1. That I can write using one consistent set of tools, and not have to keep three or four or more targets in mind when I’m writing;
2. That all of my writing (and any images and so forth I might publish) is in one convenient central location for backups and storage;
3. That I can publish things publicly, note things privately, or write to a group of friends and acquaintances without difficulty;
4. and that I can fiddle endlessly with the fine details of implementation but that the general functionality just works and does what I want.

It’s also convenient that I can also use the publishing platform I get paid to work on, since it means that such fiddling around with fine details of implementation is, as I like it to be, both my hobby and my profession.

I’m a perfectionist. I hate doing things wrong, or doing things poorly. This is a common flaw among computer folk, at least, and it leads to some outstandingly bad code and design decisions – what “wrong” and “poorly” mean can get pretty myopic if you’re not careful, and you end up with a huge pile of rubbish built to handle every case that you can imagine but that frequently doesn’t handle any of them well. It’s been important for me to recognize what “good enough” means, and aim for that rather than some imperfect view of perfection.

But that has the same pitfalls! If “good enough” is the ideal, then there must be a “perfect” good enough, right? Finding exactly the right compromise solution is now just as important as finding exactly the right overall solution, and in some ways that’s even harder to decide on and simply do.

It’s important to do things wrong. It’s important to do things poorly. Doing things wrong and doing them poorly means you’re doing them at all.

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.

So that’s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before. Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry that it isn’t good enough, or it isn’t perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.

Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it.

Make your mistakes, next year and forever.

–Neil Gaiman

As with many products before, I fall somewhere in the middle.

On the plus side: It looks like a beautiful piece of hardware; every report I have read says that using it is a dream come true to any fan of the various iTouches. Fast, integrated, smooth, and with beautiful user interface decisions; top of the line hardware and (more polish on) groundbreaking software combine to make an unbelievable platform, and one which the vast majority of people will find satisfies their needs and exceeds all their expectations.

On the minus side: Apple has made, and will continue to make, an intentionally crippled and limited device in the name of a better overall user experience. While I wholeheartedly agree with their goals – make it accessible to the common man! – it is simply not what I, as a power user who is otherwise well in the target market, need in many respects.

Any number of minor concessions would solve this problem for me – and these are the same issues I have with any “trusted computing” sort of platform. It is not my best interests that Apple is trying to protect here, either as a developer or as an individual user. It is theirs, and it is not in their best interests to allow me to, for instance, decide whose software I actually trust.

No, I’m not trying to run Linux on the thing. It runs a perfectly acceptable *NIX operating system already, and in fact has a fantastic GUI (for almost every purpose) and software installation procedure (for almost every case) already. I just want to run my instant messenger and Pages. Even just the ability to background one application (with – yes, I realize this – the appropriate time and attention put in to making the experience smooth and complete) would make a huge difference in the overall usability.

I’d really like to run Processing on it. It’s just such a perfect platform for art-programming, and there’s nothing else quite like Processing for that.

But that’s all. I don’t want a pony.

Little gray dreams never get very far
Little gray streets filled with little gray cars
Colorless faces in colorless lives
Aged with a little gray need to survive

Each of the houses
on each of the streets
has a little gray porch
where nobody meets
and all of the parties
of mannequin faces
play tinny gray music
of other gray places

[chorus]

(c) 2003 Justin Larue

New sources reveal that Ratzinger wasn’t the first choice for Pope.

Rather, it was Cardinal Hans Grapje.

Grapje was raised in a Catholic school in The Hague and, as a young man, aspired to become a priest, but was drafted into the Army during WWII. He spent two years co-piloting bombers until his aircraft was shot down in 1943 and lost his left arm.

Captain Grapje spent the rest of the war as a chaplain, giving spiritual aid to soldiers, both Allied and enemy. After the war, he became a priest, serving as a missionary in Africa, piloting his own plane (in spite of his handicap) to villages across the continent.

In 1997, Father Grapje was serving in Zimbabwe when an explosion in a silver mine caused a cave-in. Archbishop Grapje went down into the mine to administer last rights to those too severely injured to move. Another shaft collapsed, and he was buried for three days, suffering multiple injuries, including the loss of his right eye. The high silver content in the mine’s air gave him purpura, a life-long condition characterized by purplish skin blotches.

