Disappointed with .net

I have to say that I'm really disappointed with .net magazine this month. .Net is a popular magazine for web designer and developers, and frequently has great articles and tutorials. For someone in my class of developer it's not always that useful, but there's always one or two tutorials worth perusing-- and reading the tutorials is what I buy it for.

I don't do much with Cold Fusion, Flash, and obviously a beginners' article on Coffeescript just isn't going to impress me, so those tutorials were out. On the other hand, the central article was on responsive design, and a badge graphically associated with the "responsive design" part of the cover art promised "16 pages of how-to guides and advice!"

Which there wasn't. Other than one article on using Drupal's server-side client detection facility (Drupal? Server-side user agents? I mean, really?), there wasn't anything in this issue that really corresponded as actionable advice.

If you want a real looksee at responsive design, Ethan Marcotte's original article is where you start, Smashing Magazine has a decent article, and once you understand the basics, DesignModo's 50 Examples is definitely where you see how the rubber meets the road.

Maybe I'm just done reading magazines.

Pink Floyds [sic] Aging Poorly

So, I listend to Roger Waters' Amused to Death last night and Pink Floyd's The Division Bell, both released around 1993, and I have to say that neither album is aging particularly well. "Division Bell" is just sad, with few real high notes and the ever-meandering presence of Roger Waters in the background, with occasionally ragging lyrics as if, somehow, Pink Floyd was succeeding while Water's own solo career floundered.

"Amused" is a much better album, musically-- more diverse, more experimental, more musically rich and interesting. Unlike Gilmour, Waters is still angry and still has things to say, and "Amused" said a lot. Not always very well, and sometimes with sadly blunt allegory, but at least Waters is still raging. But it's excessive references to 20th Century technology and the First War in Iraq place it firmly into a time and place, and those references will not make much sense to anyone not familiar with the setting.

Despite their definitive topics, Meddle, Animals, Wish You Were Here, and even The Wall continue to address timeless issues with obvious musical innovation and skill. Neither of these two final albums, each from a fragment of Pink Floyd estranged from the other, succeed in the same way.

It's ironic that Dave Gilmour got the name "Pink Floyd" for his fragment. It's Roger Waters who continues to tour, doing both The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon with new bandmates, and who continues to keep the flame of Pink Floyd flickering in the dark.