Cruftbox: My Box of Cruft

This year, before SXSW I had great plans to blog and write lots of stuff while I was there. I did none of that. Why? I mean last year I blogged up a storm while I was at the conference. This year was different, though. Two main things had changed.
First and foremost, my brother Matt had come to SXSW with me. Suddenly, there was someone around that I was coordinating with and talking to all the time. Last year, I spent much of the time between sessions quietly reviewing the previous session and making notes for blogs. Between sessions now, I was chatting with Matt and others about what the panels were like and what to do next. I really enjoyed having someone that was with me at the show. With acquaintances, you often run out of things to talk about. You both want to keep chatting, but you run out of things in the common frame of reference to discuss and you get those weird lulls. I never get weird lulls talking with my brother. If we stop talking it’s usually because one of us is napping.
The second thing that had changed, was that I knew people and people knew me. Promptly as I arrived in Austin, I started bumping into people I knew from last SXSW and other interactions during the year. I was quite surprised to have people walk up to me knowing my name. I knew who they were, but I didn’t know if people were going to remember me. It turns out that lots of people knew who I was and I found myself fully part of the SXSW tribe. Surrounded by friends and constantly meeting new people, I found myself with little time to write anything down.
Toss in that the schedule of events starts at 10AM with the first sessions goes until the wee hours with various parties, and I found little time to be able to reflect on what I saw and heard.
Here are a few of my observations:
The Cult of Mac is growing – Everywhere I turned, there was a little Apple logo staring back at me, unblinking, almost mocking me. I don’t know what it is about the Mac Laptop, but many people are slaves in it’s thrall. I suspect that Apple has engineered an addictive gas that is released when people use their Macs they renders them susceptible to Steve Job’s mind control software.
Complaining works sometimes – When I got to the Austin conference center I was warned that ‘they’ were cracking down on people using power outlets and using cameras. After a bit of wingeing at the right people, these restrictions were removed, and there was much rejoicing. However, I was unable to get the problem with VPNs fixed. For some unknown reason, VPNs we getting blocked by part of the net access infrastructure. I spoke with the Austin Wireless people, the SXSW staff, and some of the Conf Center people, but nothing got fixed. For all my efforts to secure my wifi, I was completely and utterly thwarted in my endeavors.
The Echo Chamber is in full effect – There has been a lot of talk about the echo chamber is some blogging circles lately, where the same people are commenting on the same ideas and new ideas don’t make it inside. This year I saw its effect. In session after session, the ‘group think’ was crowding out the new ideas and any idea that ran counter to the prevailing meme. Trying to convince people that wikis have a high barrier to entry, that they have to become simpler and more WYSIWYG, fell on deaf ears. If it made sense to them, they suggested it made sense to everyone. Similar kinds of thinking in sessions about blogging. To hear people talk, every social problem in society can be solved with a liberal application of weblogs like some sort of magic first aid creme for society. Trouble with large media companies? Use weblogs. Trouble with government? Use weblogs. Economic needs in third world countries? Use weblogs. Unhappy workers? Use weblogs. The trouble when you only have one tool in your toolbox (weblogs) is that everything looks like a nail. The SXSW tribe needs to invite some people to interact that actively challenge the weblog worldview and force them to think about it and defend it.
SXSW people are still shy – I’m a confirmed extrovert. No hiding it, I like meeting other people and don’t have a problem introducing myself to strangers. Many of the people at the conference were hesitant to introduce themselves. Once you got them going, it was like a firehose of thoughts and information they had, but you had to prompt them to get them going.
More when I have time. I’ve been traveling for 14 hours and I need some sleep.

I’m in Austin, Texas for the SXSW Interactive conference. More to come when I get a chance.

