September 23, 2002

The New Republic is now blogging with &c (via Slate) 11:55:32 PM

Slate’s Timothy Noah notes that the potential response of Israel to an attack by Iraq is one the main sticking points that may be delaying any such action. The problem is that by saying if Iraq attacks, Israel will respond it gives Iraq an incentive to attack. This is because the Israeli response would probably force all other Arab states to stop their support of US military action which would greatly help Iraq. Israel should state that as long as the US removes Saddam (not like the Gulf War that left him in power) they would not respond to any attack. After all if someone hits you on the way to the electric chair, it might hurt you but they are still going to die. If they somehow get a pardon, that when you go after them. 11:54:05 PM

Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes This joke was immediately brought to my mind and apparently to many people on Slashdot when the New York Times compared the amount of data in the DVDs mailed to Netflix each day to the total data sent over the Internet. The article notes that the Internet is estimated at 2,000 to 4,000 terabytes per day versus about 1,500 terabytes per day transported by mail for Netflix. Adding another 800 terabytes in DVDs sold over the Internet or phone, the DVD may be the number one transport medium around. 11:53:31 PM

Microsoft, Cisco and others are moving ahead with plans to implement new security solutions for 802.11b (Wi-Fi) wireless networks without waiting for the IEEE to finalise the standard. One of the key debates in Computer Science – move forward to help or gain customers, or wait for a standard. 11:52:39 PM

Less talk, more action! (ad from The Globe and Mail) 11:50:57 PM