<blockquote>The term "Semantic Markup" is bandied about freely, and with every year that passes, it makes me more and more nervous</blockquote><a href="http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2003/04/09/SemanticMarkup">ref</a> 38QuotabledanielTue.03.06.2003publishDavid Mamet, On Directing Film <blockquote>In the bad film, the fellow says, hello, Jack, I'm coming over to your home this evening because I need to get the money you borrowed from me. In the good film, he says, where the hell were you yesterday?</blockquote>ref: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140127224/peterlindberg-20">1</a> <a href="http://tesugen.com/2003/05/30.html#markbtruth">2</a> 37QuotabledanielTue.03.06.2003publishopen-source coders...like cockroaches after a nuclear blast <blockquote>After years of effort by the federal government, Microsoft got away with a slap on the wrist. And after years of tussling with AOL, Microsoft is getting what it wants by handing over buckets of cash. But still, it can't stamp out those pesky open-source coders, who, like cockroaches after a nuclear blast, seem to be able to survive everything. Companies come and go, stock markets rise and fall, and still the developers make their bug reports, check in their new code, and prepare their next release. Maybe the browser wars aren't really over, after all.</blockquote>ref: <a href="http://www.salon.com/tech/col/leon/2003/06/02/unholy_alliance/index.html">1</a> <a href="http://boingboing.net/#200373738">2</a> 36QuotabledanielTue.03.06.2003publishMetaphilm on The Man Who Wasn't There Metaphilm, as usual, heavy handed in their analysis; but considering The Stranger is one of my favorite books, I was surprised that I did not pick up on any of this...and it makes me ready to see the film (which I was initially disappointed with, now surprising based on this evidence) again... <a href="http://metaphilm.com/philm.php?id=124_0_2_0_M">The Man Who Wasn't There Twentieth-Century Man</a><blockquote>"Mother died today, or maybe it was yesterday." These words are spoken by Meursault, the main character in the famous existentialist novel, The Stranger by Albert Camus. Meursault is a young man living in Algeria whose life takes a turn for the worse after he unfeelingly commits a murder. Meursault's court appearance--where he is found guilty--is more a trial of character than an evaluation of his liability for the crime. After the trial Meursault is sent to prison and put to death. In MWWT, Ed kills his wife's lover (Big Dave) when Big Dave unexpectedly attacks him. Ed catches a break, of sorts, when Doris is arrested for Dave's murder. But then he's arrested for the murder of the traveling salesman Creighton Tolliver. The main evidence against Ed is the contract for a dry cleaning business that was cosigned by Creighton and Ed. The contract was found next to Creighton&#45;&#45;he was beaten to death&#45;&#45;in his car at the bottom of a local lake. Most of Ed's trial deals not with the crime but his character as Twentieth Century Man. Ed is subsequently found guilty, sent to prison, and put to death. Meursault's and Ed's lives should sound similar by now. And this is appropriate, for Ed and Meursault are actually the same person. This is true not only on the level of plot, but also with respect to their personalities. Both are known primarily for exhibiting a total lack of emotion. Both men, for instance, respond in the same calm, almost apathetic manner when proposed to (by Doris and Marie respectively). The similarities between The Stranger and MWWT are just too coincidental. We can see that the Coen Brothers borrowed directly from The Stranger in order to provide movie viewers (that is, a non-reading audience likely unfamiliar with Camus) with a taste of twentieth century existential philosophy...</blockquote> 35ElsewheredanielTue.03.06.2003publishlast rose For a while I've been meaning to cover <a href="http://christianpornmachine.com">CPM</a>'s Last Rose. I think mostly because there is line/word in the song inspired by yours truly ("americana") and also 'cause "back in high school // when punk was still cool // but nothing lasts forever" is a very cool lyric. So last week I set about figuring it out and then putting it into a key I could work with. Today I, just for kicks, present the ultra-low-fi, really-i-mean-looooow-fi, mono, americana project version of "Last Rose" by CPM: <a href="media/last_rose_cover.mp3">last_rose_cover.mp3 (1.6M)</a> 34MusicdanielMon.02.06.2003publishad hoc knowledge management tools <a href="http://www.way.nu/archives/000526.html">way.nu - ad hoc knowledge management tools</a>... <a href="index.php?file=blog_2003_05_13.xml&id=5">historical</a>...some ¶'s duplicated...but here are more quotes, some may be in the amateur hour article too:<blockquote>It is somewhat