things that i've learned

Sunday, March 16, 2008

new host

After ten years with DigitalDaze, I've moved webhosts to Media Temple. Am testing out functionality over the next few weeks, will be back to regular updating soon.

Labels: technology

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Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Don't call it a comeback

Anytime I don't write anything here for awhile, I start to feel like the significance of the "first post back" is that much greater than my typically irreverent writing. That then gets in my head and I start to overthink what I might write, thereby destroying the ability to ramble along as stream-of-consciously as I would like. So I'm going to try to just jump back into things. Forgive me if I'm rusty.

We'll start with news of the day, three items for the third day of the week:

1. There was a fire last night on 17th Street. Steph smelled smoke at about 11:30. I, of course, smelled nothing because as you all know, smell is the worst of my five senses since I produce more snot than most third world countries. There were firetrucks and lots of noise until a little past midnight. When I left the apartment this morning, I could still smell the smoke. Here's the Post's story on it.

2. NY Mag's cover story this week on Steve Jobs is one of the best I've read on him (and on Apple) in quite awhile. Be warned that it's long (it's a 7 page spread in the magazine itself) but it's really terrific. Considering how much time we all spend obsessing over Apple, and obsessing about our obsessing over Apple, this piece seems to nail the equal parts narcissist and genius that make up Jobs. I suggest you all print a copy and read it on the can.


3. If my email were TV Guide, this would be a rerun. For some reason I think Will will really enjoy this.
Brash Young Floor Trader Trying To Rally Dow All By Self

Labels: blakestuchin, technology

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Tuesday, February 27, 2007

don't copy that floppy

From the Where Are They Now pile, a "Don't Copy That Floppy" PSA from the early 90's.



No Carmen San Diego
No Oregon Trail
Tetris and the other
They're all gonna fail
Not because you won it
But because you're just takin' it
Disrespectin' all the folks that are makin' it

Wow, there are so many things that I love here. The inspired PC-friendly casting... The utterly ludicrous lyrics... The mullet-jockey programmers who show up three minutes in... The rapper wearing his button down with the top button buttoned like he's Parker Lewis... Top notch all the way.

My favorite thing, though is the takeaway message. I was about the same age as the kids featured in this video when this was made and I'm fairly confident that very few of my friends had any idea how to copy an installed game from a hard drive to a floppy, let alone do it at school. Had we seen this during the weekly Go-to-the-Library-and-watch-poorly-made-PSAs-hour that we called Health class, however, it probably would have just inspired more kids to steal software ("they can't stop people from copying, it's too easy"). No wonder it was my generation that brought us Napster. While some software manufacturers were no doubt hurt by the ease of copying in the nascent era of floppy-based gaming, copying ran rampant and all it did was serve to grow a fledging industry and raise legions of kids who, now in their 30's, are still gaming and paying for it.

But man does that rapper bring some energy. Think he does bar mitzvahs? I have an event this Friday, maybe I can get him to wear the button up and the 8 ball jacket, too.

Labels: 90s, crap, technology

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