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MS suit and web servers
I expected yet another flogging-the-dead-horse story, but
this is a fairly brief good read about MS' attempt to
dominate the webserver market. Luckily they didn't understand
the appeal of the Apache webserver, etc. etc. "I don't think
people realize how close we came to a Microsoft-dominated Web."
Coleridge
A review of Holmes' bio on ST Coleridge. Very worthwhile.
I like this reviewer (Brigitte
Frase). She's also written one of the few balanced
views of the the
coming of eBooks. It seems that both Holmes' book
and Frase's review leave Coleridge as alive and mysterious
as they found him, thank goodness. "The biographer is forever in pursuit,
fully aware he can't fully seize
or understand his subject."
Un-American Activities
The files of the California Un-American Activities
Committee were released to the public last week. The files
were characterized as "... all kinds of trash, all sorts of
allegations, all kinds of garbage." The activities of the
committee were quite definitely un-American. One woman was
called before the committee because her husband was a Communist.
She accused the police of harrassing her children, saying,
"The ends are often revealed by the means used,
by children being intimidated."
Jerry Brown hits Oakland
Very long but interesting article on Brown's flip from
what the writer characterizes as "moonshine" to a
Giuliani-type mayorship. I've only been to Oakland once,
but I did like the part I saw.
Buchanan as sitcom
Yesterday he was so proud of his intolerance. Today he's
in Reform school with Lenora Fulani. "It's sort of a
'90s update of All in the Family."
Linda Tripp-wire wants your money
Linda ("I am Hugh") Tripp has set up a legal defense fund,
devoted to defending the indefensible. She expects her
legal bills to run as high as a million. (Free account
needed to read this.)
How do you feel about an out-of-control future?
This is one of the best things I've read in a long while.
Well-reasoned, very clear and simple. The author contends
that the most significant philosophical division today is
between those who want to control the future and
those who want to discover it. "In the end, the debate between dynamism and stasis... is a struggle between
those who believe they already know 'the limit of human felicity,' and those who trust the pursuit of happiness to go in many different, and many unexpected, directions. And it is a conflict between those who believe culture is too dangerous to be left alone and those who believe it is too precious to be controlled."
Monday, November 15, 1999
I thought this group had faded away a long time ago,
but it looks like it's become a political force in
Japan. Seems like a pretty good time to start either
an Internet company or a fundamentalist religion.
The big decision in either case is when to go public.
Seriously, what's interesting is that fundamentalist
resurgence is not limited to Bible-thumpers, but that
Muslims, Hindus, and Eastern groups such as the Falun
Gong in China are all going strong. You can count in
the American political fundamentalists (militia groups
and the like) as well. Hopefully once the year 2000
has come and gone without bringing any cataclysm or
apocalypse, everyone will calm down. But then again,
it might be better if they don't calm down. Free
account needed to read article.
Monday, November 15, 1999
The idea was to create more jobs and increase productivity.
Because, let's face it: the longer you work, the less
productive you are. It turns out that productivity
has increased. Also, businesses are using the
introduction of the shortened workweek to reorganize.
(You need a free account to read the article. Do it.)
Jeez, somebody should introduce the forty hour
workweek in the US! Some day even white-color workers
will have that right. People laugh when I say it, but
I firmly believe that forty hours will come.
Thursday, November 11, 1999
If you don't know my.userland, check it out. It does take
some time to trim out the irrelevant channels, but it's
worth it. Only thing is, sometimes the whole page repeats.
The thing is autogenerated. Today it's repeating badly.
Thursday, November 11, 1999
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