startling to realize that the tools for knowledge management haven't appreciably improved in the last 20 or so years; email integration and shared folders are the only significant features Outlook delivers that Sidekick didn't have in 1984. And while a batch of VC dollars have been spent on intranets and portal creation software, the whole concept of centralized knowledge management feels wrong to me. I wouldn't dream of trying to create a single UI to do everything, especially as the way we work with knowledge is very modal. A search tool need have little more in the way of UI than Google, while the tools used for organizing and visualizing interrelationships between concepts should take advantage of the richness of graphical expression and I/O devices that only a desktop client can deliver. Here are a handful of the desktop knowledge management tools that I've played with over the last couple years that seem like possibilities for desktop knowledge management...</blockquote>(follow <a href="http://www.way.nu/archives/000526.html">link</a>) Update: I actually took the time with my dialup and tried out all these outliners/"KM" tools and ...they all suck. Software even remotely in this space is in a bad place as far as I can tell. The only decent programs don't fit in the space--the two from softgauge, a favorites organizer, Compass, and an XML editor, XmlShell. 33DesignDanielMon.02.06.2003publisherik benson and the ideal idea database I am not one for spilling too many beans at once or ahead of time, but since I didn't actually write this and its thread seems to be so close to closure, I thought I'd point out this amazing coincidink. I was just now catching up a little bit on a new-to-me and very interesting blog (via <a href="http://interconnected.org/home/2003_05_25_archive.shtml#200363332">interconnected</a>), <a href="http://www.erikbenson.com/">Erik Benson</a>'s (<a href="http://erikbenson.com/rss.xml">RSS</a>). As I read this entry, <a href="http://erikbenson.com/index.cgi?node=the%20ideal%20idea%20database">the ideal idea database</a>, my jaw hit the floor as he came the closest to describing <a href="/swim">SWIM</a> as anyone has:<blockquote>the ideal tool for brainstorming ideas and ranking them hasn't yet been invented for the web, and that both the wiki and the weblog have some deficiencies that a ideal idea database would have. One thing I definitely need in an idea database: a way to link ideas easily. Links between ideas can be parent/child relationships, sibling relationships, duplicates, and requirements (this idea can't happen until these three ideas have been implemented). It basically needs to be an instant outliner, except the outline must be able to handle branches that split apart, come together, and overlap without requiring redundancy. In other words, I don't want to enter an idea twice just because it belongs equally in two parts of the outline. In my ideal idea tool I'd also like to have a mechanism for people to assign value to the idea along a bunch of different axes...</blockquote>48 hours later, he's prototyped the <a href="http://erikbenson.com/index.cgi?node=rapid%20development">idea database</a> and honestly, it doesn't look anything like what I have in mind. But that's cool. The other thing is he also runs his site with a homemade pseudo blogging tool, because he also was not happy with the way traditional blogging tools worked. Now, what about combining that piece with the idea database? Then we are really getting close to my SWIM project. Throw in some native semantic features, ease of use and a constant eye for end-user experience, and then you have (I hope) SWIM. Well, I guess if it were all meant to be then I'll hear something from someone on this. :) Otherwise it will just be me slogging away over here. :) 32DesignDanielSun.01.06.2003publishjust thinking about CSS Hey with all this talk/bullshit about CSS in design these days, why the hell doesn't someone try to standardize tag classes (to some extent)? That way, we could allow our users to choose from a repository of designs, or at least we could re-use CSS from that repository ourselves, without changing our markup at all. Surely someone has thought about this before? Is that sort-of what <a href="http://www.mezzoblue.com/zengarden/">CSS Zen Garden</a> is supposed to be? 31DesignDanielSun.01.06.2003publishrecycling no, reuse yes There's no recycling that we know of here in Sarajevo, but there is this old guy who goes through the trash dumpsters at the end of our street, takes all the plastic bottles, washes them out in the park fountain, and...makes some use of them, I guess... 