Serendipita

Books News

CNN.com: New Alexandria library expected to boost Egypt’s role in research and study.

Link via Garret.

Weblogs

There was an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday which also appeared in the New Jersey Online NewsFlash: E-World: Individuality conquers information overload as Weblogs proliferate, by Thomas E. Weber.

“Combining the personal perspective of a journal with the vast databank of cyberspace, a good weblog can take you in a hundred different directions in just a few minutes. Compelling and interactive, it represents the most successful new literary form of the Internet Age.”

Link via Zannah, whose weblog, /usr/bin/girl, is mentioned in the article.

Good old Europe

Surprise is back! Mira writes:

“Behind a surface of continuity Europe is going through a big transition. The forming of the new united Europe is still at its beginning. […] Once one enters Europe all this hassle of customs is gone and one can move freely. It makes sense and brings people closer. Now it is not a big deal to move and to work whereever one wishes to do so. One feels the effect - all of a sudden life becomes more international, more open for changes and exchanges: It is a time for new possibilities and chances.”

Why do you keep a weblog?

“What’s the point of personal weblogs? Does it fulfill some psychological need? Is it for attention? For fun?” asks Graham Walker in this Metafilter thread.

It’s interesting to read about the different reasons people have for blogging.

The ‘Hell Desk’

Are they serious about this one?

“HellDesk: Hello, I.T. Department, how may we help you?

End User: Oh, hello. I was just trying to install the latest version of the Internet Browser software which you’ve sent me. I need to run the program called ‘iesetup.exe’. And I can’t find the strange upside-down exclamation mark type-thing on my keyboard. Any ideas?

HellDesk: Sir, try the key between ‘U’ and ‘O’ on your keyboard.

End User: Yes, that’s the one! Thanks very much indeed!”

Once again, link via /usr/bin/girl.

Emoticons

Bored of the good ol’ and ? There are lots and lots and lots of emoticons on Bronwen & Claire’s Really Huge Emoticon Collection.

Do you know this one?

3:*>

It’s - Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer!

And here’s Elvis:   5:-J

Link via /usr/bin/girl.

Flipped the page!

Ahem… what was that again? - No, I’m not addicted to weblogging, I can stop any time I want to, and I can easily skip a day…

Okay, I admit it. I just had to flip because it’s Monday, and that’s usually the day with the most traffic.

It has been pretty stormy today in Germany. Last night we got a storm warning, with prediction of wind speed up to 120 km/h.

Although the wind is pretty strong, it was not as bad as the fall storms I’m used to from the time I was living in Northern Germany. One advantage is that we’re inside a city here, not in the open country, plus we are further from the sea here.

Tad Williams again

The Official Tad Williams FAQ, Version 1.0.1.

And the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn Interactive Thesis, by Guthwulf.

Sunny!

Ah, what a wonderful day. The sky is blue, the sun is shining. But it’s quite stormy, so the air is very fresh. This is no day to spend in front of the computer.

So I guess I’ll work on my thesis instead.