iBook, iMac, iBlog

[November 30, 2000]

They don't call "Double Stuf" Oreos "Increased Fat" Oreos

I'm dunking my "Reduced Fat" Oreos into my fat-free milk and wondering how they get 50% less fat in these Oreos than in regular Oreos. Looking at the cookies I decide that a better name would be "Half Stuf" Oreos, 'cause that's what they are.

Upon further reflection I decide that I can still eat two more, and I'll be ingesting only 75% of the fat that I would had I just eaten regular Oreos, so I don't care what they call them...

[November 29, 2000]

To Jeffrey:

Keep trusting, keep trusting...

[November 28, 2000]

A gadget freak's holiday wish list...

Any one of these 20 cool space-age gadgets would be sure to warm any geek's heart. Cleverly described, too. [found in Rebecca's Pocket...]

Think you can do better than Florida?

Enter Yupo's ballot design contest and win a G4 Cube with 17" display! [via webdesign-l...]

[November 27, 2000]

Seasons Greetings...

This is my current desktop picture:

Back to the daily grind...

It was great to have a week off from work, and blogging. I hardly touched the computer - only checked my email three times - and I didn't even suffer any withdrawal symptoms. I had a great time with family and friends on Thanksgiving, and throughout the rest of the week.

[November 20, 2000]

Taking a break...

I'm taking a vacation from work until the 27th, spending some time with my family. I may update here and there, but not regularly until next Monday or so. For those that celebrate it, enjoy your Thanksgiving.

Not bad...

My oldest daughter has won a prize in a national reading contest over at Book Adventure. That's her name there, Jordan N, from AZ, under third prize...

[November 17, 2000]

Porsche 911

I'm standing at the bus stop this morning, admiring the black skid marks that jump up onto the curbing, cross under my feet, go through the concrete bus stop, across the entrance to the gas station behind me, and over a couple of concrete curbings into the next parking lot. I'm envisioning what might have happened and hoping no one was standing where I am when it happened, when I hear the whine of some guy hot-rodding his car through the intersection. I look up to see someone abusing the engine of an '80s vintage Porsche 911, redlining it before each change of gears.

So what is it that makes people who buy a Porsche think they are Mario Andretti? Or that they even know how to drive such a machine? Owning a Porsche doesn't make you a Grand Prix driver any more than owning a copy of Front Page makes you a web designer.

I think they named it the 911 so you'd know who to call when you found it wrapped around the telephone pole...

[November 16, 2000]

If you ever wondered...

...how they make the video version of NBA stars move like the real thing, then I have a link for you. Even if you never wondered, a.j. briones tells a good story of Sega doing a Motion Capture session with Brian Grant for their NBA2K1 title. Oh, and there are some cool pix to go with it.

In Brian Grant's Shoes

[November 15, 2000]

You've probably seen this already...

...but I have to blog it. Apple Legal has been quiet recently, but this Cube knock-off from Taiwan should get them all hot and bothered again. I love their tag line for the machine: "Creating your business with strong e-fighting ability." I think we lost something in the translation - but it makes at least as much sense as the e-commerce buzzwords we see in U.S. press releases...

[November 14, 2000]

Christian Glory Hallelu Yah!

Our local paper profiled one of our more unique friends when he changed his name to Christian Glory Hallelu Yah! My wife Kim is quoted in the article

That's something you don't see every day

We were leaving the house and saw that our next door neighbors were having their 30 foot (10 meter) tall pine tree in their front yard cut down. So we stayed to watch. It was kind of scary, and certainly sad for the family. They had planted the tree about 20 years ago, and it grew with their family.

It will take several hours to cut and haul away, and several weeks to get used to it being gone...

Add Netscape 6...

Now it's for real...

[November 13, 2000]

Netscape 6 Update...

Here is a link to a directory which will lead to Windows and Unix versions (as well as the Mac version) of what appears to be a GM version of Netscape 6...

Final version of Netscape?

I downloaded and installed what appears to be a final version of Netscape Navigator 6. I've been testing it on a variety of sites, and aside from some sites that assume it uses the old Navigator DOM, it seems to work well. No crashes, handles Flash fine, seems to a quick and stable release.

Of course it hasn't officially been released yet. And I only have a link for the Mac version.

