Tomorrow I’m off to Wisconsin to visit friends and family over the 4th of July weekend. Reminds me of a joke I heard recently while I was in Colorado:

What do you call a seven-course meal in Wisconsin? A brat and a six-pack.

Ever since Red Hat discontinued their desktop distribution of Linux in April and switched to primarily enterprise-class offerings, I’ve been looking around for a Linux distro to use. Red Hat to their credit is supporting a community effort called the Fedora Project. Looks interesting, but I got burned by Red Hat so I decided to look elsewhere. Hence, as I mentioned yesterday, my interest in Mandrake. I’ve been getting good vibes from various people about Mandrake. So last night, I downloaded the three ISOs of version 10.0 for installation. The cool thing about open source software (not unlike shareware) is that you can download for free, and if you like it, pay for it later. At any rate, I’ve got the software so now I just need to find the time to make the switch. It definitely won’t be this week, but I’ll be sure to write about my experience installing Mandrake Linux when the time comes. I first installed and setup a Linux box in 1994, and let me just say that they’ve come light years since that time. It’s much easier to install Linux these days. Red Hat Linux was a breeze. And I’ve heard good things about Mandrake’s installer. At any rate, Mandrake, here I come.

Steve Jobs came back to Apple in 1997. That was the last time I bought an Apple computer. My first Apple was an Apple II+ circa 1980. Anyway, Jobs has done some amazing things since he came back to the helm at Apple. The candy-colored iMacs were a big hit. And the new, fast G5 towers are impressive. But Jobs hasn’t been able to turn his design successes into sales. Apple’s market share continues to tank. What can they do to correct this? Today’s Wall Street Journal has some figures. In the first quarter of 2001, Apple’s market share of the home market was 2.9%. In first quarter 2004 that figure has fallen to 2.1%. Their share of the government market and the business market have also fallen. Things have improved apparently in the education market in that time from 6.3% share to 7.9%, but that’s a far cry from when Apple dominated the education market.

I grew up with Apple’s in my home so I look fondly on the company despite its foibles. The most compelling Apple products these days though are music players and software. People love Final Cut Pro. People love the iPod. This is good, but where is the Mac headed as a platform?

The PowerMacs are too high in price. The iMacs for that matter at too high in price—who wants to pay $1,700 for an entry-level computer? Not many people apparently. There was a time when the Apple brand meant something to people. It was the idea of thinking different, right? There was still that sheen. But perhaps it was Mac OS X that sullied that notion. It’s not really the Mac OS anymore, someone might say, it’s just Unix under the hood. I know a few people who still swear by Macs, but there are so fewer of these people. There is less of a distinct ideology to that preference anymore—it is more of a preference for something other than the Microsoft monopoly than adhering to a philosophy of the Mac.

Expressions of brand preferences are influenced by marketing and created by real-world experiences. People have moved away from Apple—is it because of the marketing muscle of Wintel? Yes. Is it because people had real-world problems with Macs? Yes.

The strongest indicator to me that the Mac platform is in trouble is the degree to which developers have stopped making Macintosh software. Apple reports that Bill Gates used to brag that Microsoft made more money from the sale of each Mac than Apple did. There’s still good software on the platform—but it mostly comes from Apple now. Apple adherents used to argue that the Wintel monopoly was a monoculture—no diversity of thought or expression. But that’s the way the Mac platform has become. The hardware is Apple. The software is Apple—from the software that organizes your photos to the software that surfs the web. It’s all Apple produced now. Strange. The Mac platform to me used to be about being quirky or different. But now it has a sameness—all the Mac users are using all the same applications.

To me, the interesting developments in operating systems are over in the open source world. I have a box at home running Red Hat Linux, and I’m making a plan to switch over to Mandrake. The one area where Linux falls far, far short of Apple and Microsoft is in applications. Open source apps are nowhere near as full featured in general as their commercial counterparts.

Here’s what I’d like to see: an Apple supported version of Linux. Ditch Mac OS X and build the Apple GUI on top of Linux. And then by extension, release the great Apple software in Linux compilable versions. Okay, the other part of this then is to allow the Apple/Linux platform to be installed on Intel boxes. I’d love to see Final Cut Pro running native on an Intel box running Linux. That’s how Apple could change the world, and at the same time get some tremendous market share.

I’ve posted 25 or so photos from my trip to Colorado. You can find them over on the Fotos page. Click here. I think my favorite is image #13 taken at Independence Pass, which looks especially good at larger sizes. What’s your fave?

I flew back home Sunday night from Colorado Springs. The flight was largely uneventful—except to say that there is a lot of wind sheer around the Springs, which is to be expected. Overall, I had a great time in Colorado. The scenery is amazing, and the cool, dry mountain air did wonders for my lungs. We got to see a lot, and there’s a lot to see. In my last few hours in Colorado we went and saw the Garden of the Gods. That was pretty cool—red rocks jutting into the sky. I took a few photos.

