There once was a time when tech magazines were free. All you had to do was work at a company, sign your name on a form on the Web, and the magazine would be yours. (I’m exaggerating only slightly.) Only a few trade mags, like InformationWeek still offer this service. Others, like Wired, have dramatically reduced their subscription rates ($10.00), while most others have gone bye the bye.
I’m old enough in tech years to remember Mondo 2000 which came out almost at the same time as Wired in 1993. While Wired focused on the technology and politics of the coming “revolution,” Mondo was a kind of screwy, culturally-California look at the oddballs of computing. It seemed to reference punk and complexity while Wired was, well, more relevant to the Alleys sprouting on both coasts. Interestingly, I’m amazed at what turns up on a Google search for “Mondo 2000” — because the magazine never went “wired” (or online), it pretty much doesn’t exist on the Net, save for a few oddball diarists. Alas, I’d much rather be getting M2 than IW, which pretty clearly states the kind of world we’re in today.

There is a lot going on in this war with Iraq that we don’t know about; while many people may look for nefarious things (and there may be those), there are also a tremendous number of hidden, secret, or otherwise unknown activities that are being undertaken to unseat the Saddam administration. I’m very interested in articles like this one — Is the CIA spamming Iraqi generals? — and others which show that the U.S. is using advanced (and “traditional”) Internet technologies to bring down the regime. In non-virtual conduct, I learned today on NPR of the probable existence of numerous safe houses, inside Baghdad, that have been carefully advertised to Iraqi military officials.
Many new books will be written about the the West’s use of new technologies in this war — and while the most important ones are those preventing missiles from hitting civilian residences, the others will make for good reading.

About a year ago, I began learning PHP and MySQL through a number of good books out there. It’s not easy to learn Web programming on a Mac, but it’s getting easier. I purchased the first edition of Kevin Yank’s Build Your Own Database Driven Website Using PHP & MySQL. I learned enough from that book (or not) to purchase the second edition, which is slightly more tailored for the Mac OS X-head. Setting up PHP and MySQL on your Mac is less than easy, but I’ve done it and I’m no programmer, which I hope may give the aspiring graphic-based Web developer hope.

I’ve been a big fan of UPS for many years, in part because of its so completely outre color usage (brown) throughout its entire identity presentation. Brown uniforms, brown trucks, brown packaging. I was a bit surprised that UPS has now changed its logo to something apparently less workman-like, which is really the visual construct of the company. Brown, as the symbol of Carhartt and chocolate syrup, is also the color of dirt, grit, and dried blood.
While the new symbol is still brown-ish, it makes use of gold, yellow highlights, and a curved, space-age design to make the company look like a working-class space company — which, in fact, it kind of is. UPS was one of the first companies to use mobile technology, international tracking, and Web-based information services while maintaining a strong union culture and good customer service. Their logo redesign, while unnecessary, is a good choice of safe thinking and careful brand modulation.

I try to never complain about the weather in New York, but it’s going to be 40 degrees and snowy tomorrow. Isn’t it like, uh, almost April, isn’t it? I have thoroughly not enjoyed this past winter. With five colds (1 regular, 2 flu-like, and 2 stomach viruses) and many aches and pains since October, it’s hard to believe we’re still all living in winter.

I’m sure that someone in the White House at one point nixed the idea of calling Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Iraqi Liberation, as the latter’s acronym is OIL. However, there are a few instances of the latter’s phraseology, including this one, which does provide a good synopsis of news on the war from the wires: The Daily News Transcript.

One of most favorite directors is Guy Maddin, who has recently been working on a movie called The Saddest Music in the World. Maddin is a Winnipeg-based filmmaker who produces eclectic tales based on an odd admixture of folk tales, sorry tastes, and sad themes, and he’s one artist that I can truly say is brilliant. I saw him about 6 years ago in Queens, New York, presenting his then latest movie, Twilight of the Ice Nympths. His work, often compared with David Lynch, is gorgeous on the side of outrageous, melancholic on the side of ridiculous, and honest on the side of absurdity. His work deserves to be adored.

CNN picked up on this story about soldier bloggers. I had a strong feeling that there were a number of soldiers in the war who were writing from the front, but the site were hard to find. Well, I guess no longer. Forget about blogs reporting their latest book purchases online (like this one); this is the real blog deal.

My apologies to all those who have been clicking on Deckchairs and finding nothing, nothing at all to read. Between a bad headcold, the war, and work in general, I’ve had little time to post.
I do want to focus on some good news, however. Pal Jake Dobkin and his Gothamist pals have redesigned and redeveloped the Web site (of which I am somewhat a part), which is a very fine group blog about New York City and its youthful, heavily linked culture. Jake also redeveloped his site Bluejake.com but more about that, and the technology behind it, later.

The stock market is up, the war in Iraq is up, the economy is up, President Bush’s ratings are up, morale in the armed forces is up, and still, the rest of the world loathes us. The real air war has begun, with psy-ops on radio, television, and the Web being carefully broadcast both here and abroad. It’s very hard to get a clear picture of the entire situation in Iraq but here’s hoping it’s all over by, say, tonight.