May 9, 2002

I thought that yesterday was the first time I agreed with Rush Limbaugh.  However, a friend (who seems to remember everything I ever said and did) reminded me of the only other time I agreed with this Big Fat Idiot .  Two years ago, almost to the month, Rush said that the White House's persecution of Microsoft caused the market meltdown. I agreed with that premise (stopping short of blaming Bill Clinton personally) and said so in a letter to the editor at TheStreet.com.  What I said then (April 7th 2000): "About your column Tech Stocks Spring a Leak: Blame the Weather , I am not a Rush Limbaugh fan, and I think that trader[s] ... speak[ing] badly about President Bill Clinton is like speaking badly about farmers with your mouth full. However, there is no question in my mind that Justice has been out to get Microsoft ever since the consent decree. They did a bad job on that, mostly due to the fact that they didn't understand the business. If they could see how this Microsoft whipping will hurt consumers, they would also handle it differently." I believed it then, and I still do.  The only time we are going to see real recovery in the stock markets is when this court case ends.  It doesn't really matter whom wins, it just has to end. So I agreed with Rush twice in two years. I suppose even a broken clock is right twice a day. (But not a digital clock, it is just broken.) 1:45:06 PM

Ex-Waitress Settles Toy Yoda Suit A former waitress has settled her lawsuit against Hooters, the restaurant that gave her a toy Yoda doll instead of the Toyota she thought she'd won. It looks to me that she gets the car, but has to admit to the world she is an April Fool. 12:53:07 PM

Jamie Kellner, chairman and CEO of Turner Broadcasting (an AOL Time Warner company), was recently interviewed by [INSIDE] on the future of television (Content's King). In the interview, Mr. Kellner said some very interesting things, including characterizing those who skip television commercials as thieves: [Ad skips are] theft. Your contract with the network when you get the show is you're going to watch the spots. Otherwise you couldn't get the show on an ad-supported basis. Any time you skip a commercial or watch the button you're actually stealing the programming. To help develop Mr. Kellner's unfortunately common (at least in Hollywood) view of copyright, LawMeme offers the top ten new copyright crimes, as well as further choice quotes and commentary from Mr. Kellner's interview. 12:44:24 PM

How to Start a Weblog (For Professional Journalists) Recommended reading for anyone who is reading this and thinking "I could do this". You probably can.  Although this particular article is wriiten for the pro jouranalist, all of us can probably gain some useful insight. [Scripting News] 11:01:51 AM

Canadians don’t exactly have a reputation as risk takers. We are an easy-does-it, look-both-ways, get-plenty-of-rest kind of people. We’re Clark Kent to the American Superman. So when it comes to venture capital spending, we are miles behind the Yanks, right? Wrong. The story by Chris Conrath  here     [ ITworldCanada.com ] 9:19:13 AM

Palestinians Arrest 16 Hamas Members Two days after a suicide attack in a Tel Aviv suburb, killing 15 Israelis in a pool hall, Palestinian police arrested 16 members of the Islamic militant group Hamas. By The Associated Press.  "Round up the usual Suspects!"  I get this image of the same guys getting arrested, and then released.  "You wouldn't be hassling me if I wasn't Palestinian.  This is racial profiling." "I only belong to EU sponsored Hamas bowling team, really!" 7:56:53 AM

Kill the MSN Messenger. Instant Messenger clients in 'critical' security update [The Register] It really is important to update these programs, MSN Messenger, Outlook Express, and the operating system.  Right now the critical updates are just that, critical.  Truth is that Microsoft has made this pretty easy.  Click on the Start Button, and select Windows Update.... 7:04:34 AM