![[Reduced image of RWWL]](logpic.jpg)
[Up: Weblog] [Robot Wisdom home page]
Jorn Barger, January 1999 (revised September 1999)
What's a weblog?
It's a sort of personal newsmagazine on the Web. See the weblog FAQ for more background.
What are all these links?
Here's a reduced image of the log in September 1999. Section A is the logo, section B are the header-links, section C is the non-archived headlines, section D is the optional area for polls and announcements, section E is the main body of archived links with pullquotes, and section F is the end matter with links to archives, etc.
I try to keep about three days worth of links on the main page, copying older ones into the archive when the page grows past 32k.
Why is it so funkylooking (on my screen)?
The design is slightly optimised for my own setup, with 18-point Geneva font in a 640-wide window, but it also tries to be a minimalist design that works with any other setup.
The logo (A) is lame because I'm too stubborn to use the improved versions that kind readers have offered.
Why "Robot Wisdom"?
Since 1978 this has my term for 'extreme Artificial Intelligence"-- my main life's work. See my AI FAQ.
Why is the moon phase wrong?
I cycle it by hand, and get lazy sometimes.
What are all the little header-links (B in the image)?
Daily fun: Dilbert, Zippy, Dnsbry, Nude, Poem, Ellen, Astro, Word, News, Zines.
This first row is things that change every day-- comics (Dilbert, Zippy the Pinhead, Doonesbury), Nerve's nude of the day, a poem of the day, Ellen Pronk's 'present' of the day (clever animations, etc), NASA astropic of the day, vocabulary word of the day, the Pacifica news in RealAudio (updated each evening), and an ever-changing calendar of online periodicals due to be updated that day.
Google HelpFAQ Interact: group, anon, my netnews, mail me. Backup
The second row is miscellaneous utility links: the Google search engine via a speedy Javascript bookmarklet [qv], a link to this orientation FAQ, links to the RWWL BBS where various ongoing threads are carried on, an anonymous comment area (your IP number will be logged, however), a link to Deja.com showing what topics I've been discussing lately on the Usenet newsgroups, a mailto link for email comments, and a Backup link that connects to the old RWWL site, which sometimes gets updated if I can't reach robotwisdom.com for some reason.
This backup site can also be reached via the oddlooking but easy.to/remember URL: "i.am/jorn".
Net.Literate:
portal
fun
art
media
issues
net
tech
science
history
search
shop
The Net.literate portal includes many of the best links from the archives, sorted by topic. (See below for more about this.)
Next Full Moon: Sat 25 Sep 05:53CDT. Sosa:65 SiteSearch Cams: A : W : E : Eu
The Sosa calculation is a prediction based on his performance so far (Sammy Sosa, home-run star of the Chicago Cubs).
The sitesearch is provided by Atomz.com and should be very uptodate. It covers the whole site, but is most useful for searching the RWWL archives.
The cam pages (divided into four categories by timezone) are left over from an experiment I did in March 1999, where I tried to post a 'cam of the hour' that was showing the coolest looking whatever-- worldwide-- at that hour (usually a sunrise or sunset). It was very popular but I couldn't keep it up because my connection is too slow.
Use the #main link at the top of section C to skip over the headlines section.
Where do you find it all?
My main sources are described here.
Other detailed comments about sources are on the media.literate page.
A DejaNews URL is broken!
Try it again in an hour or three. I usually construct these using the Message-ID, but that doesn't kick in until DejaNews has indexed it. (Netnews is vastly more readable if you use a dedicated newsreader-- MacSoup or MT-NewsWatcher on the Mac, Free Agent on Windows, trn on Unix. Netscape, MSIE, and DejaNews don't begin to compete.)
The background color is unbearable!
[No longer applicable, I gave up and went white.]
In the archives you'll see I was cycling thru the 215 'browser safe' background colors, one per fortnight. Almost all of them have looked okay so far on my Mac, but if you really hate one, just mail me.
