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kottke.org is ten years old today

Three cities, two serious relationships, one child, 200,000 frequent flier miles, at least seven jobs, 14,500 posts, six designs, and ten years ago, I started “writing things down” and never stopped. That makes kottke.org one of a handful of the longest continually updated weblogs on the web…something to be proud of, I guess. The only thing I’ve done longer than kottke.org is sported this haircut. (Perhaps not something to be proud of…the hair-in-stasis, I mean.)

Being a digital packrat, I have screenshots of all the past designs the site has had. When I started, the posts were actually hosted on another site of mine, 0sil8, that I’d been doing since 1996. I didn’t know at the time that kottke.org would eventually kill 0sil8. This was the first design (full size):

kottke.org, initial design, 1998

It’s a little misleading because there’s only one post shown on the page…there were usually more, displayed reverse chronologically. The stars were a rough rating of how well that day had gone called the fun meter.

When I moved the site to its own domain after a few months, I redesigned it to look like this (full size):

kottke.org, circa early 1999

The aesthetic was influenced by the pixel grunge style of Finnish designer Miika Saksi…you can see some of his older work here. The font in the navigation is Mini 7Silkscreen was still several months away at that point. The fun meter is still present as is the all-lowercase text, a house style I thankfully dropped a few months later. The cringeworthy writing took a few more years to iron out…if it ever fully was.

This one’s still my favorite; it turned a lot of heads back in the day (full size):

kottke.org, circa late 1999

With dozens of spacer gifs and five concentric tables, it was a bitch to code. There was also a capability to modify the look and feel of the site…you could choose between this design, the older design pictured above, and a text-only version. Inline permalinks were introduced on kottke.org in March 2000 and subsequently the idea was spread across the web by Blogger.

But it only lasted for about a year. In late 2000, I swapped it for this one (full size):

kottke.org, circa 2000

The familiar burn-your-eyes-out yellow-green makes its first appearance. I never really meant to keep it or for it to become the strongest part of the site’s identity. After this design launched, I cycled through a few colors (the old yellow, blue, red) before getting to the yellow-green…and then I just got lazy and left it. For 8 years and counting. The post style underwent several changes with this design. In June 2002, I switched to Movable Type after updating the site by hand for four years. Soon after that, I added titles to my posts. In late 2002, I added a frequently updated list of remaindered links to the sidebar. In late 2003, the remainders moved into the main column and have become an integral part of the site. I also started reviewing movies and books around this time…kottke.org became a bit of a tumblelog.

In July 2004, I refreshed the design a bit…tightened it up (full size):

kottke.org, circa 2004

After about a year, I changed it again to the current look and feel (full size):

kottke.org, circa 2005

Sorry, that got a little long…there’s a lot I didn’t remember until I started writing. Anyway, I didn’t intend for this to become a design retrospective. Mostly I wanted to thank you very sincerely for reading kottke.org. Over the last ten years, I’ve poured a lot more of myself than I’d like to admit into this site and it’s nice to know that someone out there is paying attention. [Cripes, I’m choking up here. Seriously!] Thanks, and I’ll see you in 2018.

Reader comments

MichaelMar 14, 2008 at 11:07AM

Ten years already?

I only wish I'd been reading since way back when.

tienMar 14, 2008 at 11:08AM

happy blog birthday. you're so blog-old.

JeremyMar 14, 2008 at 11:09AM

Love it love it love it!
Keep it up for another 10 years!

Neil FordMar 14, 2008 at 11:09AM

Happy Birthday! Thanks for all the effort you've put in over the last decade. Teh intertubes wouldn't be the same without kottke.org. :)

DonnieMar 14, 2008 at 11:10AM

Been reading for 8 of those. Thanks for your hard work, Jason.

Brian ChristiansenMar 14, 2008 at 11:11AM

Congratulations, Dan. Seems I've been reading your thoughts for a mighty long time, now!

Zac EcholaMar 14, 2008 at 11:11AM

Jason,

We should be thanking you for providing one of the most continually interesting sites on the Web.

DaniMar 14, 2008 at 11:11AM

You're awesome Jason. Keep it up.

Brian ChristiansenMar 14, 2008 at 11:13AM

Yeah, that makes me look like an ass now, right, how about "Congratulations, Jason. Seems I've been reading your thoughts for a mighty long time, now!"

JeffMar 14, 2008 at 11:13AM

I haven't been with you since the beginning, but faithfully for about four years now. You were the first subscription in my first reader (NetNewsWire, which I stopped using in favor of Google Reader).

Happy birthday, and please don't dream of stopping ...

Spoon BoyMar 14, 2008 at 11:13AM

A lot can happen in a decade. Happy anniversary.

MichaelMar 14, 2008 at 11:13AM

Ah, I remember (and still love) the old concentric tables one! I think that's when I started reading. Congratulations Jason, and thanks for eight years (for me) of great posts!

javajiveMar 14, 2008 at 11:17AM

Quite a feat to be proud of Jason. I've been dropping by for a few years, but certainly not all 10. I think we all have the feeling that if we bumped into you on the street we'd already feel as if we know you. Interesting to see kottke.org evolve as well as the kottke family. Regards from Indonesia.

