Monday, March 17, 2003

Reflections on the failed Bush Iraq policies. Newsweek and Slate. 10:19:29 PM

Inflation bites: Kalashnikovs up from $20 to $500: Time to get the hell out of dodge (Baghdad) [Times Online] 9:41:01 PM

I followed Joshua Allen's advice and went to the new pho place on Leary Way (across from the good Mexican restaurant and Palmers) in Redmond for dinner. Its name is Pho Saigon. Joshua is quite right; the food there is good and cheap. Both the fried and fresh spring rolls were food. 9:28:26 PM

Nouns and verbs. John doesn't get it.  Sterling does.  It took Sean ten minutes to figure it out.  Doug sees the future.  Giulio is asking the right questions. Perhaps it is time for another essay.  A short one, this time. [Sam Ruby] 8:54:40 PM

Judge Dredd goes to China [jwz] 8:35:14 PM

the commie-pinko case for war [jwz] Dan Savage explains his position on the war. 8:28:18 PM

only faith can give your life meaning [jwz] Shiite Muslims cut and beat themselves with swords to mark Ashoura Day. 8:23:19 PM

Werbach: "Forget what you think about Microsoft in the operating system or PC application market. In telecom today, they are the good guys." [Scripting News] 6:38:22 PM

NY Times: "A 20-pound carp about to be slaughtered and made into gefilte fish for Sabbath dinner began speaking in Hebrew, shouting apocalyptic warnings and claiming to be the troubled soul of a revered community elder who recently died." [Scripting News] 6:28:22 PM

STRANGE OMEN:. Why has France ordered its diplomatic staff to leave Israel before Baghdad? Do they know more about what Saddam has in store than we do? Or did they just sell him the means to do it? - 11:40:45 AM [Andrew Sullivan - The Daily Dish] Andrew fails to mention that the US has pulled out our nonessential staff too. 5:37:26 PM

Netscape, Apocalypse, and Pho. Others have commented on Charles Cooper's speculations about "What if Netscape had Won?"  In my opinion, this was never a zero-sum game, where one person has to lose for the other to win.  A zero-sum mentality is a huge waste of resources and diverts energy away from productive innovation toward "attacking the other guy's base".  Ever since the software industry fell victim to the politics of polarization, and assumptions like Cooper's go unchallenged, I am afraid that we are all falling incredibly short of our full potential.  If, as he implies (and many youngsters seem to think), the best opportunities left in software are to build yet another operating system to replace Microsoft, then it's time to take up gardening.  Luckily that mentality is a lie, and the real question is "How fantastic would things be if we could all stop griping about the past and write cool programs?"[Better Living Through Software] 9:49:49 AM

Education and Words.  And speaking of literacy, here is a nice little story about the "100 words you should know".  This list has provoked some disagreement recently, with some people violently rejecting the idea that flowery words are evidence of intellectual horsepower.  It is true that people sometimes use intimidating words as a sort of facade to dazzle and deflect away from real intellectual deficiencies.  But that is not the same as saying that a rich vocabulary is not worth acquiring.  Words are the atoms of language, and language is the substrate of thinking (especially abstract, higher-level thinking).  Words lubricate the brain. On the other hand, I have a hard time taking seriously a list which considers "Ziggurat" a sign of intelligence.  I suspect they mixed up the "words that help you think" with "words that are good for Jr. High spelling-bee finals". [Better Living Through Software] I think I know 47 of thoose real well, with another two or three that I'm not sure about. I'll have to work on it. 9:46:41 AM

Inspectors urged to leave Iraq. The US advises weapons inspectors to leave Iraq, as President Bush's final attempt to win UN backing for war is spurned by France and Russia. [BBC News | World | UK Edition] 9:34:07 AM