Brett Morgan's Insanity Weblog Zilla : Days of our lives. Honestly.
Updated: 2/10/2002; 1:13:18 AM.

 

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Sunday, 22 September 2002

Swarming and the future of conflict. Swarming is seemingly amorphous, but it is a deliberately structured, coordinated, strategic way to strike from all directions, by means of a sustainable pulsing of force and/or fire, close-in as well as from stand-off positions. It will work best -- perhaps it will only work -- if it is designed mainly around the deployment of myriad, small, dispersed, networked maneuver units (what we call "pods" organized in "clusters"). Developing a swarming force implies, among other things, radical changes in current military organizational structures. From command and control of line units to logistics, profound shifts will have to occur to nurture this new way of war. Our study examines the benefits -- and also the costs and risks -- of engaging in such serious doctrinal change.

Examples of swarming can be found throughout history, but it is only now able to emerge as a doctrine in its own right. That is largely because swarming depends on a devolution of power to small units and a capacity to interconnect those units that has only recently become feasible, due to the information revolution. [Smart Mobs]

A truly scary portent of the future.
6:47:36 PM    


EJB 2.1

A brief review of the EJB 2.1 specification (Builder.com) [IBM Developer Works - Java News]

I wonder when webfear will implement this spec? :)
6:44:54 PM    


Cure for Cancer

New cancer treatment wipes out tumors. An experimental treatment has eliminated deadly skin tumors in six patients whose cancer previously had resisted conventional therapies, scientists at the National Cancer Institute report. The technique, which replaces a patient's ineffective immune system with cancer-fighting cells, also might find use against other cancers and help fight viral infections such as AIDS. [UPI] [Loebrich.org]

This could be very interesting. Seeing as though skin cancer is a major form of disease here in Oz.
2:11:23 PM    


Summarising a Blogosphere Reaction

Weblogger Trademark?. Update: Weblogger.com has officially recinded the threat of lawsuit and I have added a disclaimer to the main Roller Weblogger page. [Blogging Roller]

Weblogger.com is the number one result when searching for weblogger on Google. The fact that there are about 249,000 other results leaves me thinking Erin Clerico has a lot of lawsuits ahead of him if he wants to actually assert rights to an unregistered trademark on the term weblogger instead of just bullying David Johnson and RollerWeblogger. Even if such widespread use doesn't turn Erin into a full-time litigant, I suspect most existing and potential customers of any weblog hosting firm view the word weblogger as a generic and self-descriptive term. The negative response from the weblog community is already rolling in (now includes significant post apology positive feedback as well):

Chilling Effect, The Letter, Roller vs. WebloggerZilla, Weblogger.com UPDATE and Peace [Blogging Roller]
Oh Boy Did I Step In It Big! [Erin Clerico]
predicated on Johnson doing whatever Clerico wants [Archipelago]
Time for a Google bomb? 'Weblogger sucks' and Rectification [Be Blogging]
Wow, that was fast [Bitworking]
more info, more info, more info, more info, more info and more info [blogdex]
Making Erin see straight [Brett Morgan's Insanity Weblog Zilla]
my writing about weblogs predates Erin's [CamWorld]
RollerWeblogger.com is a unique name and Court of Public Opinion [deeje.com]
Weblogger.com = WeBully.com [dive into mark]
Morons [Eatonweb]
Weblogger.com: assholes [flutterby]
when they gonna learn? [genehack.com]
Erin apologizes [inessential.com]
RollerWeblogger [Internet Alchemy]
webloggers on weblogger [jenett.radio]
RollerWeblogger vs. Weblogger.com [Jim Roepcke's Weblog]
You will hear from my attourney next [Loud Thinking]
It could get ugly [Matt Croydon::postneo]
IP Abuse [Medley]
WhyWhyWhy?!?! [paradox1x]
All aboard the railroad, Getting tough, Peace reigns over the land and It won't die [rc3.org]
WebloggerSucks.com is available... and We weren't a Mob [Russell Beattie Notebook]
Weblogger vs Roller [Sam Ruby]
Courage on the Web [Scripting News]
I'm a Weblogger.Com customer. Backlash and He knows how to apologize [Workbench]

I wonder if Erin Clerico and Weblogger.com will listen?

