Daily affirmations of a word mercenary
Geek Out Category
“Wah, GEEK OUT! Le geek, c’est chic!” This is the category that reveals my geekier side. You may not understand what I’m talking about, or you may think I’m revealing just how technologically un-savvy I really am, depending on who you are and what your own geeky proclivities may be.
Teenager Blogs
22
Dec
2002
In: Geek Out
I love teens’ blogs. It’s so entertaining to watch the writers grow up and it’s extra fun to find teen blogs that could have been written by yourself years ago.
One of my favorite teenager blogs, which I will not link for fear of embarrassing the author, is by a young woman much more hip than I ever was in high school. She listens to all the right music and has hair that she will not look back on and regret. She’s pretty much just a small adult. Well, with one exception: she loves being weird. Here’s an example: “Today in English Spencer and Julie told me that i’m strange. I told them to give me 7 reasons, and they did. So I guess I have no choice but to believe them.”
It cracks me up to read about her “What? I’m weird?” experiences, and remember my days as a teen, when I’d run around doing intentionally weird things, and then make a big defiant show over wondering why people were staring. What, is it really that weird that a friend and I go to Safeway in full costume, during an intermission of a play we were both in? We just wanted, like, ice cream. Stop staring. Is it really that weird that Susannah and Katherine and I used to steal rich kids’ big wheels to ride down big hills? (Have I really never written about that? I can’t find it anywhere if I have.) Yes, it was that weird, and I knew it. And I loved it. It’s part of the joy of being a teen: you live for negative attention, and you love to be indignant about it.
So, tell me: what are YOUR favorite teenager blogs?
Festivities
17
Dec
2002
In: Geek Out
Mrs. Helen Jane sent me my first ever home-made Christmas card from a Blogger.
It’s a warm, fuzzy, digital feeling.
Google Hilite
9
Dec
2002
In: Geek Out
When applied to a page arrived at via Google, this function will highlight the terms used for the Google search wherever they appear.
What an incredibly cool tool. I haven’t yet had the guts to fiddle with installing it, but it’s a fantastic idea. [via David Galbraith]
Note to self: read this.
29
Nov
2002
In: Geek Out
I haven’t had a chance to finish this article, but I can say that I certainly don’t feel like blogging is “a man’s world.”
Telling All Online: It’s a Man’s World (Isn’t It?)
By LISA GUERNSEY | NY Times
A FEW months ago I joined legions of other online narcissists and decided to start a Weblog, one of those personal Web sites where people spout their thoughts for the world to read. Within a few days I was browsing through other Weblogs, commonly called blogs, for inspiration. And within a week, it hit me: the sites I was visiting were all run by men.
Blogger last names
15
Nov
2002
In: Geek Out
Do bloggers even have last names? I suppose we do. I mean, know we do, but I still have a tendancy to use domain names instead.
I often have this problem, which is why I refer to Leila Hypnagogica, Jane for Short (although I know her last name, I’m more likely to clarify which Jane I mean by adding a simple “for short” on the end), Dori Saranwarp, and Jess Orange-Clouds.
Some people make it easy, like Amy Leblanc. Then there are people like me who seem to make it easy, but are really just confusing: you wouldn’t believe how many people think that Meadow is my last name. (It’s not. That’s my middle name. Stallings is the last name, for those wondering.)
Regardless, I’m quite pleased that I’m heading to San Francisco tomorrow to hang with some of my favorite domain names. I’m cranking out road trip tapes like crazy (I managed to get Maggot Brain, Clones of Dr. Funkenstein, and One Nation Under a Groove all on one tape!), and planning my assault. Know this: it involves alcohol and hoops.
Blogroll This
11
Nov
2002
In: Geek Out
Thanks to Blogrolling’s Blogroll This bookmarklet, my “Others” link list has grown to unprecidented lengths. I may have to do some trimming, but it’s hard to resist adding blogs to the list when it’s so easy!
This just in: Blogging!
7
Nov
2002
In: Geek Out
As much as I adore my former employer, they’re way behind the curve on this article: Where to get started in the world of blogs.
That said, I think that Jane will appreciate the writer’s description of the word “blog”: It’s a nickname that suggests the sound made by sudden, spurt-like draining of one’s consciousness in regular wet chunks, not onto paper but into the Internet’s soupy sea.
I don’t understand is why this article needed to be written, given that a much more comprehensive and accurate “Blogging 101″ article was printed in the Times last April. What did Melanie McFarland (who also writes The Times’ Pop Fizz column, squarely aimed at The Stranger’s demographic) have to add the subject?
Strange Google-ism
30
Oct
2002
In: Geek Out
How strange is it that, while search-explore.com was the top ranked result for Google Search: “uninstall search-explorer” last week, this week it doesn’t even show up. Makes me wonder if Search-Explorer complained to Google. Bizarre.
Search Explorer
11
Oct
2002
In: Geek Out
Poor T. has a very icky situation on her hands. Apparently, an uber-sketchy pay-for-placement search engine has purchased a domain name very similar to her’s: she’s search-explore.com, and they’re search-explorer.com. And no, I’m not linking them, because not only are they a pay-for-placement search engine, but they’re also a spyware company that installs their own sidebar and toolbar into Internet Explorer without users’ permission.
How do I know this? Because poor T. has been inundated with hate mail from people who’ve gotten stuck with Search Explorer software on their machines, who evidently can’t type or see the difference between search-explore and search-explorer. So they send hate mail to search-explore, bitching about search-explorer. I feel for their pain, but I’m also struck by their stupidity.
Boy, this new virus just has the cutest name! Read all about it on CNN, The Guardian, and Symantec. And be careful out there!
