http://www.maison-de-stuff.net/articles.html/ A bundle of fairly disparate stuff. en-uk Monday, 06 Feb 2006 14:25:54 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss092 john@maison-de-stuff.net (John Hawkins) john@maison-de-stuff.net (John Hawkins) http://www.maison-de-stuff.net/icons/mdsbutton.jpg http://www.maison-de-stuff.net/articles.html/ A bundle of fairly random stuff. I invented the Internet...
Do you remember the first decent sized piece of software you ever wrote? I was sitting here thinking that very thought just now. I had dabbled a bit with some rather awful games - but those aside - the first piece of software I wrote of any real note was my A level project, back when I was 17, in 1994/1995. I recall at the time having a little difficulty explaining what exactly my project was. It was this program which let you create and playback these interactive multimedia presentations. You could create a number of pages, and in each page you could display a mixture of text, pictures and simple animations. You could also put on buttons which let you navigate between pages, in a freeform structure - each page had a name and the button would refer to that. 11 or more years later I find myself working on BML, the Japanese standard for interactive television. I have spent the day thinking about how to abstract a BML display. Basically it is a number of pages made up of text, pictures and simple animations, with buttons for navigation. So you can see my train of thought here - basically I have come full circle haven't I? Then it occurred to me that my project was in fact a form of hypertext. Lo and behold, I invented the web! Albeit after it had already been invented by some other guy at that time. Still though, it was before I had ever used the web .. http://www.maison-de-stuff.net/archives/00000190.html Ever striving to bring variety to the 'Maison, I have decided to have a go at a spot of poetry...
The feeling of disappointment is palpable, strong, intense and vibrant, and yet, you have taken me, to such a place of blandness, of banality, and of tedium, such a vaccum of interest, a dearth of any sparkle or joy, that, overcome as I am, with how dull you are, I am not moved to elaborate, not inspired to expound, on the depth of your dreariness. No man should have to bear, the full brunt of your onslaught. If hell is nothingness, a void, bereft of hope, then in the canteen, they'll be serving you: oh retched beast of convenience foods, that which I discovered at Crewe station: cheese and tomato sandwich, with mayonnaise ... http://www.maison-de-stuff.net/archives/00000189.html http://www.maison-de-stuff.net/archives/