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):
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):
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 7...Silkscreen 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):
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):
The familar 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):
After about a year, I changed it again to the current look and feel (full size):
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
202 comments
Ten years already?
I only wish I'd been reading since way back when.
I only wish I'd been reading since way back when.
happy blog birthday. you're so blog-old.
Love it love it love it!
Keep it up for another 10 years!
Keep it up for another 10 years!
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. :)
Been reading for 8 of those. Thanks for your hard work, Jason.
Congratulations, Dan. Seems I've been reading your thoughts for a mighty long time, now!
Jason,
We should be thanking you for providing one of the most continually interesting sites on the Web.
We should be thanking you for providing one of the most continually interesting sites on the Web.
You're awesome Jason. Keep it up.
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!"
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 ...
Happy birthday, and please don't dream of stopping ...
A lot can happen in a decade. Happy anniversary.
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!
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.
I still remember the atomic bomb. Though not it was a blog then ;-)
congratulations, dan.
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!
I've been reading for about 7 years now and have always enjoyed your posts/links. Congrats on the 10th anniversary! :)
Big ups from Minneapolis-town!
Happy happy birthday. And thanks.
happy deciversary!
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.
The designs are nice, but the content and tone are most endearing to me. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for ten years posts. I have been around for four, and they were amazing.
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
Thank you for all your hard, and entertaining, work
Nothing to say except Congrats & Good Job! The web would be a whole lot suckier without kottke.org.
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.
Anyway, good job! Keep up the good work.
Congrats, and thanks, Jason. I never miss a day...
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.
Read it every day. Thanks.
Well done! Always a pleasure to read.
Thanks for pouring Jason - its been well worth paying attention to.
Congrats!
What they said. Kottke is one of the first sites I remember reading. Thank you for the linkage all these years.
0sil8 4 lyfeeee
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.
Nice work and congratulations.
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.
congrats not only on the longevity but the quality as well!
thanks for your work, Jason. Congrats!!
Congratulations. I look forward to another ten years.
The yellow made me stop by..the writing kept me coming back.
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.
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.
The concentric tables layout is still my all-time fave.
When's the next 0sil8 coming out?
When's the next 0sil8 coming out?
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!
Thanks for all the good times! Congrats!
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 :-)
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.
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.
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.
The next episode of 0sil8...hmmm, probably sometime after 2018.
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!
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!
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.
My employer probably wouldn't appreciate how much your posts distract me each day but I sure do. Congrats.
From one old man to to another, happy anniversary.
I think I've been following for about 4 and it's been great, congrats!
I remember most of those designs :) Happy b'day! Its also PI day ...
Congratulations!!! Is amazing to know about somebody blogging in 10 years!!!
Bye!!!
Bye!!!
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.
Happy Birthday! Thank you for getting us through each day!
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!
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!
Congrats! I look forward to the next 10.
Thanks for all your writing over the last 10 years. Kottke was the first "blog" I ever read and I haven't stopped.
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).
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).
Happy Birthday. Heres to another 10!
^_^ 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).
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).
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!
Congrats on 10!
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.
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.
thank you jason. you are amazing.
Happy Birthday.
God. Now I feel old.
God. Now I feel old.
You're the best!! Let's go for ten more...
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!
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.
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.
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.
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
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
Sam
Seeing the '99 design again reminds me of studying up on all the latest tricks at Webmonkey.com. Nice retrospective.
I've been here for the past 7 years Jason, and I'm glad you've been around for so long.
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.
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.
You were my first... was it almost eight years ago? Wow. Thanks for consistently making our lives more well-rounded.
Still one of the best weblogs around, and I'd love to see a return to Osil8-style experiments. Happy birthday!
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!
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!
This is my favorite site and required daily reading. Congrats on 10 years!!!
Wow... Cool gallery. Happy birthday from Italy. :-)
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.
I read your post on the Google OS an odd 4 years ago...and never left.
Here's to another 10 years!!
Here's to another 10 years!!
Congrats from the Netherlands! It's daily reading for me too, though only since a few months. Look forward to the next anniversary.
You're a living fossil on the web, congratulations on the decade mark. Thanks for the inspiration.
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.
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!
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.
Congratulations
(Also, oh dear me I've been reading the internet for too long)
(Also, oh dear me I've been reading the internet for too long)
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!
Thank you!
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!
been following you since 0sil8...
solid work! all around
solid work! all around
I now feel, very, very old indeed. Happy birthday.
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.
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!
I'm proud to say that you were my first (and still my favorite) bookmark! I look forward to another 10!
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
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
You're still the cheese-hater to us
I'm throwing my congratulations in the birthday ring.
Ten year?! And I thought I felt old at almost five.
Happy Birthday, Grandpa.
Ten year?! And I thought I felt old at almost five.
Happy Birthday, Grandpa.
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!
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!
Congrats Jason!
I've been following since the first day I started blogging :-D
I've been following since the first day I started blogging :-D
Congrats Jason!
I've been following since the first day I started blogging :-D
I've been following since the first day I started blogging :-D
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!
Congrats... remember you were one of the first bloggers to go 'PRO', may have even donated to the cause at the time, who knew...
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!