Update: Apparently he did:

I'm human, I made a mistake, I admit it and quickly rectified it. I felt a threat to my company and over reacted. I here by apologize to Dave Johnson of rollerWeblogger fame for my actions. [Erin Clerico]

While I still find the entire episode disconcerting, I applaud Erin and Weblogger.com for not only quickly understanding that a mistake was made, but having the class to apologize for it publicly. [Bruce] [Loebrich.org]

Quite a reaction in the 'sphere...
2:09:57 PM    


Automating the build process

Importance of the build process [cwinters.com]

I only have one thing to say: try Maven.
2:08:08 PM    


(?X)Emacs refactoring browser [cwinters.com]

I would dearly love to be able easily hack Java in XEmacs...
2:06:37 PM    


Lawyers and the IT profession

A weekend of bookwork for an assignment on IT Law has lead me to think about the weird symbiosis between IT and Law.

I have seen numerous examples of lawyers turned IT people. What are the similarities between law and IT?

Both profesions require you:

  • Be a bookworm,
  • Have great detail recall,
  • Be creative in working through a problem,
  • Have damn near photographic memory.

With the IT profession turning nasty, I am going to have problems not turning into a lawyer wanna be. Sad, but true.


11:54:13 AM    

Ultrawideband Wireless: Friend or Foe? [Smart Mobs]

I think it will be a Foe for the entrenched status quo.
10:00:33 AM    


Smart Mobs

Smart Mobs is live!. Howard Rheingold's new book, "Smart Mobs," is coming out next November. It's a hell of a book, about the ways that technology enable groups of people to spontaneously form and coordinate in response to current events -- from SMS-enabled Filipiino demonstrations over official censorship to ubiquitous Japanese kids who photograph everything with their DoCoMo phones and post them online all the time.

Howard's site, SmartMobs.com, is a blog that talks about technology and events that show smart mobs in action.

Interoperability Has Arrived for SMS {Shibuya Epiphany}

What if they had pounded the golden spike into the continental railroad and nobody noticed? That is essentially what happened in the United States cellular telephone world last spring. Since April it has been possible for the customers of any of the major United States cellular carriers to send one another short text messages, but most customers still have no idea the service exists.

Link

Discuss

(Thanks, Howard!) [Boing Boing Blog]

A book I must read. Oh, the "syndicate" link has been taken off of the front page template for the site, but it is hiding here.
9:59:29 AM    


MultiJava: Design, implementation, and evaluation.

This master's thesis describes a multiple dispatch extension to Java that makes Java more Lisp/CLOS-like. The extension:

...supports open classes and symmetric multiple dispatch. An open class is one to which new methods can be added without editing the class directly. Multiple dispatch allows the method invoked by a message send to depend on the run-time types of any subset of the argument objects. MultiJava is the first full-scale programming language to support these features while retaining modular static typechecking and compilation.

Method polymorphism in Java and the distinction between single and multiple dispatch is explained with examples in Multi-Dispatch in the Java Virtual Machine: Design and Implementation, Dutchyn, Lu, Szafron, Bromling and Holst . (MultiJava: Design, implementation, and evaluation of a Java-compatible language supporting modular open classes and symmetric multiple dispatch, Curtis Charles Clifton, 2001) [MultiJava Project Homepage]

[Lambda the Ultimate]

Cute
9:55:27 AM    


Smart iCal Mob

Want A Date? We All Cal With ICal. Web designer Patrick Crowley may have stumbled on the Web's next killer app. He just launched a website for sharing calendars using Apple's new calendaring program, iCal. Could Web calendars be the next big thing? By Leander Kahney. [Wired News]

This is going to explode. All we need now is the ability to publish links to the location of one's Calendar in one's rss feed ...
9:52:55 AM    


Small, light and silent open platform

Tiny Boxen [Slashdot]

At last, a baby computer designed to act as a firewall. YAY!
9:48:41 AM    


JMX Implementations

MC4J is released as open source. For those using JMX it looks like there's a new Swing based management console thats open sourced called MC4J. Might be worth a look; the screen shots look pretty good. [James Strachan's Radio Weblog]

Looks cool. That combined with MX4J seems to offer (from reading the webpages) a fairly comprehensive open source generic JMX solution.

