01 February 2002

Quote of the Day Laurence J. Peter "Competence, like truth, beauty and contact lenses, is in the eye of the beholder." (Quotes of the Day) 5:13:33 PM

Powell for President? Dan Gillmor is blogging from the World Economic Summit, "Davos on the Hudson" in New York. Colin Powell addressed one of the first sessions this morning: "Everyone agreed we need to stop terrorism and fix its causes. U.S. Secretary of State Powell seemed most animated when he talked about the causes, namely finding a way to cure the conditions of hopelessness and rage that fuel people who have nothing left to lose. Powell, once considered an afterthought in the Bush administration, may still be on the margins there. But to people outside he has become a major political leader. I would vote for him for president." Worse things could happen, although "to people outside... major political leader" sounds more like Dan drumming up support rather than reporting it. 3:42:38 PM

Why Blog? John Udell, an old hand from Byte magazine has a weblog powered by Radio, the same application I use here.  He hits the nail on the head here when he describes why his interest in Radio has persisted beyond his initial dipping of the toe in the water (I'm reading between the lines a bit here): "I've been a writer all my life, and one of the lessons I've learned is that the process of writing -- done slowly and reflectively -- is closely related to the process of learning. I don't really know something until I can explain it, and I can't really explain it until I can write it." I think writing is a muscle you have to develop and then keep using. And I'll bet you a pound to a penny that the weblogs you go back to most often are more writing than just a list of links, however fascinating. 10:16:35 AM