Although Cardinal Grapje devoted his life to the service of God as a scholar, mentor, and holy man, church leaders felt that he should not ascend to the Papacy.

They felt that the Church would never accept a one-eyed, one-armed, flying purple Papal Leader.

First of all, you are fat. You are ugly. You stink. Your breath stinks. You are unpopular. Your car sucks. Your house sucks. You suck. Your life sucks.

You are not witty. You are not smart. You are stupid. You are ignorant. You are inadequate. You will never make it in this world. You are unpopular. You will never amount to anything. You are nothing.

Your diet is poor. You have low self-esteem. You have cellulite. You have ugly toenails. You have blackheads. You have body hair where it shouldn’t be. You don’t have enough hair where it should be. Your eyeballs are not white enough. Your teeth are not white enough. You are not white enough.

Secondly, you are fat. You should go on a diet. You should eat more hamburgers. Your breasts are not big enough. Your breasts are too small. Your breasts aren’t small enough or big enough. You need implants. Your penis is too small. You are inadequate. Your nose isn’t right. Your butt is too big. You need cosmetic surgery. You need make-up. You should make yourself sick. You should eat more hamburgers.

Your dress sense sucks. You suck. You have no style. You’re one of the crowd. You are a follower. You are a freak. You are a label. You don’t fit in. You are a lah-hoo-ser. You have no charisma. You are not sexy enough. You are not glamorous. You are not glamorous enough. You need more glamour. You suck. Your favorite band sucks. Your favorite brand sucks. Your clothes suck. Your shoes suck. You suck. You are retarded.

You don’t have enough money. You should work harder. You don’t have enough things. You need more things. You are unhappy. You need more. You are unsatisfied. You are not moving forward. You never descend further. You are not keeping up the pace. You are lagging behind. You are one step behind the rest.

You are doing it all wrong. You need to change. You need to see that change is good. You need to follow us. You need to be individual. You need to fit in. You need to think outside the square. You need to think outside the box. You need to think outside the bun. You need to eat more hamburgers. You are too fat. You are aware you are too fat. You shouldn’t be fat. You need to stand out. You need to know the rules. You need to know the secrets. You should be yourself.

Thirdly, you are fat. Your legs wobble too much. Your teeth are crooked. Your face is wrong. You should change. You need change. You should know that change is good. You are not thin enough. You are too thin. You are too thin and too fat in incorrect places. You need to eat more hamburgers.

You are lactose intolerant. You are iron deficient. Your cholesterol is too high. Your calcium level is too low. You should eat more hamburgers. Your blood pressure is too high. Your iron level is too low. You need to have liposuction. You need to loose weight. You suffer from premature ejaculation. You are far too dependent on drugs. You need to buy more drugs. You need more money to buy more drugs. You are inadequate.

You are bipolar. You have attention deficit hyperactive disorder. You have post-traumatic stress disorder. You suffer from depression. You’re all kinds of messed up. You are manic. Your mental health is poor. Your well-being is inactive. You are not happy enough. You need to buy more drugs. You suffer from road rage. You suffer split-personality disorders. You suffer marriage problems. Your marital status sucks. You suck. You’re ugly. You are not right. You need to buy more drugs.

You should stop smoking. You should buy more cigarettes. You should smoke cigars. Cloves are fashionable. You have no style. You should stop smoking. You will get cancer. You will die anyway. you should have fun. You shouldn’t have fun. You should be more fashionable. Cloves are fashionable. You shouldn’t pollute. You should smoke cigars. You should have fun. You should drink alcohol. You should keep ahead. You are lagging behind. You should be individual. You shouldn’t care about what you do. You are free. You should go your own way. You should follow us.

You watch too much television. You need to stay tuned. You are fat because you watch too much television. You should read fashion magazines. You have no style. You should feel inferior to fashion models and television stars. Your ass is too fat. You should get off your fat ass. You should watch more television. You should be individual. You shouldn’t be fat. You are wrong. You could look like that. Your hair is bad. Because you’re worth it. You’re fat. You’re ugly. You procrastinate. You need help. You’re doing it all wrong. You suck. You are a statistic. You are going to be a star one day. You are nothing. You should eat more hamburgers. You should drink more syrup. You should buy more cigarettes. You are too fat.

You should not be who you are. You have to change.

My name is Marketing.

Now buy my fucking product.”