As reported on CNet, there is a relatively new blog site currently causing a bit of a storm in the blogosphere at the moment.
Quentin Tarantino's diary, or QT's Diary as the site is titled, is purportedly by the Oscar-winner himself, although so far no official source has confirmed this claim. On the site, "Quentin" advises us to go ask Miramax if we want proof, neatly avoiding the task himself.
The most recent post (from the 22nd of August) has an almost too smug Disclaimer, in which an adoring "fan from LA" reports a sighting, and "QT" backs this up with a few more facts from the event. If you believe it.
Personally, I'm waiting for something a little more concrete. The internet is a godsend for those who like to put on faces, but if you are silly enough to choose the mask of a public figure, it surely won't be too long before the world catches on and said figure is bailed up against a wall for that all-important question: "Is it you?" followed by mass shouting, rampaging and terrorising as the people learn the truth and seek to vilify and destroy those who've misled them.
Mannn... I just love the internet!
Saturday, August 28, 2004
John Howard -- Australia's Anti-Anti-Spam Crusader
Yeah, he's a good one, our Johnny. Approves all these great new laws to help fight the spam epidemic, then hire's his son's company to show us all just what the law in Australia is all about: total ignorance.
Or idiots in suits getting paid too much money to know nothing, perhaps? Given the recent spate of massive, and massively embarrassing, Australian Government screw-ups, (the children overboard affair, the push for the war on Iraq, Johnny here), one could definitely be forgiven for thinking so.
Or idiots in suits getting paid too much money to know nothing, perhaps? Given the recent spate of massive, and massively embarrassing, Australian Government screw-ups, (the children overboard affair, the push for the war on Iraq, Johnny here), one could definitely be forgiven for thinking so.
Friday, August 27, 2004
Blogger vs. Wordpress
It's been a few days since the last post... has her enthusiasm died off already?!
No, despite the ongoing abandonment of blogs, I'm still here! Never one to do something by halves, I was ultra-enthused after the first couple of days, and thought obviously the next step is to move this to my own site.
But if I'm to go live at Miinx, do I want to continue using Blogger? Now would be the time to change, if not.
With Blogger, I (a blogging newbie) am so far loving:
WordPress from the outset seems to do more of what I want, although I'm not as impressed with the admin interface. (Georgia is the default font, which I really don't understand. Maybe they're going for the newsprint look? Bleugh. It's the Admin Panel, give me cleanliness, please.)
Apart from that I haven't really got into WordPress enough to be fully able to compare these two products yet, but I'd be very interested to know what others think. I'm a coder, so love to tinker... and it seems, in that sense, that Blogger falls short.
Or am I missing something?
No, despite the ongoing abandonment of blogs, I'm still here! Never one to do something by halves, I was ultra-enthused after the first couple of days, and thought obviously the next step is to move this to my own site.
But if I'm to go live at Miinx, do I want to continue using Blogger? Now would be the time to change, if not.
With Blogger, I (a blogging newbie) am so far loving:
- the compatibility with Firefox
- the keyboard integration in the Edit HTML mode
- the simple and clear user interface
- BlogThis! is awesome. I had planned to say here that I didn't like that Blogger lacked the ability to blog something instantly via a toolbar button (without installing the Googlebar for Firefox, which I didn't want to do) -- however, in researching this I discovered that the BlogThis! button can be just dragged onto the toolbar in any browser. (Except IE, of course, as it's a dangerously antiquated piece of crap. Do yourself a favour and Browse happy.)
- no access to database/server-side stuff
- no categories!
- poor/few community features
- in Compose mode, some keyboard keys don't work - such as lowercase e, for instance, although capital E works just fine. (or is that just me??!) Haven't yet emailed customer support, easier just to blog it, really. ;)
- few good, pre-made templates
- the fact that after Saving or Republishing to see site changes, Blogger always returns you to a default page under Posting. This is particularly annoying if, say, you're modifying Settings and click to Save the changes, as it plonks you out of Settings and back into Posting, so you then need to do a further 2 clicks to get you back to your spot.
