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11 December, 2002
Yahoo's Top-25 For 2002!
I guess some people
still visit Yahoo -- I mean Yahoo!
Well the wait is over. They've announced their Top-25 web sites for the year. I mean, they've announced their Top-25 web sites for the year!
Every week of the year Yahoo! editors round up seven cool web sites for your surfing pleasure. Now it's time to look back on the sites we featured in 2002 and acknowledge those that stand out. We've selected sites that cover a broad range of topics, from ugly soccer players to stressed-out brides to fake rock bands. Without further ado, here is a chronological list of our 25 favorite Yahoo! Picks of 2002.
Posted on 11 December, 2002
New MS Policy: Threaten Your Strongest Supporters
Check out Paul Thurrott's article at WinInfo: Microsoft Strong Arms Windows Enthusiast. It describes a threatening letter from Microsoft to Steven Bink, owner of windowsxp.nu. Bink's site, which he has owned for about 18 months, is very popular pro-Microsoft site for Windows XP enthusiasts. Microsoft is ordering him to abandon the domain name by 14 December -- or face legal consequences.
As Thurrott points out, the timing of this action makes no sense:
What's amazing here, of course, is that Microsoft is currently in the midst of a campaign called "Delighting the customer" that's designed to improve the public's perception of the company, thanks largely to its abysmal performance during its years-long antitrust battle with the US government. During the trial, Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson found many of the testifying Microsoft employees to be disingenuous; he later ruled that many of the company's actions against competitors were illegal as well.
Fact is, Microsoft (legally) has claim to that domain name. But what I object to is the way that it was handled. Of course I don't have the details, but it appears that the web site owner was given only 10 days to abandon the domain name. And why did Microsoft wait 18 months before taking any action?
There are dozens of domain names that actually denigrate Microsoft (e.g., microsoftsux.com and fuckhotmail.com). And the owner of microsoft.nu is not Microsoft. Why don't they go after these sites first?
I looked at Bink's site, and it appears to be a pure (albeit poorly designed) fan site with no commercial elements. Perhaps a nicely worded letter with a reasonable timeframe would have been a better approach? Rather, this is just another example of a huge corporation wielding their power against a defenseless opponent.
Microsoft deserves any bad press that results from this.
Posted on 11 December, 2002
How People Find This Blog
Most of the people who read this blog come here via my Spreadsheet Page. A fair number, however, arrive here by way of a web search -- most using Google.
I've compiled a list of the search terms that have been used in the past few days. All of these, believe it or not, somehow resulted in the web surfer landing on a document in this blog. A surprisingly large number of searches were for two well-known spammers: Laura Betterly and Alan Ralsky.
Here are a few of the stranger search requests:
- 2002 email addresses directory of millions of business men in iran
- ATM MACHINE IN TAMARINDO
- cartoon pictures of rastas
- al roker tattoo
- poindexter felony conviction
- spanish cartoons
- Mexico drivers license abbreviations
- study percent photographs media manipulated photoshop
- wireless network styrofoam wall
Posted on 11 December, 2002
Nothing So Strange: The Film
I'm not sure what to make of this -- a film by Brian Flemming titled Nothing So Strange. It's a documentary that deals with the assassination of Bill Gates in 1999.
When
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates was shot dead on December 2, 1999, it was a
tragedy that resonated throughout the world. But as time wears on, that tragedy
has developed into a mystery for many observers, who see police misconduct and a
cover-up where others see an open-and-shut case. NOTHING SO STRANGE follows the
efforts of an organized group of these skeptics, who call themselves Citizens
for Truth, as they launch an aggressive independent investigation of the Gates
assassination and in the process confront the LAPD, a hostile mainstream press,
and the group's own internal squabbles
And there's more: Links to four other web sites that deal with the Gates assassination.
Posted on 11 December, 2002
Experimental Stuff From Google
One of the hottest topics on the Web today is the new experimental Google Viewer.
The Google Viewer displays the pages found as a result of your Google search as a continuous scrolling slide show. You can view your search results without using your keyboard or mouse and you can adjust the speed with which the images move across your screen. Each image of a page's contents is accompanied by a short "snippet" describing that page.
I'm a huge fan of Google, but this seems like a solution in search of a problem. I can't see a single advantage in using this over the standard Google search.
Another Google experiment is called Google WebQuotes.
Google WebQuotes annotates the results of your Google search with comments from other websites. This offers a convenient way to get a third party's opinion about each of the returns for your search, providing you with more information about that site's credibility and reputation.
I tried it out with a half dozen searches, and I was not impressed.
Posted on 11 December, 2002
Vintage Christmas Trees
Remember those
tacky aluminum Christmas trees from the '50's? The trees that used a color wheel
for lighting? Now they're collectible, and sell for as much as $575.
More info here. But hurry. They're going fast!
Posted on 11 December, 2002