YvesMar 14, 2008 at 11:18AM

I still remember the atomic bomb. Though not it was a blog then ;-)

Yes Why NotMar 14, 2008 at 11:18AM

congratulations, dan.

Barrett SheridanMar 14, 2008 at 11:21AM

I'm a new(ish) reader of about 1.5 years, so it's good to see the Kottke retrospective. I for one really appreciate all the hard work you put into the site. Happy anniversary!

Anthony FinucaneMar 14, 2008 at 11:22AM

I've been reading for about 7 years now and have always enjoyed your posts/links. Congrats on the 10th anniversary! :)

Chuck OlsenMar 14, 2008 at 11:24AM

Big ups from Minneapolis-town!

ubuMar 14, 2008 at 11:25AM

Happy happy birthday. And thanks.

jerome hainesMar 14, 2008 at 11:27AM

I'm a newish reader too. At some point in conversation, people have asked me where I get all the interesting things I seem to have on the tip of my tongue. "On Kottke," is the reply.

The designs are nice, but the content and tone are most endearing to me. Keep up the good work.

Ryan BriggsMar 14, 2008 at 11:28AM

Thanks for ten years posts. I have been around for four, and they were amazing.

Jason SandersMar 14, 2008 at 11:30AM

Very Cool! I think that some should be directing your personal documentary; now THAT would be amazing.

Thank you for all your hard, and entertaining, work

Chris JohanesenMar 14, 2008 at 11:32AM

Nothing to say except Congrats & Good Job! The web would be a whole lot suckier without kottke.org.

ChrisClarkMar 14, 2008 at 11:34AM

Very, very cool, Jason (and not too long at all... it was very interesting, in fact). I started in 1999, and although I recently took down my original blog and started over, I do sort of hate myself for not making it to that ten-year milestone.

Anyway, good job! Keep up the good work.

paulski.mcbMar 14, 2008 at 11:36AM

Congrats, and thanks, Jason. I never miss a day...

MikeMar 14, 2008 at 11:36AM

Congratulations. I appreciate the work you put into filtering the web for people like me who have similar interests. I doubt we'll ever meet but you've become familar enough that I'd be happy to buy you a few pints should we ever cross paths.

JoshMar 14, 2008 at 11:40AM

Read it every day. Thanks.

flossMar 14, 2008 at 11:40AM

Well done! Always a pleasure to read.

JonMar 14, 2008 at 11:41AM

Thanks for pouring Jason - its been well worth paying attention to.

AnneMar 14, 2008 at 11:45AM

What they said. Kottke is one of the first sites I remember reading. Thank you for the linkage all these years.

Matt CrestMar 14, 2008 at 11:46AM

Of the many, many blogs in my reader, Kottke.org is one of three I overly and obsessively check. Damn you for making me less productive, but thank you(!) for providing an almost NPR-on-the-internet type of experience (lots of random things that I didn't think I cared about, but find really, really interesting).

Nice work and congratulations.

KennedyMar 14, 2008 at 11:49AM

Happy anniversary. I started reading your blog about a year ago, and have visited almost every day since. Your retrospective has helped me reflect on some of my own adventures over the last 10 years(especially the 7 jobs in 10 years --to which something I can definitely relate). Thanks for an informative and entertaining blog.

gerardMar 14, 2008 at 11:49AM

congrats not only on the longevity but the quality as well!

Eloy AnzolaMar 14, 2008 at 11:52AM

thanks for your work, Jason. Congrats!!

PubliusMar 14, 2008 at 11:53AM

Congratulations. I look forward to another ten years.

judson Mar 14, 2008 at 11:54AM

The yellow made me stop by..the writing kept me coming back.

MarkMar 14, 2008 at 11:56AM

Congratulations !

Ten years and one of the world's most powerful blogs. It's still a great place for the serious and the fun items and one of the best reads on the Net.

Thanks for those years and here's to the next ten.

EamonMar 14, 2008 at 11:58AM

The concentric tables layout is still my all-time fave.

When's the next 0sil8 coming out?

jhnMar 14, 2008 at 12:00PM

Fads come and go. I subscribe and unsubscribe to dozens of blogs. Robot Wisdom fades into madness and obscurity, and Slashdot into irrelevance. The shine wears off of new fads like reddit and Digg. But kottke soldiers on!

David ZeibinMar 14, 2008 at 12:06PM

Thanks for all the good times! Congrats!

LaurieMar 14, 2008 at 12:09PM

Kottke and plasticbag were two of the first blogs I discovered in 2001 and I've been reading daily ever since. Thanks for 7 years of really interesting stuff :-)

RoamsedgeMar 14, 2008 at 12:10PM

Congrats! Kottke.org is the 1 site that has never left my rotation; I see I am far from the only one for whom this is true. Thank you Jason.

