Author: Victor

One of the authors of the Gnutella report below writes back: “…In the Napster case, users lie about their bandwidth rates to deter users from
connecting to them…” Very sneaky, and kinda stupid too. What kind of machine/connection are you sitting on that you don’t mind using as a Napster client but don’t want to use as the occasional server?

A Xerox study finds that gnutella users are taking more than they’re giving. I think there may be a usability lesson to be learned here. Personally I’m still not sure if Napster/Macster/Gnutella has to be running for others to download files from my computer, or if there are extensions or whatever that do that in the background (on reflection I realize that’s probably not the case, but I have an IT background, so I’m assuming most people have no idea). In the report, “the researchers…thought they had surveyed a substantial portion of the network.” So what they reported what based on statistics, not user behavior, though the conclusion that people “are not sharing” sounds like an accusation against people’s behavior.

Incidentally this was on my mind recently regarding all sorts of free resources on the Net, whether source code or guitar tabulature or MP3s. Historically I consumed a lot of stuff from others for years and years without giving. Recently when my girlfriend was wondering why people create weblogs I gave it more thought and realized my web site is a little way I can offer up what I’ve learned to others, and I feel so much better.

Deepleap is closing down. Sad. It’s not often I wish Microsoft would buy up a company and integrate the technology, but that would have been a nicer ending in this case.

Just read that Blogger’s going down for maintenance…Blogging against the clock!

In my love/hate relationship with New York City it’s been mostly love lately. After seeing a bunch of co-workers from other countries tour the city I see it with new eyes.

Tonight as I walked north through SoHo and the West Village there are tons of interesting people out, players around the chess tables in the thousand year old store on Thompson St., dogs of all descriptions being walked everywhere. I stop to get a haircut at this weird little barber shop with a strobe light in the window and a sign in the window that reads, “Watch batteries changed.” I figured the sign must have been left over from whatever the store was previously. As the barber finished up my cut a man walked in and said, “The guy in the smoke shop next door said you change watch batteries.” “Yes, please have seat…”

Courage

Thomas Paine

Perseverence

Harry S. Truman

The Feature, a hippish, smart mobile magazine thingy from Nokia. For some reason I look at it and think James Bond.

I keep coming up with neat wireless device ideas – a Bluetooth-powered cordless earbud, a phone whose keypad folds back to reveal a larger screen for PDA use – only to discover that Ericsson (not Nokia, usually perceived to be the innovator) has already developed the idea. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to find these devices on their web site.

Sarah makin’ shish kebobs…

oh yes, just discovered The Humane Interface: New Directions for Designing Interactive Systems, a new book from Jef Raskin. I can’t order this one fast enough.

The link below was found as I was searching for more of Raskin’s thoughts on “human interfaces.” I saw the phrase somewhere and thought it was an older concept of his. What’s amusing is that when I did the search it would have been a perfect cue for one of those “Find books about HUMANE INTERFACE” prompts from search engine-book seller cross-selling arrangements. But those prompts generate irrational questions so frequently that I ignore them.

Nice POV from Jef Raskin on “Intuitive Interfaces”: “I suggest that we replace the word “intuitive” with the word ‘familiar’ “.

Shit, when did Yahoo start using Google as its search engine? I was a loyal Yahoo user, appreciating the speedy pages and clean design. But I can’t stand Google’s substitution of popularity of a link for relevance. I don’t want to read something just because others are linking to it, I want to read something relevant to my damn query. Time to shop around.

A cheesy looking site, LifeStarz.Com has a great premise behind it, to help you express your values and make it easier to keep them in mind. The Internet so rarely reaches for higher aspirations that I think are possible. Another reference of mine from 10.25.1999 is Bill Hill and Brenda Laurel’s ideas on spirituality and values-driven design.

Americans For Purity. Called “Sensible single issue politics for the upcoming elections” on the Razorfish blog (“Soupcan”). My favorite part, under the headline of “Solutions”:

“Science has discovered that men produce sperm cells constantly. All that sperm has to go somewhere! If an unmarried man doesn’t masturbate, all the sperm cells he produces end up in his urine. It would be very simple to require unmarried men to submit frequent urine samples, which could then be examined under a microscope. If an unmarried man has a low concentration of sperm cells in his urine, it means he has been having orgasms one way or another! Therefore he is guilty of either Masturbation or Fornication and should be imprisoned!”

Still not sure if this is a joke or not.

Gore Taps Sen. Lieberman As Running Mate. This is encouraging. Thus far it seems only those of Anglo-Saxon descent were considered electable at the national level.