A few questions

Jamie Zawinski was one of the first faces around Netscape. Way back then. Then he was one of the initiators of the Mozilla project. And now he's in the process of buying the DNA Lounge.

by Susan MacTavish Best

Travel: Getaways from San Francisco

1). Are you now the official owner of DNA?

Almost: there are a few more inspections to get through, and a lot of paper-shuffling, but it's very close!

2). Tell us three things about Code Rush

After a while, you really do stop noticing the cameras. What's harder is listening to yourself later and realizing how much you say "um." They were lucky that Netscape self-destructed when it did, because otherwise they wouldn't have had an ending to the story.

3). When was the last time you spent a Sunday afternoon at the EndUp?

I walked past it on the way to lunch last Sunday, does that count?

4). Do you think that there are enough taxis in San Francisco?

Definitely not, the public transportation situation here is deplorable.

5). Have you ever studied Latin?

Yes, in high school, but I've forgotten it all.

6). Why should anyone want to go to a club before 2am?

Because the bar is still open. (An Australian friend of mine once said, "I'm glad we got the criminals and you got the Puritans.")

7). Sony Style magazine: comments?

It's a magazine? I thought it was a catalog. I've never opened one.

8). Sounds like we're going to be getting genetically modified salmon in our supermarkets soon. Does this mean bigger and better California rolls for us all or should we become vegetarians?

All the food we eat is already "genetically modified," it's just that we used to call that "breeding." People are afraid of the method when they really should be afraid of the result, and the result is already here. We already live in a world where there is very little biodiversity in our crops and food animals, and that's dangerous (keeping all our eggs in one basket, so to speak.) I like taunting vegetarians. "Meat is murder, and tasty, too!"

9). Lobbyists: Are they necessary to do business in San Francisco or a waste of space?

I'm still figuring out the rules of this game. That seems to be the trickiest part: nobody will explain the rules.

10). Do you see any possibility of all of the SOMA clubs banding together to form an internet radio station/community? ie. not just one club?

The beauty of Internet (so-called) radio is that it doesn't use up part of the spectrum: unlike "real" radio, you can have as many stations as you want without one forcing another out, because they aren't competing for the limited real estate of the usable radio frequencies. So I don't think there's a need for the clubs to band together like that: why artificially limit yourself to one show of one style, followed by another show of another style, when you could just do them all at the same time? On the other hand, there would be some value in different folks getting together to share expertise and technology; but to the listener, it wouldn't necessarily seem like a single station in the traditional sense.

Do you have your own Internet radio station? Why not?

11). How do you keep track of your appointments? (eg. Filofax, yellow stickies, palm pilot thing, reminders on your hand, etc.)

I use a really simple calendar program on my computer.

12). What's this week's favorite band in your world?

Halou.

13). Have you ever used a cybercafe in San Francisco?

I've been in a couple, but they didn't appeal. It seems to me they Internet cafes aren't really cafes at all, they're terminal rooms that sell espresso. The feel of them is very sterile and quiet and un-cafe-like.

14). Do you eat and drink over your keyboard or is the area around your computer strictly a no-calorie, no-liquid zone?

I eat and drink at my desk, but I'm a tidy eater.

15). What magazines do you subscribe to?

The only paper magazine I subscribe to right now is Adbusters.

16). Ralph Lauren and NBC joining forces, what do you think of this? Are we going to see Tom Brokaw sporting a new, worn and rugged cowboy style?

Both of those guys are so far off my radar that I can't even think of anything funny to say about them, sorry.

17). What's the difference between a cracker and a hacker?

If you give a hacker a new toy, the first thing he'll do is take it apart to figure out how it works. If you give a cracker a new toy, the first thing he'll do is carve his initials in it. Fortunately, most crackers get over that once they're through puberty.

18). Do you have a favorite brand of Scotch?

I think it was called "Here, try some of this."

Reproduction of material from posthoc is prohibited without written permission.

Copyright 2002, Posthoc, Inc.

editor@posthoc.com