30MinutiadanielSun.01.06.2003publishthe rdf.net challenge <a href="http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2003/05/21/RDFNet">The RDF.net Challenge</a> 29DesignDanielSun.01.06.2003publishJailing of Serbian folk star <a href="http://www.cp.org/english/online/full/Entertainment/030530/e053002A.html">Jailing of folk star spells trouble for Serbia's pop culture (The Canadian Press)</a> 28ElsewheredanielSun.01.06.2003publishsalam pax article in guardian Friday May 30, 2003 The Guardian <a href="http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia/story/0,7496,966935,00.html">Salam's story</a><blockquote>The most gripping account of the Iraq conflict came from a web diarist known as the Baghdad Blogger. But no one knew his identity - or even if he existed. Rory McCarthy finally tracked him down, and found a quietly spoken, 29-year-old architect. From next week he will write fortnightly in G2.</blockquote>via <a href="http://jordoncooper.com">coop</a> 27ElsewheredanielSat.31.05.2003publishhunkabutta in nyt <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/25/arts/design/25BOXE.html">nytimes article on photoblogs with a bad title I shant repeat here</a> but the publicity is good. 26ElsewheredanielSat.31.05.2003publish <a href="http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/photo/perini-photosbyvincent/gallery/index.html">photos by vincent perini</a> 25ElsewheredanielFri.30.05.2003publishantihero David Hopkins, after much hassle with my going-down-the-toilet webhost (sorry about that!), has a great new site up: <a href="http://antiherocomics.com">antiherocomics.com</a> The unique, comics-infected outlook on life and culture is much appreciated. Time to move the blog(s) there, eh? Also of interest there is the antiphotos. Here's one of Buddy: <img src="http://antiherocomics.com/antiphoto/buddy.jpg"> 24ElsewheredanielFri.30.05.2003publishFight Club Chuck was right: the movie is better than the book; tighter, tells a couple of the story elements in a better way. Also Chuck's writing has grown a lot since then! It is cool to see that; that even a huge writer like Chuck improves from his first to his 5th. Can't wait for the new one to come out this summer. Good, still Chuck, I'm a huge fan of course, but either read this one before any others or all the others before this one. 23CommentdanielFri.30.05.2003publishMatrix So I finally got to see the new Matrix last night, in a funky theater with loud Bosnians all around (btw, how many people in your theater understood the french part in the middle? --about half the theater did here) and a bad soundsystem, but it was still good. I agree with almost all of <a href="http://www.btinternet.com/~smallritual/">Collin's</a> critique, plus some others I've heard: kill the stupid orchestral soundtrack (is that some weird conservatism at the studios?), the Zion sequence was too long and stupid, then after that it got good. I really liked the last half. The explanations/revelations of what's "really" going on were good while still leaving a lot of loose ends to tie up. But I still don't buy for one second that they wrote all three movies at the same time. Good, could be better, only great because we're all bought into the story pretty thoroughly already. 22CommentdanielFri.30.05.2003publishcooking This I have never really done very much of. Like most things, I wait until the most difficult time possible to start. But, this all adds to the fun. Because I have never cooked before, and because my options for purchasing goods is limited --not by supply, mind you, but by my inability to comminicate any intricacies with the locals. You mean, Daniel, that the farmers and shop clerks don't speak English? Yeah. ...so this cooking is quite the improvised art thing. So yesterday I am inspired and I have my Bosnian language lesson at the embassy (yes, your tax dollars hard at work to help me survive in a foreign land and also to support a local literary great), so I say, "Wanna go on a field trip?" So we go to the ribarnica to look for some fish. In the States, you would have a hard time finding fish sold with the bones (yet alone eyeballs) still in it. Here it is just the opposite. There they are, in a big pile: just fish. Just like you just pulled it out the river (good news being that it was probly just pulled out the river). 