September 2001 Archive Page

"Every time he excuses his own refusal to observe the rules he dictates to everyone else on the grounds that he 'knows his audience', take one drink.... Every time he quotes statistics from an unrelated study to prove a point about Web usability, take one drink." Jakob Nielsen Drinking Game

"In which we take apart the news and put it back together all wrong." A collection of short stories composed by re-arranging the words found in front-page news stories. Shelly Jackson --Front Page News

Imagine 50 people getting together to write a 20,000-line epic poem, on time and on budget. Software programmers have an added constraint -- it has to run! --Software Development as Community Poetry Writing

"These angry radicals who have now declared war on the West emerged from a movement we financed and armed. Then it turned against us." LA Times --The Warnings Were on Page 1

From the user license for Microsoft FrontPage 2002: "You may not use the Software in connection with any site that disparages Microsoft, MSN, MSNBC, Expedia, or their products or services..." Ed Foster (I don't have FP 2002, so I can't check this. --DGJ) --A Punitive Puppeteer?

"The popular image of the computer hacker seems to be part compulsive programmer preferring the company of computers to people, and part criminal mastermind... But this is at best only half the story." Gisle Hannemyr --Technology and Pleasure

"By sacrificing human life to serve their radical visions, by abandoning every value except the will to power, they follow in the path of fascism, Nazism and totalitarianism. And they will follow that path all the way to where it ends in history's unmarked grave of discarded lies." George W. Bush --The President's Speech

, the captain gave an inspirational speech over the loudspeaker, and concluded: "Now, since we're a family for the next few hours, I'll ask you to turn to the person next to you, introduce yourself, tell them a little about yourself and ask them to do the same." Wash Times --Aboard Flight 564

Many modern idioms are mechanical: "she has a screw loose," or "he broke down crying". Every culture has its in-jokes and specialized language. The Jargon File defines computing terms such as "404 compliant" and "kluge".

"Ever since Stalin and the Nazis, reality has transcended fiction." (BBC) --Playwright Arthur Miller on Terrorism

‘‘Hello,’’ a man’s voice, not my husband’s, said. I had no idea whom I’d called, but I had finally gotten through to New York, to news. NYT Magazine --Talk to Me

"The freedom we have enjoyed in the states has been unusual in world history and may be becoming more unusual." (BBC) --Novelist John Updike witnessed the WTC Attack

10:19 a.m.
To: Dad
Call Kozue [my wife] and tell her I’m fine. We evacuated my office and I’m walking somewhere. War zone.  Jonathan Segal --Another Eyewitness Account

A rather stunning op-ed piece: "The World Trade Centre outrage was co-ordinated on the internet, without question.. . . Once the internet is implicated in the killing of Americans, its high-rolling days may be reckoned to be over." Daily Telegraph  [Some of his followers may be high-tech, but bin Laden himself is low-tech.]

The Internet has succeeded in becoming a tool that many regular people turn to in lieu of alternatives for communicating and for finding information. It has become a new, often-used tool in their personal toolbox. Dan Bricklin --The Internet is Now a Dominant Tool for Regular People

Large collection of links to the World Trace Center tributes that have sprung up after the towers came down. --www.derrickito.com

"Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake. Our neighbours have faced it alone and I am one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them kicked around." Gordon Sinclair, 1973 --The Americans

Harrowing first-person account from a survivor. --"I was in the building when it all happened."

Interesting article focuses on how people are using the Internet to react to the terrorists attacks on New York and Washington. Globe and Mail --Net Draws Fire, Offers Comfort in Wake of Disaster

"One of the broadest definitions is that of Umberto Eco, who states that 'semiotics is concerned with everything that can be taken as a sign' (Eco 1976, 7). Semiotics involves the study not only of what we refer to as 'signs' in everyday speech, but of anything which 'stands for' something else." Daniel Chandler --Semiotics for Beginners

"Skyscrapers in general, and the twin towers of the World Trade Center in particular, symbolize, for many writers, either prideful arrogance, or a new technological beauty." Dennis G. Jerz --World Trade Center: Reflections on the Disaster

"[T]here were big holes in the information offered. Across all four health conditions, nearly a quarter of the key questions were completely ignored, and less than half were given both more than minimal coverage and complete accuracy." Rae Fry --Online Health Websites Frequently Inaccurate

Good web designers are a dime a dozen -- just like the former armies of professional typists and word-processor operators, whose specialized tasks were eventually absorbed by the average office worker. Frank Yu, Gorilla Asia --Apocalypse Soon: Is the Web-Development Fairy Tale Over?

"Children learning to read and write in English are slower to master it than other European youngsters learning their own language, new research suggests." BBC --Children 'Slow' at Learning English

cause many boating deaths. "[I]f you believe an accident occurs because of the hand of God or because George opened the can of beans with the label upside-down, then that gives you every reason to not read safety literature or continue learning about fishing." National Post --Superstitions and carelessness

"A gentleman should always walk around a lady's train and never attempt to step over it. If by accident he should tread upon her dress, he should beg her pardon, and if by greater awkwardness he should tear it, he must offer to escort her to the dressing room so that it may be repaired." (Rules of Etiquette & Home Culture, 1886.) --The Gentleman's Page: A Practical Guide for the 19th Century Man

"An attempt to answer common myths about copyright seen on the net and cover issues related to copyright and USENET/Internet publication." Brad Templeton --10 Myths about Copyright Explained

The author of the first commercial computer game ("Adventureland," 1978) leads a lively discussion on narrative, copyright, and violence. He also describes his first night playing EverQuest.  UWEC English Festival.  --Scott Adams: Storytelling in Computer Games