PDF's are a Pain in the Butt

PDF’s are a Pain in the ButtLiteracy Weblog) On WebWord, I found a link to a PDF advocate’s lame critique of Jakob Nielsen. It’s an attempt to sidestep Nielsen’s usabilty observations by mounting an ad hominem attack. It’s becoming fashionable to pick on Jakob Nielsen these days, due to his visibility and the shift in…

The Problem with FX

“In the visual-effects community, ILM’s Hulk was seen as a major achievement: the life in the creature’s eyes, the way light played naturally off its skin, its synthesis into its surroundings, all were deemed first-rate. Film critics, however, panned not only the movie but ILM’s work. The monster didn’t look real. Case closed.” Devin Gordon…

Face It

“Is the skeleton still hiding in the closet as it should, Is the needle in the haystack, are the trees still in the wood? Is the worm still in the apple, are you merrier if more, Are the birds still in the bushes and the wolf yet at the door?” Jim Eccleston —Face It (The Electric…

The Semantic Web

“Most of the Web’s content today is designed for humans to read, not for computer programs to manipulate meaningfully. Computers can adeptly parse Web pages for layout and routine processing?here a header, there a link to another page?but in general, computers have no reliable way to process the semantics: this is the home page of…

Blake's 7 Set for Hi-tech Return

One of the stars of cult sci-fi series Blake’s 7 has signed a deal to bring the show back to screens more than 20 years after it ended. Paul Darrow, who played the ruthless anti-hero Avon, is in a consortium that has acquired the rights to the show from the widow of its creator, Terry…

Google and Statistical Bias

“The number one criticism of Johnson is that he’s a dipshit who can’t work Google: if only the poor fool were slick enough to type ‘apple fruit’ or ‘granny smith’ in the search bar, he wouldn’t get three pages of computer links. That may be true, but that’s the point: apple, the fruit, is conceptually…

Funny Bone

“I was in a lot of pain, but managed to do about 15 minutes of material while on the floor, passing out every now and then because of the pain, and then coming round to do the punchline.” — Mark Olver —Funny Bone (This Is Bristol) Olver broke his leg onstage 15 seconds after beginning his……

Robot Nation

“The self-service checkout lines that are springing up everywhere are the first sign of the trend. | The problem, of course, is that all of these robots will eliminate a huge portion of the jobs currently held by human beings. For example, there are 3.5 million jobs in the fast food industry alone. Many of…

Ossuary Owner Arrested for Forgery

“The antiquities dealer who shocked the world last year with a burial box purported to hold the bones of Jesus’ brother was arrested yesterday, after Israeli police found forging equipment in the man’s home.” —Ossuary Owner Arrested for Forgery (Canada.com) I’ve blogged this story a few times before, but this little twist is worth mentioning.