Robin SouthernMar 14, 2008 at 12:11PM

I wish I could give you back all the things that by sharing on this site you have given me. Nothing short of my deepest gratitude.

jkottkeMar 14, 2008 at 12:11PM

Thanks for the congratulations, all. I can't believe some of you have been reading for 7 or 8 years...that's amazing. Thanks for sticking around.

The next episode of 0sil8...hmmm, probably sometime after 2018.

Alex MicekMar 14, 2008 at 12:16PM

Heaven knows if you'll be able to wade through all of these comments, but I'll put mine out into the aether anyhow, because I've never said it before: I started reading this site when I was 15 years old and it has shaped my appreciation of the world around me more than anything other single thing I can think of.

Kottke.org is the reason I read (and love) the New Yorker (in its print version, even), the reason I'm _always_ reading giant blobs of text in my browser instead of doing the stereotypical online mindless clicking... heck, I check kottke before I even check my own website. Having come through high school and college reading kottke, I feel as though it has taught me how to think, and endowed me with tenacious curiosity -- and I feel indebted to you for that.

The post I've told _everyone_ about: the one about the unicorn tapestry.

A giant chunk of my online experience and a surprising portion of my life can be traced through the portal (excuse the negative connotations of that word) of your website. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!

AlexMar 14, 2008 at 12:17PM

Thanks for all the fantastic work. Somehow you come up with the perfect mix of content to keep things fresh.

My employer probably wouldn't appreciate how much your posts distract me each day but I sure do. Congrats.

Bill HumphriesMar 14, 2008 at 12:18PM

From one old man to to another, happy anniversary.

benMar 14, 2008 at 12:18PM

I think I've been following for about 4 and it's been great, congrats!

hostyleMar 14, 2008 at 12:21PM

I remember most of those designs :) Happy b'day! Its also PI day ...

DavidMar 14, 2008 at 12:28PM

Congratulations!!! Is amazing to know about somebody blogging in 10 years!!!

Bye!!!

Mason Mar 14, 2008 at 12:31PM

Thanks for sharing your great links with us. Even with all the amazing technological strides that have been made on the web, I still look to your blog because of its human touch.

JanellMar 14, 2008 at 12:32PM

Happy Birthday! Thank you for getting us through each day!

judith strauserMar 14, 2008 at 12:35PM

I fell in love with osil8 in 98 - perhaps even 97, it's a little hazy now. I remember the first layout! It feels... Wow.

I'm kind of choking up too, I guess. I never expected that my own online presence would be so scattered and lost and multi-pseudonymic over the years, so that in the end I'd have nothing to show or look at. I wish I had the inner qualities necessary to do something with the sheer beautiful persistence you've shown! It's never been boring, and I am grateful to you for it. Very, very much so.

Joyeux Anniversaire!

Dustin SenosMar 14, 2008 at 12:36PM

Congrats! I look forward to the next 10.

Jason FriedMar 14, 2008 at 12:39PM

Thanks for all your writing over the last 10 years. Kottke was the first "blog" I ever read and I haven't stopped.

DinahMar 14, 2008 at 12:41PM

Congratulations, Jason! Thank you for all these years of being a must-read. So very pleased you're looking forward to the next 10, because I certainly am.

I started reading kottke.org in late 1999. Here's my first link to you: http://www.metagrrrl.com/metagrrrl/1999/11/another_really_.html

I refer to your site in that post as Jason Kottke's log, which I seem to recall being due to your lack of fondness for the term "blog" around that time. (Otherwise my use of the term goes back to May 1999).

Andrew DuncanMar 14, 2008 at 12:42PM

Happy Birthday. Heres to another 10!

ZelnoxMar 14, 2008 at 12:42PM

^_^ kottke is my favorite weblog. Been coming back since 2003.

I find it hard to blog, because I really look up to this site. I doubt I can emulate this. So I end up micro-blogging on twitter instead. Trying an experiment with tumblr, but so far it’s just re-blogging.

And finally, I struggle with managing my identities (online persona, and myself).

NorlindaMar 14, 2008 at 12:50PM

My workday always starts with a click on my Kottke web site bookmark on my browser. You're too good for a mere RSS feed.
Congrats on 10!

DanaeMar 14, 2008 at 12:51PM

I remember that spacer-gif layered design well - seeing that design was what inspired me to get into web design, as i realized that you could do a lot more with HTML than boring old sites (never mind the coding horror!). Thanks for posting these screenshots.

jeffjMar 14, 2008 at 12:52PM

Thanks jason for exposing me to more great things in the last 5 years than I could possibly count. It would be difficult to overstate the impact you've had on the world by bringing people and ideas together. Having said that, best post ever? Tater Tot Hotdish.

debbie millmanMar 14, 2008 at 12:57PM

thank you jason. you are amazing.

KeithMar 14, 2008 at 12:57PM

Happy Birthday.

God. Now I feel old.

paul merrillMar 14, 2008 at 12:58PM

You're the best!! Let's go for ten more...

