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About Me

PBX My name is Paul Bissex, and e-scribe.com is my consulting business. I build web applications using as much open source software as possible. From September to June I teach web design and other important non-photographic professional skills to photographers. In the '90s I wrote technology commentary and reviews for magazines, newspapers, and web publications, including Wired, Salon.com, FamilyPC, the late lamented Web Review, and the Chicago Tribune. Feel free to email me.

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I'm co-authoring a book, "Python Web Development with Django", with Jeff Forcier and Wesley Chun. It will be published by Prentice Hall in July 2008, but is available for pre-ordering on Amazon now.

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This site is built on a fresh trunk checkout of Django, running on Python 2.5.1, served by Apache and mod_python. The database is SQLite. The operating system is FreeBSD, on a VPS hosted at Johncompanies.com. Comment-spam protection by Akismet. Vintage topo imagery from the Maptech archive.

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A Django site.
(Finally!)

Copyright 2008
by Paul Bissex
and E-Scribe New Media

Salon turns 10

Ten years ago today was the public launch of Salon (as salon1999.com, not salon.com, but that's another story). I can't say that I'm surprised they have lasted, because their work has consistently been excellent.

Through Salon's connection to the Well I have gotten glimpses of how hard they have worked over the years, and I'm glad that it has continued to pay off in terms of editorial quality and reader respect, if not guaranteed solvency. (I know that predicting the hour of Salon's demise is a fixation for some -- mostly people who read second-hand accounts of SEC filings, as far as I can tell.)

In 1998 I wrote a piece for Salon titled "The Little Browser that Could," about an upstart web browser that was challenging Microsoft IE and Netscape Navigator -- which were just about neck-and-neck. In my review I said:

To call it a David and Goliath scenario is optimistic. Opera Software, an unknown Norwegian company with only 11 employees, has pitted itself against Microsoft and Netscape in the Web browser wars. But the upstart's only weapon is a browser that lacks support for several key Web standards and costs $35 more than its free competition.

Today, seven and a half years later, Opera has surpassed Netscape's market share. I'll grant you that they are both in the, ah, low single digits. But the point is that Opera Software held in there, continued to improve their excellent product, and have prospered despite skeptical looks from some quarters.

There are definitely limits to the parallels one can draw between software products and publishing enterprises. And I'm sure the Salon folks would rather be, say, Firefox than Opera. But my point is that quality and integrity do sometimes win out, and for that we should be glad. Happy anniversary, Salon, and thanks for hanging in there.

Sunday, November 20th, 2005
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2 comments

Some related posts: Belated comments on Dreaming in Code • Dreaming In Code: The Interview • Dispatches from Blogistan
• Comment from Jonny Axelsson, 2 days later

I remember that article well, it was after I started reading Salon but before I joined Opera. It was one of the early reviews while Opera was still fairly obscure for most.

Opera Software too celebrated their 10th year a few months back. Few, myself included, expected it to last for long in the beginning, let alone a decade. And thereafter I have seen many more The Imminent End Of Opera claims than I care to remember. All things end eventually but most of those commentators are poor judges of when and why.

• Comment from Paul, 3 days later

Jonny, thanks for the comment -- and congratulations on the 10 years.

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