The cover of a magazine is like the photos people post to online dating sites - it's supposed to show off the goods. But last month some readers got suspicious. That pixelated cursor touching the hand of man looked an awful lot like the cover of a Dutch Web design book and a consultant's logo. Uh, unless your name is Michelangelo, we don't apologize. Especially to the self-described psychotic nitpicker who wrote, "The hand cursor on the cover is an Internet Explorer link cursor, with a curved thumb. Netscape used a straight-thumbed link cursor." Wrong! We downloaded version 1.0 … curved thumb. Our geek fu is strong. But not so strong that we cramp your style. One reader asked why we never answer the letters we run on this page. Answer: Dear reader, we have the rest of the magazine. This is your dance space.
Caught in the Web
Kevin Kelly's article We Are the Web (issue 13.08) will start a cult. It's so absolutely true, and I want to be on the machine's good side when it becomes self-aware. All hail the machine.
John Matos
Brownsville, Texas
I enjoyed Kelly's piece but couldn't help feeling he'd got things arse about tit. Either people come first or machines do - you can't have it both ways. The fundamental way people think and act has been unaffected by the Web. Not to be down on the lofty creativity, ecommerce, and file sharing inspired by the Internet, but beyond the nice idealism and the cold hard cash, where's the beef? Words can move mountains, but judging by Kelly's evaluation of the Web, we should be standing on Mount Olympus right now.
Stuart G. Hall
London, England
Credit Where It's Due
John Battelle's article (The Birth of Google, issue 13.08) perpetuates a common misconception. Most press credits the Web's invention to Tim Berners-Lee. But Berners-Lee didn't invent anything - he merely developed an application of SGML that he called HTML. Web pages work because of SGML, the machine-independent, object-oriented metalanguage. Berners-Lee should be properly credited for his selfless devotion to piloting the World Wide Web Consortium and his truly inventive work on the Semantic Web. But credit for the invention of the Web should go to the pioneers of SGML.
N. Caleb Avery
Incline Village, Nevada
Memo to EA: Don't Be Such a Bad Sport
Duff McDonald's Hollywood to EA: Bring It On (issue 13.08) was informative and accurate. Having worked as an artist for Dreamworks Interactive and EA-LA for several years, I can attest firsthand to EA's creative fumbling, the most flagrant being its dismissal of creative suggestions from Steven Spielberg for the Medal of Honor series, which he developed.
The story didn't mention EA's decision to move hundreds of employees to Florida and Canada after being forced to reclassify which positions are eligible for overtime in California. If EA intends to break out of the sports market, it may be forced to cater to artists and designers on the same terms that its managers and marketers already enjoy.
Neal Nellans
Orlando, Florida
I couldn't be less surprised by the limp results of Electronic Arts' efforts at movie tie-ins. I was surprised, however, by how badly Duff McDonald misread the cause. Instead of focusing on a failure to schmooze fussy celebs, he might notice the weakness of the whole tie-in concept. Movies are passive experiences engaging emotion. Videogames are active experiences engaging problem-solving and reflexes. If EA has trouble blending these two things, it's because they are completely unlike. However, as long as a picture of Yoda on the box helps to move a few thousand more units, I expect the movie-game mill will churn lamely on. Hurray for Hollywood.
Dave Foster
Chicago, Illinois
Try It on Another Wall
I enjoyed Jeff Howe's article on Banksy (Art Attack, issue 13.08), but I am against graffiti art of any kind unless it's in a gallery or museum. Graffiti is a blemish on society - literally. Defacing private and public property should never be glorified.
In Chun Baek
New York, New York
Make Mine a Double
Tom McNichol's article on urine reclamation in space (The Big Gulp, issue 13.08) seemed a little optimistic about Water Security's abilities. The company's production rate of 5 gallons of purified water per minute equals 7,200 gallons per day. The company claims those 7,200 gallons can sustain a village of 5,000 people for a month. But that quantity would provide just 6.1 ounces of water per person per day, much less than the conventionally recommended eight glasses daily. Technologies can solve some of our challenges, but there's a difference between being enthusiastic and being foolish.
__Lew Stickford
Tucson, Arizona __
As Neil Armstrong might say, "That's one small sip for man, one big gulp for mankind."
__Richard Miller
Staunton, Virginia __
We Beg to Differ
Suzanne Wu's characterization of Oracle's TechCasts as "horribly ill-conceived" is horribly ill-conceived (Podcasting for the Man, Start, issue 13.08). Am I "reading mechanically," as she puts it, or "stuttering"? (Did she even listen to the content?) Anyway, in the spirit of the nonexistence of bad publicity, I thank you for your coverage.
Justin Kestelyn
Editor in chief, Technology, Oracle.com
Redwood Shores, California
How Do You Say 'That's Hot' in Mandarin?
Regarding Thumbnail Images (Play, issue 13.08): As an Asian girl dating an American boy who has had a Wired subscription since your first year, I've seen enough of Japanese Schoolgirl Watch to wretch, repeatedly. Imagine my delight upon finding a Chinese Schoolgirl Watch! Many thanks for showing that Chinese girls can revel in their own unique teenybopper trends.
Winnie Nguyen
Dallas, Texas
Put Your Pencils Down
I was thrilled to see the crossword puzzle (Found, issue 13.08) - and to discover that there will be a settlement on Mars by 2019. I'm a little surprised, though, that the cruciverbalists on your staff didn't notice the error in 21 Down: Tesla a prot�g� of Einstein? I don't think so.
Paul Stynsberg
Roseau, Minnesota
I guess crossword puzzlers of tomorrow can look forward to continuing to fill in at least one of the old author standbys (Saul Bellow or Elie Wiesel) per puzzle. That made me smile more than Keanu winning the Nobel Prize. Thanks for helping to while away lunch.
Joshua Roberts
Seattle, Washington
Pay No Attention to This Month's Cover
Two recent issues have covers of Lucas and Spielberg. Since when did Wired become a geek version of E? I read Wired to fill my head with technology, not political backbiting in an egotistical movie producer's office.
Kevin Bonneville
Wyoming, Michigan
