Sunday, December 04, 2005

"Beta" Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is a highly hyped buzzword that describes the current state of the web. Tim O'Reilly provides what is considered the seminal description of Web 2.o here.

Not only do I find it curious that people need to give the current state of the web a name like Web 2.0, but I find it to be quite an oxymoron given that one of the main attributes of a Web 2.0 site is that is in a continuos Beta; meaning that is never finished. What is the point of giving it a version number if it can never be finished?! Especially since this "never finished" attribute has existed for many websites since the beginning of the web? Why not call it The Web Today?

While I don't disagree with anything that is attributed to Web 2.0, I do think it focuses too much on philosphy and technology and not enough of substance and value; things that people will actually use and pay for. How much free stuff can people keep providing before it all collapses; again?!

The most level-headed writter about Web 2.0 is Dion Hinchcliffe; his excellent blog is here.

Saturday, December 03, 2005

Sprechen Sie Deutsch?

One of my main passions in life is cool cars. I will write about some of my past and present cars that I consider to be cool.

For me, one of the coolest of cool has always been the Porsche Turbo. I've been fascinated with Porsche's ever since I became interested in cars at age 13. My father used take me to the local Porsche dealer (in Eugene, OR) once in a while just to walk through the lot to oogle over the cars.

One of my personal goals has been to own a Porsche by age 40. I hit 40 in 2002, and, indeed, I bought my first Porsche, a 2000 Boxster S; a fantastic car! But, not the coolest of cool, the Turbo...

This Spring I purchased the coolest of the coolest of the cool, a 1997 Porsche Turbo! I got it from what I call the car nut's candy store, Park Place Ltd. (http://www.parkplaceltd.com).



Why is a 1997 Porsche Turbo rated so highly in my mind? Because it was the last of the beautiful and classic Porsche Turbos. In 1998, Porsche began introducing the modernized and water cooled 911s which are still very cool, but not as cool as the 1997.

So, I've basically attained cool car nirvana with the acquisition of this car. To celebrate such a destinguished achievement I wanted to get the license plate NIRVANA but, not surprisingly, it was already taken; no small wonder given the existance of the band Nirvana! Then I realized that a German would spell it NIRWANA, which was available.

So, my 1997 Porsche Turbo wears the plates: