Blog

I was interested to see Tim Bray criticize a CNET News.com article: Passport to get Web services stamp. I don’t actually know the reporter, as he works in a separate bureau. In a quick read (it’s not a long article), I found that (a) the headline oversells and (b) this is a report of an announcement to come. So, it wasn’t intended to be a big article… just a ‘quick hit,’ getting no more and no less attention than it deserves. The headline does make it seem more dramatic. Anyway, I appreciate smart people critiquing my work, or that of my colleagues. Even so, I do think Tim’s comment is a bit strong: “This c|net story is the epitome of everything that’s wrong with tech journalism.” But he’s not posting anonymously, and he explains his comment. Fair enough. Everyone is entitled to his opinion.

A joke Brooke shared with me.

Larry wakes up at home with a huge hangover. He forces himself to open his eyes, and the first thing he sees is a couple of aspirins and a glass
of water on the side table. He sits up and sees his clothing in front of him, all clean and pressed. Larry looks around the room and sees that it is in perfect order, spotless, clean. So’s the rest of the house. He takes the aspirins and notices a note on the table: “Honey, breakfast is on the stove, I left early to go shopping. Love you.” So he goes to the kitchen, and sure enough there is a hot breakfast and the morning newspaper. His son is also at the table, eating. Larry asks, “Son, what happened last night?”

His son says, “Well, you came home after 3 A.M., drunk and delirious, broke some furniture, puked in the hallway, and gave yourself a black eye when you stumbled into the door.”

Confused, Larry asks, “So, why is everything in order and so clean, and breakfast is on the table waiting for me?” His son replies, “Oh, that! Mom dragged you to the bedroom, and when she tried to take your pants off, you said, “Lady, leave me alone, I’m married!”

I went to the library last weekend to (finally) return my three overdue books, and I was able to pick up one more, quickly. It’s Katharine Graham’s Personal History, her Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography written in 1998. Since I read Halberstam’s The Powers That Be earlier this year, I’m interested in another perspective on the rise of The Washington Post. However, what really tipped the scale was an email exchange with someone about work. Peter A., a reader, suggested that I read this book for perspective on the early days of a successful media company. I can only hope that CNET Networks doesn’t need to lose money for a couple of decades first! (Not likely.) I’ve gotten started, and I can see it will be an interesting tale, both personally and professionally.

Fun for Benjamin, fun for Brooke, fun for me, and fun for Isabel (I hope). For Ben, Aunt Isabel is another active member of his audience. What’s he going to do when he has to share the stage with the new arrival in a few months? Anyway, she’s got him down in the yard weeding.

I want to read this quick Emerging Technology post later, especially because it has a link to the conference presentations.

Since reading the O’Brian biography, I’ve been of a mind to get back to the Aubrey-Maturin series. I had stopped with the fourth one, The Mauritius Command, a few years ago, simply because I didn’t have the next one in the series, Desolation Island. I’ve rectified that mistake, and I finished it on Wednesday.

I am glad I’ve dived back in. Even the font is deliberately of the period, at least in the W.W. Norton paperbacks here in the United States. The memorable part of the book’s tone is the consistency with which the author relies on the reader’s perceptiveness. So often, the characters say things baldly, without the leading adverbs and adjectives that are so often employed. It’s up to you, the reader, in the midst of a fine tale, to correctly interpret sarcasm, dissembling, and all the other subtexts going on. It’s especially pronounced in the back and forth between the lead characters, old friend Stephen Maturin and Jack Aubrey. Direct and potentially offensive comments elicit only casual response, reminding you of the depth of their friendship. I suppose it would be helpful to go get the book and find a few quotes to illustrate my words… certainly more fun to read O’Brian’s words than mine… but I’m not writing a book review, and it’s not worth my time to scan the book for a prime example. Just read it.

At work, the challenge that has grown over the last several weeks is how to tell a story. Well, not only how to tell a story, but what is the story? And who is the audience? We’re trying to take another step forward, and we’re not sure which direction to start moving. With my mixed/confusing language here, you can tell that describely it obliquely is even tougher… for now, I’ll just have to let it sort itself out, in my head and others.

It takes a bite out of my normal sleep, but I’m getting out for a run again this morning… that’s always worth it. Especially since I’m meeting my college acquaintance, so I know I don’t have to go it alone. Miles pass much faster with a companion, though the clock doesn’t always agree.

This morning I got my son to type his name, as well as MOMMY and DADDY, in BBEdit 7.0. I’m a proud parent, but I’m also aware that I’m probably starting something I may not be ready for: more competition for the computer. That will finally push us to be a two-computer family… which wouldn’t bother me, but I’ve had a hard time justifying the “need.” I saved the document. 😉

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: read Tim Bray’s ongoing. It’s the only site I’ve found time to add to my links for this site, and it’s worth the text. Another article about Unicode today… a topic I don’t really care much about, but I feel informed, without being knocked about the head with a dull paddle. That may sound like faint praise; it’s meant as high praise. You try and make Unicode interesting! 😉