If you haven't seen them yet, Caterina has some hot Voronoi diagram and Islamic pattern links (do you remember when people would call links “hotlinks” and web “masters” would use fire icons and animated burning letters to spell out the word hot?)
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

I'm not sure if I am in my third or fourth week now of trying to get my windows machine running properly. That weeks of spending a minimum of four hours per day inserting and removing disks, installing and reinstalling software, pulling out cards, setting jumpers, virus scanning, disk formatting, rebooting, rebooting, rebooting, and most of all, waiting.

I keep at it because I keep thinking that I've got it nailed and whatever I just did or just thought of doing was the thing that would finally solve the problem; so far, nothing has. And it is extremely depressing: the finitude of my powers is made plain infinitely.

While I've been doing this, the whole holiday has vanished. When I finished my last two work projects, the idea was to take a little time off, do some skiing, work on some of the incredibly cool personal projects I've got bubblin', get the 5k all set up, catch up on reading, and enjoy. Instead, I've got nothing done, and have become increasingly anxious as the to do list gets longer and longer, and things start piling up. I'm making almost no progress on new work I should be doing and I'm certainly getting no pleasure out of it either.

Had I known that I was up for anything like this, I would have just bought a new computer or hired someone to take care of it straight away. Instead, I wasted all this time and energy, got no break and I'm still out whatever it will cost to get going again. There is a lesson in there somewhere.
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

Are you an intellectual property lawyer or do you know someone who is? Are you up on British book copyrights? Send me an email! Update: thanks! Got plenty.
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

The Year-End Google Zeitgeist confirms the idiocy of the masses (as if they needed it). Check the September section of the timeline for the year:

Nostradamus becomes the number one overall search term and the most misspelled query for the month.

See?

(The extent to which people type URLs into search boxes doesn't surprise me anymore: CNN was the most searched for 9/11-related term, with BBC in third and MSNBC in fifth.)
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

The Memory Collection: 20 objects from the 20th century. Not to be confused with the 20 things project

Not related: I have to remember to go back to Pixelyn and grab one or three of those fonts.
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

“Since the mites on this burying beetle's back were moving around, not attached, they were probably not feeding on it, just hitching a ride to food sources. This hitchhiking relationship is called phoresy. Phoretic mites may protect burying beetles by cleaning them of bacteria and fly eggs. The beetle is Nicrophorus sp.” I love Raphael Carter's Home Page.
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

Unordered list:

Firminy and Privation, the two current exhibits at the CAG, are both worth seeing.

Last night was the Secret Latern Society's (no website!) soltice fire dancing celebration event along with assorting giant latern things, a portable planetarium and more, at the Roundhouse. There are such great fire-involving events in Vancouver.

Someone named Shena, asked a question in the comments space below which I can't really answer. Perhaps you can help: after having read the question, do you think that Shena is more likely to become:

Toilet paper woman.
Power suit woman.


Or view the current poll results without voting.

Correction: Michael does have a website again — in related news, his eldest daughter's first piece of art online is available for viewing and her elementary school class is starting a weblog (!).
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

(And speaking of design.) Nike's new 'Enjoy the Weather' site is the best work that I've ever seen come out of Blast Radius. They have always been fantastic on the creative side, but have usually fallen down on the interaction design and never gave the impression of caring much about the work they did aside from the hot flash stuff. But lately they have been exhibiting a new kind of maturity (evidenced by the excellent design strategy and great execution on the Nike site, as well as the high quality of craft on their new (HTML!) corporate site) — and since they seem to be hanging on (and even prospering) despite all the negative prognostications, they will probably be doing even cooler stuff in the future. Congrats.
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

Two very interesting work-related things:

(1) A forwarded email back-n-forth between two of boffinest XML boffins I know, on the value of schemas.
(2) Is DHTML Dead? (DevX)
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

Caterina was telling me about Franco Maria Ricci (enter his world, as the link says, for happiness) and the site that we found, designboom, was very cool: international flavours and things like peter fritz, an insurance clerk in vienna, built 387 architectural models and this article on Susan Kare (shh... a 5k judge in 2002), profiles of people from David Byrne to Toyo Ito and even a so-hip-it's-denominated-in-euros flea market.
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

Today we learned that, excepting the capricious inconveniences of the Lions Gate Bridge and can walk out of our front door and be on one of Cypress Bowl's lifts within an hour.

