there really are far too many perfect juxtopositions in the online auction of a copy of the u.s. declaration of independence:
posted by e3
5:00:51 PM
""What price liberty? A copy of the Declaration of Independence that was printed in 1776 and discovered behind a $4 flea-market painting in 1989 was sold yesterday for $7.4 million, 23 percent more than Sotheby's highest preauction estimate and a record for a copy of the document.it could only have been more perfect if the auction had been fully 'democratized' a la ebay
It was also one of the highest prices paid for a document sold over the Internet.""
i'm not one to go googoo over wacky interface navigation tricks. but i think the recent release of jazz would be fun to play with as a visualization method for the dynamic topical index that i rambled on about yesterday. it's far too perfect that this type of application appears to be just what the designers of jazz had in mind [and there's the added bonus that it's released under the gpl]:
posted by e3
10:26:38 PM
"The "Jazz" platform is a Java-based zooming user interface (ZUI) development toolkit. Applications implemented in Jazz can easily zoom, pan, and transform graphical and text objects organized into a scenegraph of hierarchical cameras, nodes and objects. The views offer smooth, animated transitions throughout an infinite plane of information. With Jazz's close integration with Java and Swing, all Jazz applications are platform independent and run in any browser with a Java 2 Run-time Engine (JRE)"
"In the future, Bederson says the Jazz Band also expects to see Jazz being used to rescue users from information overload, even where applications don't yet exist. For example, applications built on top of Jazz could maintain your surfing trail on the Web so you can find your way back; could organize your email and documents; and could help you find what you need through e-commerce storefronts or search engines."
previously on kottke - jason wonders about a web app that serves as a browsing prosthesis [no. i'm not sure why that word came to mind]:
posted by e3
10:17:16 PM
Idea: a little Web-app or browser plug-in that follows me around while I'm surfing, caching pages along the way, either on my local machine or preferably somewhere on the Internet like X:drive (up to 100 Mb of online storage, free!), and then allowing me to search/sort those pages by keyword, date, domain, &c. That way, I'll never lose track of those bits of information that seem insignificant at the time, but which are important at some point down the road.i like the idea. well it turns out that personal web indexer has some of that functionality. i'm posting it here on the slim chance that i'll remember that it could form the basis for a dynamic topical index that i've been hankering to work on. and yes. i do realize that this makes the second reference to kottke this week. i'll pilfer links loudly and proudly!
as if anyone needed more proof that i don't actually come up with my own ideas for links. The U.S. Software Industry and Software Quality: Another Detroit in the Making?:
posted by e3
10:27:05 PM
"Consumers have been putting up with bug-ridden software for one simple reason: They don't realize there is an alternative. And once they find out, commercial software vendors are going to lose a big slice of their business. Where's my evidence for this claim? History. I'm sure you've heard the famous Santayana quote: "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." (No, that's not a typo; it's Santayana the philosopher, not Santana the guitarist.) If you're looking for an example, I've got a doozy for you. According to Mark Minasi, author of a very fine book entitled The Software Conspiracy (McGraw-Hill, 2000), the U.S. commercial software industry is making exactly the same mistake that U.S. auto makers once made, and the results could prove catastrophic to the U.S. economy."[via hack the planet]
ack! in trying to aleviate some of my backlogged bookmarks i nearly deleted this rather, ummm, cynical analysis of the recording industry written by steve albini:
posted by e3
10:05:10 PM
"Whenever I talk to a band who are about to sign with a major label, I always end up thinking of them in a particular context. I imagine a trench, about four feet wide and five feet deep, maybe sixty yards long, filled with runny, decaying shit. I imagine these people, some of them good friends, some of them barely acquaintances, at one end of this trench. I also imagine a faceless industry lackey at the other end, holding a fountain pen and a contract waiting to be signed.it's got some nice numbers that complement the intellirant by courtney love. [via rc3]
Nobody can see what's printed on the contract. It's too far away, and besides, the shit stench is making everybody's eyes water. The lackey shouts to everybody that the first one to swim the trench gets to sign the contract. Everybody dives in the trench and they struggle furiously to get to the other end. Two people arrive simultaneously and begin wrestling furiously, clawing each other and dunking each other under the shit. Eventually, one of them capitulates, and there's only one contestant left. He reaches for the pen, but the Lackey says, "Actually, I think you need a little more development. Swim it again, please. Backstroke."
"One, many people don't realize we have one of the best telecommunications infrastructures in the country -- maybe the best, in terms of high-speed Internet access, digital switch networks, (and) fiber optics -- all the pieces that go to making a really good telecommunications infrastructure.i love the intentional juxtaposition of infrastructure with the mythic new england work ethic. imagine silicon valley without the need to pamper the young turks. salty, high tech captains of the digital seas, smoking pipes, saying -"aaaayuh. suuuuuuure e'nuff.".
We have high-speed Internet access in towns of 2,000 people. I like to say that New Sweden, Maine has better Internet access than Manhattan. And that gives us a real opportunity for any kind of telecommunications-based businesses.
The second thing is we have great people. We have a very long tradition of a really good work ethic, going back 100 years, 150 years. Maine was one of the early pioneers of the Industrial Revolution -- textile mills, shoe factories -- and there's a carry-over work ethic that's really good."
b.t.w. if you're looking for a good look into the psyche of those that grew up 'downeast' - i really can't recommend Down East Maine : A World Apart highly enough.
just in time for summer - look snazzy and support the site at the same time by buying some snowdeal schwag!
“The stranger has been a fundamental touchstone of cultures at least since Abraham and Sarah invited weary road travelers into their tent only to find out that they were angels in disguise. The Odyssey, too, is a meditation on strangers and hospitality: Odysseus experiences different ways of being a stranger on his way home while the suitors abuse every rule of hospitality in his own house. It's easy to see why strangers are so important: a culture's attitude towards them expresses its understanding of its position in the world of social groups. In our culture, we're suspicious of strangers. They're a threat. They lurk in shadows. On the Web, however, strangers are the source of everything worthwhile. Strangers and their utterances are the stuff of the Web.”
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shifted librarian / libtech / handheldlib / jessamyn / researchbuzz /
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qmacro / stpeter / dizzyd / durand /
blogzilla / mike's blog / mpt / hyatt / asa / blake ross / chris nelson /
simon fell / sam ruby /
webvoice / saltire / websense / bblog / poelog / bizquick /
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