'Cept I don't know what to do with that. I'm a city boy, after all! Fortunately there was another ribarnica around the corner and they had losos--salmon, and already prepared as "steaks". At least I didn't have to pull the guts out! Next we went into the tr&#382;nica, a large covered market where they sell a lot of meat and cheese. The guys selling it shout at you to come buy their meat or cheese. Pretty cool. I didn't know what they were saying so I just imagined. Hey, guys! Come buy my cheese! I have the best cheese here! Loooook at my cheeeeese! Doesn't it look tasty! Hey! Don't walk away! I also have a pretty daughter! Would you like to see my pretty daughter! Then across the street to the fruit and veggie market, which is even more chaotic, if that were possible. On the way some guy tried to tell me about how his car broke down and he needed some money. I stick out on the street like a sore foreign thumb! So at the market I got paradajz--tomatoes, narandj--oranges, and mrkva--carrots. Trying to make an already long story shorter--got home, made a nice sort-of orange glaze for the salmon, with some cooked carrots, tomatoes on the side, fresh hljeb--bread...not bad, not bad atal. 21MinutiadanielFri.30.05.2003publishrunning I ran indoor and outdoor track my senior year in high school, and have run occasionally to keep --I wouldn't say in shape, but at least from being a couch potato. I started running last week and so far my runs around here have been pretty cool. We live at the base of a hill (all of BiH consisting, seemingly, of hills). At the end of the block there are some old stone steps. I prefer to take those steps because if I go any further down our street, my options increasingly become running up a very steep single lane road. After that I just pick a turn. Up this funky looking set of steps. Across this alley. Down this crazy slope. It's at least interesting, possibly even fun. This town doesn't disappoint in the urban mysteries dept. I've seen some pretty crazy structures on my little runs. I've notice in my experience that the steeper the grade, the more interesting the construction is, especially if said construction dates back a century or so. Anyway, it doesn't take long to get a good workout in; today I found the perfect route, and hopefully I can find it again: almost all steps and alleyways. The other interesting thing about running in this city? Not getting plowed by traffic on the narrow streets. 20MinutiadanielFri.30.05.2003publishdown and out in the magic kingdom I read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0765304368/qid=1054208396/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/102-3893155-1056901?v=glance&s=books&n=507846">this book</a> last week and have been meaning to write a review of it, but I have been less inspired the longer I wait (I've even since read Fight Club as well)...but I checked out the current reviews on amazon and in responding to one I will hopefully manage to dig a couple cents out my pocket: <blockquote>With endorsements from Larry Lessig, Eric Raymond and Bruce sterling, I thought I couldn't go wrong. I discovered that I could. So I got wiser, but not happpy about it. The story is set in a future world, where you "save" yourself once in a while and reload yourself into a new body when anything goes wrong. It's also a world which is not based on money but on reputation votes (called wuffies). The scary part is that you can check anyone's reputation any time, and people discriminate against you for that. The guy lives in Disneyworld, where it is maintained by volunteers. So Doctrow got his idea from free software development models, and made it into a story, but not too well. For example, the reputation is not supposed to be money but it turns out that if you have high scores, you can actually hire people to do dirty work ... well, then that's effectively money itself. Besides, if you think it out, things are really unclear. I have a high reputation for my translation and Japanese writing skills, but my girlfriend skill sucks. So what's my overall reputation?</blockquote>This reviewer's quick sum-up of the book is decent so I include it here. This last para makes the first point I'll antagonize. The reputation currency in Down and Out is called Whuffie, and it is absolutely made out to be the money of the time. It is said towards the beginning of the book that money was done away with, but it is clear that Whuffie is simply the new currency. The interesting result of this is that it is an emotional currency--rejection is not just a emotional blow, but a lifestyle modification as well. It is clear that Whuffie is bestowed by others and used up within the economy (late in the novel the main character has his car taken away once his Whuffie becomes very low). Exploring this type of economy is one of the main contributions of the story, in fact <a href="http://boingboing.net">Cory</a> must be laughing to himself when such an economy is <a href="http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/000933">argued for rationally</a>, now. <blockquote>The attitude toward death is also not well thought out. You can get re-incarnated anytime, so death shouldn't be a big deal...but this guy is very upset because he was killed, and engages in petty sabotage against the person who he thought was behind it. But when the real killer is found, 10 minutes later, he goes on a date with her. What?