Monday, January 21, 2002

Gunmen attack US centre in Calcutta. Gunmen in the Indian city of Calcutta open fire on the US information centre, killing five guards and injuring 16 others. [BBC News: world] There were only four attackers, which suggests a large gap in competence between them and the Indian police and guards. No doubt they had the best training the Pakistani Army could provide. comment () trackback ()  11:35:31 PM     Thought for the day: The idea that Bill Gates has appeared like a knight in shining armour to lead all customers out of technological chaos neatly ignores the fact that it was he who, by peddling second-rate technology, led them into it in the first place. Douglas Adams comment () trackback ()  10:31:45 PM     Gunmen attack US centre in Calcutta. Gunmen in the Indian city of Calcutta open fire on the US information centre, killing five guards and injuring 16 others. [BBC News: world] There were only four attackers, which suggests a large gap in competence between them and the Indian police and guards. No doubt they had the best training the Pakistani Army could provide. comment () trackback ()  8:46:37 PM     We can put an end to Word attachments [NewsForge] An editorial by Richard Stallman on why sending information in Word attachments is a bad idea. There are three sample replies that can be sent to people using Word attachments. comment () trackback ()  3:22:10 PM     'Biofraud' angers West, taints federal stewards. The admission that employees of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service and Washington state falsified data confirmed what many rural Westerners believe: Agencies are doctoring species and habitat studies to stop logging, ranching and mining on the federal government's vast land holdings. [Washington Times] comment () trackback ()  10:35:09 AM     Congressman cancels tax forum. The tax group had expected, at the forum, "to prove conclusively that the IRS does not have the legal authority to force employers to withhold taxes from the paychecks of their employees, or to force most Americans to file a return or pay the income tax." [WorldNetDaily] This isn't surprising--the "tax reform" groups were deluding themselves that this forum would mean anything anyway. What difference does it make if the IRS has that legal authority? The US government has no legal authority for virtually everything it does, why should collecting taxes be any different? comment () trackback ()  10:23:21 AM     UN envoy condemns Israeli raid. Israel's seizure of the Palestinian town of Tulkarm in the West Bank is a "dangerous escalation", says the UN Middle East envoy. [BBC News: world] This is good news. If the UN is unhappy, it's a sure sign the Israelis are doing the right thing. comment () trackback ()  9:44:32 AM     Coleman To Sell Portable Fuel Cell Generator [Slashdot] How are they going to deliver the hydrogen fuel, I wonder? It's sort of volatile, I wouldn't be surprised if the major shipping companies didn't want to deal with it. comment () trackback ()  6:30:24 AM     Jonathon Delacour writes: In my experience, when something goes wrong with hardware or software, users either: fall over in a sniveling heap and look for someone else to fix the problem; or say to themselves: "Cool. This is an opportunity to improve my skills and learn something new." I think this attitude reflects a major reason why hardware and software intended for consumer use are so unreliable. Many "computer people" regard people who know less about computers than themselves with open contempt. If something goes wrong for a user, they'd rather call the user names like "sniveling" rather than acknowledge that not everyone can afford to spend their whole life figuring out computer problems. comment () trackback ()  6:27:04 AM

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