onfocus

"As we cultivate peace and happiness in ourselves, we also nourish peace and happiness in those we love." - Thich Nhat Hanh

For epinions to really be successful, I think they'll need to let people publish their reviews on their own sites with their own design. Perhaps each review would also need to be published in an XML format they designate; so all reviews can include common elements.

With this system, users would have the ability to choose between the epinions business-like, formal interface...or the hundreds of interesting interfaces from hundreds of interesting people.

Saturday, as I drove to San Francisco, I noticed that the sky was filled with smoke. I walked out of my house yesterday and found my car coated with gray ash.

I predict that syndication and content XMLization will reduce the power of centralized content sources like epinions. And it won't be long.

brigitte eaton: "it seems like everyone is really getting into the epinions thing. am i odd because i'm not that interested in it? although, i decided that i should at least sign up for an account. i just don't feel inspired to spread my opinions in that way."

I buy a lot of used books. One feature/problem with this is seeing the passages the previous owner(s) felt motivated to underline, scratch out, or otherwise highlight. Trying to determine their motivation for choosing that particular passage can be maddening. This is especially true of my copy of Kafka's The Trial. (e.g. this phrase marked with a faint line: "Everything lay in perfect order, but in his agitation he could not find at first the identification papers for which he was looking.")

I'd like to go through every used book I own, writing down each amplified passage. I think the combined phrases would make a great novel.

Couldn't make it to Fray Day 3? You missed singers and poets. People with stories. And sticky nametags with your favorite word instead of your name. Here are the photos. When it was all said and done it was tough to get a cab.

hope for the best. prepare for the worst. "Disaster recovery planners anticipate widespread, long-lasting interruption of water, electric and gas service, and disruption of major transportation links." hmm...sounds like y2k.

At least when California eventually drops off into the ocean, we can enjoy nice weather during the ride down. Can you imagine an earthquake during a blizzard? brrr! and agghhh!

The "BIG ONE" in the Midwest

No Escape to the East: "Six million people living in midwestern states could be at risk if an earthquake occured along the New Madrid fault line which runs diagonally from Marked Tree, Arkansas to southeastern Missouri."