</blockquote>The other main thread of the book is the society that has resulted from the elimination of death. Because you cannot die but of your own choosing (choosing not to be "restored"), many things about society have changed. The hit-woman killed the main character. So what? He's restored from backup and his only concern is Why would someone want to kill me? When the hit-woman is found out, her Whuffie goes down, and her confession endears her to her victim. The paradigm shift it takes to understand this deathless society is quite severe considering the fact that almost everything about our current society revolves around the idea of death, and Cory does a fine job taking us along down that path. You can read the rest of the negative review on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0765304368/qid=1054208396/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/102-3893155-1056901?v=glance&s=books&n=507846">Amazon</a> if you want, but my point is that these two ideas that form the crux of the environment in which the story takes place, they are the point of the story. Cory could tell 100 more stories within this universe he has created, and each would be interesting in the way the characters existed within a world so similar, and yet completely opposite, of the one in which we live now. When the entire economy is based on an abstration such as reputation and death is a nonissue, what do our lives look like? What things become issues? When you know your life will go on indefinately, what do you do with yourself? When even the most Whuffie-poor are rich enough to travel and pursue whatever they want, what do you pursue? When even the most Whuffie-rich can lose it all in a failed scheme, where do you find security? What motivates you? I think Cory addresses all these questions well--for example our protagonist finds security in his job at Disney World and in his relationship with his lover, but when it all goes to hell he just starts over. Nothing surprises him. He's on his 5th life. He's been around. Perhaps the scariest thing about this universe Cory created was the cold indifference such a utopia can create. I had the three worst dreams I've ever had in my life, three nights in a row during the time I was reading this book. Coincidence? What would really happen in a world where we have objectified an emotion into the economy and eliminated death? It may not be as utopian and Cory would make it out to be. 19CommentdanielThu.29.05.2003publishWoe is Me OR "May I Send You a Trite, Mixed Message?" This is the start of a piece that, again, may or may not ever develop into something further. I started it in the airport in Vienna when we were picking up Miriam's mother, after listening to the radio all through Croatia, Slovenia, and Austria. Madonna--American Life Shania Twain--Ka Ching abstract: While simultaneously sending the mainstream message that built their careers, stars are jumping on a postmodern "authenticity" bandwagon. They sing of the emptiness of their consumer-centric existences, while showing no signs of actually changing their ways, and worse still, continuing to promote the lifestyle "lies" they sing against. Lyrics: Madonna, American Life:<blockquote>Do I have to change my name? Will it get me far? Should I lose some weight? Am I gonna be a star? I tried to be a boy, I tried to be a girl I tried to be a mess, I tried to be the best I guess I did it wrong, That's why I wrote this song This type of modern life - Is it for me? This type of modern life - Is it for free? So, I went into a bar looking for sympathy A little company - I tried to find a friend It's more easily said it's always been the same This type of modern life -Is not for me? This type of modern life -Is not for free? American life I live the american dream You are the best thing I've seen, You are not just a dream I tried to stay ahead, I tried to stay on top I tried to play the part, But somehow I forgot Just what I did it for And why I wanted more This type of modern life - Is it for me? This type of modern life - Is it for free? Do I have to change my name? Will it get me far? Should I lose some weight? Am I gonna be a star? American life I live the american dream You are the best thing I've seen, You are not just a dream I tried to be a boy, I tried to be a girl I tried to be a mess, I tried to be the best I tried to find a friend, I tried to stay ahead I tried to stay on top... Fuck it... Do I have to change my name? Will it get me far? Should I lose some weight? Am I gonna be a star? I'm drinking a Soy latte I get a double shot It goes right through my body And you know I'm satisfied, I drive my mini cooper And I'm feeling super-dooper Yo they tell I'm a trooper And you know I'm satisfied I do yoga and pilates And the room is full of hotties So I'm checking out the bodies And you know I'm satisfied I'm digging on the isotopes This metaphysic's