plasticbag.org

Grant speaks at Disinformation.

Specifically aimed at the well-intentioned, but clumsy AIM correspondent: “Instant Messaging Can Be an Instant Annoyance Without Etiquette.” You know who you are.

“Everybody’s spirits seemed to be raised with the arrival of Tom who joined the group, a G.K. Chesterton book tucked under his arm, with the cheery air of a Rupert Bear happening on his chums in the woods betwixt adventures.” [more]

Graphical User Interface Timeline: Through Haddock.org I came upon the Graphical User Interface Timeline. This really is thrilling and helps get a lot of things in perspective regarding OS GUIs.

The first thing to notice is the Apple Lisa in 1983, which is the first one of the person computers on the page to have a GUI that is recognisably familiar to most people. If you look at the top of the screen, you’ll see the instantly recognisable top menu bar, which Macs still have to this day, even in OSX (although it nearly lost it for a while).

The next thing to notice is at what point Microsoft catches up with the UI. By the time Microsoft releases the first version of Windows, the Macintosh has been released and refined by Apple. And by the time that Windows 2 is released in 1987, the Macintosh screen looks very much like it does to this day (possibly excepting the OSX leap).

I’m stunned, frankly, by the lag that Microsoft has compared to Apple and how clumsy their interface appears compared to many of the alternative OS’s released by competitors. By the time Windows 3.1 comes out (and I buy my first computer), Apple’s essential look and feel has been stable for years. It’s really true what my old Greek lecturer used to say, “Windows 95? More like Mac 87”.

Happy 20th birthday, MTV.com.

In the news: 2,700 scorpions celebrate their successful attempt at staying in a glass case for thirty days with a mad woman. Said ‘Bob Scorpion’, “I’ve always been scared of humans – they look so freakish and unsettling – but I actually feel quite close to this woman, whom I affectionately named ‘Drooling Freak’ [via Brainsluice].

Our wonderful builders have now started using powersaws at 8.45 in the morning now. This means that I either sweat to death all night, or get woken up in the most unattractive fashion every morning. Very annoying.

Brief but heartfelt thanks are in order to Mr Pepper for being tremendously cool at a difficult time.

There’s something seriously wrong with British Television at the moment. Let’s see – random evening’s viewing (say tonight). What’s on at this precise moment? ITV: “Paul Grady’s America” (Paul Grady is Lily Savage‘s ‘real’ alter-ego – this programme includes an encounter with Julian Clary). Channel 4: “The Real Shirley Bassey”. Channel 5: “The Way We Were” (Epic Streisand movie). British broadcasting has become completely colonised by the sensibility of middle-aged ‘theatrical’-types. When did our culture become so ‘nice boy’ oriented? It’s like someone flicked the queer-switch, and suddenly all of England decided to identify as a fifty-year-old man with too much lippy and a £20 wig.

Oh pancakes are so very interesting. Happy now?