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Home > Weblog w/e 8.9.2001

Saturday 8 September 2001, 23:55 BST
Conducting Black Operations in the Corporate IT Theatre. Another essential tome from O'Really. [Via CamWorld]
Does beheading hurt? And, if so, for how long is the severed head aware of its plight? Creepy. [Via lgf]
Acts of Gord. Once upon a time, a guy wanted to open a video game store. Then he met real, live customers, and started sharing his worst experiences with the world. There's much, much more where this came from:
Damn You and Your Proof!
"What's this about your collection company saying I never returned Resident Evil 2!"

Well, you didn't return Resident Evil 2.  Too complicated a concept?

"We returned it the day after we got it right though the return slot on the door!"

Really?

"Yes!"

Who did exactly?

"He did!"  (point to friend).

You did?

"Yes."

Care to explain how you did that 2 months ago when that drop slot was only put in on Thursday?  Here's the invoice I got a few minutes ago for it. See the date?

<dramatic pause>

"FUCK YOU!" and they storm out.

Note:  The reason why they were in was because buddy wasn't able to get a car loan because this appeared on his credit file…  And the Gord was satisfied.
[Via SeeThru Weblog]
This has been blogged extensively elsewhere, but what the heck: The Onion AV Club has a first-rate interview with Joss Whedon.

[NB/- the very first question includes a huge spoiler for anyone who hasn't seen the last episode of Buffy season 5, as well as a couple of minor hints about season 6. I already knew about the big spoiler, as do a lot of BBC-watching Buffy fans, but if you don't know what I'm talking about then you will be very unhappy if you find out about it this way. I apologise for not posting a spoiler notice in the first version of this entry.]

Make sure you read the text they couldn't find room for in their regular AV Club interview format but put up anyway. Here's Joss on the Willow-Tara lesbian controversy:
The Onion: Speaking of sex and reality, the Tara-and-Willow relationship has been controversial from several angles, with one side of the spectrum accusing you of promoting a homosexual agenda while the other side accuses you of exploiting lesbian chic.

Joss Whedon: You just have to ignore that. I actually went online and said, "I realize that this has shocked a lot of people, and I've made a mistake by trying to shove this lifestyle--which is embraced by, maybe, at most, 10 percent of Americans--down people's throats. So I'm going to take it back, and from now on, Willow will no longer be a Jew." And somebody was actually like, [adopts agitated whine] "What do you mean she's not going to be a Jew anymore?" I was like, "Can we get a 'sarcasm' font?"
Friday 7 September 2001, 23:30 BST
The 12 Tricks of a True TV Ninja. [Via /usr/bin/girl]
Scott McCloud has started posting a daily cartoon: Morning Improv. [Via memepool]
Five-One:
Universal Pictures announced today they plan to make a film of the momentous football match that took place on Saturday. "Five-One" is the tentative title of what could be next year's big summer hit, depicting the American national soccer team's stunning victory over Germany.
[Via plasticbag.org]
Fuck MTV! has some fun watching the MTV Video Music Awards.
I just saw Michael Jackson's profile and it ruined my life.
posted by Chris Conroy at 9:33 PM

Speak for yourself dude. I do not use Michael Jackson and fucked in the same sentence.
posted by michele c at 9:33 PM
[Via a fire inside - home of michele c, quoted above]
Channel 4 repeated the last episode of Da Ali G Show a few minutes ago, complete with the truly wonderful Ali G-Jarvis Cocker duet on Help Da Mothafuckin' Aged. I'm not a major fan of Ali G, but that was pure genius.
Thursday 6 September 2001, 23:20 BST
Generation Terrorists. A pretty decent quotation-finding site. [Via MetaFilter]
Microsoft are being criticised because Internet Explorer now puts up a MSN Search page instead of the "404 - File Not Found" message actually supplied by the web server.