Happy birthday.
Happy birthday, kottke.org!
10 years is a loooong time. Congratulations and happy birthday.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Hip Hip Hurray!
Happy Birthday!
Bring back the mid 2000 layered orange!
Fond memories :)
sylloge, harrumph, k10k, zannah, zeldman...
those were the bright young days...
Fond memories :)
sylloge, harrumph, k10k, zannah, zeldman...
those were the bright young days...
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.
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.
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.
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!
So happy birthday and all, but surely this isn't the only post of the day. Back to work! Internet Donger hungry! Need food!
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!
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!
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
Jules
House of Jules
OMG! 10 years online already.
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.
Congratulations on what can only be described as a remarkable journey.
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.
Thank you, Jason for ten years of excellence.
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.
ROCK ON.
Thank YOU.
Been with you all the way.
Been with you all the way.
You are the bees knees.
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.
Congratulations Jason. I've been following Kottke.org for 3-4 years now, and you keep getting better at it :)
You inspired me to start mine in 2000 -- in fact, you are the first post. Mazel tov!
thank you for daily excellence and congrats!
congrats jason & many mahalos for years of interestingness
Congrats!
Congratulations! If the internet had a park, you'd have your own statue by now.
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.
happy birthday! absolutely germany loves your weblog, too! ;-)
Congrats on 10 years man.
still the best.
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.
Thanks for the inspiration and the excellent links.
Happy Birthday Jason!
cheers from Brazil, Rio de Janeiro
cheers from Brazil, Rio de Janeiro
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!
Happy anniversary! Thanks for making me feel cool!
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?
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?
I like cats.
Echoing the thoughts of others, congratulations on such a milestone and long may it continue!
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.
...which is, on visuals alone, the obvious year to revive 0sil8.
Congrats, sir. You earned your testimonial.
Congratulations, Jason!
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!
kottke.org is like an old friend I met in the first stages of my life on the web.
happy birthday!
happy birthday!
Jason, thanks for the past 8 years or so of reading pleasure!
Congrats and thanks for all the fine hypertext products!
Congratulations and thanks for all the links :)
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!
Thank you, and best wishes for another ten years!
Well played. Yours is the only site worth checking daily :-)
Best wishes Jason. Ten years in internet-land is how many in dog years? ;) Keep up the great job.
Great job for the last ten years, Jason. You're the reason I'm OCD. I check your site compulsively every day. Thanks!
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.
Although I'm not a good daily reader of anything but the news, your website is one I always remember to go back to.
Somewhere while design 3 was the default I started reading you. I never stopped. Happy birthday!
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/}
{http://www.findgift.com/Anniversary-Table/}
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!
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.
Happy ten, and many more.
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.
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.
you're awesome, man, keep it up!
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 papermilk.com <= Fox
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 papermilk.com <= Fox
Keep up the good work, here's to another 10 years!
Wonderful! Happy anniversary and thanks for keeping me plugged in for at least a couple of years now.
Happy 10th! Thank you for creating a fantastic site!
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.
Wow, 10 years?
I feel old, and so does my web site.
I feel old, and so does my web site.
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!
Thanks Jason.
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...)
(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...)
Thanks Jason. I've been reading for five years.
10 years? Wow! Thank you for great posts!
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.
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.
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.
Return to the early pink and blue style; You know you want to!
Congratulations on your site's longevity, from a daily reader.
Congratulations on your site's longevity, from a daily reader.
Been reading for 5 years now (and even that seems like a long time). Keep up the great work.
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.
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.
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.
Congratulations!
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
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
where does the multi-colored line come from, may we borrow it??
Thank you for the music, Jason.
I've been lurking on here since 1999 and have enjoyed the ride. Keep it up!
I've been lurking on here since 1999 and have enjoyed the ride. Keep it up!
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.
"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!
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!
Yes I like to. Well done. I am nearly three, so can't even ride a bike. Keep it up.
Happy birthday
My internet world would be lost without you Jason. Please keep it up for another 10 years!
Top of the news reader for longer than I care to remember.
Thanks for everything and Happy Birthday, Jason!
Thanks for everything and Happy Birthday, Jason!
Congratulations Jason - keep up the good work!
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.
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.
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!
I hope the new Cut Copy album makes a good 10th-ish bday present, not long now until it's finally released!
Happy blogversary! ;-)
I drop a look here from time to time... Always interesting:)
Wishing you another 10, and more! :)))
Cheers, M.
I drop a look here from time to time... Always interesting:)
Wishing you another 10, and more! :)))
Cheers, M.
Still my favourite blog after 8 years. Thanks for keeping at it for so long!
Joerg, Cape Town
Joerg, Cape Town
i came by kottke.org by way of osil8 - thank you for everything you have shared!
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 :)
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!
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
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)
Blessings 'pon The Good Ship Kottke
and all who sail in her!
Le Rev Dr
(fan from way back in oscil8 days)
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.
wow - ten years already.
time flies.
time flies.
Yeah, fresh blog this is. Always interesting info. Peace out from the UK.
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
Michael Sippey
Merlin Mann
Tim Shey
Adam Lisagor
This thread is closed to new comments. Thanks to everyone who responded.
