Tuesday, February 11, 2003

I haven't been able to download Konfabulator, but the buzz is strong. Traditionally this sort of thing (tools to help non-programmers make simple things) have been sneared at, but hypercard, visual basic and javascript can get things done (even if inelegantly). 11:09:22 AM     Salon has printed an excerpt from Arianna Huffington's new book Pigs at the Trough. Watching Arianna is interesting sport. She was closely associated with Newt Gingrich and is widely viewed as the brains behind Michael Huffington's hyper-spendy campaign to beat Senator Feinstein. Somehow, over the years, she has been taking up the causes of the left - often more so than the currently enfeebled Democrats. Every interview I've seen with her recently paints a slightly different story - she seems to see herself as something of a populist. It is unclear if she has had her fifteen minutes, but she seems very focused against Bush/Cheney and Socialism for the rich. Her ties to McCain are very strong and, if Bush's star sets, it is easy to imagine her focusing her populist message through him. All of this brings up the interesting issue of populism ... what Bush and the Republicans call class warfare. The Democrats seem unwilling to use this chip (and many political and social reasons have been cited), but is the public getting weary of CEO wealth and excess? 7:52:51 AM     Hey dude, you're getting a cell. They cynic would say that perhaps he is trying to polish his image for his target audience now that he is off the air. 7:26:44 AM     Andrew Seybold has a piece on why the WiFi hotspot business is doomed. I've been looking at similar issues for the past few months and, while I don't agree with the details his anaylsis (the need for a T3 is bogus as are some of his other assumptions), I do agree that this is a very silly business that will probably look like a mini telcom bubble a year or so from now. It would be interesting to see if people would be hot to invest in these business plan free ventures if they did serious analysis of actual useage studies. An old article to think about when considering such ventures. 6:46:14 AM     Let's say a SUV just doesn't do it for you. If you don't have a huge amount of money, but really know your way around a shop there are all of those surplus gas turbines singing their siren song. Why not a boat. A boat indeed. (esp check out the movies) 6:27:20 AM

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