- no hacks :(
WordPress from the outset seems to do more of what I want, although I'm not as impressed with the admin interface. (Georgia is the default font, which I really don't understand. Maybe they're going for the newsprint look? Bleugh. It's the Admin Panel, give me cleanliness, please.)
Apart from that I haven't really got into WordPress enough to be fully able to compare these two products yet, but I'd be very interested to know what others think. I'm a coder, so love to tinker... and it seems, in that sense, that Blogger falls short.
Or am I missing something?
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
The Stepford Web
I sent a good friend a couple of books recently, from Amazon -- some short stories and Cocaine Nights by J.G. Ballard. One of my absolute favourite reads. He's known more as a sci-fi author, a genre I'm not particularly into, however this book is just sensational (which is not to pass any judgement on any others). Keen to hear what my friend thinks; she's a reader too.
We also saw The Stepford Wives recently, which I'd been thinking would be like Cocaine Nights. (It wasn't. I'd expected it to be kinda surreal, more subtle in its execution of the weird goings-on of the town than the movie ended up being. Had some excellent lines, and top-notch actors, just went awry on something, somewhere, and wasn't quite as good as I'd expected.) However, in hunting down the link just now, I'm loving the website -- check out the Stepford IQ Quiz in the Online Extras section. (Would link to it, except the site's been authored in Flash -- and that is one of Flash's main problems as I see it, lack of ability to externally point to specific parts of the application. Unless I'm missing something.) Nevertheless, great stuff, and the quiz pinpointed me to a T: "Stability and equality are your top priorities. Finding a man who is comfortable letting you wear the pants in the family will make you much happier than the thrills of coupon cutting!"
Although perhaps, given the fact that I am currently single, there was only the one answer for us staunchly independently but fruitlessly hopeful, die-hard romantics. Damn.
Incidentally, and quite strangely, on the Stepford IQ Quiz I scored 16. Love to know what that means... 16 men perhaps? (Bring it on! Heh.) The site also houses a Domestic Bliss Guide, with Fitness Tips, Beauty Secrets and Recipes, all served with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Love it. And he'll love you for it. Which is more important, of course.
We also saw The Stepford Wives recently, which I'd been thinking would be like Cocaine Nights. (It wasn't. I'd expected it to be kinda surreal, more subtle in its execution of the weird goings-on of the town than the movie ended up being. Had some excellent lines, and top-notch actors, just went awry on something, somewhere, and wasn't quite as good as I'd expected.) However, in hunting down the link just now, I'm loving the website -- check out the Stepford IQ Quiz in the Online Extras section. (Would link to it, except the site's been authored in Flash -- and that is one of Flash's main problems as I see it, lack of ability to externally point to specific parts of the application. Unless I'm missing something.) Nevertheless, great stuff, and the quiz pinpointed me to a T: "Stability and equality are your top priorities. Finding a man who is comfortable letting you wear the pants in the family will make you much happier than the thrills of coupon cutting!"
Although perhaps, given the fact that I am currently single, there was only the one answer for us staunchly independently but fruitlessly hopeful, die-hard romantics. Damn.
Incidentally, and quite strangely, on the Stepford IQ Quiz I scored 16. Love to know what that means... 16 men perhaps? (Bring it on! Heh.) The site also houses a Domestic Bliss Guide, with Fitness Tips, Beauty Secrets and Recipes, all served with tongue firmly planted in cheek.
Birthday Cake for One
with white mountain frosting.
The Power of the Web
If you've been following the dispute between Katie Jones, owner of Katie.com domain since 1996, and Penguin Books/Katie Tarbox, who published a book in 2000 called Katie.com, you'll be similarly rapt to hear that it looks as if Penguin is finally going to do the right thing and rename the book. And about time.
If you haven't heard about this tale yet, read up sharp -- had this ever gone to court, it would have set a precedent for all cases involving ownership of "virtual property" -- domain names. Even now, with Penguin backing down, the word is out and and the people are wise. Other domain name thieves wanting to employ similar heavy-weight tactics to shunt out the little man will definitely want to think twice these days.
This story perfectly illustrates the power of the web at its best. Don't mess with the /.ers, hey. And I can't help but comment on the delicious irony in abuse survivor (Tarbox) becoming abuser. (And then doing a talk-show round or two, becoming "an authority", getting a nasty lawyer, and assuming all else is ripe for her taking too.)
