I’ve been posting ads for our administrative/office assistant position for a few days now, and have gotten a lot of really good responses. However, someone is continually flagging my posts for deletion - SEVEN TIMES. That’s all great and everything, but Craig’s List is such a stupid system, it gives you no explanation for the removal whatsoever. So, when your post gets taken down, it’s pretty much up to you to figure out what was wrong with it. I have written a total of SEVEN versions of this ad, slowly weeding out every controversial statement in it. Here’s one of the earlier versions - maybe our readership (three people or more!) can offer some insight as to why I’m being targeted…
The picture above is actually the new Firefox browser with a Safari window on top. I downloaded the new browser after hearing a lot of banter about its alleged awesomeness. What I’ve seen so far just looks a lot like Safari - in rendering as well as UI. You can probably tell by the toolbars that I’m very much a minimalist when it comes to GUI, and rely heavily on knowing the keyboard shortcuts in my software toolbelt. After playing with the new Firefox for a while, I still plan on using Safari for regular surfing.
“But, Craig, why do you opt to use a browser that such a small sliver of people use?”
Because its font rendering pleases me and the application starts up 30 seconds faster than the newly released alternative. Testing our work in browsers of various versions and operating systems is a requirement, of course, but for general use, Safari works just fine by me.
What browser do you use? Why? And has anyone found a neat feature in Firefox that could dissuade me from remaining in my comfort zone?
So Livy was cooking dinner for some people we were having over tonight, and asked “what’s the best way to cut an onion?” I promptly did a google search and turned up a plethora of information. We opted for the YouTube result because it’s easier to watch a 60 second video than read a vague description for 10 minutes.
She gets after me regularly for wanting to win arguments or elaborate on interesting facts we hear and discuss via a web search from the couch. Still, I find it’s best to answer random questions that come up as soon as they’re raised, because they are usually forgotten quickly. It’s akin to keeping a pad and pen at your bedside - just in case you get a spontaneous great idea in the middle of the night or your subconscious solves a problem from the day after some time compiling new long-term memories.
The point is, the Internet is good for something. People debate the quality/truthfulness of the information out there, the prevalence of some not-so-savory content and information, the problems with accessibility, and so on. Still, there are enough tools out there today that it’s not so bad filtering through the useless static and getting what you want.
Then there are the times you don’t want a textbook answer. If the media organizations had grown to their current size and the Internet had not, we would have little help for wading through the non-stop propaganda we get from every side. Nationalism, the moral righteousness of various political philosophies, environmental activism, etc. By virtue of the Worldwide Web’s worldwide nature, we have the benefit of the various extremes of opinion in any given context, as long as we take the time to do thorough research - exposing ourselves to multiple perspectives.
Does that mean we should expose ourselves to as much information as possible? No, common sense and personal judgement should be adequate to derive conclusions on a great many things. For instance, seeing someone cut an onion in a manner that is quick and effective once was enough for us to go on with our lives without watching 10 other, similar videos. The dynamics of the process are not so complicated that more than that is necessary.
Where does it all go from here? Chances are, the quality of information on the Internet will not improve. There will be 50 bazillion Hello Kitty fan sites, and only a handful with truly relevant and precisely accurate information. At the same time, though, the tools for reaching the relevant information will only get better, and by means of syndicating all of it together maybe, just maybe, we’ll be better off for having it.
A new version of Ubuntu codenamed “Hardy Heron” was released a couple days ago. For those of you not familiar with it, Ubuntu is a free operating system that puts Vista to shame and steals lots of good ideas from the Holy Apple Empire. According to the infallible Wikipedia, the next version will be called “Intrepid Ibex”. Cute.
Sprocketeer Eric runs Ubuntu on his laptop at work, and downloaded the update the other day along with the zillions of other fans. As he notes in his blog, this new version still doesn’t always play nice with multiple monitor setups. Nonetheless, he’s a pleased customer and definitely got his money’s worth out of it.