shit is dope And if all this can give me hope You know I'm satisfied I got a lawyer and a manager An agent and a chef Three nannies, an assistant And a driver and a jet A trainer and a butler And a bodyguard or five A gardener and a stylist Do you think I'm satisfied? I'd like to express my extreme point of view I'm not Christian and I'm not a Jew I'm just living out the American dream And I just realized that nothing Is what it seems Do I have to change my name Am I gonna be a star Do I have to change my name Am I gonna be a star? Do I have to change my name</blockquote>The rapped bridge! OH my. This is why I don't have to write this essay...these songs are so bad they critique themselves. Shania Twain, Ka Ching:<blockquote>We live in a greedy little world that teaches every little boy and girl To earn as much as they can possibly then turn around and Spend it foolishly We've created us a credit card mess We spend the money we don't possess Our religion is to go and blow it all So it's shoppin' every Sunday at the mall All we ever want is more A lot more than we had before So take me to the nearest store Chorus: Can you hear it ring It makes you wanna sing It's such a beautiful thing Ka-ching! Lots of diamond rings The happiness it brings You'll live like a king With lots of money and things When you're broke go and get a loan Take out another mortgage on your home Consolidate so you can afford To go and spend some more when you get bored All we ever want is more A lot more than we had before So take me to the nearest store Repeat Chorus Let's swing Dig deeper in your pocket Oh, yeah, ha Come on I know you've got it Dig deeper in your wallet Oh All we ever want is more A lot more than we had before So take me to the nearest store Repeat Chorus Can you hear it ring It makes you wanna sing You'll live like a king With lots of money and things Ka-ching!</blockquote>Again, these lyrics mock themselves (unintentially). Funnier still is the plastic-surgery-maxed-out Shania with a HUGE diamond on her hand in the video as the "simple, non-consumer" Shania. That and the 70's rock revival Shania they threw in there just for good measure. People actually go for this? It's ok for them to feel that way, if they really do, but the trite lyrics combined with no lifestyle or image change is what bothers me. When we saw Madonna on MTF she was wearing a corset under her shirt that was so tight she could hardly breathe--which was unfortunate when she tried to pull off Like a Prayer and was singing flat and out of breath the whole time! Are we being authentic here or do you still really need to look like an impossibly rich Barbie doll? Obviously the latter. 18CommentdanielThu.29.05.2003publishreloaded Tonight we're going to see this Matrix Reloaded thingie that everyone's been talkin' 'bout. Woo. 17MinutiadanielThu.29.05.2003publishactive renderer web outliner <a href=" http://radio.weblogs.com/0104487/outlines/aR/activeRenderer.html">active renderer</a> for radio userland. may push me to make the big purchase of radio. Update: Radio is <a href="http://radio.userland.com/faq">licensed on a yearly basis</a>--40 clams a year. Not cul w/me; I'd rather pay more but have it for good. This yearly stuff sounds too much like Time Life Books or a bad car lease. 16DesignDanielThu.29.05.2003publishkungfugrippe <blockquote>IE5/WIN is the new Netscape 4</blockquote><a href="http://www.kungfugrippe.com/previously/002405.php">ref</a> 15QuotabledanielThu.29.05.2003publishmissing stuff I just realized how stupid I am (you're thinking, Just?): I packed my Korg digital 12 track and all the CDR backups of all my songs I've recorded on it in the same ground shipment, which is god knows where right now. My fav guitar out of my two is also on that shipment. 14MinutiadanielWed.28.05.2003publishdialup Another unexpected result of dialup: moving the dictionary and thesaurus back onto the desk now that dictionary.com and thesaurus.dictionary.com are no longer right there all the time. 13MinutiadanielWed.28.05.2003publishlessig <blockquote>it is bizarre that we increasingly live in this world where every movement is captured by a camera, yet increasingly, ordinary people are not permitted to take pictures with cameras. This is yet another part of a growing obsession with control that seems to mark so much of this society. At a minimum, we have a right to take note of this control, and criticize it where we can.