Box in a suitcase

He does.

I was watching the Republican debate the other night, and I couldn't stop thinking about how much John McCain speaks like Christian Slater, and by association, Jack Nicholson as well. I've thrown a couple clips together to show what I mean.

I have never worked with anyone like these guys.

I have always avoided Douglas Copland novels, for the same reason I avoid people that use phrases like "Web 2.0" in social situations. I've never read any of his books, so I'm not going to pretend to know whether he's actually a good writer or not - but I've met the sort of people who like his books, and they're invariably the same people who use the phrase "Eighties music" to refer to Echo & The Bunnymen, and who honestly believe that one's choice of Apple or Microsoft products can serve as a form of either rebellion or conformity (take your pick as to which is which).

God only knows, then, why I chose to watch the CBC series jPod, based on his book of the same name. I suppose that shows like Trailer Park Boys and Little Mosque on the Prairie had led me to think that the Canadians could make quality out of things that we'd only ruin here in the US.

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Several otherwise intelligent sources, particularly public broadcasting companies, have begun to use a terrible linguistic offense. At the beginning of their podcasts, an announcer will say that "you can listen to our show on your local radio station, or you can podcast it at www._______.com."

This should not be a difficult word to use correctly. The etymology is straightforward - broadcasting is when you cast something out to a broad audience, and podcasting is when you cast something out to an iPod (or similar device). You can't "podcast" something unless you are the one casting it outwards.

Do I broadcast CNN when I am watching TV? Do I broadcast NPR when I am listening to the radio? No. Then how can I be podcasting their show when I am listening on my iPod?

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Kai's Power Tools. Ass.

Windows has gotten progressively uglier and more distracting since the first release of XP, which is why my first action on any new XP or Vista box is to set the look to "Classic."
Grey borders might be boring to the designers at Microsoft, but at least they stay more or less out of my field of vision when I'm focusing on my work.

Nonetheless, I wouldn't mind being able to make the UI just a bit more modern, and since Microsoft's own interface guidelines say that "users... must be able to personalize aspects of their interface...", one might expect that getting a clean, modern look would be possible, even easy.

A dig through all the user-created themes online, kills that idea but fast.

Windows themes seem to come in three flavors: schlocky overstylized eyesores whose main inspiration seems to have been Kai's Power Tools from 1997; schlocky overstylized eyesores built from the creator's favorite movie or video game; and clumsy copies of Mac OS.

I know this isn't a "designers only use Macs" thing - there are some beautiful Linux GUIs in use, and those aren't Macs. What is it? Why can't anyone tweak the Windows GUI without copying another OS?

I'm just saying, that's all.

My prediction. Let's see what happens.