Oh, and, don't tell anyone where you found it...

Family Time

Friday night I went to a Clean Comedians show with my wife and oldest daughter. It's been a long time since I laughed that hard! And last night we went to TGIFriday's with the family. We ended up spending over an hour as we waited for them to bring us the food we ordered. They made it right by not charging us for the meal. So we'll try again and maybe we'll pay for our food next time...

[November 10, 2000]

Happy retirement, Dad...

Enjoy it - you deserve it!

Those iMac Kids...

What do you get when you put a few precocious pre-teens together and add a common love for Apple's iMac? iMacKid.com, complete with blog...

[November 9, 2000]

New Commercial

If you were watching the returns a couple of nights ago, I'm sure you saw the new iMovie2 commercial from Apple. Featuring Jeff Goldblum - now available for download from apple.com...

[November 8, 2000]

Sick yesterday

I'm still recovering, so there may be no updates today. I did add another example to yesterday's post...

[November 7, 2000]

I voted early...

If you haven't voted yet, stop reading this and go do it...

So who'd I vote for? Doesn't really matter now. But I'll tell you about some of my thinking, and maybe you'll be able to figure it out for yourself.

I am fiscally conservative. I want to know that whatever money the government manages to wrest from my control gets spent wisely. And when it comes to the government I have some libertarian leanings - the less the better. I realize that we need to be governed, I just have a hard time trusting the recent leadership of the US.

Socially I tend to be more liberal, but with a conservative bent (?). I believe we need to take care of the poor, needy and downtrodden. I am not convinced that entitlements are the right answer, however. Its the difference between handing out fish, and giving free fishing lessons. I guess I'm more for enablement (I just made that up). Some call it compassionate conservatism. It's also been labeled faith-based initiatives. Either way, if it's more than just a platitude it works.

I don't care whether it's Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, or whatever. If it has a proven track record, give 'em more money to keep doing what they've been doing and open up doors for them to help even more people.

If you are skeptical, here's a few examples where it has worked:

Theology of the Hammer profiles Habitat for Humanity, the most well known faith based program.

Success in the Shadows contrasts a government run shelter in D.C. with a faith-based one a few blocks away.

A Web of Relationship - How churches help the public schools.

Remember, these programs are not forced on anyone. We simply need to enable the very things that are working to affect more people, to enable more people to pull themselves out of whatever they're mired in, and return to be more productive members of society.

Oh, and whatever your political leanings are,(if you are a US Citizen), exercise your right to vote!

[November 6, 2000]

They just keep coming...

I've enjoyed watching the traffic to this page grow as a result of the article. And the feedback has been wonderful - I like discussing web design with people from all over the internet. Keep writing...

Discipline, part 2

Sometimes we are disciplined by others when we do what we know we shouldn't. Sometimes we are disciplined to do what we know we should, even when we don't want to. Either way we are developing character.

[November 3, 2000]

A List Apart (too)

Welcome, those of you who are here via the article at A List Apart (and welcome to everyone else, too)! I have added a couple of new skins (links on the right) for your browsing pleasure. Take a look around, and make yourself at home. I look forward to your comments...

we are live, baby!

That was the text of the email I received from Zeldman. Well, that and a link to alistapart.com...

Yes, today marks the debut of my non-self-published writing. After meeting Jeffrey Zeldman at Web Design 2000, I sent him an article proposal for his web design magazine, A List Apart. He liked the idea, which meant I had to write the article...

Fortunately he liked the article, too. Daemon Skins: Separating Presentation from Content discusses how (and why) I set up this blog to use skins, with the click of a mouse.

[November 2, 2000]

It's getting crowded

Over there on the right, that is. I've added a few new blogs to the list, and added a new Participate section where I list the discussions and email lists in which I participate. These links are really for me, so I can click and read/participate in my favorite sites from one easy spot.

But you might want to check them out too...

Election 2000

[November 1, 2000]

You know you're a geek...

...when you see a kid in an alligator costume on halloween and think "Oh, look, he dressed up as Mozilla."

Mark Newhouse is the Web Designer for the public outreach arm of the National Optical Astronomy Observatories in Tucson, AZ. He has been using Macs for over a decade, and sometimes gets Distracted.