The Core Dump
It updates the blog, or it gets the hose again.
The network is the computer
Tim O’Reilly, my favorite book publisher in the whole gosh-darn world, has put on his thinking cap and pondered the power of networked applications.
I couldn’t agree more with him. These days it just seems so quaint to consider a computer sitting all alone, not networked to anything. Just using your computer as a glorified calculator and typewriter without any communications is such a dreary vision, even though we were all quite happy doing that up till the 80s.
The big ticket item for me these days is my personal data. As I use several machines during the course of a day–at the very least my desktop, my laptop, my Palm, and my iPod, having the information I want readily accessible to me is paramount. This is the reason I went ahead and ponied up the $99 plus tax for another year of .Mac. Not to sound like an Apple shill, but having my contacts, calendars, email, and bookmarks accessible on any Internet-connected computer is a huge win. And not just accessible, but accessible in a handy format. With .Mac, I can sync my machines so they all have the same data and access the data in applications that make it easy. So I have my contacts in Addressbook, my email in Mail.app, my bookmarks in Safari, etc.
Before .Mac, when I spent my days in Windows 2K, I used Yahoo! for the same purposes, and really liked it. Apart from the bookmark syncing, which just wasn’t there. And .Mac upped the ante with photo albums, distributed screen savers, and iDisk.
It seems to me like data synchronization across devices and machines could be the next great Open Source killer app. Especially since .Mac is mostly built on top of Open Source technologies.
One thing I’d really like to see from Apple is for them to open up iSync to other developers. My big pain point right now is NetNewsWire’s feed list. If there were a way for NNW to use the iSync mechanism, I’d be in data heaven right now.
Music: Mental Theme (Ace da Brain Hell on Earth Mix) by Ace’s Delight
Posted Wednesday, 29 October, 2003 by Nic Lindh
For your enjoyment, the 10 latest posts
Book roundup, part eleven
Another book roundup, including some stellar athletes and soldiers, what might be the most jaded, soul-weary protagonist ever, and some grimdark fantasy.
Paywalls and tinfoil hats
The Internet is getting creepy, and Nic is breaking out his tinfoil hat after newspaper paywalls push him over the edge.
OK then, Mr. Gekko
Nic is tired of tech sites obsessing over Apple’s financials and business strategy. So very tired.
Read this book: Salt Sugar Fat
Nic reads a book about the processed food industry and is incensed.
The cargo cult of technology
Computers are complicated. This brings out the irrational in people.
Seen a Rechthaberei lately?
Nic proposes the loan word Rechthaberei be incorporated into American English.
Book roundup, part ten
The Core Dump is back! Books were read during the hiatus. Includes The Coldest Winter, Oh, Myyy!, Tough Sh*t, The Revolution Was Televised, The Rook, Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore, Gun Machine, Fortress Frontier, Standing in Another Man’s Grave, and The Memory of Light.
The Core Dump is hibernating
This site will return in February.
Book roundup, part nine
From a true patriot to a world-weary detective, a dead god, and a civilization about to sublime from the galaxy, this book roundup spans the gamut. Includes Where Men Win Glory, Wild, Inside the Box, The Black Box, Three Parts Dead, Red Country, and The Hydrogen Sonata.
Ode to joy
Springsteen gives a concert in Phoenix. It’s fantastic.
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