However, as Katie Jones says on her site -- "Wait and see". We're waiting, Penguin.
If you haven't heard about this tale yet, read up sharp -- had this ever gone to court, it would have set a precedent for all cases involving ownership of "virtual property" -- domain names. Even now, with Penguin backing down, the word is out and and the people are wise. Other domain name thieves wanting to employ similar heavy-weight tactics to shunt out the little man will definitely want to think twice these days.
This story perfectly illustrates the power of the web at its best. Don't mess with the /.ers, hey. And I can't help but comment on the delicious irony in abuse survivor (Tarbox) becoming abuser. (And then doing a talk-show round or two, becoming "an authority", getting a nasty lawyer, and assuming all else is ripe for her taking too.)
However, as Katie Jones says on her site -- "Wait and see". We're waiting, Penguin.
FUCMonline
Fresh Underground Culture Magazine, you see. FUCM.
Nick Vasey, the interminably sardonic wordsmith behind Please Spike My Drink (Lifestyle section), is in person just as he writes. The intellectualisations, theories and arguments never end, but the passion and articulation of his delivery necessitates your inclusion, guaranteeing non-stop entertainment.
And Nick's passion is typical of the FUCM bunch, the rest of whom I've just been reading for the first time as I delved a bit deeper into the zine beyond his column. There's some entertaining stuff in there -- such as the comic strip Apartment 210 by Chris 'Cap' Karaffa. A slightly left-of-centre look at your typical group of guys sharing an apartment, where the timing and words of the cartoonist from frame-to-frame are spot on. Love it.
Do not miss the Global section either. Some brilliant and enlightening writing from around the world on global issues that matter with the unifying perspectives of age and passion. Excellent writing, excellent reading, check it out.
That said however, the site as a whole seems to be severely lacking in direction. Not navigational devices-type direction, (although again, that could be significantly improved with some method of jumping between the sections, currently impossible), but more of the what-is-this-all-about? kind. Perhaps mystery adds excitement in some places -- but here is definitely not one of them.
I've never visited the front page of FUCM before, having only ever really checked out Nick's pieces, but when I finally did take a look I was disappointed to see not a scrap of a peep of an inkling about what delights I could expect to find inside this online mag. Instead, just a single, wordy editorial is offered there, sharing the page area with only the standard nav and side bar. Top that off with some in-yer-face political evangelism, as is in the article, and I was turned off quickly. (Not that I don't like politics per sé, just not a six-million-and-eight-word essay about on the front page of a lifestyle magazine, please. Even if it is hip and underground.
Nevertheless, if you persevere with the entre article, you will discover that FUCMonline is actually the online version of a street mag, currently available in Melbourne and Sydney and soon to hit the world. Now this is the sort of thing that could be in a little feature-box, instead of buried in the second-last paragraph of a ranting editorial on another country's election. It's important in understanding the Why-factor: why is this website here and what is it all about? And besides that, boasting over seventy reporters from across the globe, surely there are at least a few other items in the latest issue of FUCM that could be slapped on the front page to tempt us further into the site? Apart from a rant on US/global politics? A few more tidbits of insight here are desperately required - the web is not the printed page. You can be cool and helpful.
Couple of other niggly things:
Despite the UI flaws, the site offers up thought-provoking writing and viewpoints from around the globe to keep you arguing into the wee hours. Hopefully one day the FUCM web team will take another look at that nav and spend some time on a decent homepage template to give the excellent FUCMonline brood a decent chance of being heard and seen.
Nick Vasey, the interminably sardonic wordsmith behind Please Spike My Drink (Lifestyle section), is in person just as he writes. The intellectualisations, theories and arguments never end, but the passion and articulation of his delivery necessitates your inclusion, guaranteeing non-stop entertainment.
And Nick's passion is typical of the FUCM bunch, the rest of whom I've just been reading for the first time as I delved a bit deeper into the zine beyond his column. There's some entertaining stuff in there -- such as the comic strip Apartment 210 by Chris 'Cap' Karaffa. A slightly left-of-centre look at your typical group of guys sharing an apartment, where the timing and words of the cartoonist from frame-to-frame are spot on. Love it.
