Apologies in advance to any cell phone junkies, but I hate them! I hate the whole culture of people talking on their phones anywhere, anytime, about nothing. Self-important “business” people in the line at McDonald’s, fat cats in their BMWs with phones stuck to the side of their heads, people on the subway whose phones ring immediately after we come out from underground, people having the conversations that consist of “I’m on the bus/streetcar/subway. I’m at [such and such intersection]. Where are you?” I think cell phones are a bad rash, encouraging rude behaviour and dumbing down communication. I hate the vocabulary: “my mobile,” “my land line,” “my cell.” Even worse, as the earpieces become smaller and smaller, it will be impossible to distinguish the cell phone yakkers from the truly delusional. But somehow that seems appropriate to me.
You Are Invited (Sorta)
Presenting, our wedding invitation! Design by the generous Jay Kerr, illustration by the incomparable Claire Robertson (a feat, by the way, impossible before the magic of the “Intarweb”). We wish you all could come (actual attendance limited to 50, by paper invite only, sorry…)
Good News for SxSW Attendees
Schlotzsky’s Deli restaurants in the Austin area are installing large antennas on their rooftops, allowing customers up to a mile away to use their free wireless access. This will come in really handy at next year’s SxSW. (Does this count as my first SxSW 2003 post?)
Ass-Kicking for Sale
Ok, who wants to bid on an “ass-kicking”? (Due to lack of permalinks, make sure you read the entry for Wednesday August 7)
Eric Meyer on CSS Contest
Thanks to the generosity of New Riders, I have a duplicate copy of Eric Meyer on CSS: Mastering the Language of Web Design to give away. If you’ve been reading CC for a while, you know what’s coming, don’t you? A contest! Previous contests have been quite popular, and I’ve managed to give away a couple of fine books by Messrs. Zeldman and Powazek.
Here are the rules for the Eric Meyer on CSS Haiku Contest:
1. Readers will submit a genuine haiku (using the comments link below), consisting of three lines. 5 syllables in each of the first and third lines, and 7 syllables in the second line.
2. There is a limit of 3 entries from each person, and at least 10 entries must be received for the prize to be awarded.
3. The contest will run from today until August 15, or until it gets boring.
4. Entrants need not post their entry on their own site, but must post a link to this entry to be eligible. Those without web sites are obviously exempt from this requirement.
5. Anyone in the world may enter and win, but those outside of North America might need to help with shipping costs if they are prohibitive.
Good luck, everyone, and please help spread the word! Oh, and yes, it’s a good book. You can read my review at Digital Web.