StijnMar 14, 2008 at 1:02PM

Ten years is a long way to come in this modern digital world. Congratulations on reaching this milestone. I'd also add "keep up the good work", but I take it you already know this by now. Although it's not your official birthday today, I'm still going to wish you a nice day!

SethMar 14, 2008 at 1:02PM

Awesome.

I loved 0sil8 - it's pretty much what inspired me to get into this whole web world to begin with, so thanks for that. I remember every one of these iterations - keep up the good work and congrats on 10 years.

NataliMar 14, 2008 at 1:04PM

Wow, I remember the 2000 design, so I've been reading you for a lot longer than I thought... probably since 2002. Crikey, it puts things into perspective. Thank you Jason! Always a pleasure, never a chore.

Lisa von DrehleMar 14, 2008 at 1:04PM

I think I have been reading for about 8 years and this is the only blog I consistently read. Thanks so much for all of the interesting visuals and information over the years

SamMar 14, 2008 at 1:06PM

At the time, I will have been 8 years old. Congratulatiosn, both for 10 years, and also for making it to number 4 on the top 50 websites list.

Sam

Justin DriscollMar 14, 2008 at 1:07PM

Seeing the '99 design again reminds me of studying up on all the latest tricks at Webmonkey.com. Nice retrospective.

Mike RundleMar 14, 2008 at 1:11PM

I've been here for the past 7 years Jason, and I'm glad you've been around for so long.

Andy DietlerMar 14, 2008 at 1:13PM

Thanks for doing what you do. I've been coming for at least 7 years (while technically it now comes to me with RSS). Google, IMDB, CNN, ESPN and Cockeyed are the only other sites I can say that about.

BlytheMar 14, 2008 at 1:16PM

Thanks, Jason, for editing out the vast expanse of crap that is the internet and making it seem like a supremely interesting and literate neighborhood.

zanMar 14, 2008 at 1:16PM

You were my first... was it almost eight years ago? Wow. Thanks for consistently making our lives more well-rounded.

Andy BaioMar 14, 2008 at 1:18PM

Still one of the best weblogs around, and I'd love to see a return to Osil8-style experiments. Happy birthday!

jenniferMar 14, 2008 at 1:19PM

two serious relationships?

i've only been reading kottke since design #4, but i echo the sentiments of the other commenters: congratulations on 10 years! you rock! thank you for being kottke!

GinnyMar 14, 2008 at 1:19PM

This is my favorite site and required daily reading. Congrats on 10 years!!!

ex-xxczMar 14, 2008 at 1:23PM

Wow... Cool gallery. Happy birthday from Italy. :-)

GuyMar 14, 2008 at 1:27PM

Happy blog birthday! Feeds come and go in my reader, but kottke.org is always a must read. Thanks for all the fun and well wishes for many more.

ReneMar 14, 2008 at 1:27PM

I read your post on the Google OS an odd 4 years ago...and never left.

Here's to another 10 years!!

VincentMar 14, 2008 at 1:31PM

Congrats from the Netherlands! It's daily reading for me too, though only since a few months. Look forward to the next anniversary.

cesMar 14, 2008 at 1:31PM

You're a living fossil on the web, congratulations on the decade mark. Thanks for the inspiration.

wvallenMar 14, 2008 at 1:33PM

awesome. stick around another 50. then when our brain-machine interfaces allow for RSS feeds to directly input data into our neurons, you can directly feed us rather than these cumbersome visual webpages.

MintaMar 14, 2008 at 1:40PM

I have been reading since 2001. Thanks for giving me a place to go on the web all of these years. Your site is fantastic!

RichMar 14, 2008 at 1:41PM

You've been a constant enjoyment for me over the last 9 years. I miss some of your contemporaries dearly, but I'm really glad you've stuck with it. Thanks for doing what you do.

MarkMar 14, 2008 at 1:45PM

Congratulations

(Also, oh dear me I've been reading the internet for too long)

Aravind NarayananMar 14, 2008 at 1:49PM

Judging from the comments, I'm one of the newest readers, having started only in 2007. But since then, I've been a regular. Yours is one of the best sites out there.

Thank you!

earthboundMar 14, 2008 at 1:50PM

I turned 23 on Sunday and I've been visiting you since 2000, so you've probably made a significant impact on my life. Thank you for being so consistent; the web wouldn't be the same without you!

manvilleMar 14, 2008 at 1:59PM

been following you since 0sil8...

solid work! all around

tomcosgraveMar 14, 2008 at 2:01PM

I now feel, very, very old indeed. Happy birthday.

alain astrucMar 14, 2008 at 2:06PM

I've been reading you for many years and kottke.org is more or less the only text blog I read daily now. I particularly enjoy your elegant avoidance of politics.

Leo KennisMar 14, 2008 at 2:07PM

Wow! Can't really remember how long I've been reading Kottke.org...anyway, coming up with new things daily for ten years, that deserves praise!

