Christmas Redubbed

Linus tells us what Christmas is really all about in this alternate ending to A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Once upon a time, when we were babies, our parents made a conscious decision to deceive us. They created a bunch of fairy tales, like Santa Claus and Baby Jesus, to give us kids false hope, and to comfort themselves as they approach death. But Santa isn’t real. Jesus isn’t real. Heaven doesn’t exist… Christmas isn’t about giving love, or the birth of a savior. It’s about moving merchandise and false sentiment.

Welcome to Christmas in the age of the mashup. More redubbed Christmas specials here, featuring new takes on such beloved Christmas icons as Rudolph and Frosty. Prepare to have your precious childhood memories desecrated.

Blogging Kills FrontPage

I’ve been a Dreamweaver fan since the late ’90’s. Even today, I use it to tweak WordPress themes and plugins. No wonder it holds over 70% of the HTML editor market.

That’s why I do not mourn for Microsoft’s clunker of an HTML editor, FrontPage. This is what happens to a product with the arrogance to lock both client and server into expensive closed standards.

Microsoft FrontPage falls victim to blogging culture

It’s become obvious that FrontPage is going to be quietly dropped from the Beast of Redmond’s regular user orientated offerings – only to be replaced by professional design tools. Blogging sites are replacing personal Web sites for the average PC user.

Originally a classic part of Microsoft’s Office suite, FrontPage’s role will be taken care of by two new products – Expression Web and Sharepoint Designer. Both are blatantly aimed at “the professional Web designer” rather than ordinary PC users.

According to FrontPage’s own home page, “After nine years of being an award-winning (Mike: Yeah, right.) Web authoring tool, FrontPage will be discontinued in late 2006.”

My next bet for the Microsoft deadpool: Content Management Server. You can’t even blog on the damn thing.

(Via Abe Olandres.)