{"id":21803,"date":"2008-06-30T10:00:01","date_gmt":"2008-06-30T10:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.msdn.microsoft.com\/oldnewthing\/2008\/06\/30\/2008-mid-year-link-clearance\/"},"modified":"2008-06-30T10:00:01","modified_gmt":"2008-06-30T10:00:01","slug":"2008-mid-year-link-clearance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/oldnewthing\/20080630-01\/?p=21803","title":{"rendered":"2008 mid-year link clearance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Time for the semi-annual link clearance.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>     <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ft.com\/comment\/columnists\/lucykellaway\">     Lucy Kellaway<\/a>     campaigns against management jargon.     Last November, she     <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ft.com\/cms\/s\/3cb5f0fa-8965-11dc-b52e-0000779fd2ac.html\">     railed against<\/a>     a phrase     <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.msdn.com\/oldnewthing\/archive\/2007\/09\/25\/5108967.aspx\">     I too had ridiculed<\/a>:     <i>going forward<\/i>. <\/li>\n<li>     <a href=\"http:\/\/dilbertblog.typepad.com\/the_dilbert_blog\/2007\/11\/going-forward.html\">     Scott Adams blogs about going forward<\/a>.     I found it fascinating that of the four ways he thought blogging would     be rewarding, only the last one held true.     And I can definitely feel for the predicament     that every blog post reduced his income. <\/li>\n<li>     So you&#8217;re ordering something from     <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/\">     Amazon<\/a>     and you&#8217;re just a smidge short of the $25 necessary to get     free shipping.     You could either fork over the $8 for shipping or use the     <a href=\"http:\/\/www.filleritem.com\/\">     Amazon Filler Item Finder<\/a>     to find something (like say a pack of batteries for 87 cents)     that will get you free shipping. <\/li>\n<li>     So you&#8217;re bidding on an item on     <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ebay.com\/\">     eBay<\/a>     and the seller has a 99.5% feedback rating (which by some     people&#8217;s reckoning is &#8220;barely acceptable&#8221;),     and you want to see what those five negative comments were,     because if they were just weenie complaints,     then you&#8217;ll bid on the item.     Since it&#8217;s hard to find those negative feedback items via eBay&#8217;s     interface, you can turn to the     <a href=\"http:\/\/toolhaus.org\/cgi-bin\/negs\">     eBay negative\/neutral feedback finder<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>     <a href=\"http:\/\/seattletimes.nwsource.com\/html\/businesstechnology\/2004146747_apmissingcameraquest26.html\">     The forensics of trying to reunite a digital camera with its owner     based solely on the photos found inside it<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>     The <i>New York Times<\/i> finds     <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2008\/01\/23\/dining\/23sushi.html\">     uncomfortably high mercury levels in tuna from several     New York sushi restaurants<\/a>.     The response from Japan:     <a href=\"http:\/\/seattletimes.nwsource.com\/html\/nationworld\/2004145242_apjapantaintedtuna25.html\">     Meh<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>     It opened during the cold part of the year,     but now that the weather is nice, you can visit the new     <a href=\"http:\/\/seattletimes.nwsource.com\/html\/localnews\/2003982605_fremontpark30m.html\">     Fremont Peak Park<\/a>.     And while you&#8217;re there, stop by some restaurants I like,     such as     <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.msdn.com\/oldnewthing\/archive\/2008\/02\/27\/7912127.aspx\">     <i>The Asteroid<\/i><\/a>     and     <i>Blue C Sushi<\/i>     (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/logistics\/2007\/05\/23\/logistics-restaurants-biz-logistics-cx_rm_0523sushi.html\">powered by RFID<\/a>&sup1;),     because sushi tastes better when it&#8217;s moving on a conveyer belt. <\/li>\n<li>     <a href=\"http:\/\/www.atlarge.com\/\">atlarge.com<\/a>     tracks free WiFi access points at airports around the world. <\/li>\n<li>     <a href=\"http:\/\/www.simple-talk.com\/community\/blogs\/philfactor\/archive\/2008\/01\/27\/43174.aspx\">     A dead-on parody of Microsoft PR-speak<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>     <a href=\"http:\/\/mcsteeds.blogspot.com\/2007\/07\/you-tube-is-cruel.html\">     YouTube is cruel<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>     <a href=\"http:\/\/xkcd.com\/323\/\">     The Ballmer Peak<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>     Joel Spolsky explains     <a href=\"http:\/\/www.joelonsoftware.com\/items\/2008\/02\/19.html\">     why the Microsoft Office file formats     are so complicated<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>     <a href=\"http:\/\/xplanescenery.blogspot.com\/\">     Benjamin Supnik<\/a>     explains why     <a href=\"http:\/\/xplanescenery.blogspot.com\/2008\/01\/why-you-cant-have-setting.html\">the default answer to any rendering setting is     &#8220;all the way up.