[transMorphic]

I have to ask the stupid question, is sun going to allow these guys access to the Technology Compatibility Kit.
9:41:34 AM    


Lack of Critical Thinking

'A mob, no better than white men lynching black men in the south.'. Dave you're wrong again. Incredibly amazingly wrong. What an asshole.

Here's Dave's latest post before he "live-edits" (i.e. doublethinks it out of existance):

Courage on the Web

Yesterday the weblog community found a peaceful solution to a war that was brewing.

It was the world vs Erin Clerico. There were so many people savaging him, I didn't see anyone looking for a way out of the dispute betw Erin and blogger Dave Johnson. For some reason I got a lot of email about this. I told everyone that as far as I could tell Johnson was being a gentleman, and that even though I'm not a lawyer, it seemed that Erin didn't have much of a case (he was threatening to sue). But I also asked people to stop calling Erin names, and try to see it from his point of view. He's worked hard to build a business that people respect, and he's upset that someone is doing something that may harm his business. He has a valid point, and probably would back down if people would just listen. So that's what I did, I listened, and it worked, they both backed down and peace came about.

Proves a point, sometimes someone has to be strong for there to be peace. When everyone is cowardly except the person being attacked, there's no way out. That's why the logjam over RSS broke. Mark Pilgrim had the courage to get the facts. That was a big deal. Yesterday some of Erin's detractors called him a bully. He's not a bully, he was just scared, but they were bullies. A mob, no better than white men lynching black men in the south. No thinking going on. A blood sport. I am ashamed to be associated in any way with this. Think before you join a mob. Use your mind, and when you see people being cruel, have the guts to say it's wrong.

Bullies have a way of backing down when they feel the presence of just a tiny bit of courage. It takes courage to say "Let's find a way out of this." And that's how you can tell the difference betw the abuser and the abused. One doesn't want a way out, and the other desperately does.

Dave's capacity to manipulate and distort issues to serve his own interests is more and more astounding every day. The world vs poor Erin. Uh-huh. Erin was a complete jerk yesterday - using the word "lawyer" in any context against someone as cool as Dave Johnson (just like Winer was a complete jerk the other day using the word "police" in any context earlier this week). A bully in every sense of the word (just like Dave). Dave is obviously trying to protect and justify the actions of one of Userlands most visible clients. It's pitiful, really. And blatently see-through.

But whatever, that's business. What got me was his comparing those of us who came to Roller's defense quickly, loudly and verbosely to racists. Incredible! I know it's just another classic Winerism, but you've got to be kidding me. We're most likely the reason that Erin came to his senses (that and his lawyer laughing in his face...) later that day when he realized what a shit-storm he was kicking up. We weren't a Mob, we were vocal opponents and an injustice. (Sorta like those people working on RSS).

Let me make myself very, very clear: You're a complete fucking dickhead for saying that Dave Winer. Take it back. If you don't, YOU'RE the coward. Erin did a good job yesterday and redeemed himself. He backed off and apologized. Dave needs to learn A LOT about that.

-Russ [Russell Beattie Notebook]

Time to:

  • Ditch Radio
  • Unsubscribe from Dave

The second being easier than the first. Hmmm. :/
9:28:58 AM    


© Copyright 2002 Brett Morgan.



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blogchalk: Brett/Male/26-30. Lives in Australia/Sydney/Carlingford and speaks English. Spends 60% of daytime online. Uses a Faster (1M+) connection.
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