(I'm really interested in the esthetics of multicolored text.)
Something looks like crap!
I have an odd monitor, so I view everything in 18-pt Geneva. This makes my viewing experience unlike almost anyone else's, so I need to hear if I've screwed something up. IE, mail me.
Identify: rab, ark, Kibo, hojoy
rab = rec.arts.books newsgroup
ark = alt.religion.kibology newsgroup
Kibo = James Parry, kibological godhead
hojoy = Hero Joy Nightingale, a 13yo 'locked-in' genius
(See sources page.)
Why is MSNBC evil?
I swore off MSNBC links when they dropped RealPlayer support (in a typically monopolistic attempt to promote their own proprietary WindowsPlayer standard). So when they have something I can't resist linking, I include the 'Evil MSNBC' caveat.
Your URL is too long!
[Not so relevant anymore.]
Try "i.am/jorn" or "http2//jorn".
(But also, take control of your bookmarks!!!)
I want to comment on an item.
Good! Try the BBS or this anonymous public feedback board, or just mail me.
Or join the weblog community by starting one! Using Frontier makes it pretty easy.
How long does it take you?
My MCS account used to give me seven hours a day, and I used most of that since starting the Weblog (more since switching from MCS). I have a fairly slow 28.8 connection, but this is hardly any problem because I use multi-window surfing.
I also have a highly efficient start-page that arranges my sources by time of day, day of week, etc. See this tutorial for assistance in creating your own.
My Mac is a 2ndhand PowerMac 7200 with the 15" Apple monitor. (It's starting to wheeze.)
What's MCS?
My earlier ISP was Macro-Computer Solutions here in Chicago, where I've had my main account since 1993. It was sold in late 1998 and service declined precipitously, so I left, but I still forward all my email from there because that address is so widely propagated
Don't you do any writing of your own?
Almost all my writing is posted to netnews. You can see the latest here.
Who are you?
There's a little biographical stuff here.
Why is the 'hardcopy' link a 404?
I'm still miles from doing the printed version of this website. If people care enough to bitch at me about the 404, that helps me get my ass in gear a little better.
I admit this is not exactly considerate. Sorry.
Can I suggest links?
Yes, please mail me. But I hardly ever use them, so don't be disappointed if I don't. And I usually don't like links to sites -- I want links to particular pages with good reading.
What's this waxy loonie fortnight stuff?
Two weeks seemed like a manageable size for the archives. And I think it's good for people to be at least semi-conscious of the moon's phase. Waxing means the moon is getting bigger during that fortnight, waning means it's shrinking.
You like James Joyce?
Mmmm... James Joyce.
What happened to the UK Guardian?
I love the Guardian, but since 1 Jan 1999 they've been demanding registration, and I don't feel that's appropriate for a shared-links forum like this.
Archives?
See the bottom of the main page. There's a searchform there too.
Best-of?
A handful of the very best I've found are here.
But I'm in the first stages of building a 'portal' with hundreds of the best links sorted by topic:
Fun:
# TV
# Movies
# Gossip
# Music
# Sex
# Games
# Toys
# Humor
Art:
# Interactive
# Performance
# Visual
# Music
# Erotica
# Fashion
# Literature
Media:
# Weblogs
# Collations
# News
# Techniques
# Critiques
# Trends
# Design
# Content...
Issues:
# Activism
# Trade
# Imperialism
# Spying
# Conspiracy
# Drugs
# Ecology
# Family
# Sexuality...
Internet:
# Email
# Netnews
# Hardware
# Culture
# Web.Money
# Web.Culture
# Web.Tech...
Technology:
# Hacker
# Programming
# Design
# Hardware
# Risks...
Science:
# AI
# Space
# Biotech
# Physics
# Primates
# Language...
History:
# General
# Early
# 1500+
# 1900+
# 1940+
# 1960s
# 1970s
# 1980s
# Future...
Shop:
# WebShopping
# Work
# Shopping
# HomeEc
# Microsoft
# WallSt...
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