kevin barnett

I entered the AICN Lost Haiku contest with this:

numbers on a hatch
cursed flight 815 to crash
hey guys, where are we?

I doubt it will win as they has to be more rabid Lost fans out there with much more wit. But I enjoyed the poem because it uses my favorite over-played line from the show courtesy of Driveshaft’s Charlie…

I was just listening to nothing

I’ve been watching live coverage of Hurricane Rita moving on shore at the Texas/Louisiana border. Although I know the damage will be extensive, I’m thankful that Galveston, Houston and Brazoria Co. were not the bull’s eye.

Now to get some sleep…

I was just listening to Thievery Corporation - Wires And Watchtowers

Watching, thinking, hoping, praying for friends and family…

http://www.thestormtrack.com/

I was just listening to Chris Rea - Nothing to Fear

Yesterday, I was reviewing Microsoft’s website, looking to see how they address specific audiences (Developers, IT Pros, etc.) on their homepage. Microsoft has been doing this for a long time - and I have a project ramping up which will require the same audience-specific-targeted content scheme.

What it took me some time to realize is that the homepage is designed for 1024×768.

To my knowledge, this is the first, high-traffic, widely-known website to do this. Websites I read, as a part of the Web Standards community, are starting to design for 1024×768 as well. But they’re always ahead of the curve and can rely on a tech-saavy, large resolution/display equip’ed audience.

The fact that Microsoft has done this is huge. Not just because their audience is very, very big and diverse - but because Microsoft, as a result of their psuedo-monopoly, sets standards. Not that I’m praising their accomplishments in this feat. But I am praising their choice to move towards a 1024×768 layout. Hats off to Microsoft.com.

If anything, this should be a green light for technology businesses to move to 1024×768 and a signal that everyone else should be thinking about it. I’m certainly going to start pushing for it…and I feel good that Microsoft.com will be my trump card.

Addendum: Just by happenstance, I noticed that Dell is using 1024×768, not on their homepage, but everywhere else!

I was just listening to Zero 7 - In The Waiting Line

If there was ever a good reason to listen to MMMBop by Hanson, this would be it.

I was just listening to Hanson - MMMBop

I have been keeping my ear to the grapevine on the Katrina aftermath from the beginning. I shared my disgust and frustration over the slow response. Now, that I feel I have all of the information, part of it in thanks to this very complete and what appears to be accurate timeline of events - I’m ready to finish the blame game.

I still hold Bush ultimately responsible. Mainly because he’s the President and the buck stops with, well you know. Now that “Brownie” has resigned, Bush’s blatent cronism is floating on the surface like a log in the French Quarter. But more importantly, his priorities and agenda have been exposed. His main concern is not with the security of America - why else would you appoint unqualified “friends” to positions like head of FEMA and Homeland Security. His agenda, which I hope we can distance ourselves from, is just not good for the majority of Americans.

There is still plenty of blame to go around after Bush. While it seems the evidence shows that Gov. and Mayor did things according to plan - the plan wasn’t good enough. It did not take into consideration nor did it cover the scope of the people in their communities who either would not - or could not take care of themselves. These are people who, sadly, do not know how to adequately take their destiny into their own hands. They wait for others to tell them when to take their medication, where to get financial aid and what to do in the event of a crisis. They are uneducated, unable to fathom, predict or comprehend the devistation that was coming around the corner.

What is tragic - is that the strength of community we see today picking up the pieces wasn’t available to the impoverish and non-mobile citizens of Lousiana, Mississippi and Alabama. We choose to ignore these people as much as we can, so how can we really be shocked at what happened? The hurricane literally stirred up the muck at the bottom and now we’re all covered in the reality of poverty.

So in reality, we’re all to blame. Myself and people like me - people of privledge, of opportunity and whether you like it or not, people of white skin color: we continue to forget that along the way, we’re supposed to help a brother out. Even though over 50% of this country is supposed to have Christian values, it has to be more like 5%. Because only when tragic incidents occur are we reminded that service to others is service to ourselves.

I can’t believe I just wrote all of this bullmalarchy, make-the-world-a-better-place sappy, cry-me-a-river crap. And I realize, maybe for the first time, that’s a problem.

There is a new sitcom on NBC that I have been looking forward to. It’s about a guy who sets out to improve his Karma by trying to right all of his wrongs.

Improving one’s Karma…hmm, not a bad idea.

I was just listening to Bloc Party - This Modern Love