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The increasingly inaccurately-named blog of journalist and futurist Chris Taylor. Either the most sporadically brilliant amateur blog, the most brilliantly amateur sporadic blog, or the most amateur sporadic brilliance on the Web since 2001.
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Daily Blah FAQ
Who are you?
I'm the newly-appointed Future editor at Business 2.0 and the former San Francisco correspondent for Time Magazine.
Wow, so does this mean everything you write reflects Time Inc's opinion? Or do you perhaps have some sort of standard disclaimer to the effect that it doesn't?
Naturally, the opinions contained in this blog are not those of my employers. In fact, some opinions may be the polar opposite of my employers. Some may be the same, for all I know. Hey, it's not like I ask my employers their opinions about everything in the news, okay? Let's just say that if this were a Venn diagram with one circle marked "my opinions" and the other one marked "my employers' opinions", there would doubtless be some overlap. But neither I nor my employers are able to pinpoint exactly where that overlap is.
What is this Daily Blah thing?
An experiment for a column I wrote about blogging back in December 2001. All these years later, I haven't been able to kick the habit.
Do you write any other blogs, by chance? Could that have something to do with the fact that Daily Blah isn't always Daily?
Yes -- the Future Boy blog for Business 2.0. And yes. If you want true, editorially-mandated daily coverage from me, that's probably the best place to look.
Mister, you talk funny. Are you one of them furrners?
Why yes I am, as it happens. I was born, raised and educated in Great Britain. I've been living in the U.S. since 1996 and identify as British.
I say, old chap, you forgot the "u" in "colour."
No I didn't. I may identify as British, but I am also an American journalist writing for an American audience about mostly American issues. These two different sides of me are a constant source of tension. Nevertheless, Daily Blah will adhere to American English grammar and spelling.
Praise for Daily Blah:
"It is fun to watch the author's navel-gazing joy." - Sunday Times (UK)
"It's really funny and informative." - Dave Eggers, author
"The Blah is becoming a daily destination for me." - Richard Marsh, Playwright
"I like it, and I don't." - Fiona Hogg, Teacher
"Better than Xanax." - Lessley Andersen, journalist
"Dude, lay off the crack pipe." - Souris Hong-Porretta, gamesmith
Friends, Bloggers, Countrymen ... lend your ears to these people. I come not to bury them, but praise them.
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Daily Blah for... Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Maybe I'm a Different Chris Taylor
"Nice shoutout on BoingBoing today," writes my old pal Josh, editor of Business 2.0. "I'm impressed."
Huh?
"Maybe it was a different Chris Taylor."
I frantically scan BoingBoing, but can't see my name anywhere.
"Did you or have you ever used Alphaware?"
Ah, I see what he's talking about. It's this item about the AlphaSmart keyboard. "Chris Taylor points out that AlphaSmart has a model that supports memory card," it says in an update at the end.
Now I'm worried. Cory Doctorow, last time I spoke to him, said he was moving to London. Is this some other British Chris Taylor I don't know about? What doppelganging mischief is this? Hey, wait a minute ... that's a pretty sweet keyboard. You take it around with you, type stuff in the tiny LCD screen at the top, then sync it up with your PC or Mac next time you get back to the office. I could write my novel without getting distracted by all the other pretty things on my laptop, and do it out on the deck without having to worry about screen glare.
I go to the website, click on contact us, call the PR person. She's at her desk, very nice, wants to help, goes off to see if they have any spare keyboards lying around. Two minutes later I've got a review unit on the way, due Thursday.
"Hmm," says Josh. "Somehow I see the Big Hand in this correspondence. Cory notes it, I see "your name," alert you and you review it in TIME and the guy behind it makes a zillion dollars."
"Synchronicity," I say.
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