philweber.com


Confessions of an accidental instructional designer

Quote of the Day

Loved this quote from Dorothy Parker: "If all the girls who attended the Yale prom were laid end to end, I wouldn't be a bit surprised." :-)


No Wonder Americans Are Overweight

The first Segway electronic scooters have shipped. Call me old-fashioned, but why can't these people just ride bicycles? The weather is obviously pleasant enough where they live that they can zip around on an open vehicle, and 12.5 mph (the Segway's top speed) is a piece of cake on a bike. They could get an excellent bike for far less than the Segway's $5,000 price (they could get two or three good bikes for that price), and get in better shape while they're at it. What am I missing?

Update: OK, I guess if you need to carry 100 lbs. of cargo, a bicycle isn't practical. But how many Segway owners fit that description?


Obscure Bug of the Day

My ASP.NET app suddenly began to "forget" information I was saving in the Session object. Turns out my personal firewall was set to block cookies by default; ASP.NET uses a cookie to track the session ID. Changing the firewall setting fixed the "bug."


Rumor: Microsoft Buys Borland?

Interesting rumor: Is Microsoft planning to buy Borland?


Microsoft Strong-Arms PC Vendors (Again)

Last week, Robert Scoble reported that, beginning next year, Microsoft will no longer allow vendors to ship systems with both Win2K and WinXP, and allow customers to choose which to install.

According to The Register, this violates the terms of Microsoft's settlement agreement with the DOJ. Interesting. Is there a lawyer in the house?


Revenge of the Nerds

Hate spam? You may enjoy this story about how several fed-up Slashdot users got even with a notorious bulk e-mailer. I did! :-)


In Praise of Haloscan

Robert Scoble is looking for a third-party solution for comments on his Weblog. I've been very happy with HaloScan: It's stable, it's fast, and it lets me edit and delete comments. Its latest cool feature is an RSS feed, so new comments appear in my news aggregator. Tell 'em Phil sent ya!


Quote of the Day

Krishnamurti: "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society."


Business Week: Usability Is Next to Profitability

Business Week: Usability Is Next to Profitability. A nice piece on the business case for usability. According to the article, companies are beginning to learn that a focus on usability doesn't just lengthen schedules and cost more; it actually gives them a competitive advantage.


Quote of the Day

Soren Kierkegaard: "People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."