Mary PeytonMar 14, 2008 at 2:10PM

I'm proud to say that you were my first (and still my favorite) bookmark! I look forward to another 10!

pierreyannMar 14, 2008 at 2:17PM

Happy Birthday!
I've been reading the blog for 2-3 years now and I'm learning something new everyday. It's a luck to have you on the web!
Congrats and I'm wishing for another 10 years!
Cheers

Red CricketMar 14, 2008 at 2:18PM

You're still the cheese-hater to us

schmutzieMar 14, 2008 at 2:21PM

I'm throwing my congratulations in the birthday ring.
Ten year?! And I thought I felt old at almost five.
Happy Birthday, Grandpa.

Shelley NobleMar 14, 2008 at 2:24PM

No! Thank you, Jason! I read everything you post every single day of the week. I link so many interesting things to my husband and we discuss them. Your site is filled with Innumerable stacks of coolness.

I always think of you as Curator of New Media, King of the Bloggosphere. The fact that you found romance and made a new sweet baby along the way... well, you're living the revolution.

Viva! le Kottke!

afraelMar 14, 2008 at 2:29PM

Congrats Jason!

I've been following since the first day I started blogging :-D

afraelMar 14, 2008 at 2:30PM

Congrats Jason!

I've been following since the first day I started blogging :-D

DavidMar 14, 2008 at 2:31PM

Congrats, Jason! I've been reading kottke.org since late 2000 and have had the site in my bookmarks bar (and now Google Reader) ever since. Here's to 10 more!

sanderMar 14, 2008 at 2:33PM

Congrats... remember you were one of the first bloggers to go 'PRO', may have even donated to the cause at the time, who knew...

Raza MatinMar 14, 2008 at 2:35PM

I've only been reading for the past year, but I've become an addict. I find myself checking the site multiple times a day for a new tangent to distract me for a few minutes or hours. Thank you and congratulations!

PixelRobotMar 14, 2008 at 2:38PM

Happy birthday, kottke.org!

Rick YribeMar 14, 2008 at 2:51PM

10 years is a loooong time. Congratulations and happy birthday.

Thank you.

jacomienMar 14, 2008 at 2:52PM

Hip Hip Hurray!

nickMar 14, 2008 at 3:03PM

Bring back the mid 2000 layered orange!

Fond memories :)

sylloge, harrumph, k10k, zannah, zeldman...
those were the bright young days...

Stephen ClarkMar 14, 2008 at 3:06PM

I've always liked the simple and clean design.

Why have you not extended the width of the top yellow/green header to the same width of the main content/columns? I've always thought that would "frame" the content more effectively from a design perspective.

YolandaMar 14, 2008 at 3:08PM

Ten years is a long time. I struggle managing to post something ten days in a row. you're an inspiration to many, Jason. And you have taught people more than you will ever know, by simply sharing.

greg.orgMar 14, 2008 at 3:08PM

Wow, flashback. I remember the shock of seeing the switch to those concentric tables.

So happy birthday and all, but surely this isn't the only post of the day. Back to work! Internet Donger hungry! Need food!

Doug LeMoineMar 14, 2008 at 3:11PM

Yeah, good stuff. I've ripped a few of your steez off for my own quote-unquote blog, so thanks for that, too. Ten! More! Years! Ten! More! Years!

robinMar 14, 2008 at 3:26PM

I found this site by happy accident back in 2000 through a google search for Leo Kottke. Ever since, I have visited pretty much every day. Happy blog birthday!

JulesMar 14, 2008 at 3:28PM

I wish I was cool enough to have known about you 10 years ago. Sadly, I've only been around for the past 3... but I'm definitely around for keeps now!
Jules
House of Jules

FubizMar 14, 2008 at 3:29PM

OMG! 10 years online already.

the errant aestheteMar 14, 2008 at 3:31PM

You have been an inspiration and a wonderfully fluent and prolific source. I am a novice, but a devoted one and your insights on culling the best of the internet have fueled the focus of my endeavors since the beginning. (7 months). I don't remember how it was I found you, but I knew yours was a presence to be reckoned with and you've not proved me wrong. I think of you as a kind of Aristotle of the Blogosphere -- peripatetic, wise, informed and generous in sharing what you know.

Congratulations on what can only be described as a remarkable journey.

RoelMar 14, 2008 at 3:39PM

The fact that I must be following kottke.org for almost 8 years left me speechless for a while. Congrats, it has been a great ride! And I'm sure it will continue for quite some time.

CarolineMar 14, 2008 at 3:39PM

Thank you, Jason for ten years of excellence.

IraMar 14, 2008 at 3:44PM

Congratulations, Jason. Yours was one of the first blogs I "discovered" back in 2000, before I (and most people) even knew what blogging was. I was fascinated by the whole notion of it, and found yours really interesting...and still do! Just the simple fact of keeping a discipline for 10 years is inspiring. My usual is about ten minutes.

ROCK ON.

GriffinMar 14, 2008 at 3:48PM

Thank YOU.

Been with you all the way.

karlMar 14, 2008 at 3:49PM

You are the bees knees.

