Year: 2000

• Cannot find server The most interesting thing about this design is the amount of times you might glance at it before you actually notice what’s going on. It’s not a design that will get you read a lot – our self imposed web programming makes us blot out such things, as if we had some self-censorship software running in our heads at all times – but it is a gutsy (and astonishingly clear) move
• Yahoo A Yahoo redesign is never going to push the envelope, but it happens so rarely that it is always going to be worthy of comment. The new top buttons are clearer than ever, and more space has been allocated, so that the site presumably no longer sits as well on older, mainly defunct screen resoutions. More interesting conceptually than visually.

• gaylery.com has been redesigned (I am probably the last to notice this fact). Basically, it looks amazing. Very clean, intelligent design complements the already sharp content.
• A great quote from eod.com: “This whole external male genitalia thing is really badly designed. I mean, do I have to carry a VCR around with me all the time just because I watch a movie every once in a while? “

I’m continuing my quest to discover whether Netsol is selling information on the domain name searches performed through its service. I’ve had a few e-mails from people who are divided in opinion as to whether I am being paranoid or not. However I stumbled upon a figure that slightly alarmed me. In an article at CBS Marketwatch there was this statement:

“In the first quarter, we saw astounding acceleration in ‘.com,’ ‘.net’ and ‘.org’ domain-name registrations worldwide, as total new market registrations grew 120 percent from the previous quarter,” said Jim Rutt, chief executive officer [of NetSol]. “In fact, more than one-third of all existing ‘.com,’ ‘.net’ and ‘.org’ domain names were registered in the first quarter of 2000.”

So I suppose the race is on. If you have some names you want, buy them now. You may not get another chance. [Discuss]

Katy quoted Fire Bad, Weblogs Good a couple of days ago. He said (about our recent stint at riothero):

“Now, I came around when Tom and Katy were Accidentally Rio Theros, because Goddamn those two are witty, smutty and vile. I love them. Like a stream of bat’s piss, they shine out like a shaft of gold when all around is dark”

In the meantime, since we have parted company, both Mark and I have slipped savagely down beebo.org’s weblog ratings. I only say this in passing as I am too exhausted to draw any conclusions from it.

1. I drank far too much caffeine last night, so even though I was exhausted when I got home at midnight, I couldn’t sleep until nearly two in the morning.
2. Around three in the morning I had an appalling nightmare, the details of which I can’t remember. The worst thing was that I only half woke up, and was stuck in that sleep paralysis mode where you suddenly get nervous and paranoid and then outright terrified as you lie in this kind of quasi-dreamstate, unable to move, with perceived movement around you. It took a while to get back to sleep.
3. At which point the nightmares returned, leaving me sleeping fitfully until 8 in the morning, at which point I got up feeling physically numb but edgy – as if I had some kind of reptile coiling and recoiling around in my head. People seem distant and slightly unfamiliar. I want to go back to bed.

I went to see Mission: Impossible 2 last night at a special press screening at the Empire in Leicester Square (I’m having quite the glamourous life at the moment). My honest opinion: it was bloody awful. Totally ridiculous, pointless film full of overblown stunts, empty of plot, totally lacking suspense, intrigue and likeable characters. Thandie Newton is the magnolia (paint colour not movie) of the current crop of actresses. Two stars who exude less passion and sexual fire I can’t imagine. It was like seeing Yogi flirt with Snagglepuss (except prettier). Waste of money (except I hadn’t paid any). In fact it made me so cross, I wrote my first epinion in months…

I’m sorry, but Jeffrey Zeldman rocks so hard and fast he could vibrate himself through a mountain. In his latest article “HTMHell” at Adobe’s site, he comes across as a freedom fighter for independent creative content on the web. And Christ knows, we need more of those. Here’s a sample quote from what must be considered a call to arms, a Manifesto for the true digerati – the people that like to play and create and communicate, rather than the people who consider a “good internet idea” to be selling sportswear (however ineffectively):

“So here we are. Ten years into the largest informational makeover since Gutenberg. Five years since software makers, ad moguls, and multimedia megaliths smelled the decaffeinated freeze-dried Folgers. And how have we harnessed Berners-Lee’s incredible gift to the world? Now that the means of production have been handed to us on a silver modem, what are we doing with them?

We’re selling stuff. Swapping stuff. Buying stuff. And watching the dot-commies hemorrhage ad dollars the way Chevrolet and Chrysler used to.”

After two days and considerable pressure and tension, I hereby reveal my latest design project for Time Out. I’m pretty pleased with it – Time Out’s Complete UK Festival Guide…

No noise from current squeeze since Sunday night. I wonder if that means anything?

I don’t bloody believe it. The new domain name I had decided to buy as soon as my pay-check came through has been sold. This is the second bloody time this has bloody happened. First reptilebrain.com, now subbacultcha.com! I don’t bloody believe it. This one was sold four days ago! I swear to god I am going to kill someone. The only thing I can think of is that Network Solutions is selling information on which domain names people are searching for. Is this possible? Is it being done?