Okay, this will permanently brand me as the geekiest dork ever (I fully expect a “geek” comment from Shannon), but perusing WinAmp’s SHOUTcast Radio list today, I found the ultimate station:
…wait for it…
Commodore 64 remixes. From SLAY Radio.
Yes, you read that correctly. Commodore 64 remixes.
I’ve been letting it play in the background. It totally kicks ass.
This strikes me as being a real Long Tail kind of thing.
A couple of months ago I blogged a bit about Intuit Master Builder software and some of the problems that come with it. One of the things I wrote was, “It’s got a low barrier-to-entry user interface that makes it easy to learn and use for non techie types.”
While that statement is (for the most part) true, it’s also true that the UI for Master Builder is completely ridiculous—especially for a Windows application in this day and age. Just how ridiculous it truly is struck me last week when we were at a user group meeting for Master Builder (they don’t happen often), and the consultant/expert was showing off some of the newest features.
So, here are two examples of the poor UI that plagues this program. Both are from the “Equipment” screen, and are completely typical of every screen in the system. Click them for full-size images.
Pretty horrible. But my particular favorites are the totally non-standard menu bar at the top (“Exit” is the first item?) and the garish, circa-Windows 3.1 toolbar buttons, also in a totally non-standard layout and position.
This is one of those over-the-top, for-the-person-who-has-everything, I-have-too-much-disposable-income type of things: The Ultimate Star Trek Collection on Amazon. It’s insane:
What a deal! Especially since you save $1,409.
This panel from my daily Peanuts calendar struck me as being pretty philosophically deep for Charlie Brown.
I had to link to this video just because it’s so cool. (“Cool” in a geeky way.) Not because of the dancing part, but just the transforming effects are so good that if I didn’t know better, I’d swear it was for real. If ever there’s a live action Transformers movie, I’d hope it’s this good.
Via Gadgetopia.
The Kansas Board of Education has approved new school standards that promote and teach so-called “intelligent design.” Wow; I don’t even have the words, so I’ll quote the article…
“This is a sad day. We’re becoming a laughingstock of not only the nation, but of the world, and I hate that,” said board member Janet Waugh, a Kansas City Democrat.
You got that right, sister.
Via Slashdot.
Today Shannon writes:
i’m surprised that other bend bloggers haven’t commented on this but apparently the fox station is going to start a 10 p.m. local newscast at the first of the year according to our local paper who doesn’t have the story online. yea, two news stations! maybe i can stop watching portland and eugene news.
We don’t get the paper, and if it’s not online, then I wouldn’t otherwise see it. Anyway, what I’m wondering is, will the local Foxcast be bringing in new talent, or are they going to poach it away from Z21?
I just realized this; I haven’t used PHP 5 at all since it came out, so I’m terribly illiterate about this latest version of PHP. I still use PHP 4. That means I’m no longer cutting edge on PHP! Or maybe that just means I’m no longer bleeding edge, since PHP 5 adoption has been terribly slow.
Today is the first day of National Novel Writing Month. Write a 50,000-word (or more) novel in 30 days. I like the concept on this. And I’m tempted to take a crack at it, if for no other reason than cachet-factor. I’d post the efforts to the blog, of course, otherwise, where’s the love?
Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.
Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.
Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that’s a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.
