“I, for one,” Deenster writes, “do not like the idea of being on tv.”
It sounds like English, but to my ears, parses as crazy.
Author: Joey deVilla
Take a look at this screen shot from an old IBM PC game whose filename
was “DONKEY.BAS” (the “.BAS” filename extension denotes that the
program was written in the BASIC programming language):
I will bet that I am the only human being who feels an old adolescent
twinge whenever I see this screen. The reason is that back in 1983,
when I was just shy of turning 16, I was reverse engineering this game
on my friend’s dad’s IBM PC when a girl interrupted me for my first
alcoholic drink and kiss. Had I not been at that machine, that
experience could potentially have been delayed by years (you must
remember that it was 1983, well before the Internet and geek chic made
nerds cool).
Today, I discovered that Bill Gates himself co-wrote DONKEY.BAS. If
Bill hadn’t written that cheesy little demo program, my personal
history would’ve been far less interesting. The girl, you see, was so
much trouble that the rest of the story, I’m afraid, is unbloggable.
Needless to say, the thought of ol’ Bill’s involvement in my first
kiss, however tangential, is a little irksome. I need to do a
double-shot of Crown Royal now.
Thank you, Bill…yeeeeesh.
If you want to play DONKEY.BAS or see its innards, check out this entry on IndieGameDev, where I’ve posted both an executable that’ll run on any Windows box (even XP!) and the BASIC source code.
In an article titled Maximum Starbucks Density, Jason Kottke points to a blog entry by Justin Blanton, who used the Starbucks locator web page
and discovered that there are 43 Starbucks branches within a 5-mile
radius of his apartment. He challenged readers to beat that. I can, with 51 branches. The record — a whopping 170 Starbucks — belongs to an area “around Broadway in NYC”.
While looking at some of the locations on the map of the Starbucks near
my house, I got the urge to annotate the map (classifying things
qualifies as a recreational activity in the nerd world). Here’s what I
put together — click the map below for a larger version:
Categories
Cookieright
Here’s a sample of a clever comic commentary on copyright by Tony Esteves in his webcomic, Cigarro & Cerveja:
Categories
The 2005 Bloggies Nominees
is still down from having served more than its monthly allotment (the
page shows the dreaded “509 – Bandwidth Limit Exceeded” error). Luckily
for those who want to know who got nominated, Firda Beka of Weblog
Wannabe (a nominee in the “Best Asian weblog” and “Lifetime
Acheivement” categories) has replicated the list of nominees. If you
were interested in voting in the Bloggies but had no idea who the
candidates were, here’s her list, slightly rearranged to emphasize the
category in which this blog appears.
Note that for the first time, two Blogware-based blogs are among the
represented: this blog for “Best Canadian Weblog”, and Tom Reynolds’ Random Acts of Reality for “Best Tagline” (“Trying to kill as few people as possible”) and as the subject of Random Reality Bites, a Guardian article nominated for “Best Article or Essay About Weblogs”. Well done, Tom!
Best Canadian Weblog
The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century (vote for it!)
Best Meme
A replicating idea that spread about weblogs.
Podcasting
The Grey Album
Best Article or Essay About Weblogs
Blogs, Bandwidth, and Banjos: Tightly Knit Bonds in Weblogging
Warning: Blogs Can Be Infectious
Best Web Application for Weblogs
Something that helps you publish, make comments, anything that has to do with developing a weblog.
Best Australian or New Zealand Weblog
Best Asian Weblog
Weblogs from Asia, not including the Middle East.
Best African or Middle Eastern Weblog
Best European Weblog
Best British or Irish Weblog
Weblogs from the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Best Latin American Weblog
Best American Weblog
Weblogs from the United States.
Best Tagline of a Weblog
Pesky’Apostrophe: “Always better than an unexpected period”
Scaryduck: “Not scary, not a duck”
The Gospel According to Rhys: “Chronologically inept since 2060”
Dooce: “Not your average clenched-cheek sprint to the bathroom”
Random Acts of Reality: “Trying to kill as few people as possible…”
Best Photography of a Weblog
Photoblogs and other weblogs that regularly feature photography.
Best Non-Weblog Content of a Weblog Site
Many sites contain more that just a weblog. This is for those pages with something extra.
The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami Blog
Best Food Weblog
Best Entertainment Weblog
Best Weblog About Politics
Best Web Development Weblog
Weblogs completely about Web design and development.
Best Computers or Technology Weblog
Weblogs about computers and/or technology, other than Web design.
Best Topical Weblog
Weblogs with a definite topic other than the ones in the categories above.