&#8221;<\/a> <\/li>\n<li>     <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/templates\/story\/story.php?storyId=18581891\">     Music for 18 (Cornfed) Musicians<\/a>:     A group of musicians at a comparatively unknown Midwestern college     undertake     <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.msdn.com\/oldnewthing\/archive\/2007\/09\/10\/4849070.aspx\">     the landmark work<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>     <a href=\"http:\/\/www.improveverywhere.com\/\">     Improv Everywhere<\/a> strikes again:     <a href=\"http:\/\/www.improveverywhere.com\/2008\/01\/31\/frozen-grand-central\/\">     Standing frozen in time in Grand Central Station<\/a>.     (<a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.msdn.com\/oldnewthing\/archive\/2004\/05\/27\/143043.aspx\">Earlier coverage of their antics<\/a>.)     Their efforts inspired     <a href=\"http:\/\/www.improveverywhere.com\/2008\/02\/28\/ie-global-23-freeze-events-around-the-world\/\">     similar events<\/a> around the world.     Even     <a href=\"http:\/\/www.notcot.com\/archives\/2008\/06\/improv_everywhe.php\">     Taco Bell got into the act<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>     <a href=\"http:\/\/kenlevine.blogspot.com\/\">     Ken Levine<\/a>     explains     <a href=\"http:\/\/kenlevine.blogspot.com\/2007\/05\/what-night-to-film.html\">     why he doesn&#8217;t film in front a live audience on Friday nights<\/a>     and     <a href=\"http:\/\/kenlevine.blogspot.com\/2008\/02\/mash-oscar-show.html\">     what you do with your weakest episode of the season<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>     <a href=\"http:\/\/earlpomerantz.blogspot.com\/\">     Earl Pomerantz<\/a>     wrote for many hit television shows from years past,     <a href=\"http:\/\/earlpomerantz.blogspot.com\/2008\/02\/my-first-valentines-day.html\">     and his storytelling skills are still top notch<\/a>.     He can take     <a href=\"http:\/\/earlpomerantz.blogspot.com\/2008\/02\/perfect.html\">     the simple task of changing a light bulb<\/a>     into an enjoyable diversion,     manufacture     <a href=\"http:\/\/earlpomerantz.blogspot.com\/2008\/02\/interview-with-giraffe.html\">     a radio interview with a giraffe<\/a>     (best line: &#8220;No, the ice cream truck is coming.&#8221;),     or     <a href=\"http:\/\/earlpomerantz.blogspot.com\/2008\/05\/two-stories.html\">     reminisce about working with (or perhaps against) Tony Clifton<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>     If you get your television signal     <a href=\"http:\/\/obsoleteskills.wikispot.org\/Adjusting_the_rabbit_ears_on_your_TV_set\">     the old fashioned way<\/a>,     then starting in February 2009,     <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dtv2009.gov\/FAQ.aspx\">     you may need a converter box in order to watch television<\/a>.     <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dtv2009.gov\/ApplyCoupon.aspx\">     You can apply for a $40 coupon online<\/a>, while supplies last.     (The coupon expires in 90 days, and many people     <a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessweek.com\/ap\/financialnews\/D917DHCO0.htm\">     can&#8217;t find a store that stocks converters<\/a> in time.)     <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-dyn\/content\/article\/2008\/02\/13\/AR2008021303125.html\">     The Washington Post explains<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>     <a href=\"http:\/\/pogue.blogs.nytimes.com\/\">     David Pogue<\/a>     teaches     <a href=\"http:\/\/pogue.blogs.nytimes.com\/2008\/06\/12\/how-to-block-cellphone-spam\/\">     how to disable the email-to-SMS feature on your mobile phone<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>     <a href=\"http:\/\/www.zentrale-intelligenz-agentur.de\/\">     Those crazy Germans<\/a>     have struck again:     They&#8217;ve invented     <a href=\"http:\/\/www.zentrale-intelligenz-agentur.de\/powerpointkaraoke.html\">     PowerPoint Karaoke<\/a>.     (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.boston.com\/bostonglobe\/ideas\/articles\/2008\/03\/02\/slide_show\/\">Coverage in English<\/a>.) <\/li>\n<li>     The     <a href=\"http:\/\/improbable.com\/\">     <i>Annals of Improbable Research<\/i><\/a>     is now     <a href=\"http:\/\/improbable.com\/2007\/12\/18\/the-magazine-is-now-online-for-free\/\">     available online in its entirety<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>     <a href=\"http:\/\/www.photobasement.com\/8-good-examples-of-what-happens-when-geeks-have-children\/\">     When geeks have children<\/a>,     they have to be geek parents.     <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.wired.com\/geekdad\/\">     Geek Dad<\/a>     plays paleontologist and     <a href=\"http:\/\/blog.wired.com\/geekdad\/2008\/02\/chickensaurus-s.html\">     reconstructs a chicken from bones<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>     <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lockergnome.com\/oztech\/2008\/05\/27\/my-rich-neighbors-are-broke\/\">     My rich neighbors\nare broke<\/a>.     Those rich neighbors of yours? Maybe they&#8217;re not. <\/li>\n<li>     You can&#8217;t ignore compatibility just because it&#8217;s a Web feature.     When there&#8217;s a conflict between Google Maps Windows Mobile     and Windows Live Search Mobile,     <a href=\"http:\/\/www.eriknovales.com\/blog\/index.php\/2007\/12\/20\/even-when-you-wrote-the-operating-system-you-still-have-to-work-around-other-peoples-bugs\/\">     Windows Live voluntarily takes the back seat<\/a>. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> And, as always, the obligatory plug for my column in <a href=\"http:\/\/technet.microsoft.com\/en-us\/magazine\/\"> TechNet Magazine<\/a>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>     <a href=\"http:\/\/technet.microsoft.com\/en-us\/magazine\/cc137733.aspx\">     Remind Me Never to Do That Again<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>     <a href=\"http:\/\/technet.microsoft.com\/en-us\/magazine\/cc194424.aspx\">     Scrapping the Scraps<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>     <a href=\"http:\/\/technet.microsoft.com\/en-us\/magazine\/cc194403.aspx\">     How Betas Became RCs<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>     <a href=\"http:\/\/technet.microsoft.com\/en-us\/magazine\/cc434707.aspx\">     Share and Share Alike<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>     <a href=\"http:\/\/technet.microsoft.com\/en-us\/magazine\/cc462815.aspx\">     16-bit Icons Are So Pass&eacute;<\/a>.     The title (and blurb) play a bit loose with terminology for the sake     of brevity.     The 16-bitness refers to the bitness of the module to which the     icon is attached, not to the icon color depth.     We apologize for any confusion this may have caused. <\/li>\n<li>     <a href=\"http:\/\/technet.microsoft.com\/en-us\/magazine\/cc510335.aspx\">     The Two Worst PCs Ever<\/a>.     This article was teased as     &#8220;Raymond Chen     <a href=\"http:\/\/technet.microsoft.com\/en-us\/magazine\/cc510382.aspx\">     fondly reminisces<\/a>     about working with the two worst computers ever made.&#8221;     This is a lie.     The reminiscence is not fond. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> <b>Footnotes<\/b><\/p>\n<p> &sup1;Yes, it isn&#8217;t literally powered by RFID. I was spoofing marketing-speak. I apologize to those for whom this did not require explaining. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Time for the semi-annual link clearance. Lucy Kellaway campaigns against management jargon. Last November, she railed against a phrase I too had ridiculed: going forward. Scott Adams blogs about going forward. I found it fascinating that of the four ways he thought blogging would be rewarding, only the last one held true. And I can [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1069,"featured_media":111744,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[103],"class_list":["post-21803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oldnewthing","tag-non-computer"],"acf":[],"blog_post_summary":"<p>Time for the semi-annual link clearance. Lucy Kellaway campaigns against management jargon. Last November, she railed against a phrase I too had ridiculed: going forward. Scott Adams blogs about going forward. I found it fascinating that of the four ways he thought blogging would be rewarding, only the last one held true. And I can [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/oldnewthing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/oldnewthing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/oldnewthing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/oldnewthing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1069"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/oldnewthing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/oldnewthing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21803\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/oldnewthing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/oldnewthing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/oldnewthing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/oldnewthing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}