the results of our combined effort tomorrow. And by combined effort I mean you will see the results of their work. I contributed nothing useful. But I was providing moral support. Ok, I wasn't even doing that. But you can't prove that.
• More proof that I'm months behind every trend, now you can call and leave me free voice mail about how I'm your hero at 1-877-376-8488

5/21/2000 04:10:19 PM | +

5/18/2000 07:45:57 PM | +

5/17/2000 09:58:26 PM | +

"The method means anyone with a broadband connection to the Internet can download literally any movie they're looking for in as little as two hours. It has Hollywood, already on its heels in the war against piracy, sticking yet another thumb in the digital rights dam."

What is DivX?
DivX is a hacked version of the MS-MPEG4 video compression codec. The official homepage is at http://divx.ctw.cc. Do NOT confuse DivX ;) with the failed DVD rental format known as DivX. They aren't the same.

The disturbing thing is that all the movie industry is doing is whining and bitching and moaning about copyright violations and piracy. I mean, the techonlogy exists right now to set up an e-commerce site that would allow you to pay for then download full 600mb movies in DivX or similar format, and I think college kids and others with crazy amounts of bandwidth would be willing to spend a couple of bucks to do it. I know I'm just some stupid college kid and not a big studio executive, but that could make money, right? Isn't that a perfectly reasonable revenue stream for studios? I'm not condoning piracy, but I just don't understand how industries rail against things like this and then offer no viable legal alternatives. (I'm not counting the traditional, overpriced, annoying distribution channels as viable legal alternatives.) It's just sad.

5/16/2000 03:54:33 PM | +

Since I haven't blogged anything substantial in days, I'm just going to continue on this "useless crap" streak I've got going...

So I've been having trouble with the webloglog lately. When I started doing webloglog, the problem was seperating the real "content" from weblog-related or personal garbage... now, get this, there's so much crap I'm having trouble dealing with it. Like, I don't even know where to begin anymore... it's just overwhelming.

Maybe it's just me, and I'm getting cranky because I wish school was over and I was in Austin, or maybe Brig is right and the blog "community" is no longer a fun little startup but a huge corporation... I just don't know.

5/16/2000 01:50:51 AM | +

5/15/2000 06:00:48 PM | +

(Oh my god, look, it's pointless inter-blog-linky-love on blueblog... somebody, quick, stop me before I lose my angry anti-blog-bs cred...)

5/14/2000 11:17:46 PM | +

And then, after that, when you're really pissed off, and you type something like the above into blogger, explaining how blogger just "poofs" away posts, and press post, it does it again?

Well, take it from me, it's a little disheartening.

5/13/2000 04:35:51 PM | +

5/12/2000 12:06:30 AM | +

I'm not trying to fan mass hysteria or anything, but I've disabled all scripting in Internet Explorer, which basically has forced me to switch back over to Netscape. And my god do I hate Netscape.

5/11/2000 11:22:32 PM | +

I'm watching the The Webbys on the live webcast, and well, it's just freaking weird.

So this braindead Joan Rivers wannabe is talking to Peter Merholz. And I'm like wow, that's peterme! Cool! And he's all calm and cool and casually gets peterme.com plugged, and explains that he's here representing metababy for a friend in LA.

But then, to follow it up, the Joan stand-in pulls some random woman and starts talking to her.

"What's your name?"

"I'm Anne."

"And what do you do related to the interent?"

"Well, I'm part of the mergers and acquisitions branch of Bank of America."

And then she just started blabbing on about how she just moved to the West Coast and what a great party this is, and all of a sudden, I was very glad I was not at the webbys.

(And for the record, I am, only watching to root for The Big K and Christine.)

5/11/2000 08:50:43 PM | +

5/9/2000 10:17:55 PM | +

I know linking to this just further cements my position as total loser boy, but BuffyLog! Yeah! The blog all about Buffy and Angel and yeah. Neat.

It was started by Andrea. I like Andrea. She's silly.

5/9/2000 07:09:20 PM | +

My latest is trying to order a digital camera from buy.com. So, even though when I ordered it it "normally ships w/in 24 hours," after three days my order was still in the "processing stage." So I fire off an email to figure out what the problem is, and no, everything is just fine, we're just out of stock now and estimate to have another shipment in the second week of June. But you can "request" a cancellation, and we'll see what we can do.

Second week of June! Second week of June! What the hell is wrong with online retailers? When were they planning on letting me know? "Request" a cancellation? This is fucking ridiculous.

It's just pathetic. I don't understand how any of these "big name" electronic retailers are ever going to gain loyal customers with this kind of service, since their competition is just a click or a price comparison site away. I should just never order anything online.

5/8/2000 01:41:51 PM | +

Currently on ebay - Metallica's Integrity

5/8/2000 12:57:26 PM | +

"The assu draw guide."

Yup, there's my room, and it's kind of in a sty at the time. Note the multiple sailor moon posters. My favorite thing is the Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends video in the bottom right, next to the Dreamcast. Yeah, I'm a dork.

5/7/2000 10:55:14 PM | +

So I've been inundated with all these ridiculous snowball.com ads, and I've been really disturbed and morbidly fascinated by them in that "this could make a great article for the the baffler" way, but really, I had no idea snowball was this bad. From About Snowball -

"We are i

Snowball.com is the leading provider of online content, community and commerce for Gen i- by Gen i. We understand that the Internet generation, a diverse and dynamic group made up of 13- to 30-year-olds, responds best to its own voice. We are that voice.

Young people require no behavioral shift when it comes to the Internet. Gen i is Web-centric, meaning its members are already online and going to the Web first for information, entertainment and communication. And because Gen i is an influential and shifting force online, we are constantly growing to offer even more choices. With the help of our partner sites - 300 and counting - our reach is spreading exponentially.

"We are the i conduit

Snowball isn't just about delivering cool content and resources to Generation i. We also work behind the scenes to make it possible for Generation i to reach more users and advertisers, and deliver a captive audience to businesses who want to reach the Web's most active audience."

I think the funniest thing is they have gen i trademarked. That is fucking hilarious.

It's one thing to purposefully target the supposedly "difficult" 13-30 demographic, but to announce blatantly on your "about" page that you plan on delivering you audience as "captives" to businesses is just poor form, especially if your target demographic is supposedly this "independent-thinking" "corporate-weary" group.. or whatever the generational stereotype is, I don't even know.

If I actually cared, I'm sure I could write a whole lot about this, but ever since I got to college and stopped doing journalism work I've been trying to cut down on the biting op-ed criticism stuff. It just gets me too upset over nothing. And besides, best case scenario - and I eventually write and write and write and get really good and somehow manage to reach my warped childhood dream of getting published in suck, well, I'm sure by then nobody will be reading suck or care.

5/7/2000 09:58:50 PM | +

Braveheart - character development + computer generated Roman Colesium = Gladiator.

So, basically, I loved it.

5/6/2000 08:48:44 PM | +

Say what you will of Bill Clinton, he has a sense of humor. (realvideo version at abcnews, and it's at ad critic too)

5/6/2000 08:40:53 PM | +

This summer, I'll be working for Deepleap.

This is so great! Yippee!

5/4/2000 05:45:42 PM | +

It's kind of funny, the last time I posted to slashdot was to say I thought "columns" by Jon Katz didn't "fit" into /. and that Katz, whose columns at the time contained all these weird symbols because the collective genius of malda and the "community" couldn't explain to Katz how to turn off smart quotes when he wrote his pieces in Microsoft Word for the Macintosh, didn't seem to really be a part of the community, and it might make more sense to give columns to somebody who was.

And besides, "columns" on slashdot? It just didn't make sense, the "community" doesn't need Katz to "speak" for them, or whatever the hell it is he's trying to do, they do just fine for themselves. But I never thought Katz was going to be this bad. After reading Voices from the Slashmouth I'm doubly glad I stopped visiting and posting. [via cam.]

Ok, no more bitching about slashdot anymore. No use beating a dead horse. Or using bad cliches.

5/4/2000 05:29:15 PM | +

"Can you believe it? That means if you started reading Filler at age 15, you're in college now! Or, rather, you've been upgraded to an adult correctional facility by now!"

And that first box is so, so true.

5/3/2000 02:17:11 PM | +

5/2/2000 03:57:15 PM | +

Brazilian wax: A pluck too far - "the latest fashion to sweep the United States -- women plucking all their pubic hair."

"They're calling it the Brazilian wax, but you might know of it by its earlier name - medieval torture."

Salon | Faster Pussycat, Wax! Wax! -

"So why do women go through with this? 'Part of it is the thong thing. It's not attractive if you're hanging out of it,' says Suzanne Biallot, the company spokeswoman. Suzanne was being very polite. What it really boils down to is sex. Women get it done because it makes sex better."

Smooth to the touch -

"We know that the word depilation was certainly in the Greek vocabulary, but defined as 'to pull or pluck out the hair..'. We can only assume that it was a painful process."

Hair, There and Everywhere -

"I thought about the women I'd seen at Mitchell Brothers' O'Farrell Theatre one time, most of them labially pierced and completely devoid of pubic hair. How did they do it? No ingrown hairs, no stubble, nothing. More to the point, why did they do it? Aesthetics aside, if all the women at the O'Farrell Theatre had this in common, they must be on to some prevalent male fantasy having to do with sexual attraction and prepubescent girls."

Bald is Beautiful

Study: Pubic hair may provide easy test for breast cancer

The Wisdom of Puberty -

"I liked the quick, intense pain that rippled down my thigh with every hair I pulled."

5/1/2000 04:10:29 PM | +

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