A couple months ago I wrote about Space Food Sticks. Yesterday I recieved a note from Eric of retrofuture.com, maker of the Space Food Sticks. Here is what Eric said in his note:

Michael,
Your review of Space Food Sticks was really entertaining to me. I run Terra Firma Products (i.e., the Space Food Sticks Preservation Society) and it was nice to see these crazy efforts I’m making noticed by someone. So thanks. Having your kids judge them really resonated with this father of three.
The part that really made me laugh was your comments about the BMX bike rider on the package (aka, WTF?). You have no idea how many times I asked the folks in Australia if they could change it back. Either that or just change the name to Bike Food Sticks and be done with it! Finally I gave up and changed the packaging myself. Strange but true, I’m actually paying folks to take the sticks out of those boxes and put them in new packaging that emphasizes a space theme!
The reason I’m writing is to tell you some real news. I am working with food engineers here in the States who are going to make new peanut butter SFS based on the original formulation. They’ll be wrapped in silver foil and retain the original shape. Hopefully the packaging will recreate the original as well (it won’t have any BMX bikers on it I can assure you).
Anyway I thought you might like to know a bit more about what’s happening with SFS because it’s something you might want to add to inform folks. Your article is influential so it would be nice (for me) if you could keep it up-to-date.
Eric

So there it is folks. Breaking news on the future of Space Food Sticks from the source. Cruft continues to bring you valuable scoops like this while traditional news journalists are focused on this pesky war & the dumb presidential election!
A couple weeks ago I snagged a box of CARAMEL Space Food Sticks off ebay. Mighty tasty I tell you. There’s a few boxes up for auction now.

If you have questions or suggestions for Eric and the future of Space Food Sticks, comment away. Eric will be reading this post.

It’s confirmed that Spalding Gray is dead.
For those that don’t know, Spalding Gray was a monologist. He told stories to people. It sounds simple, but he was a master. In today’s world of movies and TV, here was a man that could keep you spellbound with simply the sound of his voice.
Michele and I have seen him perform half a dozen times over the years. Each time was great and once I even shook his hand. We will miss Spalding.

Last night Michele and I took the girls out to the Glen Friedman opening at Sixspace. This was the first time we’ve taken the girls to an art gallery instead of the museum.
We were concerned that the feel of the gallery would weird them out or that they would go wild knocking frames off the walls. But they behaved well and had a good time. Zoe said, “Let’s go to another gallery now!” as we left. Looks like Michele and I will need to scope out age appropriate shows going forward.
I snapped a phonecam pic of Sean at the gallery.

We got a chance to talk to a few nice people, but I was a bit nervous the whole time, trying to keep an eye on the girls. Hopefully next time I’ll be relaxed. So if you know of galleries with kid friendly xhows, please let me know.

Last night was poker night at Brad‘s house. I didn’t think I’d make it since it was the girl’s talent show. We left the house at 6:30 and we back home just before 8PM. Since Brad’s games go until at least midnight, I’d have a chance for a few hours of play.
I drove up and took the fifth seat at the table. Usually the betting in the early hours is low, but these guys were reaching for the buck & two buck chips right off the bat.
I played tight to get the feel of the table and see what people were doing. The play was lively with good sized pots. I played out some good hands only to get smacked down several times. Usually a Queens over sevens full boat is a winner, but I ran right into 4 eights.
A little dejected, I kept to my plans and tried to play tight, getting out unless I had strength and not betting on cards yet to come. I split a large pot in anaconda and it seemed to turn things around a bit. A number of pots came my way and I was feeling good.
In one particular hand, I was suprised to find a straight flush staring back at me. I overplayed it and the group folded out on me. Never the less, it was fun to get a straight flush.

I didn’t come away from the table on the plus side, but at least I walked away with some of my money in my wallet. The game was a good time and I look forward to next month, where I can donate even more money.

Today I reached a goal I set out for on New Year’s Day. My own internal resolution for the new year was to lose some weight. My pants were fitting tight after a holiday season fulls of sweets and big meals.
I committed to the simple goal of weighing what it said on my driver’s license. It says 165 pounds on the license. Stepping on the scale on New Year’s Day I found myself at 192.1 pounds. It seemed daunting at the time.
After 66 days of dieting, this is what I saw this morning:

I feel quite happy to achieve this goal. I don’t have a six pack stomach and my ribs don’t show, but my clothes are loose and my belts are too big.
To lose the weight I went on the Atkins diet. The science behind it makes sense and the results are obvious. I was very strict about staying on the plan and staying focused. I didn’t do any serious exercise besides push-ups and sit-ups before showering in the morning.

