ON THE VERGE

"Evolve first, ask questions later." -- Bothoflu

"Something is up, I know, or at least I hope it is. . .

This feeling must have something to do with Jupiter moving into Gemini, or maybe I just have to go to the bathroom. Potentiality is swirling all around me. Maybe it's the new Epson 870 six-color printer sitting unopened in its box in the mud room. Even the super high-tech fabuloso USB cable I ordered from Buy.com is still in its box, waiting.

Speaking of which, when I ordered the cable, Buy.com had at least three different kinds in its inventory: a high-zoot 6-foot model with zircon-encrusted insulation and platinum contacts ("Liar!"), a 16-foot bargain cable for people with really big desks, and a mediocre 10-foot job for everyone who couldn't decide between the first two. Each of these beauties was available for the same price of 5 bucks and change! (Is this a great country or what, to coin a phrase.) I have to say, we're really making progress when the small, medium, and large of anything all cost the same. The next step, which surely has already occurred to true visionaries everywhere, is to give everything away for free! Just imagine how silly all those billionaires would look if nobody gave a rat's ass for all that dough. No, I am not kidding.

On a related note, a person known to many of you wrote to me recently telling of his job-hunting experiences. My only response to the following, besides utter disbelief and outrage, is to predict the coming of a Bright New Day as more hackers age:

"The other day I was in an interview, and while the guy was away from his desk, I glanced over to see a list of names. My name was on it. That list was a list of people who have been on disability, had major surgery or cancer, - you know, that kind of thing. It was from the State of California [my emphasis -- JHF]. Such a list should be illegal, and he was dumb for leaving it out. You know I didn't get the job, in spite of being well qualified for it."

More rumblings and swirling: rumor has it that your next iMac may be bigger, faster, and cheaper. . .(remember the zircon-encrusted USB cable I told you about?) Sure, this will make more millions for Apple, but I have to believe that isn't the point . We're on another level here. Look: I installed a new high-speed 4.3 gigabyte hard drive in my 8600 all by myself 2 years ago and it still hasn't blown up! If I didn't believe in miracles, I wouldn't be breathing.

I hope this makes some kind of sense to one or two of you out there. I know perfectly well what I'm talking about, but it's quite impossible to mangle and compress it into linear thought. Humor helps.

John H. Farr edits the news for Applelinks.com and invites your comments. The Farr Site Archives will take you to the past two years' worth of columns. John also writes his WebFaust column for MacAddict.com and a monthly op-ed page column called "El Emigrante" for Horse Fly in Taos, NM. His animated GIF wonderland, the Zoo Zone, is still up and running and will soon be a "must see" stop on the Web Antiquities Tour (Fall, 2000).

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