Introduction

What’s all this then, amen?

(–Monty Python, “The Dead Bishop Sketch“)

Twice or thrice upon a time, I had a column. I liked having a column. I like writing them. I liked that people read them, and I loved that complete strangers would cite them in the oddest places. Lots of people read the columns. Some, if my mail was any indication, liked what I wrote. Others, if my mail was any indication, didn’t — and, frankly, their e-mails tended to be the more entertaining.

Nominally, the columns were about technology. But in the waning years of the last century, technology and politics became inextricably intertwined. (Actually, they always have been; people just began rediscovering it within the last decade.) More than once, editors would return manuscripts saying, “Well, Dan, this is really interesting. Do you think you could mention a product or two somewhere along the way?”

When the various columns ended, along with the publications in which they appeared, I launched an occasional e-mail newsletter called “Over the Edge.” (The name was a spinoff of my late publishing consultancy 3Ships Communications, Inc.) For a variety of excellent and other reasons, the thing was more occassional than not.

This weblog is better. It’s vastly closer to real time. Each item is short, so each doesn’t take all that much time to produce. (The length of a weekly e-mail was often too high a hurdle to surmount. You’ll get lots more content this way, anyhow.) A blog doesn’t assault your e-mail box, which means I won’t have to deal with the invetiable stacks of bounces that come from any mail blast. It’s much prettier than I could design on my own. And as part of the network of weblogs, there’s a chance that the stuff here will gain a wider distribution than I would be able to manage on my own.

The log allows you to comment about each item. Please do so. The best thing about online communication is its interactivity. I’m looking forward to hearing what you have to say about what I have to say.

There are (or will be) various ways to provide feedback. One is to comment on a particular entry. Another is to send me a private e-mail directly. You will also be able to ask to be automatically notified when this weblog is updated. And you can subscribe to an XML or Atom newsfeed if you like getting your information through a news aggregator.

If you like something you read here, please let me know — and let others know. Spread the word; readership and feedback is the only pay here. Give people my home URL, www.danrosenbaum.com, the direct URL for the weblog (www.winletter.com), or just direct people to specific items — each one has its own unique URL, accessible at the little pound sign at the bottom of each item.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you here soon.