</blockquote><a href="http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/lessig/blog/archives/2003_05.shtml#001229">ref</a>. pick up the thread <a href="http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/lessig/blog/archives/2003_05.shtml#001223">here</a>, <a href="http://boingboing.net/#200350795">here</a>, and <a href="http://www.starbucksphotos.com/">here</a>. Update: <a href="http://www.opedit.org/politics_religion/starbucks_picture_po.html">An ex-Starbucks employ talks about it</a> (via <a href="http://boingboing.net/#200353250">boing boing</a>) 12QuotabledanielWed.28.05.2003publishwiner Someone I only read when someone I do read points to him, but his DaveNet pieces are traditionally very good. The latest is no exception:<blockquote>Today software and music, software and writing, software and all kinds of creativity, are indistinguishable. There is no clear line dilineating where one ends and the other starts. Nor is there a line between people. To be creative in either technology or the arts requires an understanding of both.</blockquote><a href="http://davenet.userland.com/2003/05/24/whoWillPayForSoftware">DaveNet: Who will pay for software?</a> 11QuotabledanielWed.28.05.2003publishart in embassies program <a href="http://aiep.state.gov/">aiep.state.gov</a> knew all about this but reminded by <a href="http://www.artnotes.org/">ariana french</a>. there is a DB of all the <a href="http://aiep.state.gov/exhibits/index.cfm">art in the embassies</a>, including of course Sarajevo (but no URI-based retrieval--you'll have to fetch it yourself). 10ElsewheredanielWed.28.05.2003publishmemefest.org <a href="http://memefest.org/">memefest.org</a> more later i think 9ElsewheredanielWed.28.05.2003publishMicha's Story Here's a new beginning for Micha's Story. If you don't know what Micha's Story is, then don't worry about it. This is for long-time DJDC readers with good memories. The tape, the CCTV tape, black and white and out of focus on the mini TV in the closet-sized office of strip mall security, shows a middle-aged woman talking with her hands to the young sales clerk behind the counter. He looks like she might as well have her hands crushed around his balls. He nervously rolls on his feet. A transaction takes place. She leaves. This is the story of my childhood. Except I am still a child. This is the movie of your life. Roll the tape inside your head. Fade to black and white now, except the tape, the mute Closed Circuit TV tape of one million security cameras, is already black and white. So fade to color. Cue the soundtrack. This is the story of my life. But for you, my <s>life</s> lie just started. Don't live a lie is so clich&eacute;. Try not to live a lie and see what happens. Lost. Forgotten. Truth escapes the physics of economy: it is in sparse supply, and yet it has no value. The middle-aged woman walks from the store on a million CCTV tapes, out a million doors, into a million cars, where a boy waits for her on a million leather bucket seats. 8FictiondanielWed.28.05.2003publishslovakia dot org Was looking for the exchange rate for Slovak Koruny and stumbled upon <a href="http://www.slovakia.org">slovakia.org</a>. 7ElsewheredanielTue.27.05.2003publishHTML chars for Bosnian Much thanks to <a href="http://www.ellensjourney.org/stranger/">Ellen</a> who emailed to point me to <a href="http://balkansnet.org/diacritic.html">this</a>: Š -- &#352; š -- &#353; Ž -- &#381; ž -- &#382; &#272 -- &#272; đ -- &#273; &#262 -- &#262; ć -- &#263; Č -- &#268 č -- &#269; But I'll still leave the un č ed posts from earlier. Tučepi Tučepi Tučepi. Pogačice. Chuh chuh chuh. 6DesignDanielTue.27.05.2003publisheurovision contest I'm actually really glad I don't have to try and explain this to you. <a href="http://ellensjourney.org/stranger/archives/000588.html">Great recap of a very weird Euro music thing I can't really explain</a>. Update: <a href="http://www.benhammersley.com/archives/004745.html">Beh H also waxed a tad on the contest</a>. Update update: <a href="http://www.missmonica.org/2003_05_01_archive.html#200338503">This is a great recap by Wood</a>. Except the UK got nil because they were absolute crap; the worst; torture, really; it wasn't political. 5MinutiadanielMon.26.05.2003publishthe view <a href="images/sarajevo/may_2003/dalmatia/view_panor.jpg">Here is a taste of the view from our balcony over the weekend</a>. 4MinutiadanielMon.26.05.2003publishLast day on coast slash drive home <img src="images/sarajevo/may_2003/dalmatia/makarska2_web.jpg" width="330" height="221" /> <img src="images/sarajevo/may_2003/dalmatia/makarska1_web.jpg" width="330" height="248" /> Above: last night, Makarska, Croatia. We're on the road home. We just had strawberries and peaches from a roadside stand. The drive down the coast was just as amazing on this stretch, cliffs to the left and 100ft. dropoffs to the crystalline sea below (we don't need no stinkin' guardrails). I could see another 12-20 feet down through the water to the bottom as well. Villages nestle in every little inlet. They don't call this the Makarska Riviera for nothing. More picturesque scenes I've only seen in pictures. <hr width="30" align="center" /> Reading Fight Club. Reading a lot of fiction causes