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Category Archives: Miscellany
Don’t tell people how to do things
“Don’t tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.”
–George S. Patton
Why we take photographs
“Whatever else I’ve learned from going through boxes of old photographs, it’s clear to me now why people take pictures of people. It isn’t just to capture moments, to record history, to make art, or just to fool around, though it’s all those things and more. It’s to tell stories.”
— Doc Searls
Funny people: Jim Obradovich
Jim Obradovich was high on my Unborn Blogs” list and he somehow discovered this (could he be reading this very post?). He hinted that he might be willing to take run at blogging and offered to send photos from his new part-time job.
“…beginning tomorrow evening at the Iowa State Fair Parade I will commence my duties as “Fairfield” the State Fair Mascot. Fairfield is a 6-foot blue ribbon of merriment. I will be undertaking my “Fairfield” duties for 2 to 3 hours a day, while the rest of the time I’ll be writing press releases on everything from sheep dog trials to the heaviest pigeon competition.”
Gnomedex: Slashdot.
“News for Nerds. Stuff that matters.” Slashdot creator Rob Malda (CMDRTACO) gave the geekiest presentation I’ve heard to date but it was perfect. “One of the largest, self-moderated discussion groups on the web,” Slashdot generates 2.4 million page views per day. Learned a new expression: “Daddy Pants” The guy responsible for getting up at 2 a.m. to reboot the server is wearing the Daddy Pants.
Gnomedex: Google
Nelson Minor is a software engineer for Google and he gave a fascinating presentation to kick off this two day conference. Starting with the Google mission statement:
* Work on things that matter
* Affect everyone in the world
* Solve problems with algorithms
* Hire bright people and give them lots of freedom
* Don’t be afraid to try new things (According to Minor, Google News was the idea of one guy who said, “Hey, wouldn’t this be cool?”)
Average search time on Google: 1/5 of a second. He even explained how Google works…in a way that even I could sort of understand.
Gnomedex: Des Moines, IA
Opened up the windows on the 4Runner…cranked up the XM Radio…and headed for Des Moines and Gnomedex 3. Hundreds of geeks (and one wannabe) from all over the country descend on Des Moines for two days. Much more fun than the big computer/technology shows. Dinner with O. Kay Henderson who has great new hair cut (yeah, I know that sounds gay but I can only admire, not do it, so…). She’s interviewing John Kerry today and asked if I had any questions she wanted her to ask him. I couldn’t think of any.
Google News advanced search
Google News has added an advanced search page. Search for articles from specific news sources; search for articles from news sources located in a specific state or country; and perhaps most useful, search for articles published within a certain ranges of dates. [via CyberJournalist]
If lawyers are disbarred…
“If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn’t it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed (and eventually disfigured) and dry cleaners depressed? Laundry workers could decrease, eventually becoming depressed and depleted! Even more, bedmakers will be debunked, baseball players will be debased, landscapers will be deflowered, bulldozer operators will be degraded, organ donors will be delivered, the BVD company will be debriefed, and even musical composers will eventually decompose. As a student, I spent all my time wishing to be detested and degraded.”
— 3Bruces
18 Years
Yesterday the Missouri Supreme Court overturned the death sentence and conviction of Joseph Amrine, 46, of Kansas City. He’s faced execution since 1986 for the stabbing of a fellow inmate. Over the years, the three former inmates who testified against him recanted. He was in for robbery, burglary and forgery and would have been out 1992 had he not been convicted of murder. If he walks free, he will become only the third Missouri death row inmate in modern times to be freed of his capital conviction. One of our reporters, John Davis, interviewed Amrine today. It runs about 15 minutes. You can also listen to the oral argument before the Missouri Supreme Court on February 4th. This strikes me as a good example of how the web –more specifically, streaming audio– enables a news organization like ours to go way beyond a 4-minute newscast with a couple of sound bites.