The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami Blog
Best GLBT Weblog
Webloggers in the gay/lesbian/bisexual/ transgendered community.
How to Learn Swedish in 1000 Difficult Lessons
Most Humorous Weblog
Best Writing of a Weblog
Weblogs with great writing, from personal journaling to professional journalism.
Best Group Weblog
Weblogs written by an exclusive group.
Best Community Weblog
Weblogs where everyone is invited to post.
Best-Designed Weblog
Best-Kept-Secret Weblog
The best underrepresented weblogs.
Teaching the Indie Kids to Dance Again
Best New Weblog
Weblogs that began during the year 2004.
The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami Blog
Lifetime Achievement
Webloggers who have been blogging at least since January 1, 2001.
Weblog of the Year
This is it: the category for the best weblog overall.
Categories
Rejected Wedding Theme #2
Nina Hagen’s cover of My Way. [5.1 MB MP3 file, enclosure].
Here, thanks to
the file sharing site that I’m not allowed to talk about, is a video of an interview with Vanity Fair contributing editor Judy Bachrach and empty-headed “Faux News” drone Brigitte Quinn [QuickTime,
9.7 MB, included as an enclosure]. It was supposed to be an
inconsquential “isn’t it great that Dubya got re-elected?” interview
about the inauguration, but it didn’t end up being the fawning Bush
love-in as planned and Bachrach took the opportunity to burst Quinn’s
bubble. Quinn, who shows herself to be clearly incapable of independent
thought, went down with the first verbal blow and proceeded to get
beaten like a rented mule.
Here’s the transcript:
Fox News: We were noticing all the snow in Washington, boy
it’s
really coming down! I hope that doesn’t put a crimp in anybody’s plans.
Look at that gorgeous shot of the White House…
Judy: Well I, I have a feeling that maybe it should put a
crimp, or at least something should put a crimp in the plans of the White
House to have such a very lavish inaugural at a time of war.
Fox News: Really?
Judy: Yes. What I’ve noticed is the worse a war is going, the more
lavish the inaugural festivities.
When Franklin Delano Roosevelt was President, during a time of war, of
course as you know,
he had a very modest inauguration and a very tiny party where he served
chicken salad, or where chicken salad was served. And that was when we
were winning a war.
Fox News: Right, but, well, no, I, look, I mean, the President
has, has addressed
this, hasn’t he, he said that this is a, I believe the quote was that
we’re
celebrating, we’re celebrating
democracy, we’re celebrating a peaceful transfer of democracy. What’s
wrong with doing that?
Judy: Have you noticed any peace or any transfer of democracy
in Iraq? If you have, you’re the first person to have seen it.
Fox News: Well, I’ve noticed the elections coming up, and, to
be honest…
Judy: They don’t seem very peaceful.
Fox News: ….I didn’t want to argue politics with you this
morning.
Judy: Oh really? I thought I was allowed to talk about what I
wanted to talk about.
Fox News: You certainly, you certainly have that right. Let me
ask, let me ask you this: what, I mean, what — what should they have cut
back on? I mean we…
Judy: How about $40 million.
Fox News: All right, well…
Judy: May I say something? May I say something?
Fox News: Sure.
Judy: We have soldiers who are incapable of protecting
themselves in their humvees in Iraq.
They have to use bits of scrap metal in order to make their humvees
secure.
Their humvees are
sitting ducks for bombs. And we have a president who’s using $40 million
to have a party.
Fox News: What would you suggest for the inauguration? How would
you do it?
Judy: How about a modest party? Just like FDR. I’m sure
you’ll agree he was a pretty good President with a fine sense of what’s
appropriate and what’s not. And during a time of war, 10 parties are not
appropriate when your own soldiers are sitting ducks in very, very bad
vehicles.
Fox News: Well, don’t you think that the President has,
has given
his
proper respect to our troops? I mean yesterday, as far as I can tell,
the festivities opened with a military gala, they ended with a prayer
service. There does seem to have certainly
been a tremendous effort over the past couple of days and more
than that to honor our troops!
Judy: Well, gee, that prayer should sure keep them safe and
warm in their
flimsy vehicles in Iraq.
I’d rather see that money going to them, rather than to a guy who already
is President, for the second time.
Quinn on the ropes. The lesson to be learned: don’t shoot off your mouth when your brain is full of blanks. Click to see the video.
Fox News: All right, well, Judy Bachrach, I think we’ve given
you more than your time to give us your point of view this morning.
Judy: Thanks for having me on.
No, Judy, thank you.