Waldo JaquithMar 14, 2008 at 3:56PM

Ah, the days when we wrote everything in Verdana 11 because it was so, so much more awesome than the Arial/Times combo that we'd grown to despise, and so much more sexy than the Verdana 10/12 that we used for small/normal type.

pedroMar 14, 2008 at 4:08PM

Congratulations Jason. I've been following Kottke.org for 3-4 years now, and you keep getting better at it :)

MerylMar 14, 2008 at 4:11PM

You inspired me to start mine in 2000 -- in fact, you are the first post. Mazel tov!

BrianMar 14, 2008 at 4:57PM

thank you for daily excellence and congrats!

koaMar 14, 2008 at 5:01PM

congrats jason & many mahalos for years of interestingness

DustinMar 14, 2008 at 5:03PM

Congrats!

czeltic girlMar 14, 2008 at 5:04PM

Congratulations! If the internet had a park, you'd have your own statue by now.

Paul FergusonMar 14, 2008 at 5:06PM

That Kottke! Why, I knew him way back when he was a young whippersnapper running around in Minneapolis, starting interactive design mailing lists and whatnot... congrats on a decade on the Web, which has to be something like a full career in normal years.

smaMar 14, 2008 at 5:15PM

happy birthday! absolutely germany loves your weblog, too! ;-)

korsmonautMar 14, 2008 at 5:19PM

Congrats on 10 years man.

Jeremiah Leif JohnsonMar 14, 2008 at 5:41PM

Congratulations. I remember reading this weblog when I was just out of high school. In all that time, I don't think it's left my toolbar bookmarks.

Thanks for the inspiration and the excellent links.

morenoMar 14, 2008 at 5:47PM

Happy Birthday Jason!
cheers from Brazil, Rio de Janeiro

KathrynMar 14, 2008 at 5:58PM

I remember stumbling onto osil8/kottke in high school (class of 2001)! It was one of the first blogs I ever read regularly, though that admittedly didn't last forever. Kottke being 10 years old kind of makes me feel like an informed and active member of the internet community. Or something. Which I'm not. Whatever that means.

Happy anniversary! Thanks for making me feel cool!

AndersMar 14, 2008 at 6:22PM

Hi, that's cool - ten years!

By the way, I put in some of your favorite web sites into the recommendation engine Web inSuggest, and got some interesting results. Now we can actually see the web sites you didn't mention, but probably like:

http://web.insuggest.com/?id0=7422440&id1=7445921&id2=7660354

Quite cool, right?

KentMar 14, 2008 at 6:40PM

I like cats.

Dave StevensMar 14, 2008 at 6:45PM

Echoing the thoughts of others, congratulations on such a milestone and long may it continue!

nick sMar 14, 2008 at 6:57PM

Thanks, and I'll see you in 2018.

...which is, on visuals alone, the obvious year to revive 0sil8.

Congrats, sir. You earned your testimonial.

PortnullMar 14, 2008 at 7:06PM

Congratulations, Jason!

JamieMar 14, 2008 at 7:11PM

Just started reading your blog (although I had it in my google homepage for a few months). Had a good laugh at the top 10 worst song lyrics on a site you mentioned. Nice blog. You kool!

Amy MabliMar 14, 2008 at 7:16PM

kottke.org is like an old friend I met in the first stages of my life on the web.

happy birthday!

James John MalcolmMar 14, 2008 at 7:25PM

Jason, thanks for the past 8 years or so of reading pleasure!

Jari TiainenMar 14, 2008 at 7:33PM

Congrats and thanks for all the fine hypertext products!


John LampardMar 14, 2008 at 7:42PM

Congratulations and thanks for all the links :)

LindMar 14, 2008 at 7:57PM

Congratulations! I have only been reading kottke.org for the last year or so, but it feels like much longer when I think of how many fascinating links you've brought to my attention that I might otherwise never have seen.

Thank you, and best wishes for another ten years!

StephenMar 14, 2008 at 8:07PM

Well played. Yours is the only site worth checking daily :-)

joostdhMar 14, 2008 at 8:14PM

Best wishes Jason. Ten years in internet-land is how many in dog years? ;) Keep up the great job.

CornellMar 14, 2008 at 8:41PM

Great job for the last ten years, Jason. You're the reason I'm OCD. I check your site compulsively every day. Thanks!

CarolMar 14, 2008 at 8:57PM

I've been reading since roughly 2000, I remember that bright yellow-green tag :)

Although I'm not a good daily reader of anything but the news, your website is one I always remember to go back to.

Marleny NunezMar 14, 2008 at 9:00PM

Congratulations Jason and Happy Ten from the Dominican Republic! I've been a constant reader since the second design onwards. I remember how I used to consult your HTML source code whenever any doubt arose in my coding. I wish you all the best.

TimMar 14, 2008 at 9:03PM

Somewhere while design 3 was the default I started reading you. I never stopped. Happy birthday!