As you can see, I lost 27.1 pounds in 66 days at a steady downward trend with no big variation. IMHO, the Atkins diet does work well if you stick to it and don’t cheat. One benefit you don’t hear about is the fact that the afternoon blahs or the typical food coma people can get after lunch goes away. With your blood sugar at a roughly constant level, you feel alert during the day.
Props to Michele for putting up with the endless cooking of meat and general support while I was doing the Atkins. If she had been against it, I wouldn’t have been able to get through it.
I will say that strictly eating on the Atkins diet is hard. I’m sick of meat & cheese. I miss bread and fruit and pasta. You cannot live long term on Atkins and enjoy eating. There are a plethora of ‘low carb’ foods hitting the market and most of them are crap. Either they are horrible tasting or full of sugar alcohols with a big laxative effect.
At this point, the challenge is to transition to a balanced diet, more like the Zone Diet, where the point is to have a balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fat at every meal and stay away from tons of processed foods. I’m a sucker for pasta, cookies, and sweets, so I need to maintain some discipline.
My advice to anyone considering using the Atkins diet:
1) Don’t cheat. Stay on the diet strictly. If you break the fat burning cycle, you are wasting your time.
2) Cook food in advance, have a few meals ready in the fridge.
3) Avoid the excessive eating of the lo carb sweets (sugar alcohols) they have a formidable laxative effect.
4) Make sure your family is OK with your plans.
5) Set a goal and measure your progress.
With my trip to SXSW less than 6 days away, I’m glad I’ll be able to eat somewhat normal there. Woot!

This week has been a blur. Much happens, little gets blogged. Catch up time.
Sonny at bionicjive.org has few kick ass layouts. I like the ‘The Revolution’ skin.
Two great games are coming out in the next few weeks. Both Battlefield Vietnam and Unreal Tournament 2004 look to be absolutely kick ass.
I’m moving Michele to a Typepad blog. Until I get the DNS stuff resolved, you can see the scarymommy here. Michele says Typepad is kick ass.
Martin’s got a kick ass post about gay marriage.
Special Hawaiian Edition Spam. Kick ass good food.
Finally, it look’s like Robert Rodriguez (Desperado, From Dusk til Dawn) is making a film based on John Carter, Warlord of Mars. Kick ass!!! I told you all it would make a good movie.

Today a friend of mine for almost 20 years crossed the line.
He’s been going through some hard times with a broken heart, career struggles, and loneliness in a new city. I’ve tried to talk to him and cheer him up, but he sinks deeper and deeper into depression and anger.
Today he lashed out at my wife. Somehow, she’s the cause of his troubles in his mind.
That crosses the line. You lash out at me, and I can take it and be ready to dish it right back. All’s fair in disagreements between friends. Friendships have their ups and downs. But when you attempt to hurt and threaten my family, I will not stand for it. At all.
I wish my friend good luck in finding his way out of his troubles and hope he gets the help he so desperately needs. It’s sad to see things go this way, but it’s his choice to do the things he’s done. I can’t tell him what to do, but he has to deal with the consequences of his actions.
It’s a good thing I have many friends to turn to in times like this. 🙂

As many of you know, the blogosphere has been under assault from comment spammers. The comment spammers are not directing their spam at you, they are directing it at Google. If a spammer can get their URL into your blog, they are trying to get Google to think that their URL is important.
Getting Google to think your site is important to getting high search placement and is refererred to in some circles as Google Juice. That’s why you see lots of comment spam for things like gambling or viagra. The spammers want their sites to show up as high as possible when someone searches for it.
As a defense against this, the most recent version of Movable Type, the blog software I use, has changed to deny the Google Juice. If you look at a post with comments and put your mouse over the link to a commentor, you don’t see their URL anymore, you see a redirection link. This link prevents the comment spammer from getting what they so desperately want, the Google Juice.
The problem is that many people like to mouse over link and see the URL before going there. I know I do.
So I made a little change. If you look at a list of comments, you will see the URL next to the commentors link in a non-hyperlinked form between brackets. That way, you, a human being, can see the URL, but Googlebot doesn’t see it as a meaningful link.
The code change was simple. In the Comment Listing Template I changed this section:

To this:

Note that all I had to add was at the right spot.
It appears to have worked like a charm. YMMV.