September 24, 2008

been a long time

Well here I am...I made a website.. http://www.digitaloutsider.com

September 04, 2008

2 Quick Ones and Another

First off:

  1. Happy Birthday James Andrew Collins.

      You're old now.  And yes, I may be older than you.  And I may always be older than you.  But that does not change the unmovable, unalterable truth that you are old.

  2. Secondly.  Yes, the comic has not come out yet.  Work has been a little hampered by some stuff this month, including a spotty, semi-unresponsive keyboard.  That should be fixed soon.  If I can, I will make it up with two issues in one month.  One can be dedicated to the aforementioned James and his aforementioned birthday.

  3. and Third.  All good things come in three.  Quickly put, I'm trying to do that whole betterment thing.  I've been hanging out with some of you more recently and as a result, remembering some of the dynamics of how our friendships (and associations) work.  The cynics and the fascists and the narcissistcs (who am I kidding... who in this group is a narcissist... well, except maybe...).  But I can't recall anyone being an optimist except me at the closest.  And I'm more a realistic optimist than a true optimist.  Anyway, that bit aside, to test whether I could actually retain that optimism (if it's still there) I need to push myself toward more optimist-sapping stimuly.  This is more of a request for James and Jimmy:  I need a suggestion of several books that I should read.  I have been bad about reading in the last few years, and I have a personal goal (yes, what a waste, blah blah blah) of reading twenty books before the end of the year.  If others have suggestions just for the hell of it, post them and I will pick and read.  Or not.  We all know how "personal goals" go.

September 03, 2008

The Decline and... Recline... of Internet Communication

Remember ICQ?  Remember that familiar faux-typewriter sound and "oh-oh" that accompanied a message from a friend?  And the knocking sound.

And remember the early days of email?  (Actually I don't... not entirely anyway... I think I came of internet-age around the time of mid-ICQ-ness, but I'm sure James knows what I'm referring to.)

Even the earlier Hotmails (pre-Microsoft ownership days) when all you could send was text... yeah... those times.

I've been trying to understand why a service like Twitter has become so ridiculously popular, and then it hit me.  Twitter is popular for the same reasons that ICQ, Email and now text messages are popular.

It's fuckin' simplicity, wrapped in simple carry-through.

Email was great back when you wanted to quickly send a thought or message to someone without breaking out the stamps and envelopes.  And then ICQ/im's were great when you wanted to send that thought or message without having to log into a client like Hotmail or Rocketmail and fire off a one-line reply.

And text messaging is popular because when you need to quickly say, "I'm at the Library" (yeah right, who in the youth arena goes there, or knows what one is), you don't have to call someone and waste a minute's worth of your month's allotment on a three-second conversation.

Every few years, another idea comes along and basically puts forth what we wanted and expected from each one of these things.  Email, then to ICQ, then to text messages, and now to Twitter.

Of course, like with every other product, someone will come along and fuck with it and make it complex.  HTML stationary in Email, Flash and Animated Emoticons (James, that should be on your list of TIFH) for ICQ/im, and picture SMS for textin'.  Even now, people are modding Twitter to add some of that functionality... though granted they are doing it via hacks to the process, as opposed to those at Twitter offering it themselves.

Honestly, I don't know what exactly was my point on this.  And one could make the argument (possibly rightly so) that instant and hyper-quick communication is killing socialness and interpersonal skillsets of the future generation.  But there is something to be asked about why Twitter is popular.

Fuck, I have it.  And yes, I even like it.  It does remind me of ICQ and Email the way it used to be.  (In reference to ICQ, it even has that mildly amusing, mildly annoying sound that accompanies messages.)

September 02, 2008

Wait... Who Fits the Bill?

For some, this will jog memories.

For me... I find it a little depressing, and gives me one more reason to say: "Fuck You Myspace!"

Hi Everyone, This is the official site for Bethel High School's Class of 1999 10 year reunion.Use this as your reference for all of the latest info on the Reunion. September 08: UPDATE Jill Hill is in Africa and Jennifer Whalen will be heading up the Reunion committee. We are looking for people wanting to be on the committee. Please contact Jennifer through this page. Actions: -Currently forming the committee -Getting the word out -Researching Possible venues -Collecting Ideas If anyone has any suggestions please feel free to submit them. Please let everyone you know from our class know about this site. I look forward to hearing from you all soon!

Friday Loometh.

More as a reminder to myself (since most of you already probably know these things)...

SPORE on FRIDAY!

And if you didn't know that... wow, I just schooled you on something computer-game related.