Digital Diner

My Friend Rob Stuart

Gavin Clabaugh — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 03:55:17 +0000

Trust me was written all over his face. “I’m a circuit rider,” he said. He was telling me, not asking me. He wasn’t asking me for a job either. He was telling me the future. That was Rob. It was November 1995.

To be honest, I wasn’t too sure why he had come down from [...]

Inappropriate Misuse

Gavin Clabaugh — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 21:39:25 +0000

It’s a perennial topic. Every year or so, someone, on some list where I frequent someplace, asks for some sample “Appropriate Use” policies. I’ve spent countless hours wordsmithing such policies — a vainglorious attempt to translate lessons from the foolish past into acceptable (and anonymous) policies. It’s a life’s lesson or two. It’s brought me [...]

Cthulhu Calling

Gavin Clabaugh — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 23:16:33 +0000

It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking nine when I ambled into the local opium den (AKA Apple Store) and plunked down 600 simoleons. I was powerless to resist the iPad’s call of Cthulhu.

Despite the early hour, the place was filled with enablers, blue-shirted geniuses and the occasional [...]

Kissing the Frog

Gavin Clabaugh — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:51:50 +0000

Kermit’s a liar. You can’t trust a frog (and any princess worth her salt could tell you that). It’s easy being green, at least a pale sort of green.

Lying frogs aside, I can finally answer the pesky perennial question, that question that’s troubled techie types for the last decade or two. That question: Should [...]

Dumb Blobs

Gavin Clabaugh — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:48:57 +0000

Email — you may be addicted to it, you may hate it, abuse it, love it, or eschew it. Whatever your relationship, troubled or otherwise, email is and continues to be one of the world’s few, new, great things. When it comes to “killer-apps,” it is the undefeated heavy-weight champion of the world. Email is [...]

The Message in the Cryptex

Gavin Clabaugh — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 18:00:19 +0000

Different venues, different audiences, but the same query: Six times in as many months, I stood in front of a group asking (perhaps demanding) that I answer the same question. Audiences can be scary — and the question pointed to the heart of the matter.

In each case, I had been invited —and cheerfully agreed [...]

Get Thee Behind Me, Disco Duck!

Gavin Clabaugh — Thu, 07 May 2009 23:46:09 +0000

I hate splash pages. I hate being held hostage. The topic came up recently on the “Information Systems Forum” listserv. It’s a listserv of diverse participants, gracefully managed by the indefatigable Deborah Elizabeth Finn.

The question was: “Are splash pages effective.” I thought about it for a few days and I posted a response. Michael [...]

The Secret Chord

Gavin Clabaugh — Sun, 03 May 2009 17:56:25 +0000

It happens with an eerie regularity. I hear a song, one of uncanny depth and beauty; something that just reaches down and twists at my heartstrings. Intrigued, I will Google a smattering of half-heard lyrics, seeking to discover a new artist. Instead, I discover a familiar name, Leonard Cohen. It’s a strange consistency — one [...]

Free Beer, SharePoint, and an April Fool

Gavin Clabaugh — Sun, 03 May 2009 14:40:34 +0000

I thought it was a joke. Who could blame me? After all, the announcement began: “Starting on April 1, 2009…” Then again, Microsoft usually ain’t one to make “April Fool’s” jokes.

I read the announcement again. I clicked the buttons. The download started. I double-checked the URL — “Perhaps it was a fancy phishing scheme,” [...]

Trilateral Symmetry

Gavin Clabaugh — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 20:16:46 +0000

I’ve been using a dual-monitor setup since before before. In fact, I can’t remember (and can’t imagine) not having two monitors in front of me. My office setup is currently two 20-inch 16:9 LCD flat panels. It’s amazing what you can artfully stuff on that sort of screen-space. I’m here to say that it ain’t [...]