Year: 2002

Today’s top classy search that led to the door of plasticbag.org: What to do in London when you have a bored girlfriend that doesn’t know what she wants to do…

Apparently I turn up quite high in the search results for grumpy users of Alcatel’s Speedtouch USB ADSL modem. That would probably explain why, when they released a new version (2.0) of the driver for MacOSX (where previous drivers have – at best – a spotty record), I received an e-mail informing me of the fact, and asking if I’d publicise it. I’m delighted to, of course, but I’m too nervous to actually install it just in case I lose my connection again. Has anyone out there in not-a-big-wuss world installed it and run it with Jaguar yet? If so, e-mail me and tell me how it went and I’ll then inform “the world”. WARNING: Tom’s world may be smaller than yours.

“What’s the problem, HAL?”
“I think you know the problem, Dave. I’ve gone nuts.”

Micro-linkage saves lives. Remember that. And this mighty micro-linkage comes from the massive mouth of the Minor 9th. From monkey bone to lunatic space computer, you need to see the epic: One. A Space Odyssey [filmed entirely in Legovision].

I wonder – if weeks pass when you can’t think of anything to write on your site, if you have months where the most pleasant thing you can imagine is looking at the sky, if you’re vaguely content, but time seems to pass at a tremendous rate and nothing seems to happen. Does all this mean that you’re really living your life to the full?

So Nokia have declared the practice of warchalking to be a “simply stealing” according to an article at the BBC: Wireless hitchhikers branded as thieves. I’m beginning to feel quite a lot of sympathy for Matt Jones on this one – as time passes, it’s increasingly clear that he’s the figurehead of the ‘movement’ whether he likes it or not. And the mainstream media is more often than not mischaracterising the issue at hand, scaremongering to put it bluntly, making it seem like the action of insane terrorist cracker types, rather than community-minded liberals.

A brief thanks to the crew at onlineblog for letting me know that the Guardian Best British Blog Award is to be announced this time next week…

Mac-users and weblog enthusiasts have generally been pretty stunned by how neat and useful NetNewsWire Lite is at keeping them up to date with what’s going on around the web. It’s like a combined update list and weblog reader that sits on your desktop and fills everything with light and wonder. (Of course there’s a huge battle going on behind the scenes about the future of the RSS format, but we’ll pass swiftly over that.) Recently, there’s been talk of a Pro version of the software that you’d have to pay for, and to be honest I’ve been suspicious – it’s such a nice elegant little application – it doesn’t feel like anything is missing from it at all… But having seen this list of pro features I’m drooling… Weblog editing, filters, different views… Mmmmm….

First we had The Weblog Handbook, then We’ve Got Blog, then We Blog (all of which I’ve read or am reading). Then there’s the O’Reilly Essential Blogging, which I haven’t read yet – and now Blogging by Biz Stone and Blog on by Todd Stauffer. Is there really a market for all of them? So far, I’m embarrassed to confess, the one I’ve enjoyed most has been Rebecca Blood’s Weblog Handbook, which actually managed to remind me what it was that drew me to weblogs in the first place. Personal and engaging with a clear and almost kindly voice… Much recommended for beginners, and worth reading for those of us who’ve been around the block a few times…

“And it’s finally official: Meg and Paul are getting married! This is of course genius news about two friends of mine that I think are wonderful and totally adore. It’s enough to inspire you with hope and cheery feelings way in excess of anything generated merely with amphetamines and alcohol. Good on you kids…”

“it’s also an event that will resonate through Blogdom, whether they like it or not (and they damn better bloody like it because I can’t stop shouting about it everywhere I go). I’ve already put in two or three begging calls to be official reporter for blogdom – but don’t expect pictures, because I think they’re going to Hello! magazine. I remain concerned that I might be called to play the role of (old) maid of honour or bridesmaid – but I take heart in the possibility that Davo may have to return to England to stand beside me in a crimplene frock.”

“But at this time of happy wonderings, ladies and gentlemen, let us not forget those who have been laxer about their nuptials. While Meg and Paul’s news warms the cockles of all our hearts, will now a world full of expectant webloggers now turn their wiggling eyebrows and pointed expressions San Francisco-wards?”

“This is Tom Coates, reporting live from Los Angeles for the Weblog Entertainment Network…”

So last night, while as glued to Forever Young as you legitimately can be, I had a long involved AIM-conversation with Ian Betteridge about whether or not iCal is a meatspace blogging tool. His argument was that the sharing of information about oneself freely on the web constituted weblog-like behaviour. But I maintain that the publishing of calendars is a very distinct creature, as separate from weblogs as a project plan is from a teenage confessional…