Karen E.Mar 14, 2008 at 9:13PM

Yesterday was my 40th birthday on the planet; today is your tenth on the web, probably my 5th or 4th reading you every day. I think I should go buy us diamonds, rubies, and silverware, what do you say? Keep it up, Jason, we love you.

{http://www.findgift.com/Anniversary-Table/}

JoshMar 14, 2008 at 9:28PM

Consistently the first blog I read every day, you have introduced me to Daft Punk, Sigur Ros, and lately, The Wire. Kudos on 10 years!

MichelleMar 14, 2008 at 10:09PM

if I can't have 0sil8 back... along with Word and Suck and Swanky... then I guess this here weblog will have to suffice. Ideally, every day.

Happy ten, and many more.

Kelly S.Mar 14, 2008 at 10:20PM

I remember back in 1999 when we started working together I thought it was so odd that I could read your "diary" and you were sitting 10 feet away from me (I know it was never a diary but you know what I mean.) I still don't understand half of what you talk about, but I'm glad I've been able to keep track of you and watch your exciting life unfold over these years. Congrats.

Adam of the RedwoodsMar 14, 2008 at 10:25PM

Hey, I like retrospective analyzation! The birth and evolution of a blog: Kottke has been through the thick and thin, and is still here! You should be VERY proud.

jeremyMar 14, 2008 at 10:34PM

you're awesome, man, keep it up!

MichelleMar 14, 2008 at 10:40PM

Hey Hi - I've read you on and off since the pixel grunge/mushroom cloud design onwards (so wonderful to see those designs again - had completely forgotten your yellow boxes inside boxes design until I saw it again!)

You're ten years old too this year? well done us.. Fox and I are celebrating our 10th blog anniversary in August - we both posted our first entries to a shared blog on August 1st 1998. We collaborated on that site for a couple of months until Diaryland (and other blogging tools and communities sprouted) was born and we each bought our own domains and continued in different directions.

So from one blogger to another, well done you. Congratulations and if you want to keep writing, these eyes are happy to keep reading.

thejamjar.com papermilk.com

Matthew BlockMar 14, 2008 at 10:40PM

Keep up the good work, here's to another 10 years!

Long Story LongerMar 14, 2008 at 10:55PM

Wonderful! Happy anniversary and thanks for keeping me plugged in for at least a couple of years now.

StephanieMar 15, 2008 at 12:48AM

Happy 10th! Thank you for creating a fantastic site!

BookCrazyMar 15, 2008 at 2:04AM

Congratulations! I can only get an idea of how you must be feeling. People start these things and conclude somewhere down the line and forget about you. You stayed, built your online presence and reputation and today are in the rarest of rare group of bloggers who have stayed for over 10 years. Kudos. Enjoy the day.

christineMar 15, 2008 at 2:21AM

Wow, 10 years?

I feel old, and so does my web site.

LaurieMar 15, 2008 at 3:26AM

Happy anniversary! I've been reading you since early 1999 (I was in grad school and needed excitement), and daily since probably 2001. Thanks for all the entertainment you've provided me!

JenMar 15, 2008 at 9:34AM

Congrats! Thanks for bringing the fine hypertext products, because they're ever so much more delightful than those feeble ones.

(In 2018, Ollie will be at the great age where he's old enough to be low maintenance, but too young to be in the throes of adolescent angst. 2023 will really be the kicker...)

EmmetMar 15, 2008 at 10:01AM

Thanks Jason. I've been reading for five years.

Thomas ArieMar 15, 2008 at 11:27AM

10 years? Wow! Thank you for great posts!

ChrisMar 15, 2008 at 11:35AM

Fantastic work Jason. We're longtimers. And 10 years makes you a veteran!

I experienced some kind of weird dotcom 1 flashback when I saw that yellow concentric tables design... ; )

Onwards is upwards, duder. Here's to the next decade.

c.

MattMar 15, 2008 at 1:10PM

Congratulations Jason. I remember visiting this site for the first time when it had the concentric table design. When every other site seemed to be horribly bloated with Flash and awkward UI design, the beautiful simplicity of this site blew me away. Later that day I set up a Blogger blog.

WirthyMar 15, 2008 at 2:19PM

Return to the early pink and blue style; You know you want to!

Congratulations on your site's longevity, from a daily reader.

HefMar 15, 2008 at 2:25PM

Been reading for 5 years now (and even that seems like a long time). Keep up the great work.

JimMar 15, 2008 at 5:18PM

I turned twenty yesterday, and have been following your blog since 2002 -- what a wonderfully strange coincidence; I had no idea. Thanks for the many years of top-notch content and congratulations on such a long and successful run. A design change would be fun, but no pressure.

LoisirMar 15, 2008 at 5:55PM

I must have been following your site since around 2000, because I remember that yellow, table-y layout.

I found Kottke.org and Osil8 not long after I got online at home, and they were really my introduction to blogs and the world beyond imdb and the geocities homepages which seemed to be all that I looked at back then. Through kottke I found a lot of other cool sites - harrumph, metafilter, boingboing, lightningfield, and through them a hundred more. I guess a lot of my daily reading habits today stem back to the day I first read kottke.org.

