Tuesday, March 5, 2002
Frank Herbert, by Timothy O'Reilly
Would I write a book about Frank Herbert, he wanted to know.
An Open Letter to Jack Valenti and Michael Eisner
Turing's Universal Machine means that you cannot have a software or hardware protection scheme that is secure. Whatever scheme you come up with can be simulated by another computer. The computer industry are not opposing your bill because they want to encourage copying, or because they are bloody-minded, they are not opposing you because of your self serving rhetoric about rewarding artists (remember Peggy Lee, Michael?), they are opposing you because what you want is provably impossible. You can only succeed by making all Turing machines illegal.
Waiting for the A Train, the Sophisticated Pigeon
With no tokens to its name, a pigeon that got on the A train at the Far Rockaway station in Queens pondered its next move.
Entertainment Execs, Fear Not the Net
But the whining about declining CD sales and movie-business troubles misses the forest for the trees. Music-trading on the Web continues to soar, much of it in older titles that people probably wouldn't have purchased in stores. Clearly, the labels don't have a demand-side problem. They have a busted delivery mechanism.
Dave Winer
How people read on the web. They want to get to the beef asap. Most people will only skim, and record the fact that the article is there, and then use Google to find it when and if they need it. So the most important thing is to quickly say what you're going to do in the piece and who should care. Quickness is a very important thing. Most people just dash in and out. At least this is my assumption. That's one of the reasons I give quick soundbites, and the sources.
I just skimmed this, but it looks interesting. I'll use Google to find it later... 
In War, Soldiers Die
We cannot afford any more Mogadishus, where U.S. victories convince our leaders to cut and run.
Network News Is Still Serious Business
I would argue that in these times, when homeland security is an ongoing concern, when another terrorist attack may, at any time, shatter our sense of normalcy, when American troops are engaged in Afghanistan, the Philippines, Yemen and Georgia, when the likelihood of military action against Iraq is growing — when, in short, the regular and thoughtful analysis of national and foreign policy is more essential than ever — it is, at best, inappropriate and, at worst, malicious to describe what my colleagues and I are doing as lacking relevance.
Unfinished War in Afghanistan
American commanders relied on local Afghan allies, helped by small numbers of American Special Operations forces, to track them down. As it turned out, Afghan militias were happy to see the Qaeda fighters leave their country, and some even accepted bribes to assure their safe departure.
Bush's bunker presidency
Odd how all of these Bush-sponsored manifestations of a nation under siege shore up the state of emergency on which this government has come to depend for its exercise of power. If officials are in bunkers for the first time in the nation's history, how dare anyone raise questions about the policies those officials pursue?
