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Friday, February 28, 2003
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Not enough wind to make either crew happy, so the end of this year's America's Cup outing is delayed until tomorrow.
9:42:35 PM 
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Darren Barefoot kindly recaps the TECHWR-L poll on tech writers who blog, and adds some commentary. Thanks for the linkage, Darren!
4:15:18 PM
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A unique example of someone actually planning ahead:
Domain de Plume. When you need to use an Internet address in your documentation, use one of the officially reserved domains. You'll sleep better, and so will your company's attorneys. [Usable Help]
Of course: example.org, example.com, example.net! Simply brilliant.
4:05:43 PM
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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Benjamin Franklin. [Quotes of the Day]
This essential quotation from one of our country's founders becomes more important every day.
3:51:05 PM
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ESPN dropped the ball, and New Zealand dropped their mast.
Maybe they just lost interest, but there's no excuse for ESPN2 not carrying the long-awaited fourth race of the America's Cup live yesterday. We've been waiting more than a week for this race to actually start, amid no wind followed by a gale. But ESPN bumped it for basketball, without an accompanying notice that the race would be tape-delayed later in the evening. As a result, I only caught on to the coverage after NZ's mast was gone (I attended an STC meeting, and got home around 10:00 p.m.) Inexcusable.
Equally inexcusable is Team New Zealand's utter lack of preparation for this series. They imploded in race one with multiple gear failures, handing Alinghi an easy lead in points and momentum. They lost two races from faulty tactics, then colluded with the race committee to not race in light winds. When race four finally came in leftover slop and a fresh breeze, New Zealand took on water, then broke their mast when the boat slammed into a series of waves.
Gary Jobson, writing for ESPN, says Team New Zealand has a lot more than a broken mast to fix. It's clearly too late, and today will see the last race for the America's Cup this year. Three years from now we'll see it in the Mediterranean.
3:44:29 PM
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Court Won't Reconsider Ban on Pledge of Allegiance. A federal appeals court rejected a request to reconsider its decision that the Pledge of Allegiance is an unconstitutional endorsement of religion when recited in public classrooms. By The Associated Press. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]
Althought the Ninth Circuit caught no end of flak last year for its decision on the pledge, it was the correct decision. Forcing children to profess a belief in God is just plain wrong, and the First Amendment prohibits it. I never cared for the pledge anyway, and stopped saying it in class in 7th grade. Another issue our Congresscritters don't understand. Freedom of religion includes freedom from religion.
3:07:24 PM
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Even though Mr. Fred Rogers passed on yesterday, it's going to be a beautiful day in the neighborhood for many years to come. Fred will live on in his series on PBS, which my kids love.
Two remarkable things I note on Fred's passing:
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Fred Rogers started his first televised children's show when I was two years old. That's how long he worked to fulfill his mission of ministering to children and families through television. A remarkable legacy.
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Fred Rogers has to be one of the most respected Freds around. Some days we just don't get no respect--but think of Fred Rogers and Fred Astaire the next time someone starts joking about Freds and invoking Fred Flintstone.
Fred Rogers, Host of 'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood,' Dies at 74. Fred Rogers was the thoughtful television neighbor whose songs, stories and heart-to-heart talks taught generations of children how to get along in the world. By Daniel Lewis. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]
3:01:20 PM
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