clock … watching time, the only true currency

A journal from John B. Roberts

clock  …  watching time, the only true currency header image 4

Entries from November 2005

Run to the Far Side 5K, 2005 edition

November 27th, 2005 · Comments Off

Yes, there is a 10K run, too. But I’m happy to get out and earn my Gary Larsen long-sleeved T-shirt at half the distance right now. Turned in an 18:53, for a 6:04 pace, which puts me 34th overall for the 5K, 28th male, and 7th male in the 30-39 age group. Official results came [...]

[Read more →]

Tags: Everything · Racing · Running

Must have been a quiet Sunday in the tech world

November 27th, 2005 · Comments Off

My post expressing my personal feed preference hit on a quiet weekend in the tech world, clearly. I noticed the post was the lead on Memeorandum by early this morning, and it stayed there until just recently. (I’m not kidding myself… Scoble’s link is what pumped up the volume.) People feel strongly about this issue, [...]

[Read more →]

Tags: Tech

Be very careful using a URL in your headline, especially if you don’t own it!

November 26th, 2005 · Comments Off

I’m amazed at the mild foolishness exhibited by a NY Times headline writer in this article: “Wishyouwerehere.com: Blogs From the Road.” That’s right, the headline writer put a URL in the headline, which leads to several problems. The URL in the headline is nowhere in the article (either page). That’s appropriate (see #2), but confusing. [...]

[Read more →]

Tags: Media

I don’t want everything to be full-text

November 26th, 2005 · Comments Off

I use my RSS feeds as notification. I want to scan. I want to somehow squeeze the juice out of a couple of hundred feeds, leave the pulp behind, and spend the real time on the six to nine posts a day which are worth three to five minutes each. Full-text can interrupt the scan. [...]

[Read more →]

Tags: Media · Tech

Are you sure we should make a fuss?

November 26th, 2005 · Comments Off

At first glance, two posts on successive days from the smart folks at 37 Signals are in opposition. First, there is “Do Fuss:” Spend the time. Put forth the effort. Make it great. (snip) Well, if it’s just a little thing, then fixing it is just a small matter! In other words, details matter and [...]

[Read more →]

Tags: Tech

Happy Thanksgiving

November 24th, 2005 · Comments Off

Lots of family, in person, over the phone, and via iSight… whatever it takes. Plenty to be thankful for, starting right there.

[Read more →]

Tags: Family

Movie: Jarhead

November 23rd, 2005 · 1 Comment

Jarhead on a Tuesday night a few weeks after its opening did not crowd a theater. Unlike many movies, I read at least two reviews ahead of time. The San Francisco Chronicle liked it. The Wall Street Journal (no free link) did not. I suppose I come down somewhere in the middle. Actors are interesting, [...]

[Read more →]

Tags: Movies

TimesSelect is polite, at least

November 20th, 2005 · Comments Off

The news is more than ten days old by now: TimesSelect Surpasses 270,000 Subscribers in Less Than Two Months is the November 9 press release. Various people have parsed this release for meaning, direction, and the future of all information. Personally, I find it most telling that TimesSelect is such a non-entity in my daily [...]

[Read more →]

Tags: Media

Free the pixels: make graphics work on the web

November 14th, 2005 · Comments Off

Last night, Scoble noticed The Big Picture, a CNET News.com feature introduced with the redesign in early October. His brief post ends with Easy to miss, too, cause it looked like an ad over on the right side of the page. Damn! Because The Big Picture is visual, instead of straight text, Scoble thought the [...]

[Read more →]

Tags: Media · Tech

Hope this tidbit is true

November 14th, 2005 · Comments Off

According to the PVR blog, CNET video product reviews will be available via TiVo shortly. News to me, and nothing about it on either corporate web site, but seems like a great fit. Video on a computer is OK, and better than nothing, but video on a television sure makes a lot more sense. Sounds [...]

[Read more →]

Tags: Tech