An early start to the morning. Late yesterday I installed the latest version of the Mac OS - 10.2 - on my machine. In a word it is wonderful so far. Any owner of a recent Mac should consider it and anyone who is interested in a (nominally) bsd based machine that also happens to run Mac software should consider moving to the platform.
It is delightful not to be tied to Redmond.
so I'll surf a bit while it is installing on my laptop ...
I haven't completely digested the current NSF report on public attitudes towards science and technology, but there are some chilling numbers on scientific understanding in the US.
for adult Americans
30% believe that UFOs are space vehicles from other civilizations
60% believe in ESP
52% do not believe in astrology (!) with 41% saying that it was science (!!)
32% believe in lucky numbers
70% lack a basic understanding of the scientific process
http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/seind02/c0/c0s1.htm
Mark Jenkins has a nice piece blaming the recording industry (rather than file sharing on the Internet) for their current woes.
He makes reference to the recent Forrester Report and discusses mechanisms whereby the industry fails to create interesting product for their audiences.
http://slate.msn.com/?id=2069732
I am increasingly of the opinion that we are watching the owners of a failed business model lashing out at whatever they can to protect their way of doing business. They will ultimately fail as they are not providing sufficient content for the consumer. They are either stupid or evil. Musician friends suggest both.
A few months ago Janis Ian wrote a two pieces on music, copyright and the industry. The Mercury News recently published a short interview with her on the same subject.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/3914595.htm
Remember Hypercard? Bill Atkinson, its creator, left the tech world some time ago and is now a nature photographer. And a good one at that..
http://www.billatkinson.com/
If you have an important gift coming up and can't decide if it is going to be a chocolate cake or the large sheep, perhaps this Ethiopian site can be of use. (being a vegetarian I'll take the cake)
http://www.ethiolink.com/EthioGift/index.cgi
12:23:10 AM 
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