When it comes to the machines I use everyday, to which I’m tethered every waking moment of my life, I embrace quality.

Every piece of consumer electronics I’ve ever purchased has gone in the garbage can after a lifespan cut short by substandard construction.

Computers? Hardware from myriad vendors cobbled together by myriad distributors and churned out to the seething masses. Garbage.

Microsoft Windows? Unusable crap. Too many options. Dumb interfaces. Unintelligible error messages appearing all too frequently. A bloated system built on an obsolete foundation. Slated for extinction.

Apple gives us the promise of something better. Something that works. Something that lasts. When first using an Apple product you become self-conscious. Ashamed. Surely you don’t deserve this. There must be some mistake. You’ve been conditioned to believe you’re not worthy of such a sublime user experience. After using it a year you’ll accept nothing less.

So no, I’m not a fanboy. I just appreciate machines that don’t totally fucking suck, which are rare in this age of disposable… everything.

Ah Blue,
I’ve had about enough of you.
It’s true.
You think you’re so cool.
Don’t you?
One time I did too.
Screw you!
It’s time for something new.

After months (and months, and months) of enduring Rupert Murdoch’s noise and the news industry’s anti-Google rhetoric (including accusations of vampirism), we learned today that The New York Times will charge for content beginning in 2011. Their plan is to allow a limited number of articles on NYTimes.com to be accessed for free each month, and a fee will be charged for unlimited access. Seems as reasonable as any paid content scheme, which is to say it’s fraught with problems, but hey power to ‘em for finally putting their money where their mouth is.

And thank God!

Ever since Murdoch began yammering about this I prayed the news industry would follow his lead. Like most people, I will never, ever, pay to read articles on NYTimes.com or any other website, so this kind of thing is exactly what I need to keep from inadvertently consuming news, which has brought me nothing but heartache and misery.

Don’t get me wrong, I like to know what’s going on in the world, but I can do without the “in depth reporting” and “insightful analysis”. Usually a few words (y’know, like those found in a tweet) is sufficient to let me know what’s happening. I don’t need the high definition photos either; a shot from a camera phone is just fine. The vast majority of “news” articles out there are just so much blather. Am I a better person for “being informed”? Nope. Would I have acted differently if I hadn’t “been informed” during those years I was addicted to news? Probably not.

Sure, keeping up on current affairs, analyzing them, and debating the issues is a nice exercise for the brain, but unless you have some direct connection to the story that’s pretty much all it is. You’d be better off trading in the New York Times for Sartre, Camus, or Lao-Tzu.

And let’s face it, most of us, most of the time, don’t have that direct connection with news stories. Will your familiarity with the current health care debate cause you to take actions you wouldn’t otherwise have taken? Do your daily obligations change depending on Obama’s standing in the polls? Has Google’s decision on China resulted in any change in your behavior? I’m guessing the answer is no.

I say good riddance, NYT. Hopefully other news organizations will follow suit and the internet will be cleansed of their drivel.

In an age of banal status updates, recycled quotes, retweets and shared links, I want to take a moment to salute the content creators – the thinkers, artists, musicians, writers, philosophers, coders, and everyone else who contributes original content to our digital lives.

Cheers to the bloggers, webmasters, wiki editors, copywriters and all who add substance to the web.

Cheers to the tweeters with something meaningful to say.

Cheers to the forum members and commentators who listen, reply, and carry on a dialogue.

Cheers to the programmers and designers who put flesh on the web’s bones.

Cheers to the artists, photographers, and videographers who feed our eyes’ appetites.

Cheers to the musicians who crank out new material, knowing we may or may not pay for it.

Cheers to anyone and everyone who conceives an original thought, offers unique insight, or shares a novel idea.

Cheers to those who give us something new.

Welp, I’ve had about enough of 2009. Frankly the whole last decade is passé at this point. It’s time to put the past behind us and move forward, so I’ve compiled a list of things I hope to accomplish in 2010. Next to each item is the probability that it’ll actually happen. These figures were determined using a sophisticated algorithm factoring in past experience, motivation cycles, financial scenarios, and many other variables. Trust me, it’s sophisticated.

Mattdude’s Goals for 2010:

1. Stay More in Touch with Friends & Family – 98%
2. Stay Current on Utility Bills to Avoid Late Fees – 47%
3. Visit Mikedude in Colorado At Least Once – 99%
4. Get a New, Newer Model Blue Lumina – 2%
5. Redesign Mattdude.com – 97%
6. Perform Better at My Job – 74%
7. Read Some Books – 25%
8. Never Login to Facebook – 0.4%
9. Hold My Own with Patchdude in a Quake Live Duel – 7%
10. Be Nice at Work – 51%