week 41, 2001 archives
apparently the army is consulting with hollywood types to get their ideas for possible terrorist scenarios. okay, i can almost understand why someone might ask david fincher for some ideas, but randal kleiser? maybe that's some sort of commentary about the impact of his films on american culture. ("so, what film are you going to do next? it must be stopped!")
the five-part pbs documentary local news (a look behind the scenes of a charlotte, nc local news broadcast) sounds really cool. but in a fit of insanity, the main local pbs affiliate has scheduled it on thursday at 8pm, putting it up against survivor and friends. and it doesn't look like the other local pbs affiliates are playing the series. argh. (there's been two other great pbs documentaries recently: the first year, about five beginning teachers in the lausd, and the press secretary, about joe lockhart's office over three days towards the end of the clinton presidency.)
fedex redesigned their site to be more lightweight, and usage shot up 835%. a good lesson in making a site better by making it simpler. (also good plugs for akamai, keynote, and mercury interactive.)
look closely in this picture at what is right off the shoulder of the large picture of osama bin laden on the poster. then check out this picture, which is the source for that part of the poster. hilarious. the second picture is part of this site. (apparently spotted by mpawlo.)
dan bricklin writes quite eloquently about how copy protection robs the future, a variation on the theme of data being lost due to it being stored on obsolete media formats (like magnetic tape). but if the entertainment industry has its way, this will be the law, thanks to senator fritz hollings, bought and paid for by news corp., aoltimewarner, disney, and cbs. (and, of course, microsoft will be laughing all the way around the monopoly board.)
the california legislature passed two laws designed to curb telemarketing calls, and gov. davis actually signed them. it's too bad the do-not-call list doesn't kick in until 2003.
the quotes in this article about wcco's new general manager by don shelby are great: "The television business in this country is completely out of control. If the public were to ever see the amount of money being taken out of these cities and stations, they'd be amazed." a profit margin of forty percent is amazing. the government should be collecting license fees for the television broadcast spectrum.
send in the gurkhas!
there's nothing like an online personality test to pass the time. apparently i fall into the same categorization as socrates, albert einstein, and mary kate and ashley olsen. and to answer this question, i like tagalongs. (and of course, this whole meyers-briggs type indicator holds about as much water as astrological signs.)
looks like taxpayers are going to have the honor of funding the insurance industry. i'm sure that has nothing to do with the industry's extensive donations to various lawmakers.