Tonight I’m hoping to wade through my photos. There’s a lot to go through. I’m fairly selective about what I shoot. I’m not one of those 800-shots-of-our-afternoon-in-Disneyworld kinds of people, but I did manage probably a couple hundred shots over the course of the week.

Today I’m back at work already. J. picked me up at the airport last night and gave me a ride home. I pretty much went to bed right away—I was tired. But now it’s a new day and time to get back into the swing of things. The first thing I noticed this morning was the humidity. I need to move.

I was only gone 9 days, but it seems a lot longer in my mind. We did a lot in that time. I think I love traveling so much because it’s such a sensory experience. There’s a density to the experience—information to process—details to take in—all of those little elements adding up to the big picture of life in another land.

We brought the wet weather from the Midwest where things have been totally flooded out. They’re 5 years into a drought here in Colorado Springs, and there hadn’t been any rain at all for at least 50 days. Yesterday, though the rain came a plenty. We wouldn’t have thought twice about it, but there was a wedding to go to last evening.

During the day we did a few touristy things that could be done inside. We visited the Van Briggle pottery studio. And in the afternoon a couple of us went to the Cave of the Winds. I’ve been in more impressive caves than that one (South Dakota comes to mind), but it was fun nevertheless. So we did our duty as tourists for a day. I love to travel, but I try to avoid the obvious tourist trappings. Occasionally though I do make a couple of necessary concessions. The best way to avoid the tourist route is to have local guides, and David and Betty have served well in that capacity.

Yesterday around 6pm we drove out to this scenic spot for the wedding. Well, it would have been scenic—you could see Pike’s Peak through the clouds—if it hadn’t been raining. It was unfortunate timing for the wedding party. It was good though to see relatives I haven’t seen for a long time. Weddings—being a union of two people—are one of those events that bring families together, if only momentarily. A good time was had by all.

This morning it’s very foggy. I’m sitting here on a couch, writing, and looking out the window. We were hoping to get to the Garden of the Gods, but if the sun doesn’t come out we’ll need to come up with other plans. My time in Colorado is growing short.

The past two nights we slept well. There were a few restless nights initially, which is a symptom of the higher altitude. But either we’ve adjusted or we were simply tired enough that sound sleep has returned.

We swung by Vail yesterday and checked out the ski village. Of course, the slopes were green and lush this time of year, but there were quite a few people around despite the lack of snow. Again like in Aspen, we came across young Europeans who were working there for the summer. That would be a fun way to spend a summer—and certainly a good chance to improve your English. There’s nothing quite like immersion to kick start your language skills.

We kept our suite here in Colorado Springs so we wouldn’t have to take all of our luggage with us into the mountains. The food here at the hotel is quite good. They serve a fine complimentary breakfast seven days a week. And they also have a complimentary supper Monday through Thursday. Maybe we’re cheap, but free dinner with free wine and beer is hard to pass up. It saves us probably $70 or more a day.

It’s 6:20am and everyone else is still asleep. I’m sitting here at the kitchen table in the hotel room. Pike’s Peak is off in the distance. There’s some traffic on the streets below, but I don’t think Colorado Springs is wide awake yet. Or maybe it’s just me.

This evening I have a wedding to go to—Ryan, a second cousin of mine, is getting married. There will be some people at the wedding I haven’t seen for a long time. Should be fun. Well, that’s all for now. More later.

Yesterday, we headed away from Leadville and crossed over Independence Pass at 12,095 feet elevation. It was a drive up a narrow mountain road. At the top, we got out of the truck and walked around. The air was blowing fiercely, and it was cold. But the view was incredible. The mountains were all around. If Colorado is anything, it’s stunningly beautiful.

We then headed down the other side of the mountain and came to Aspen. Aspen is a small town—only 6,000 population—but it’s where movie stars have homes. The homes of course are amazing, and the town itself was charming. It’s the cleanest, most well-kept town of that size. You could feel the money pouring through the air. Even the police drive Saabs there. Instead of pickup trucks, there were BMWs.

The food we ate here was delicious, and of course several times more expensive then in other parts of Colorado. Our waiter was from Latvia, and he was just in Aspen for the summer. At any rate, I happened to suggest that I wanted to buy a shirt. Little did I know what I would unleash, and the women in our traveling party realized that they needed to do some shopping as well. This morning I see that they’re wearing their new blouses that they bought.

We’re making a short stop in Vail and then heading back down to our home base in Colorado Springs. We’ve had a fantastic few days up here in the mountains. Tomorrow I’m going to a wedding in Colorado Springs. A second cousin of mine is getting married.