Still checking back most days, and I'm not really sure why. I guess kottke.org is consistent and maybe also reassuringly lowkey. Gentle even. No red-faced rants, posturing or other nonsense. There is definitely a comparison to be made between the blog and the ever present sensible haircut.

MikeMar 15, 2008 at 6:14PM

Congratulations!

Dale BerningMar 15, 2008 at 7:11PM

thanks to you jason. i'd echo loisir's post - my daily online reading habits started when i first discovered this site...
the other day i was thinking it would be really nice to have a handmade compendium of kottke.org pages - a book to keep, something like one of tufte's beautiful books, or a mcsweeney publication. you defined your blog as the table of contents for a magazine you wished existed. the book would be a collection of successive tables.
dale

tomMar 15, 2008 at 8:56PM

where does the multi-colored line come from, may we borrow it??

NewfredMar 15, 2008 at 11:32PM

Thank you for the music, Jason.

I've been lurking on here since 1999 and have enjoyed the ride. Keep it up!

mattMar 16, 2008 at 3:11AM

i have read this site for a very long time and never really realized it. really no emotional involvement with this site at all or any strong opinions about it. somehow keeps showing up in my list of favorites and i am bored enough to check it quite often. this is a compliment.

rakMar 16, 2008 at 6:53AM

"Hi, my name is Rak and I'm an addict."

My first visit was 8/17/99 after reading about 3Com's 0sil8 cease and desist. Reading on, I became a fellow Iron Giant fan-boy, used Silkscreen, registered my first domain and Remaindered away many hours. The clincher was the how-the-hell-did-he-do-that-redesign -- I haven't stopped visiting since.

Thanks for inspiring, discovering, educating and, most of all, letting us share in your journey.

Happy Anniversary Jason!

ps. thanks for the Megway too!

mjohnsonMar 16, 2008 at 9:37AM

Yes I like to. Well done. I am nearly three, so can't even ride a bike. Keep it up.

anonMar 16, 2008 at 3:11PM

My internet world would be lost without you Jason. Please keep it up for another 10 years!

trevorMar 16, 2008 at 7:01PM

Top of the news reader for longer than I care to remember.
Thanks for everything and Happy Birthday, Jason!

Tony ScottMar 16, 2008 at 9:39PM

Congratulations Jason - keep up the good work!

John MayerMar 16, 2008 at 11:49PM

I learned about blogs when you and Meg came up to Anchorage to teach us about them at a local IT group meeting. You both were not only interesting but very gracious to us all, most of whom were older than you both. I've been following ever since. Thanks.

John MayerMar 16, 2008 at 11:50PM

I learned about blogs when you and Meg came up to Anchorage to teach us about them at a local IT group meeting. You both were not only interesting but very gracious to us all, most of whom were older than you both. I've been following ever since. Thanks.

LukeMar 17, 2008 at 1:24AM

Thank you, Jason, for sharing the links and thoughts over the last decade (!) and making us all a bit smarter for it in the process.

I hope the new Cut Copy album makes a good 10th-ish bday present, not long now until it's finally released!

MichelMar 17, 2008 at 4:30AM

Happy blogversary! ;-)

I drop a look here from time to time... Always interesting:)

Wishing you another 10, and more! :)))

Cheers, M.

JoergMar 17, 2008 at 4:40AM

Still my favourite blog after 8 years. Thanks for keeping at it for so long!

Joerg, Cape Town

kateMar 17, 2008 at 5:05AM

i came by kottke.org by way of osil8 - thank you for everything you have shared!

Holly HelterhoffMar 17, 2008 at 10:57AM

I show your site in my Tech Comm classes. You are a master. Thank you so much for constantly turning out such a deliciously delivered, insightful and thought provoking product :)

Jason GMar 17, 2008 at 4:10PM

I miss the episodes of Osil8! As a faithful reader who has been clicking in since damn near the beginning I want to wish you a grand blog birthday!

MartinMar 18, 2008 at 12:21AM

I can't believe it... I've been reading your site for the past 8 years. Congrats on the milestone! I hope you've got some champagne flowing

Le Rev DrMar 18, 2008 at 1:27AM

Happy Birthday Brother Jason!

Blessings 'pon The Good Ship Kottke

and all who sail in her!


Le Rev Dr

(fan from way back in oscil8 days)

kimMar 18, 2008 at 4:45AM

cripes! i choked up too! thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you...okay, you get the point.

jfMar 18, 2008 at 5:34AM

wow - ten years already.

time flies.

JoeMar 18, 2008 at 7:40AM

Yeah, fresh blog this is. Always interesting info. Peace out from the UK.

jkottkeMar 18, 2008 at 10:47AM

Thanks again everyone for your kind words. I'm gonna close the thread down now because the comment spammers are on to us! But first, a few manual trackbacks for my future reference:

Michael Sippey
Merlin Mann
Tim Shey
Adam Lisagor

This thread is closed to new comments. Thanks to everyone who responded.