What have I done now?

What have I done now? Robert says that I'm the one responsible for getting him into blogging. Uh oh.

Living in the middle of

Living in the middle of wine country, I think that we're required to link to WineUpdate.com, a weblog about wine.

In answer to Al's question

In answer to Al's question today: I think so. I'm not sleepy right now, for example. It hasn't been a stunning change so far; of course, I'm still getting used to sleeping with apparatus attached to my face. After four nights, I'm up to about six hours with it on. At that point, I wake up and my throat is dry, so I take it off and drift back to sleep for another couple of hours. I guess I understand now why compliance is a problem with so many people. And thanks for asking, Al.

Polar Trek 2001 is an

Polar Trek 2001 is an all-woman cross-country ski trek to the North Pole this April.

Pirated sites: "where some pretty

Pirated sites: "where some pretty lazy web developers get laughed at."

As freelance writers ourselves, this

As freelance writers ourselves, this article is a fascinating view of the freelance writing life outside the computer publishing niche. Man, I wish we were pulling down this kind of money, or at least this kind of pay per word.

Here's another example of Microsoft's

Here's another example of Microsoft's Roach Motel approach to users: Microsoft Announces Java User Migration Path to Microsoft .NET. Of course, like the roaches, once users make that migration they won't be able to get out again. Or at least, not without ripping off a leg or two.

After Meritocracy is an interesting

After Meritocracy is an interesting article about the differences between the Clinton and Bush II administrations, specifically the Bushies' rejection of intellectualism and experts and their embrace of the plodding organization men to run the country. The article raises some good questions about how - and if - such an uncreative, by-the-book administration will be able to react to unexpected crises. Here's a salient quote:

The question for W.'s administration, by contrast, is whether its organization men can respond to chaos or whether they will try to pretend it doesn't exist. Already, the Bushies seem loath even to discuss the mounting energy crisis in California--a crisis that could have a greater short-term impact on the economy than W.'s tax cuts.

Just how obsessed with Harry

Just how obsessed with Harry Potter are you? Take The Harry Potter Obsession Quiz.

I'll be armed and dangerous

I'll be armed and dangerous with The Mountain Dew 12 oz. can Shotgun.

Get your Mob nickname here.

Get your Mob nickname here.

One dinosaur named after another.

One dinosaur named after another. The dino-honoree is quoted as saying he's "really delighted."

The Top 10 Lies of

The Top 10 Lies of Entrepreneurs by Guy Kawasaki.

I added a post to

I added a post to our other blog, Wedlog, today for the first time in about a month. There will be more to come as the wedding process begins to crank up to full speed. If you didn't notice before, the Wedlog button is at the right side of this page. You know what to do.

Macworld has has posted the

Macworld has has posted the second of my three reviews in their February issue, PageSpinner. Still to come: Space Agent.

Grumble. I'm working with someone

Grumble.

I'm working with someone now whose definition of cross-browser means IE 4.x and IE 5.x, and whose definition of cross-OS means that it works in Win 95, 98, NT, 2000, ME, and Whistler. Isn't that enough platforms and browsers for everyone?

Tom blogged below about the

Tom blogged below about the White House web site. Sunday, Wired wrote Anybody Home at Whitehouse.gov?, in which they show screenshots that include page links like "Insert Something Meaningful Here." Personally, I think that that's a perfect statement right there about the Bush White House.

In other news, Wired also ran an interview with Jakob Nielsen on his opinions of the site. It's plain and boring, so he doesn't have too many complaints.

Reason # 4823 to hate

Reason # 4823 to hate the Scientologists: now they're ripping off web site designs.

It's obviously the vast left-ing

It's obviously the vast left-ing conspiracy! A White House aide reports that many of the keyboards at the Old EOB are either missing the "W" key, or have it damaged in some fashion.

As far as I can

As far as I can tell, the new Website for The White House was whipped up in about half an hour using Dreamweaver. It wasn't done by someone with lots of Web experience, either; look at the Tours page to see some obvious errors. What I find to be interesting is how the site had to switch from the old Clinton administration site and go live when Shrub was inaugurated, at noon last Saturday. Considering that there was no Web when Clinton came in, this is the first time there's been such a transition.

The evil begins: Bush Acts

The evil begins:

Bush Acts to Deny Money Overseas Tied to Abortion and Opponents of Abortions Cheer New Administration. If you believe in women's reproductive rights, and you voted for Nader (not to mention Bush), slap yourself now. Oh, and get used to it; there will be many more slaps to come in the next four years.

New links to here: Random

New links to here: Random Thoughts from a Large Head and Salt. Thanks!

Now, that's funny: Via Hotline

Now, that's funny: Via Hotline Scoop:

"Due to a small but significant clause in the U.S. Constitution, I will be out of the office from January 21, 2001 until January 20, 2005" -- an Al Gore political adviser's message on his White House voicemail.

Jason Kottke started a conversation

Jason Kottke started a conversation on his blog about
How could you best use time travel as a tool to gain significant personal wealth with just one trip?

I posted the usual bits, stolen straight out of SF novels, including the main concept from Kage Baker's series of novels about The Company: go back in time and grab books and works of art that have since been destroyed, such as the Library of Alexandria. Pretty standard SF fare.