Aside from a mild chill, the conditions were 100% perfect: sun, unlimited visibility (which from the top means incredible views of Howe Sound, The Lions, Burrard Inlet and Vancouver as well as all the mountains) a great sunset, generous amounts of fresh snow and a deep base.
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

Capillaries, hairs, crystals and assorted micrography — except wait! It's the surface of Europa. All your fractal dreams come true (I had picked out individual graphics to discuss, but the image links seem to be bound to sessions).
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

From the latest pantsmail (pantsmail: worth subscribing to): What would Abraham Lincoln Want to Say To Us Today?
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

After a week which included (i) failure of the home DSL just when I needed to upload something for a client, and (ii) on the same day, a power outage affecting the entire office (and more than one city block) following the Great Windstorm of Last Week, and (iii) the sylloge mailserver being down for almost three days and (iv) a torturous 48 hour marathon session of PCI card out-pulling, randomly switching BIOS settings and rebooting in an effort to to get my windows machine working again, I was going to write something very much along the lines of Paul's DV woes, but he captured it:

Ach... I'd forgotten how incredibly vague and uncooperative new technology can be. And forgotten how easy it is to loose one's composure and sense of humor by getting sucked into an obsessive psychic wrestling match with it. In such cases even an eventual win seems more like a loss.

The more useful and used a technology, the greater is the inconvenience in its privation. And let's quit it with the privation of my useful and used technology already.
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

“Work #115 relates to the second work in the Hamilton show, titled Work #142; a large piece of furniture partially obstructing a door. The title, as they say, says it all. The scruffy looking sofa in question came from the local Amity second-hand shop in Hamilton, and sits at a jaunty 45-degree angle to the doorway of a small, side gallery -- discreetly making a nuisance of itself. It is brown and white. And that's all there is to say about it.”
— Globe & Mail: Now you see it, now you don't

On Martin Creed's recent Turner Prize win and the curious fact that his work is now showing in Hamilton, ON, (the unreconstructed Pittsburgh of Canada, as some might say) —of all places.
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

I added a to the comments at the bottom of this page so that you could, if the need arose, link to an individual comment. I did this so I could link to this comment which is an example of something I (usually) like, which is random quotations in comment boxes (also, I liked the idea of leaving a little bit of name, without any real identifying information).

Now, since I built this little thing, I can also point out that famous and important South of France-resider Dean Allen himself, is among those who left a comment! Now who's legitimate? (Apologies to all those people who left comments and are not Dean Allen.)
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

"No question once it opens its doors on Sept. 11, 2001, Tribeca Issey Miyake will become a stop on the cognoscenti's crawl through downtown New York, but a strictly crass, pragmatic level, it's also designed to move merchandise."
— artnet.com: Gehry Downtown
(From Chris B, via the Do list)
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

From one London-based Matt to another, we are given a particularly fine interconnection:

I sit in a building older than I am!

This is really great and important, but so very hard to articulate. Here's another try, from a different angle.

Look in any direction: all the things you see you got for free. Even if they are not yours, they are yours and they were just given to you. Chairs, refining and plastics, glass, insulation, wood framing, concrete, plaster and paint, the transistor, the microchip. This building, that electric convection stove, the awesome fade-in/fade-out dimmers on these lights — it doesn't matter if I paid for them or not, they are mine and yours: these are the things we got.

Of course, it's not just the stuff: we got Nietzsche and the standard model and all different styles of fiddle paying (but O! the stuff —pens which carry their own ink around inside of themselves, all those thousands of miles of power lines, great cities!). We didn't come into the world and figure out, say, what was up with the sun and how many planets there were or how to make paper or what we should do in case one person murders another: there's seven million volumes in the CUL.

All the prior parts of the rug* are ours together and when we came into the world it was already beautiful. While we sleep, people are constantly adding new and wonderful weaves. This is what we have, above and beyond any possessions — and we can do whatever we want with it. You can cut out pieces that you like and paste them back together in whatever way pleases you. That is your greatest privilege as a human being.

Updated: Caterina, on reading, quotes me the Talmud: "I did not find the world desolate when I entered. And as my fathers planted before I was born, so do I plant for those who will come after me."

Updated again: Matt goes further.

---

*I put the links in so you can read the things I link to, but you don't have to. Matt referred to a rug.
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

Owen Briggs has a nice parade here which makes me feel bad about the <table> I used in the production of this very page. I'm not raining, but the difference between this and this has always seemed very great to me, and despite being a big fan of XML I've never figured out how you can avoid designing the same thing over again for different presentations (there's a good reason you can't "Save as..." a movie or radio show from within Word).
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

OK.

Okay.

OK. Okay, OK, okay, OK, okay, okay ... okay.

OK, okay, okay, okay, okay, o-okay ... OK.

OK.

Okay.

Haha!
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

Now that's a post!
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

At an antique store today I acquired 12 specimen cases (plastic-windowed cardboard display boxes, packed with cotton) of various wheats, millets, barleys, all manner of seed pods, and one each of Halogeton Glomeratus and Polygonum Persicaria. The pieces were discards from a local museum and the oldest specimens I've found are from 1938 (millets from Guelph, Ontario).

