Offhand Remarks

"...links, quotes, and commentary for the busy technophile."

Friday October 3, 1997

Some postive views on Apple's new marketing: Markman's Slightly Offsite and Dean's Zine
Take a peek at Riven, the upcoming sequel to Myst.
Opinions on the new Apple ads continue to roll in.
Douglas Rushkoff on cyberculture.
The Merc finds out what happens when you shine a light on a cockroach. It tries to hide...
Imitation is the sincerest form of, uh, competition. Wired gets company.
Anuff on Apple's new adverts: "A campaign based on the notion of 'slow, but beautiful' could be swapped in easily, erasing the current images, and replacing them with grainy photos of Marilyn Monroe, Chauncy Gardner, and late-period Ali."
See the ad for yourself.
Wired asks "Can a search engine can make a good cartoon?"

Thursday October 2, 1997

An interesting new image-capture device.
Yahoo! Internet Life starts covering live Net events.
McDonald's is changing their McAdvertising.
PC Week covers Steve Jobs address to Seybold:

Jobs...explained a marketing plan that includes putting the faces of visionaries such as Picasso, Ghandi and Einstein on billboards, bus stop signs and the sides of buildings. In one campaign, the company plans to plaster urban buses with pictures of Rosa Parks, the woman who ignited the civil rights movement when she was arrested for refusing to move to the back of the bus.
"Apple is the only lifestyle brand in the computer industry," new board member and Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison said. "It's the only one people feel passionate about."

Will the Internet eventually be controlled by syndicates?
Microsoft cartoon characters are coming to your desktop.

Wednesday October 1, 1997

Who's running Intel?
ZDNet provides some hard data on the browser war.
Wired News on the L.A. Times move toward a multilingual web site.
Suck puts nanotechology under the microscope.
Gates: "a decade from now, the majority of Americans will be living a Web lifestyle."

Tuesday September 30, 1997

Moore's Law says that chip manufacturers can double computing power every 18 months. Looks like that law is due for repeal.
Buying the cow: Online publishing boosts offline sales.
The Smoking Gun has a copy of the JonBenet Ramsey search warrant.
A columnist is fired over his coverage of a certain Stanford freshman.
Scientific American looks at the international implications of the current domain name system.

Monday September 29, 1997

The Motley Fools produce some poetic jewels.
File under offensive: Apple has Gandhi hawking PowerPC's. Apparently, Mother Teresa wasn't available.
Nielsen is getting into the Web.
This week, Joyce Carol Oates discusses Jane Eyre in Salon.
The folks at Feed are looking back at Vannevar Bush's visionary "As We May Think."
Stating the Obvious about Netscape's new homepage.
Remember when they started running ads at the movies? Now, it's coming to the desktop: "The most visually striking aspect of the new software is what Microsoft is calling the Active Desktop, which adds an array of 30 corporate logos to the basic control panel or PC 'dashboard.'" Netscape vs. Microsoft in CyberTimes.

Friday September 26, 1997

A new program offers grants for socially conscious web sites.
Bernstein on Gelertner on being a victim of the Unabomber.

Thursday September 25, 1997

Bringing sound back from the edge of oblivion.
Disturbing trend:
Nicholas Negropronte says "You, the consumer, are a victim of the hardware manufacturers, software designers and on-line services that so far have been unable - even unwilling - to serve the average person. But then, until now, the manufacturers didn't think they had to!"
Douglas Rushkoff says, "Just try to read or absorb a complex set of ideas while a picture of a shiny new model of a modem is dancing around at the top of the page."
Ah, the mythical "average person" that pundits trot out to demonstrate how insightful they are. Give it a rest, fellas. Let us "average" folks fight our own battles...
Where do you want to go today? Iowa, apparently.

Wednesday September 24, 1997

Microsoft wants to ease you into their next UI.
Researchers turn up new clues in the mystery of the disappearing frogs.
More Amazon: They've added features and undergone a little bit of a redesign.
Please don't squeeze the Amazon.

Tuesday September 23, 1997

ASAP profiles Ted Nelson.
Apple to produce a $750 network computer. Seems a little steep, Steve. How about a $750 Powerbook. Now that we could use.
The Army sponsors a new program for high school kids. Was this Al Haig's idea?
Snap! Crackle. Pop?
Overheard at the movies: "The Game owes a lot to interactive CD-ROMs..." Edward Rothstein of The New York Times seems to agree.
Forbes reports on cracks in the Sidewalk business model.
Monday September 22, 1997

Welcome to offhand.com's second feature--links, quotes, and commentary for the busy technophile.
While we hope to be original in our outlook, we aren't original in concept. That honor goes to Michael Sippey of the always thought-provoking Obvious Filter and Dave Winer of Scripting News.
If nothing else, we simply hope to keep up our end of the conversation.

