When all our electronic devices are networked together and communicating, will all our clocks be perfectly in sync, down to the millisecond? Will that be odd having all of us on exactly the same time, albeit in our own time zones? When it’s five seconds after the hour in Peoria on Jill’s PDA, it will be five seconds after the hour in Honolulu on Jack’s microwave oven. No more “Am I late? My watch must be running slow.” And maybe my VCR can start taping when the network thinks it’s time to start a show. What about all those chronically late people who set their watches fast in hopes of tricking themselves into arriving on time (does that really work?). And will there be those independent types who refuse to buy networked watches and stubbornly keep their own version of time?

This New York Times article describes a study where some fourth graders will take the essay portion of a standardized exam using traditional pencil and paper and others will use a computer. It worries me a bit that the superintendent of schools says he would have trouble taking a pencil and paper test himself. Have people really become dependent on interacting with computers for the cognitive task of writing? That can’t be good. I’m sure it’s more convenient, but, while I disagreed with Günter Grass’ opinions about not using computers for writing I think we should still be able to write effectively using a writing utensil and paper. The thought process should be in your head, not with the tool.

Speaking of ergonomics (which I often am), I have been meaning to buy a bottle of Tony and Tina’s nail polish in the neato cool Millenium Key. It’s a bottle shaped to fit onto your fingers so you don’t need to be around a flat surface when you’re doing your nails. That’s form following function, and I wish someone had thought of it earlier. If only it came in more colors. Heck, if only it came in colors I wanted.

Thanks to /usr/bin/girl I now have the URL for “The Sound of Music: Singalong Special” that I wrote about on 1/10/00. To quote the Simpsons as they encountered wildlife while driving along a country road: Homer: “DOH!”; Marge: “A deer!”; Lisa: “A female deer!”.

From “Days of our Lives: The Startup Edition”, a scene, which seems like so many other scenes that involve marketing and engineering attempting to communicate:
Marketing person: “What do you mean, printing is going to be an issue???”
Engineering type: “It’s a web-based application!! EVERYTHING is going to be an issue!!!”
(things digress from there, so fade to www.buy-our-soap.com commercial)

I’ve written an about page and FAQ for this log. And because Jay knew exactly who said “round up the usual suspects” and, more importantly, has threatened me with pain of death, I have now tweaked my Blogger template to include a name tag for each entry. The ID for the name is listed at the end of each entry. If you want a permanent link, use the archive pages. Don’t say I never did anything for you, Jay. Happy linking.

I started using Kiss My Face‘s olive oil & aloe soap today, which was purchased from Trader Joe’s, and realized that I’ve been taking for granted the rounded shape that most soaps have. I found the big, blocky soap to be uncomfortable and difficult to handle. You’d think the sharp corners would be easier to hang onto, but there’s something lacking when you can’t wrap your hand nicely around the bar. So what other simple ergonomics am I neglecting in everyday life? I notice door handles and switches, thanks to Don Norman, but I never thought before about how I hold soap.

Some days I feel like I’m just channeling the thoughts and discoveries of Seth (and sometimes he feels like he is just channeling me), but, hey, until he gets his own weblog, I feel compelled to share his discoveries with the world. So, with that said, here is his latest spew (his word, not mine) about observing some animations of Karl Sim’s artificial creatures. It made me realize that a creative animator can probably make a small piece of string do things I’d find hilarious.

This BBC News article discusses how archeological records kept on soon to be obsolete computer formats are in danger of being lost. The Archaeology Data Service also found that old magnetic disks were becoming corrupted as the magnetic coating on the disks had eroded over time. I felt it ironic that on 12/6/99 (December archive page) I wondered if one day there would be computer software archeologists who will prospect through old computer data reconstructing our past. However if the data is not even readable, we will lose much more than if we need to recreate the process of reading it.

TV Eyes is an interesting concept. Give it a word and it will email you as soon as it is spoken on TV. Hmmm. What shows are they parsing exactly and do they do profanities?