I think this is no big deal. While some customised 404 pages do attempt to direct users to the right page within the site, in the majority of cases when I see a 404 message I've got no choice but to either read the URL to see if there's an obvious error or go to Google to find the page. You can already change the default search engine IE uses, and it appears from the report that you can do the same here, so I can't see why this should be a major issue. Kneejerk reactions to every move Microsoft makes only serves to reduce the impact of criticism when they genuinely overstep the mark (see Smart Tags).
Dutchbint is a very naughty girl.
Wednesday 5 September 2001, 23:45 BST
Mark Steyn on Death by Entourage. [Via Arts & Letters Daily]
GREP for Linguists. A pretty decent layman's guide to using regular expressions. [Via sapphireblue]
Windows XP for the Mac? Readers of The Register don't miss a thing.
Intensities: The Journal of Cult Media. This looks as if it might develop into highly worthwhile journal for fans of "cult" TV. Vampire Hunters, Annette Hill and Ian Calcutt's account of the problems fans face in trying to form online communities despite the vagaries of UK TV schedules is a thorough exploration of the issue. (Albeit one which, like so much discussion of online communities, entirely ignores the role of Usenet.) [Via uk.media.tv.buffy-v-slayer]
Tuesday 4 September 2001, 23:05 BST
The Gallery of Regrettable Food 3.0. Do not read this at work if your boss frowns upon staff howling with laughter at regular intervals. My favourite entry: puke stew.
The very definition of a cushy IT support contract. [Via lgf]
Astonishing Wired article about the lengths employees will go to in order to avoid giving a urine sample. My (least) favourite strategy: have someone else's urine injected into your bladder! [Via the null device]
How many new-fangled brands can you recognise? To my shame, I got 9 out of 10 (though one or two of the nine were educated guesses). [Via not.so.soft]
Dan Bricklin is unconvinced that youthful enthusiasm is the way to build an IT revolution: look at the people whose work made the IBM PC a success.

The thing is, the revolution really started with the Apple II, not the IBM PC. IBM took the open hardware model and utilised their established position in the corporate IT business and their extremely deep pockets to expand the PC business. Then the clone makers, Apple and Microsoft took control of the personal computing "revolution" away from IBM. IBM's contribution was to build on the real revolution. I can't blame Bricklin for emphasising the value of experience in the wake of so many dot-com businesses which arrogantly decided that history (ie hard-won knowledge of how to develop and market technology products) was irrelevant, but the role of Jobs and (especially) Wozniak was a lot more important than that of IBM or even Microsoft.
The Monobrow Manual. [Via dutchbint]
Monday 3 September 2001, 23:10 BST
Hypnotic Flash animation. [Via 3 Bruces]
Monty's Guide to the Internet.
Welcome to the Internet!

While you're here, you'll undoubtedly see a number of strange and disturbing things. You might also find things that are unbelievably entertaining. And then, sometimes, you'll find stuff that was written in haste at 12:19 in the morning. Life's like that. Deal.
"Go inna bathroom and drink from the sink!" Another delightful vignette from the life of Davezilla.
Silent but deadly. Oh my. [Via MetaFilter]
Congratulations to the winners of the 2001 Hugo Awards. It's good to see a fantasy (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J K Rowling) pick up Best Novel for a change. Furthermore, I'm delighted to see Dave Langford pick up a Hugo as a fiction writer alongside yet another Best Fan Writer award, and to see Jack Williamson (who was first published way back in 1928!) still not just active but picking up awards.
Can anyone see what's missing from this list of Frequently Asked Questions? [Via Bifurcated Rivets]
Sunday 2 September 2001, 23:30 BST
Insanely cool map of the inner solar system. I always thought I knew there were a lot of minor planets in the asteroid belt, but this illustrates pretty clearly just how crowded the gap between Mars and Jupiter really is.

The chart also shows very clearly the Trojans, the two distinct clumps of asteroids 60° either side of Jupiter. [Via rec.arts.sf.written]
Gary Susman investigates Hollywood's bizarre system of "martian accounting." [Via I Love Everything]

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