Wednesday, October 23, 2002

Live From the VFW I am sitting at the Major George E. Preddy Jr. VFW post (#2087) near downtown Greensboro, watching the guys at Policlicks.com get ready to go live with their first online debate at 8 PM tonight. Ben Duell, the systems administrator, has been working 16-hour days this week, and now he's cranking video onto the server at a rapid pace. Yes, he'll have a cup of coffee, he just told Policlicks cofounder Ross Myers. Ben's brother, Rob, a managing partner at the new political  forum, seems confident that the next hour and a half will lead to a successful launch of the site's debate room function. Rob is also having coffee; it's old and strong and he likes it. Doug Potocki, another partner, is off setting up a candidate interview. Wait, here he comes, with Cynthia his girlfriend and his kids and poodle. Also, the young company's lawyer, Ralph Gorrell, has arrived. The debate tonight will feature video clips of two candidates for the Guilford County Commission, Jonathan Wagstaff and Jeff Thigpen.  Policlicks learned today that it may be able to feature an online video debate between Liddy Dole and Erskine Bowles, our Senatorial candidates. 6:34:39 PM   comment []

Snipers and Hackers One of the odd little sideshows to the ongoing DC sniper drama is the argument that he's not a real sniper--he isn't using the right weapon, hasn't had the right training, etc., to merit the name "sniper." Dictionary.com does have the military definition of sniper first, but definition two is this: "One who shoots at other people from a concealed place." So with no disrespect to military snipers, this guy is clearly a sniper. It reminds me a little of the folks who can't accept that "hacker" is a perjoritive term meaning "computer criminal" in colloquial American English, no matter how many emails they write to say the proper term is "cracker" (which can itself be a loaded word). Dinosaur Companies Steve MacLaughlin trots out the Dow Jones industrials from 1916 in response to a Microsoftophobic piece by Dan Gillmor. They're both right. Way back in the '80s when I worked on the Forbes 400 I loved those grand old dead companies that had spawned huge fortunes, fortunes that were by the time I came along falling off the list as their aged heiresses finally expired. The Dog Ate My Dignity My sister says that the puppy has robbed me of all dignity, because I now spend a lot of time lying on the kitchen floor speaking gibberish. It's nice to know that someone who has known me for my whole entire life thought I had dignity to lose. 5:25:56 PM   comment []

© Copyright 2002 Ed Cone.