A walk outside in nature: something I can heartily recommend all the folk stoking up their teenage emotion tsunami while swamping HN with endless Steve tributes.
Seriously. Princess Diana level craziness.
Daring Fireball: Universe Dented, Grass Underfoot
11–20 of 141 posts
Re: Daring Fireball: Universe Dented, Grass Underfoot
#12Gruber's talent for writing never ceases to amaze me. It's always incredible that a tech blogger can write so well and, in this case, poetically. Five minutes ago I had just watched Jobs' commencement speech on CNN for the at least the 50th time. I put work on hold just to hear it again. Every time I hear it I gain strength. I've never had a dad but I did have heroes. Steve Jobs is one of them.
Funnily I got the exact opposite impression. I thought it was cheesy and kitsch.
Re: Daring Fireball: Universe Dented, Grass Underfoot
#13Many years ago a colleague, Steve Holtzman, suddenly discovered he had colon cancer. Within a year he had faded away (it seemed almost literally) and was gone. He had money and access to the best doctors, but he wasn't vigilant (he had ignored odd weight loss and bowel trouble) and so it was too late.
Although Jobs didn't die of a "man's disease" there are lots of men killers out there that can be stopped if you look for the signs. But talking to men around me we are often reluctant to go and see a doctor for regular health checks.
If you have a smoke alarm in your home, it's not because you expect a fire, but because you want to be warned if there is one. Think the same way about your own health: a visit to the doctor for an annual medical is a smoke alarm for your body.
PS In the UK if you are over 40 then the NHS offers a free "Health Check" (http://www.nhs.uk/Planners/NHSHealthCheck/Pages/NHSHealthChe...) that screens for common adult diseases. It's free. Go do it.
Re: Daring Fireball: Universe Dented, Grass Underfoot
#14Gruber's talent for writing never ceases to amaze me. It's always incredible that a tech blogger can write so well and, in this case, poetically. Five minutes ago I had just watched Jobs' commencement speech on CNN for the at least the 50th time. I put work on hold just to hear it again. Every time I hear it I gain strength. I've never had a dad but I did have heroes. Steve Jobs is one of them.
> I've never had a dad but I did have heroes. Steve Jobs is one of them.
Funny — I was reflecting on exactly this today. No dad, either. Thanks for sharing it.
I think Jobs is the only person outside of my immediate family whose passing could hit me in the gut quite this way. I grew up looking to his example. A man I never met but who nonetheless showed me, in small but meaningful ways, how to be a man.
Re: Daring Fireball: Universe Dented, Grass Underfoot
#15Gruber uses the word 'Raconteur' in his Twitter Bio. I didn't know what the word meant, I looked it up. Well, for me, he is truly a raconteur (along with Joel). RIP, Steve.
For those (like me): rac-on-teur: A person who tells anecdotes in a skillful and amusing way. Also, found this interesting site in the process of defining that word: http://www.theraconteurs.com/
Or, if you are a A Song of Ice and Fire fan, Tyrion Lannister. Sorry for the off-topic.
Re: Daring Fireball: Universe Dented, Grass Underfoot
#16A walk outside in nature: something I can heartily recommend all the folk stoking up their teenage emotion tsunami while swamping HN with endless Steve tributes.
Come back and say it on your real account, chief.
Re: Daring Fireball: Universe Dented, Grass Underfoot
#17A walk outside in nature: something I can heartily recommend all the folk stoking up their teenage emotion tsunami while swamping HN with endless Steve tributes.
Come back and say it on your real account, chief.
Why? So the hordes of mawkish Steve idolisers can downvote the blasphemer? There are penalties from differing from the hivemind (slowban, hellban etc). Anonymity is the only way to communicate my level of amazement at the current mania.
So forgive me if I don't do that.
Re: Daring Fireball: Universe Dented, Grass Underfoot
#18A walk outside in nature: something I can heartily recommend all the folk stoking up their teenage emotion tsunami while swamping HN with endless Steve tributes.
Seriously. Princess Diana level craziness.
The difference is that Princess Diana made very little difference to most of our lives. Steve Jobs made such a huge impact in all of our (technologists, programmers, consumers) lives. Do you remember what mobile phones used to be like before the iPhone? How OSX kick-started the style of graphic design that is still in-trend, with aqua? How ugly consumer devices generally were? How he made design matter again? How darn productive he made many of us, thanks to amazing tools.
We're sad because today the world of technology seems a little less exciting than it did yesterday. We owe that man a debt. If you don't like reading this stuff, come back in a couple of days.
Re: Daring Fireball: Universe Dented, Grass Underfoot
#19In my mind Jobs was the kind of guy that soils his sneakers while running, not while peacefully walking.
The image painted by Gruber here is a kitschy one - and kitschy is probably the adjective least fitting to Jobs and his creations.
Re: Daring Fireball: Universe Dented, Grass Underfoot
#20A walk outside in nature: something I can heartily recommend all the folk stoking up their teenage emotion tsunami while swamping HN with endless Steve tributes.
Look, you gotta give people 24 hours to get out their tributes. I don't see anything wrong with that. Just accept that the newsday today will be all about Jobs. You'll live longer if you give in to a little tolerance and patience.
I have similar thoughts about 'mourning tourism' and the questionable relationships people have in their heads with public figures, but we humans are irrational creatures. Tolerating our irrationality is a good policy. I'm not saying you should go and implement sharia law or become a creationist, I'm saying you should just give people a chance to vent and leave them alone for 24 hours.