By the way, for the technologically minded, several of the hotels have had free Internet, and the place we stayed at last night had wireless in addition. But I’m unwired this vacation—no laptop for me. I’m writing this all longhand with a fountain pen into a notebook.

We are amongst the Rocky Mountains here in Leadville, Colorado. The altitude is 10,200 feet or nearly two miles above sea level. We drove up from Colorado Springs this morning. It was a beautiful drive. Unlike many mountain roads, which are clogged with tourist cars in the summer, Highway 24 was perfectly sparse.

We did some sightseeing in the area and even went by where Camp Hale used to be. A touch of snow fell as we walked around. Amazing what a climate change it is going from Colorado Springs where it was in the 80’s yesterday to up here in the mountains where the air is much cooler. We talked to one of the locals, and he said two inches of snow fell last Friday.

Seeing mountains in the distance everywhere you turn is incredible. There is snow up on the peaks. It’s amazing to have this place all to ourselves. Our hotel is mostly empty. The tourists are not here. I’m guessing they’re up at Rocky Mountain National park. When I told folks back home that I was going to Colorado, a number of them said, “Go to Rocky Mountain National Park.” But I’m glad we’re here away from the masses of tourists.

David and Betty took us up in a huge SUV (I won’t say which brand). I don’t like big SUVs, but driving it here in the mountains it seems tiny in the big picture of things. Trucks are the way to get around this rugged country.

Seeing Pike’s Peak by Colorado Springs is of course amazing, but being surrounded—360 degrees—by mountains is a thrill. We’re adjusting well to the altitude and drinking lots of water of course. I can’t wait for tomorrow.

Our first full day in Colorado. We slept in after a long day of traveling and didn’t get up until 8:30am. The weather was beautiful, not a cloud in the sky for much of the day. We headed over to David and Betty’s around 11:30. We hung out outside and enjoyed the fresh Colorado air. In mid-afternoon, some people came over and we had a grill out. David had brats and chicken on the grill. We talked to this kid who had just graduated from West Point and had 60 days leave until he had to report for training in Missouri. Like most West Point graduates, he’s scheduled to head to Iraq early next year. I think the military ran in his family. His father was an Army man and so was his grandfather before him.

We shopped a little today. Our first stop was an outdoor supply store. They claimed to carry 93,000 items ranging from hiking boots to camping gear to kayaks. I found a couple of sweatshirts on sale—one was marked down to $10 from $60. I needed some heavier clothes for our trek tomorrow up into the Rocky Mountains. We’re headed to Leadville first, an old mining town, and we may hit Aspen. Our plans are a little amorphous at the moment. We’re going to head up and see how long we want to stay.

Tonight, we walked down the road by the hotel and took photos of the sunset. A few clouds had rolled in around 5pm, and there were spikes of lightning off in the distance. You can really see a long way in this air. The sky was beautiful tonight. Incredible diversity of clouds. It reminded me of many landscape paintings I’ve seen at the Art Institute in Chicago. Sheer poetry.

We made it to Colorado Springs today. It was a long drive from Omaha, but we made it here around 5pm local time. We got up around 5:30 this morning, ate a quick breakfast at the hotel, and then hit the road by about 6:30am. It was Sunday morning, and traffic was light. Actually, the traffic was light throughout the rest of the trip.

Driving west through Nebraska, I thought this is interesting terrain. Flat but interesting. I would have liked to stop in Lincoln to see the capitol and the campus of the university there. We, at some point, headed due south and escaped the clutches of Nebraska and headed into the even-flatter-than-Nebraska state of Kansas. I felt my stomach turn sometime after we crossed the border. It could have been that meal we had at Russell’s in Salina, but mostly I think it was the flat horizon that stretched into infinity. The landscape was barren and uninviting. It reminds me of Per Hansa talking O.E. Rölvaag’s book Giants in the Earth. Per speaks of the landscape of the plains as being so flat and featureless that there was nothing left to do except go mad. And ultimately, isn’t that what happens to his wife in the book? My fellow Norwegian-American scholars can correct me if my memory has gotten hazy.

I took a few photos through the car window of the landscape if only to remind myself in future years what it was like. But today we were definitely on a mission. We wanted to reach Colorado Springs. It was a big task, but we were successful in attaining our goal. Soon enough we neared and then crossed the Colorado border. The initial landscape was flat, but there were some signs of life. We were headed west on Interstate 70. Finally, we hit Limon where the road forks. From there we continued in a southwesterly direction on Highway 24.

