All original text in the log is Copyright 1999, 2000 by Lilly Tao. All Rights Reserved.
A big THANK YOU to all my regular readers. You make this log REAL and keep it going. It's not enough just to write; the audience makes the words complete.
Best way to contact author: ltao@girlhacker.com
Best way to find out more about author: Author's
personal site
Server hosting and on-demand technical services provided by: Seth
Golub and Ian Flanigan
Logging software: Blogger
Where did I get this idea?: Dinah Sanders
and Steve Bogart
Cheerleading and moral support provided by: Seth
Golub and Lisa Eckstein
FAQ ('cause every site should have one)
What is a weblog? Do you call this a weblog?
There's already an entire FAQ
that explains weblogs so read that first. I consider GirlHacker's Random
Log to be in the category of weblogs, though it is a mix of short essays and
the "traditional" logging of links. A lot of weblogs are like that
now, so I fit in the log category comfortably. This is definitely not comprehensive
enough to be called a journal. So if someone doesn't understand what it really
is, I just tell them to read it for themselves. It is what it is.
Why did you start this log?
The convergence of a few key events resulted in the genesis of this log. I had
entirely revamped my personal
site and was keeping certain sections updated regularly (books, movies,
rants) but didn't feel like I had a real place to express myself frequently.
I wanted something that would keep people coming back to read what I had written.
And since my goal is to become a published writer, I wanted a project that would
prompt me to write regularly and improve my self editing and rewriting skills.
I especially wanted to experiment with a less verbous writing style, more suited
perhaps to my sense of humor and non-fiction writing (though my aim is to write
fiction). I was idly playing around with whois one day and discovered that girlhacker.com
was available. Inspired by some errant brain energy pulses, I grabbed it for
myself. I wasn't sure what to do with it besides the obvious redirect to my
personal site. But I wanted to save it for some greater purpose. I am a friend
(in person, no kidding!) of Dinah Sanders'
and know Steve Bogart through Seth
Golub, and I would sometimes read their logs (though I had no idea that
such a vast array of other logs existed!).
So one day it just hit me: Hey! I can write my own log and brand it under my
girlhacker domain! And the madness began.
Why did you pick Blogger?
I found out about Blogger because Dinah
uses it. I wanted to be able to update my log from anywhere; I didn't want the
logistics of the publishing to be an impediment to the composition and addition
of regular entries. Blogger did the trick so I didn't even try anything else.
Plus, it is obvious that the team is
using their
own product! That always makes software
even better.
Why isn't your site fancier? No images, black on white... the design is
boring!
I realize that most logs have wonderful graphical designs. But the focus of
my log is the writing. I don't want to spend much time coming up with a fancy
design. I am a big proponent of simplicity and elegance. One day I may get inspired
and make it fancier, but, for now, that's not the point. Plus, writing JavaScript
and HTML gives me a headache (I'm too used to object oriented programming) (yes,
I know you can do OO JavaScript).
Where do you
get your links? How do you find things to write about?
I get my links from all over the place. I get inspiration and links from other
weblogs (and also notice what has already been discussed to death!). I find
a lot just by surfing around, reading my regular daily dose. Friends send me
interesting links. Every once in a while, a friend who usually sends me Nordstrom
cookie recipes and missing kidney stories will send me something really cool
I've never seen before. So I rarely tell people to stop sending me things, even
if I know they are new to the 'net thing. I'll often have a loggable thought
when having conversations with people or overhearing conversations. Or I may
see an ad or object that interests me. So, basically, everything I get as input
contributes to the process. Some days I get stuck and wonder "what am I
going to write about tonight?" and start obsessing about what I'm going
to log. But I have discovered, and bear with my philosophical turn here, that
if I stop thinking about what to log, and just think, the log will come to me.
This works like a charm every time. I'll be driving down 101 thinking "I
haven't thought of anything yet! What the heck am I going to write about?"
and then I'll realize that I'm concentrating on the wrong thing, relax and start
the stream of consciousness going, and blam! a thought comes. So that's the
trick for me. There
is no spoon.
How do you go
about writing your entries?
If I
think of something I may want to log, I usually write it down so that I remember
it. Where I write it down depends on if I'm near my PalmPilot or my computer.
If I'm without any techno tools, I will grab a pen and write a few reminder
words on my left inside wrist. Yes, I know, ink poisoning. I keep a compiled
list of ideas in a notebook by my home computer. That way I have backup ideas
if I run dry one day. I write and edit my entries right inside Blogger.
What is your
policy on crediting when you find a link from someone else's site?
If I use a link that I found on another weblog I will always credit it with
a link to that weblog. If I find the link on a different type of site, I often
credit it also just because I want people to know where I get my information.
Many times, though, I will find something directly myself because I surf around
and read many sites. Sometimes other loggers find the same things I do, but,
trust me, if I got it from your site originally, I'm going to give you credit
for it. And I really like it if you do the same for me :-).
What other weblogs
do you read regularly?
That varies a lot. I read metagrrrl,
and nowthis regularly because I know the
authors. Often I will pull up someone else's log reading list and click through
on entries to see what's there. Or I will pop over to linkwatcher
to see what's fresh. And of course I always check my referrer list and read
the logs that have linked to me. So I end up catching up with a lot of logs
throughout the course of a week. I really appreciate having regular readers
and a lot of my readers are loggers themselves, so I like to see what's going
on out there. But it does take a lot of time to read everything I would like
to.
What do you
hack?
I am very fond of hacking physical things for the sake of humor, as in the
tradition of MIT
hacks. Cubicles, offices, cars, elves, etc. To answer what is usually the
real question, I currently program in Java. But I don't think I've worked with
it enough yet to call myself a Java hacker. I have worked on/in: VAX/VMS, various
flavors of Unix, DOS, MacOS, and Windows using Pascal, Scheme, Lisp, C, and
C++. Typically I do user interface programming, but since I've worked mostly
at startups, I've designed and written code in many areas.
How many startups
have you worked for? Is it true that you worked at Purple Moon? Did they really
get bought by Mattel?
I am at my fifth startup. (And no I'm not rich. Yet.) (But I am overly fond
of reminding people of both those facts.) Yes, I worked at Purple
Moon. Yes, they are now part of the Barbie
Empire. No, I'm not really happy about that -- oh wait, you didn't ask me
that!
How late do
you usually stay up? Why do you stay up so late?
I'd like to be in bed by 12 or 1, but I am often up until 2 or 3. I can't help
it. I've tried to make myself a morning person, but it seems to be impossible
(and there's scientific evidence that this may be a genetic trait, so I don't
feel bad about it anymore).