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METAFORIX MAIL

Volume 1, Issue 23 January 2, 2001

Thank you for being part of the Metaforix Mail community of subscribers. All best wishes for a happy, healthy, and productive New Year.

CONTENTS AT A GLANCE:

ON MY MIND:Progress Report
IN THE MEDIA: 010101
METAFORIX MAIL ARCHIVES
INFORMATICON: Temporarily Able-Bodied
CYBERSPEAK: Graffiti for My PDA
LISTS WE LIKE: Personal Reader
GUEST COLUMNISTS WANTED!

ON MY MIND
[From the Editor]

Most of us celebrated the new millennium on January 1, 2000. The purists among us pointed out that the true turn of the millennium would not occur until January 1, 2001. They were roundly ignored.

Last year, the distinction might have seemed stuffy, academic, or irrelevant. But, despite my best efforts, I somehow failed to accomplish everything I had hoped during the year 2000. So I'm seizing the rare opportunity to inaugurate a new millennium two new years in a row -- a bit wiser, and hardly any older.

This year, I know how much time it really takes to produce an e-letter that reflects readers' interests and provides a critical mass of valuable information. I've resolved to do a better scheduling job, checking my links and honing my prose well before three o'clock each Monday morning.

This year, I appreciate more fully the effort it takes to keep a web site fresh, functional, and inviting. I've resolved to add new content more frequently and to highlight what's new more consistently.

This year, family and personal experiences have sensitized me more than ever to the potential value of the Internet for people with disabilities, and the consequent obligation to make web sites accessible. I've resolved to make the Metaforix site accessible to the disabled, and I've placed that task near the top of my "To Do" list.

This year, I appreciate more deeply the breadth and diversity of my business and personal networks. I've resolved to do a better job of reaching out, keeping in touch, and soliciting feedback -- and, of course, to continue offering my clients the best work I am capable of producing.

This year, I have a better perspective on what it takes to grow a business. I've resolved to appreciate how far I've come and how much I've learned over the past three years, as I continue to embrace the journey ahead. Please join me.

Cordially,

Lois C. Ambash, Editor
editor@metaforix.com

IN THE MEDIA
[a recent news article, feature, or opinion piece]

"Art in Technological Times"

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) greeted the New Year with the virtual opening of its new exhibit, "010101: Art in Technological Times". The physical opening of the exhibit is not scheduled until March.

Five interactive Web-based works were unveiled on the SFMOMA site just after midnight on January 1. The works -- not to mention the exhibit's interface and navigation -- are challenging and engaging. Using text and multimedia, the exhibit explores themes such as technology, anonymity, and identity as expressed in the art of the digital age.

My experience accessing the site over a cable connection suggests that a slower connection might detract from the experience, but the lethargic response time may have been an artifact of opening-day traffic. I also found the navigation scheme complex and less than intuitive, but well worth the time I invested in learning how to get around.

When the physical exhibit opens in March, the theme will be explored in other media in SFMOMA's galleries. The Web-based works will remain accessible online and on public terminals throughout the museum.

A Wired News article on the exhibit, featuring a brief description of each online work, provides a useful orientation before your visit to the site.

To view the exhibit, go to:
http://010101.sfmoma.org

METAFORIX MAIL ARCHIVES

Access previous issues of Metaforix Mail by date by visiting our archives. Or use the search box on any page of the Metaforix site (www.metaforix.com) to search by keywords.

INFORMATICON
[a provocative quote, statistic, or piece of data]

"Disabled Lives: Who Cares?"
Martha Nussbaum, New York Review of Books, 1/11/01

"The way we think about the needs of children and adults with disabilities is not a special department of life, easily cordoned off from the "average case." It also has implications for the way we think about our parents as they age -- and about the needs we ourselves are likely to have if we live long enough. As the life span increases, the relative independence many of us enjoy looks more and more like a temporary condition, a phase of life that we move into gradually, and which we all too quickly begin to leave. Even in our prime, many of us encounter shorter or longer periods of extreme dependency on others -- after surgery or a severe injury, or during a period of depression or acute mental stress."

Cyberspeak
[the vocabulary of the information age]

Urban Scrawl

This is the year I plan to break down and buy a PDA -- a Personal Digital Assistant to keep track of my calendar, my contacts, and my ever-lengthening to-do list. I'll input information by just scribbling on the PDA's screen and then sync it with my desktop computer. Or I'll enter the information on my desktop computer and sync it to the PDA -- in either case, transferring data between the two devices so that the files match.

In the course of researching the PDA options, I've learned that the nonchalant scribble of stylus upon screen is less casual than it appears. To record contacts and other notes on my PDA, I'll need to learn Graffiti. This software application prescribes a uniform series of strokes for entering letters, numbers, and other symbols, so that the PDA accurately records what the user has written.

Using a PDA means setting aside the quirks and flourishes that make each person's handwriting unique. Such marks of individuality must be reserved for rare and retro moments of retreat to the quaint information technology of putting pen to paper.

LISTS WE LIKE

"Your Human Guide to the Best of the Web"

PersonalReader.com publishes timely, topical e-mail digests on subjects ranging from politics to business to the environment. Most of the dozen or so digests are e-mailed weekly; a couple go out daily. Each contains a generous handful of literate, concise summaries of articles available online, selected and packaged with care.

The Readers I regularly peruse cover Family, Workplace, Internet, Society, and Books. When my inbox is overflowing and time is at a premium, these are the last e-letters to be jettisoned unread. They and the links they point to are consistently worth my time and attention.

To sample the Readers and subscribe to any that suit your interests, go to:
www.PersonalReader.com

GUEST COLUMNISTS WANTED!
Metaforix Mail seeks guest columns on how information technologies are (or are not) changing your world of work. Contributions are subject to editing for length and clarity.

If your column is accepted for publication, it will be permanently posted on the Metaforix web site, along with a link to your e-mail address or URL.

As a small token of appreciation, you will also receive a $10 gift certificate toward your next purchase at Amazon.com.

To submit a column for consideration, e-mail it to
editor@metaforix.com.
Talk to you soon, Lois

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To Volume 1, Issue 22 December 26, 2000
To Volume 1, Issue 24 January 9, 2001