Driving that last 72 miles of the trip on 24 was wonderful. During Kansas I mostly slept, but on the road in Colorado, my eyes were glued to the windows. The terrain was hilly and slightly hardscrabble. Unlike the Midwest, which has been drenched in rain this spring, Colorado, or at least that area, is 5 years into what they think will be a ten year drought. What struck me most though was the character of the place. The hills spoke volumes. This terrain captivated my attention. In my mind were the stories of the people who had passed over that land—the ranchers, the folk in search of a new life out west.

We got to Colorado Springs and had dinner at the invitation of David and Betty. But we were tired so we bid adieu after dinner and headed over to the hotel. Our suite is comfortable: the bedrooms are large, but the living room could be bigger. I’m here at the kitchen table writing this. Everyone else is in bed. We’ve gone up 6,000 feet from sea level. The air is thinner, but dry. We’re adjusting to the new climate. At any rate, tomorrow is our first crack at Colorado, a chance to take in the mountain air.

My traveling party drove down from Wisconsin this morning and arrived in Iowa City around noon to pick me up. They had called from the road and said they wanted a quick lunch. I took them to the nearest Subway, which was nourishing enough. Soon we were headed west on Interstate 80.

The first couple of hours went by pleasantly. Mostly it was driving and sleeping—but not at the same time. Eventually we hit Des Moines, the capital city of Iowa. I pointed out the glint of the state capitol’s dome. Like many, it is layered in gold leaf. I’ve been by the state capitol but never inside. For some reason, the architecture looks vaguely Russian. I-80 passes north of the city and then returns its westward trek.

A few miles beyond Des Moines we stopped at a wayside. We could see off to the west that the sky was very dark. The clouds had a distinctness about them. Someone said, “That’s a wall cloud.” And I guess they were right. As soon as we passed the cloud threshold, the wind and the rain started.

To make a long story short, we drove from Des Moines to Omaha under severe conditions. We were going to go further, but the radio said there was a tornado warning in the next county. So here we are in Omaha. Friendly Omaha. This is my first time to Nebraska.

Tonight I’m working on the regular monthly newsletter that I do for a local non-profit. The big news this month is that I’m doing a redesign. Mostly it’s a switch to doing the newsletter in Adobe InDesign. I like InDesign fairly well. It functions mostly like PageMaker, but with a lot of great added features. I suppose ultimately I’ll need to read a book on InDesign CS to really get the in’s and out’s, but it’s been a good program for just banging around with and discovering features. Like a lot of Adobe software, it has an intelligent feel to how things are laid out in the program so I can usually figure out how to get something done that needs to be gotten done.

So the redesign is taking me more time than I usually spend on the newsletter. And that’s just fine. It’ll go faster in subsequent months once I establish some design templates.

At any rate, I’m listening to Vangelis’ soundtrack for Blade Runner and just feeling like I’m drifting along—in… and… out… This is good music for late night design work. How best to describe it? Ethereal. I’m big on ethereal music when I’m in the mood for it. If this takes any longer though, I might actually start listening to the Smiths—comfort music for the long haul.

The Wall Street Journal has an article today about competing systems for authenticating email. The idea, basically, is to verify email senders to eliminate spam. Microsoft and AOL are looking at one system. Yahoo another. I know it takes a long time to build consensus and develop solutions, but I wish they’d make this more of a priority. Things are moving too slowly.

I never used to have a spam problem. Long after my friends’ inboxes had gotten clogged up, mine were relatively free from that problem. That was until this year. Spam seems to be getting worse, and it has reached my inbox. Fortunately, my spam filters take care of it. It’s an evil annoyance, and I think ultimately my usage of email has gone down in the past year. I’ve been writing a lot of letters to friends instead—feeling more of a personal connection through words on paper than this bits flying through the air, so to speak.

In other news the Eric Meyer gig here on Monday was really good. He talked about CSS obviously: his morning talk was called “The Standards Payoff.” He gave the expected arguments about designing websites using standards. Obviously, I already agreed with his points so he didn’t need to do any persuading in my case. But there are a lot of old-school sites on the university’s network. In the afternoon, Meyer did a CSSification of the university president’s website. He ended up with a 75% page size reduction and reduced the number of object loads from 48 items to 7 items. The end result was identical in appearance, but would have a much faster load time. Whether his design will be implemented I doubt; the university webmaster, who is not standards-friendly, was noticeably absent from the day’s proceedings.

Eric Meyer is going to be giving a lecture on campus this morning at 9:30. Should be interesting. I last saw Eric at SXSW in Austin this past March. They got Eric here to kick off Web Camp 2004, which is a series of sessions and workshops over the next two weeks intended for the edification of the web professionals and web workers on campus.

In the afternoon, Eric is going to be doing some hands-on work and will, apparently, be doing a CSS-ification of the university president’s website, which is here.

If you’re in Iowa City and are thinking of coming to the event, it’s going to be held at the 2nd floor ballroom in the IMU.