you to self-narrate your life like it were {}. Chuck makes you do it in short sentences. <hr width="30" align="center" /> One thing I neglected to write about both last weekend and on the drive out this weekend was just how beautiful inland BiH is...huge tree-covered mountains everywhere, amazing clear blue-green rivers, lakes, and storybook hillside villages. Today as we drove through the mountains small low clouds were draped around their middles like t-shirts. Felt like you could just take a short walk up into the sky. <hr width="30" align="center" /> Last night we talked about what happened in Bosnia for the first time...our hosts lost a father and a brother...had a father in a concentration camp...innumerable friends lost. He worked at the hospital and watched the cars bring in people all day every day. Every car he looked for his family. He said there were sometimes 20 to a car. They'd throw them down on the sidewalk like wood. We cannot understand what they experienced. We cannot begin to. "It's amazing what humans can endure." Rough translation of the quote of the evening. 3MinutiadanielMon.26.05.2003publishTucepi <img alt="tucepi1_web (18K)" src="images/sarajevo/may_2003/dalmatia/tucepi1_web.jpg" height="248" width="330" /> <img alt="tucepi2_web (13K)" src="images/sarajevo/may_2003/dalmatia/tucepi2_web.jpg" height="248" width="330" /> It's really bothering me how HTML doesn't have a c with a thingie on it, only s with a thingie on it &scaron;. Anyone know how to make a c like that? Anyway, say Toochepee. That's where we were on the weekend. <hr width="30" align="center" /> Water is absolutely crystal clear. <hr width="30" align="center" /> Stone beaches. <hr width="30" align="center" /> Can see from where I sit at a caffe bar/restaurant into the sea 5 meters away, another 3 meters deep to the bottom. Water is perfectly cool. Air is perfectly warm. <hr width="30" align="center" /> Weekend has been very good for me. I'm recharged, warmed up, ready to tackle projects, conquer the world, fulfill the dream(s). I could go back today, but perhaps it is good to be "forced" (yeah, right) to stay, relax, soak (sun and water), take pictures, sleep, read. <hr width="30" align="center" /> Heard: Croatian (duh), Bosnian (almost/essentially the same thing), German, Slovak, Czech, British English, American English. Miriam can, of course, understand and speak all of those, and her head is spinning. She is so brilliant (and beautiful, of course!)...I said to her, Must be nice to have such a practical genius... <hr width="30" align="center" /> One thing that may need some explanation is that construction in Eastern Europe is done on an as-can-afford basis. This accounts for the number of half-finished homes, even on the relatively wealthy costal areas. Little bit different paradigm than in the States. <hr width="30" align="center" /> Europeans may laugh at some of my "obvious" observations; hopefully the rest are at least enlightened (or maybe only entertained themselves). <hr width="30" align="center" /> Stone beach = no sand stuck up your buttcrack all the time. <hr width="30" align="center" /> Got photographic eye back. Digital fetish is good, but may erode the eye a bit. Definately different genres. Def diff pics. Just took a ton of cul film shots. Color. Can't wait to see them. Def a color location. Later: wish I had duplicated a couple with the digital...scanner is still on it's way... 2MinutiadanielSun.25.05.2003publishNotes from a trip to Dalmatia <img alt="split2_web (19K)" src="images/sarajevo/may_2003/dalmatia/split2_web.jpg" height="248" width="330" /> <a href="images/sarajevo/may_2003/dalmatia/split1.jpg"><img alt="split1_web (16K)" src="images/sarajevo/may_2003/dalmatia/split1_web.jpg" height="248" width="330" style="border-color:#808080" /></a> <a href="images/sarajevo/may_2003/dalmatia/split3.jpg"><img alt="split3_web (45K)" src="images/sarajevo/may_2003/dalmatia/split3_web.jpg" height="440" width="330" style="border-color:#808080" /></a> Above: Split. Major props to our Bosnian friends who made all the arrangements, drove, and got a major deal at an amazing hotel right on the water. <hr width="30" align="center" /> Split--beautiful. Like Venice but without those annoying Italians. <hr width="30" align="center" /> Drive down from Split to Tucepi--indescribably beautiful. Really. I can't begin to... <hr width="30" align="center" /> Much different road trip than last weekend! <hr width="30" align="center" /> Cherries. Pogacice sa kajma. Fresh pita with this really good curd cheese. <hr width="30" align="center" /> pisati to write pi&scaron;ati to piss pu&scaron;iti to smoke/to give a blowjob (context being everything) <hr width="30" align="center" /> There are many things I would like to say. And yet I am still breathless. 1MinutiadanielSat.24.05.2003publish