(PS: Mac users who wish to leave gloating comments should exercise a little tactful restraint. Thank you.)
Teenager Blogs
22 Dec 2002 In: Geek OutI love teens’ blogs. It’s so entertaining to watch the writers grow up and it’s extra fun to find teen blogs that could have been written by yourself years ago.
One of my favorite teenager blogs, which I will not link for fear of embarrassing the author, is by a young woman much more hip than I ever was in high school. She listens to all the right music and has hair that she will not look back on and regret. She’s pretty much just a small adult. Well, with one exception: she loves being weird. Here’s an example: “Today in English Spencer and Julie told me that i’m strange. I told them to give me 7 reasons, and they did. So I guess I have no choice but to believe them.”
It cracks me up to read about her “What? I’m weird?” experiences, and remember my days as a teen, when I’d run around doing intentionally weird things, and then make a big defiant show over wondering why people were staring. What, is it really that weird that a friend and I go to Safeway in full costume, during an intermission of a play we were both in? We just wanted, like, ice cream. Stop staring. Is it really that weird that Susannah and Katherine and I used to steal rich kids’ big wheels to ride down big hills? (Have I really never written about that? I can’t find it anywhere if I have.) Yes, it was that weird, and I knew it. And I loved it. It’s part of the joy of being a teen: you live for negative attention, and you love to be indignant about it.
So, tell me: what are YOUR favorite teenager blogs?
Festivities
17 Dec 2002 In: Geek OutMrs. Helen Jane sent me my first ever home-made Christmas card from a Blogger.
It’s a warm, fuzzy, digital feeling.
Google Hilite
9 Dec 2002 In: Geek OutWhen applied to a page arrived at via Google, this function will highlight the terms used for the Google search wherever they appear.
What an incredibly cool tool. I haven’t yet had the guts to fiddle with installing it, but it’s a fantastic idea. [via David Galbraith]
Note to self: read this.
29 Nov 2002 In: Geek OutI haven’t had a chance to finish this article, but I can say that I certainly don’t feel like blogging is “a man’s world.”
Telling All Online: It’s a Man’s World (Isn’t It?)
By LISA GUERNSEY | NY Times
A FEW months ago I joined legions of other online narcissists and decided to start a Weblog, one of those personal Web sites where people spout their thoughts for the world to read. Within a few days I was browsing through other Weblogs, commonly called blogs, for inspiration. And within a week, it hit me: the sites I was visiting were all run by men.
Blogger last names
15 Nov 2002 In: Geek OutDo bloggers even have last names? I suppose we do. I mean, know we do, but I still have a tendancy to use domain names instead.
I often have this problem, which is why I refer to Leila Hypnagogica, Jane for Short (although I know her last name, I’m more likely to clarify which Jane I mean by adding a simple “for short” on the end), Dori Saranwarp, and Jess Orange-Clouds.
Some people make it easy, like Amy Leblanc. Then there are people like me who seem to make it easy, but are really just confusing: you wouldn’t believe how many people think that Meadow is my last name. (It’s not. That’s my middle name. Stallings is the last name, for those wondering.)
Regardless, I’m quite pleased that I’m heading to San Francisco tomorrow to hang with some of my favorite domain names. I’m cranking out road trip tapes like crazy (I managed to get Maggot Brain, Clones of Dr. Funkenstein, and One Nation Under a Groove all on one tape!), and planning my assault. Know this: it involves alcohol and hoops.
Blogroll This
11 Nov 2002 In: Geek OutThanks to Blogrolling’s Blogroll This bookmarklet, my “Others” link list has grown to unprecidented lengths. I may have to do some trimming, but it’s hard to resist adding blogs to the list when it’s so easy!
This just in: Blogging!
7 Nov 2002 In: Geek OutAs much as I adore my former employer, they’re way behind the curve on this article: Where to get started in the world of blogs.
That said, I think that Jane will appreciate the writer’s description of the word “blog”: It’s a nickname that suggests the sound made by sudden, spurt-like draining of one’s consciousness in regular wet chunks, not onto paper but into the Internet’s soupy sea.
I don’t understand is why this article needed to be written, given that a much more comprehensive and accurate “Blogging 101″ article was printed in the Times last April. What did Melanie McFarland (who also writes The Times’ Pop Fizz column, squarely aimed at The Stranger’s demographic) have to add the subject?
Strange Google-ism
30 Oct 2002 In: Geek OutHow strange is it that, while search-explore.com was the top ranked result for Google Search: “uninstall search-explorer” last week, this week it doesn’t even show up. Makes me wonder if Search-Explorer complained to Google. Bizarre.
Search Explorer
11 Oct 2002 In: Geek OutPoor T. has a very icky situation on her hands. Apparently, an uber-sketchy pay-for-placement search engine has purchased a domain name very similar to her’s: she’s search-explore.com, and they’re search-explorer.com. And no, I’m not linking them, because not only are they a pay-for-placement search engine, but they’re also a spyware company that installs their own sidebar and toolbar into Internet Explorer without users’ permission.
How do I know this? Because poor T. has been inundated with hate mail from people who’ve gotten stuck with Search Explorer software on their machines, who evidently can’t type or see the difference between search-explore and search-explorer. So they send hate mail to search-explore, bitching about search-explorer. I feel for their pain, but I’m also struck by their stupidity.
Boy, this new virus just has the cutest name! Read all about it on CNN, The Guardian, and Symantec. And be careful out there!
(PS: Mac users who wish to leave gloating comments should exercise a little tactful restraint. Thank you.)
Hey there. I'm Ariel Meadow Stallings, a native Seattleite who's written my way up and down the Left Coast. Electrolicious is where I post daily randomata, but I also write for a living. My first book, Offbeat Bride, was published last year.
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