Read about weight loss and PC loss and how it both turned the author of the piece, Glenn McDonald, into a happier person. Convincing.

[...] at no time during my adult computer-using life have I felt like any technical advance in PC-platform operating systems constituted an identifiable improvement in the moral quality of their users’ lives, nor a component of any kind of social revolution I would feel proud to lead. At best, upgrades have belatedly and/or partially alleviated pains their predecessors had no business introducing in the first place. More often, they’ve deferred disasters until they can do even worse damage, or helped people who don’t care about you control more of your life.

This is not about randomly switching operating systems for fun, this is about life-altering substances and code.

But the most hopeful truth is that despite every physical law pulling the universe towards entropy, it still gets there so incredibly slowly, and the second most hopeful truth is that it takes such tiny counter-pressures to save the parts you love. Even less to save yourself. So start anywhere. Pick a better way, and switch.

Yes it is a long piece but well worth reading. [found at macslash]

monochrom

what can I add? If you understand German – preferably with a Viennese twist – check it out… [Andreas - thx for pointing this out]

- [...] so bringt es einen ekelhaften mischmasch von zusammengestoppelten beobachtungen und halbvernünftelnden prinzipien zum vorschein, daran sich schale köpfe laben, weil es doch etwas gar brauchbares fürs alltägliche geschwätz ist, wo einsehende aber verwirrung fühlen, und unzufrieden, ohne sich doch helfen zu können, ihre augen wegwenden [...] – (i. kant, metaphysik der sitten)

Dec 18, 2003:
Monochrom sent me an email expressing their satisfaction that 11 percent of their online stuff is now also available in English:

gewichtigste gruesse,

ich habe gerade bemerkt, dass von eurem weblog aus auf unsere monochrom.at-seite verlinkt wurde. ich freue mich mitzuteilen, dass wir begonnen haben die monochrom homepage ins englische zu uebersetzen, in zusammenarbeit mit native speakers, damit das auch idiomatisch und inhaltlich alles stimmig ist.
also ab sofort ist monochrom auch (zumindest 11% unserer arbeit) in englisch verfügbar.

wohl bekomms
johannes
von monochrom

I answered in German that we understand their concerns about having their site linked to our Weblog and that our IT department will do its best to see how this can be resolved. Furthermore they should not worry too much that their English version would be taken as something written by native English editors. it clearly sounds like the English schpoken in Sowjet Unterzögersdorf outside of Vienna.