Got a remark? Mail us. | And visit our sister site, Media Nugget of the Day

"...links, quotes, and commentary for the busy technophile."
Friday	October 3, 1997
Some postive views on Apple's new marketing: Markman's Slightly Offsite and Dean's Zine Take a peek at Riven, the upcoming sequel to Myst. Opinions on the new Apple ads continue to roll in. Douglas Rushkoff on cyberculture. The Merc finds out what happens when you shine a light on a cockroach. It tries to hide... Imitation is the sincerest form of, uh, competition. Wired gets company. Anuff on Apple's new adverts: "A campaign based on the notion of 'slow, but beautiful' could be swapped in easily, erasing the current images, and replacing them with grainy photos of Marilyn Monroe, Chauncy Gardner, and late-period Ali." See the ad for yourself. Wired asks "Can a search engine can make a good cartoon?"
Thursday	October 2, 1997
An interesting new image-capture device. Yahoo! Internet Life starts covering live Net events. McDonald's is changing their McAdvertising. PC Week covers Steve Jobs address to Seybold: Jobs...explained a marketing plan that includes putting the faces of visionaries such as Picasso, Ghandi and Einstein on billboards, bus stop signs and the sides of buildings. In one campaign, the company plans to plaster urban buses with pictures of Rosa Parks, the woman who ignited the civil rights movement when she was arrested for refusing to move to the back of the bus. "Apple is the only lifestyle brand in the computer industry," new board member and Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison said. "It's the only one people feel passionate about." Will the Internet eventually be controlled by syndicates? Microsoft cartoon characters are coming to your desktop.
Wednesday	October 1, 1997
Who's running Intel? ZDNet provides some hard data on the browser war. Wired News on the L.A. Times move toward a multilingual web site. Suck puts nanotechology under the microscope. Gates: "a decade from now, the majority of Americans will be living a Web lifestyle."
Tuesday	September 30, 1997
Moore's Law says that chip manufacturers can double computing power every 18 months. Looks like that law is due for repeal. Buying the cow: Online publishing boosts offline sales. The Smoking Gun has a copy of the JonBenet Ramsey search warrant. A columnist is fired over his coverage of a certain Stanford freshman. Scientific American looks at the international implications of the current domain name system.
Monday	September 29, 1997
The Motley Fools produce some poetic jewels. File under offensive: Apple has Gandhi hawking PowerPC's. Apparently, Mother Teresa wasn't available. Nielsen is getting into the Web. This week, Joyce Carol Oates discusses Jane Eyre in Salon. The folks at Feed are looking back at Vannevar Bush's visionary "As We May Think." Stating the Obvious about Netscape's new homepage. Remember when they started running ads at the movies? Now, it's coming to the desktop: "The most visually striking aspect of the new software is what Microsoft is calling the Active Desktop, which adds an array of 30 corporate logos to the basic control panel or PC 'dashboard.'" Netscape vs. Microsoft in CyberTimes.
Friday	September 26, 1997
A new program offers grants for socially conscious web sites. Bernstein on Gelertner on being a victim of the Unabomber.
Thursday	September 25, 1997
Bringing sound back from the edge of oblivion. Disturbing trend: Nicholas Negropronte says "You, the consumer, are a victim of the hardware manufacturers, software designers and on-line services that so far have been unable - even unwilling - to serve the average person. But then, until now, the manufacturers didn't think they had to!" Douglas Rushkoff says, "Just try to read or absorb a complex set of ideas while a picture of a shiny new model of a modem is dancing around at the top of the page." Ah, the mythical "average person" that pundits trot out to demonstrate how insightful they are. Give it a rest, fellas. Let us "average" folks fight our own battles... Where do you want to go today? Iowa, apparently.
Wednesday	September 24, 1997
Microsoft wants to ease you into their next UI. Researchers turn up new clues in the mystery of the disappearing frogs. More Amazon: They've added features and undergone a little bit of a redesign. Please don't squeeze the Amazon.
Tuesday	September 23, 1997
ASAP profiles Ted Nelson. Apple to produce a $750 network computer. Seems a little steep, Steve. How about a $750 Powerbook. Now that we could use. The Army sponsors a new program for high school kids. Was this Al Haig's idea? Snap! Crackle. Pop? Overheard at the movies: "The Game owes a lot to interactive CD-ROMs..." Edward Rothstein of The New York Times seems to agree. Forbes reports on cracks in the Sidewalk business model.
Monday	September 22, 1997
Welcome to offhand.com's second feature--links, quotes, and commentary for the busy technophile. While we hope to be original in our outlook, we aren't original in concept. That honor goes to Michael Sippey of the always thought-provoking Obvious Filter and Dave Winer of Scripting News. If nothing else, we simply hope to keep up our end of the conversation.