So yesterday, I posted an email I wrote a bit more than ten years ago about what I saw for the future of the internet. How well have they held up to time? Pretty well, I think.

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• Current Mood: Tired

I’ve been going through my old emails lately, trying to see if I’ve ever written anything of importance. The jury is still out on that, but I did find something interesting: an email I sent to one of my friends about my predictions for this new-fangled Internet thing. I sent it on 14 September 1999, a bit more than ten years ago. Tomorrow I’ll talk about how my thoughts have held up over time and whether I can get a job as a professional prognosticator. Here it is below the fold:

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I’ve had a bit more time to see exactly what UAC does in Windows 7, and I’ve decided that Microsoft still isn’t getting this right. UAC, and the "Run As…" command, are a good idea, but I think they are making it needlessly complicated and confusing.

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So the installation was a mess, but after all of that got sorted out, and I reinstalled all of my apps, I actually got to using Windows 7 Home Premium. So far, I like it. I like it a lot actually. I think it is worth the hassle I’ve gone through, and since I only need to install once (barring major misfortune), I’m hoping for clear sailing from here on out.

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• Current Mood: Cold
• Currently Reading: "Balkan Ghosts", Robert D. Kaplan

Here are a couple of random pictures I took on a dreary day today.

Windows 7 thoughts to come tomorrow.

• Current Mood: Tired

Way back in July, when Microsoft announced the special deal for Windows 7 preorders, I decided to take the plunge and buy it. I had been using Windows XP since 2001 in one incarnation or another, and it looked like Windows 7 would be a decent upgrade. In addition, I was having more and more problems with incompatibilities (such as my monitor issues), and I figured that an upgrade could help. Plus, the price was only $50 for Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade, which I made sure would allow me to use Windows XP as a qualifying product. I thought I was set. Little did I know the horrors that were ahead of me, thanks to Microsoft.

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• Current Mood: Frustrated

I’ll be an early adopter for once and get Windows 7 tomorrow. Since I currently have XP, I’ll have to do a clean install (which you should do for an OS change anyway). I’ll also be taking this opportunity to repartition one of my hard drives. So tonight, I’m backup up everything important for the install tomorrow. Hopefully it goes smoothly.

• Current Mood: Meh
• Currently Listening To: "Bring It On Home", Led Zeppelin

The news is awash with stories about how Wall Street bonuses are reaching all-time highs this year, despite the near-total collapse of the economy last year and the continuing woes in just about every sector except for finance that we are still seeing. It didn’t take long for Wall Street to bounce back from its nadir, and now, buoyed by taxpayer bailouts, they are resuming the party for their employees. Understandably, this has caused outrage among just about everybody who doesn’t work in finance, along with calls to regulate Wall Street pay. But pay regulation misses the point completely, as these huge bonuses are just the symptom of the real problem. To correct the egregious bonuses, you have to solve the underlying problem.

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We started out in Philadelphia, then spent two days in New York. Our last weekend was upon us, though, and we in DC. We arrived early Friday afternoon and checked into our hotel in Rosslyn, across the river from Georgetown. Julia used to live in Rosslyn during college, and Mo’s girlfriend also lived in the neighborhood, making it a convenient location. We stayed in a Hilton, which was nice enough, but after the hotel in New York, it seemed wastefully gigantic.

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• Current Mood: Hungry
• Currently Listening To: "On The Run", Pink Floyd

Our first couple days in New York behind us, Wednesday Julia wanted to go shopping, so after sleeping in a bit to recover from the previous night’s barhopping, we headed out to shop first at the Century 21 store (where Julia bought a new purse), then to SoHo. Like our previous shopping experiences, we saw a great deal of things we couldn’t afford, but there were some nice, more affordable clothes that Julia picked up at places like Banana Republic and Esprit. After our shopping spree we went to a sushi place in Midtown for some all-you-can-eat sushi, which wasn’t bad. Post-dinner, we went to a couple bars in Midtown, then back to the hotel for the night.

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