By way of negotiation tactic (I had haggled a little too close to the bone), the shopkeeper informed me that the copper bust Caterina and I had been admiring earlier was of one Dr. Charles Saunders, and it was he who developed the very strain of wheat which lay there in the case I was currently holding; a strain named, he had me note, Marquis. And this strain was able to grow ten degrees further North, a grand thing for Canada, and got Saunders his KBE. (I thought this was mere bargaining fooferah but lo, he was right.)

But that's not the thing.

The thing is that when I went down to the car just now to get the box containing these cases, the passenger side window was smashed and things were strewn all over. Apparently, my incredibly cool agricultural specimens were not worth carrying away (the box was open, set on its side and rifled through) and neither were (i) a Stereolab CD in the case for a Barbara Dane and Lighnin' Hopkins disc and (ii) another CD called "The Essex Green" (the band? the album?).

But a whole bunch of other CDs were taken and I have to pay another $100 deductible (for the fourth time in two years) and waste several hours with insurance people and at the glass place (Boyd's, as an aside, does an excellent job and even washes your car after). On top of all that: there's a Mercedes, a new Beetle, two BMW sedans, a BMW SUV, one of those snazzy Audis and a Jaguar in that parking lot, but my car (which can't even pass AirCare and died last time I took in on the highway) is the one they break in to?

But that's still not the thing:

Hey jerkball! The back door was open!
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

Via email:
- From the Do list: proof that skinny German guys can dance.
- From Jason: Black Shoals, an installation art piece of a night sky projected planetarium-style onto a domed ceiling which “is a real time representation of the world's stock markets, with each star representing a traded company.”
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

“...Dutch banknotes are the prettiest in the world”
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

The hilarious bio of Caveh Zahedi (my favorite character from Waking Life; he was the one talking about Bazin, God and the having of holy moments). Makes me want to see the film A Portrait of Caveh Zahedi as a Complete Failure.
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

Art test (via the yellow chair) says: I am Pablo Picasso's Three Musicians. (Here's a template to colour in your own version.)

And, from R. Johnson's exit page, we learn that Metropolis Magazine is onliner than one might have thought.

Finally, speaking of XML editors (which are marketed by Yoda), TagFree 2000 X2X Mapper “makes you free to convert one XML data for all applications (CRM, ERP, DW, EDI, and any device). Just integration it is.”
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

Some colleagues launched a new site for the Vancouver Port Authority today. Ho hum? Sure, except for the 18 webcams they have setup all over the port lands (I guess they're there so shippers can see what the lines and lanes are like, but I also like to "keep an eye on things" if you know what I mean. “Centerm Empty Gate” (#5) is my favorite). (Also, I dig the design.)
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

Design Notes for an XML Editor. Has anyone found an XML editor with a UI they like? (Or at least any good thoughts on the issue?) I'm going to be designing a development environment for designing XML editing clients (holy meta design challenge!) and I really don't have any good examples to go by.
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

c'mon blogger, you can do it ...
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

Amazon accepted my review of Eric A. Cascading Style Sheets Meyer's Cascading Style Sheets 2.0 Programmer's Reference. Heh.
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

Subject: THE BUYING SEASON IS AMONG US (spam)
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

This is a 350KB animated gif I made because I got distracted.

Thanks so much for all the nice comments you people. That really makes me happy. (I guess I did invent “linkchronicity”.)
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

Question: would you like to be able to enter your name/address/URL in the comments thing?
(Updated: Thanks for your answers. I added those things. Except turnon, which is coming — #$%* SQL ... )
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `

Now live and open. Hello.

Here we go — from this week's Terminal City (print edition):

As part of a scandalously ineffective strategy to curb drug use among high school students, the Vancouver Coalition for Crime Prevention and Drug Treatment put out an anti-drug advertisement entitled “Power Choices,” which ran all last week in the Lower Mainland section of the Vancouver Sun.

The Monday edition of the ad (which comes complete with a special message from every kid's hero, Mayor Philip Owen) suggests students try the following activities in lieu of drug use: “sleeping,” “searching the internet on an obscure topic,” “writing down your dreams,” “making a list of your favorite things,” and “talking to people about how important it is to for [sic; T.C.] communities to embrace their young people.”

?

First, it is hard to believe people can muddle things so badly (or perhaps they are only trying to keep very stupid kids off drugs?).

Second, right here, in the city that has shared first place in the quality of life index for however many years, we have the world's greatest anti-drug message: the people in the Downtown Eastside — every drive past Hastings & Main is like an anti-drug PSA. Or point the kids to things like this horrific series of police mugshots of a Hollywood prostitute/junkie over a ten year period (related: another series; related, but different: Lincoln Clarkes' Heroines Project).

(Update: ah, I note that it is not as bad as it seemed: I found a PDF of the ad in question on the VCCPDT site.)
(Updated again: Holy linkchronicity! Look at the December 1st entry on Eclogues.)
` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` `