The scariest salad in the universe.
9:34:05 PM  #   your two cents []

Periodic Table in haiku. The Periodic Table of Haiku is a Periodic Table of Elements annotated with haiku in appreciation of each of the fundamental units of matter.

72 Hafnium

I'm in solid, Zirc
make nuclear control rods-
I can take the heat

Link [Boing Boing Blog]
9:26:11 PM  #   your two cents []

It's still the economy, stupid, and it will still be there after the war thing... John Robb has this comment on a Bushonomics article in the Wall Street Journal: 'The "Bush economic effect" leads economists to trim growth estimates for the first half of 2003.  It is amazing to see forecasts that were gloomy at the outset revised down by as much as 2%.  Amazing.  The global economic impact of 2% in lost growth is $800 b.  3% is $1.2 t or $200 for every man, woman, and child on the earth.'

And then there's George Soros:

"The current pursuit of American supremacy reminds me of the boom-bust process, or a stock market bubble," Soros said.

"A rogue regime like Saddam Hussein's does pose a threat to the rest of the world. ... But military force must remain a last resort and it must have some basis of legitimacy."

"Whatever the outcome in Iraq, I dare to predict that the Bush policies are bound to fail," Soros said.

Soros said that the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States have made it difficult for political opponents and public figures to voice opposition to Bush's policy on Iraq.

"I believe that President Bush is leading the United States and the world in the wrong direction, and I consider nothing short of tragic that the terrorist threat has induced the country to line up behind him so uncritically," Soros said.

5:59:01 PM  #   your two cents []

Irish DSL prices to fall significantly: Jamie Smyth writes in today's Times that Eircom has agreed a consumer DSL wholesale price [sub only] with rivals, which means it can offer a much-reduced price DSL offering by next month. DSL costs take a heavy bite out of my monthly budget and I am delighted at this shift. I expect many waverers will jump at the opportunity to get DSL at this more reasonable (but still pricy, once VAT is added) rate. Once you try broadband, it's hard to settle for less -- I cannot stand using dial-up anymore. As a matter of fact, I have to use it temporarily for my new G4 PowerBook and I'd forgotten how to set it up! (but did go online with the beautiful G4 12" last night -- such a pleasure to use).

Eircom has said it would set up its consumer product at a flat fee of €45 per month, exclusive of VAT. It is likely other firms, such as Esat BT, will introduce products at similar prices.

The introduction of Eircom's consumer internet service could revitalise the flagging market for broadband services in the Republic. At the end of 2002 just 3,300 people had ordered DSL services, a technology that upgrades a telephone line to enable it to carry data at high speeds.

To comply with regulations, Eircom will have to wait three weeks from today before it introduces the broadband service.

12:28:46 PM  #   your two cents []

From LawMeme: "Game designer Greg Costikyan has a weblog. He also went to last week's Game Developers Conference. Result: a barn-burning essay on the pathetic state of the computer and platform gaming industry: more risk-averse than the music business, filled with desparate designers who can't figure out where things went so wrong, almost pathologically hostile towards genuine creativity."
11:40:29 AM  #   your two cents []

Bernie gives a practical example of how his daily communications and actions could be tracked for the Irish government's secretly-mandated traffic data archive. And, he has an article in the Irish Examiner on high tech warfare.
10:59:23 AM  #   your two cents []

Another argument against the stupidities of data retention policies now being discussed in Ireland and the EU. Do you trust Eircom's data storage processes to be more secure?: Student accused in Texas data heist. A student at the University of Texas at Austin has been charged in the online theft of 55,000 database records that included Social Security numbers from the school. [CNET News.com]
10:49:45 AM  #   your two cents []

I liked this SAP CEO when I got to see him in action at presentations and press conferences last year -- very impressive, hat-and-cattle guy. Plattner reflects on years with SAP. Outgoing CEO admits founding Microsoft would have been easier [InfoWorld: Top News]
10:47:10 AM  #   your two cents []

Google gains visual searches: "The technology 'can help you discover linkages in the information to get a better understanding of the data,' said Greg Coyle, vice president of business development at anacubis in Cambridge, England . 'It is a challenge to get that kind of intelligence out of pages and pages of text.'"
10:44:57 AM  #   your two cents []

IDC: Tablet PCs off to solid start. "The smaller machines have generated interest among the legal, real estate and health care industries, as well as from some consumers, executives from Toshiba and HP said."
10:43:05 AM  #   your two cents []

From the "What We'd All Secretly Like To Do" Department: "Authorities charged a former Northwest Airlines flight attendant with assault for allegedly putting a prescription depressant in 19-month-old girl's apple juice to stop her crying during an international flight." 

10:40:39 AM  #   your two cents []

 

San Jose Mercury: Dozens arrested in anti-war protest in San Francisco: "A priest, a veteran of the Persian Gulf War and the former president of the Pacific Exchange were among those arrested in San Francisco early today in a on-violent demonstration against a U.S.-led war with Iraq." The image shows Warren Langley, former president of the stock exchange, being arrested.

10:29:24 AM  #   your two cents []

NYTimes: Art that transfigures science: "But the particular way that a person trained in logical thinking must negotiate his or her way through the illogical world of human passions — that is a subject worthy of art."
10:24:13 AM  #   your two cents []