Do not miss the Global section either. Some brilliant and enlightening writing from around the world on global issues that matter with the unifying perspectives of age and passion. Excellent writing, excellent reading, check it out.
That said however, the site as a whole seems to be severely lacking in direction. Not navigational devices-type direction, (although again, that could be significantly improved with some method of jumping between the sections, currently impossible), but more of the what-is-this-all-about? kind. Perhaps mystery adds excitement in some places -- but here is definitely not one of them.
I've never visited the front page of FUCM before, having only ever really checked out Nick's pieces, but when I finally did take a look I was disappointed to see not a scrap of a peep of an inkling about what delights I could expect to find inside this online mag. Instead, just a single, wordy editorial is offered there, sharing the page area with only the standard nav and side bar. Top that off with some in-yer-face political evangelism, as is in the article, and I was turned off quickly. (Not that I don't like politics per sé, just not a six-million-and-eight-word essay about on the front page of a lifestyle magazine, please. Even if it is hip and underground.
Nevertheless, if you persevere with the entre article, you will discover that FUCMonline is actually the online version of a street mag, currently available in Melbourne and Sydney and soon to hit the world. Now this is the sort of thing that could be in a little feature-box, instead of buried in the second-last paragraph of a ranting editorial on another country's election. It's important in understanding the Why-factor: why is this website here and what is it all about? And besides that, boasting over seventy reporters from across the globe, surely there are at least a few other items in the latest issue of FUCM that could be slapped on the front page to tempt us further into the site? Apart from a rant on US/global politics? A few more tidbits of insight here are desperately required - the web is not the printed page. You can be cool and helpful.
Couple of other niggly things:
- The font size is tiny in good browsers. FUCM, get with the program! ;)
- The navigation is entirely Flash-based. Ok, now this may look cool, but not in any way that couldn't be replicated without Flash, and therefore also without the disadvantages that come with Flash nav's. Take the statusbar. People use the statusbar, however most Flash sites do not seem to be able to get statusbar text happening for links. Now, in boring, old HTML, even if you script-it-up to say simply "yep, click this one" over every link, it is still useful for visitors in deciding where to go next. With the FUCM menu, however, you get none of this. Nothing, nada. Very annoying, as browsing then becomes a matter of click-and-miss.
Despite the UI flaws, the site offers up thought-provoking writing and viewpoints from around the globe to keep you arguing into the wee hours. Hopefully one day the FUCM web team will take another look at that nav and spend some time on a decent homepage template to give the excellent FUCMonline brood a decent chance of being heard and seen.
Monday, August 23, 2004
Who, What and the Why-factor
Welcome, and thanks for reading. :)
Who is Miinx?
Melbourne-based geek grrl, picky wench, owner and director of Miinx, sometime-hermit through ongoing net addiction. Miinx works with Juxt Interactive and 10th Degree doing quality assurance and site reviews. Miinx also builds web sites for other people, and loves the colour orange.
What is this?
An outlet for a passionate web devotee, a lot of linkage, web news and site reviews, the occasional spot of ranting, and mainly just a heap of irreverent rambling about generally net-related stuff. The good, the bad and the ugly, as it may be.
Why should I read?
Boredom; curiosity; affinity with anal retentive geeks; web fanaticism; love of Firefox and the open source initiative; empowerment; information; insight into the mind of an always-active net freak. Any or all of the above, really.
Who is Miinx?
Melbourne-based geek grrl, picky wench, owner and director of Miinx, sometime-hermit through ongoing net addiction. Miinx works with Juxt Interactive and 10th Degree doing quality assurance and site reviews. Miinx also builds web sites for other people, and loves the colour orange.
What is this?
An outlet for a passionate web devotee, a lot of linkage, web news and site reviews, the occasional spot of ranting, and mainly just a heap of irreverent rambling about generally net-related stuff. The good, the bad and the ugly, as it may be.
Why should I read?
Boredom; curiosity; affinity with anal retentive geeks; web fanaticism; love of Firefox and the open source initiative; empowerment; information; insight into the mind of an always-active net freak. Any or all of the above, really.
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