I now have a skeleton blog up on my domain. I still need to clean all of the default crap out and apply a style more to my liking (read: dark), but it's there.

I love the article entry page in blogger, but it'll be nice to have my own little project that I can hack at.

I've been entirely too serious lately, so here's a snippet from Bash.org for my amusement. If it amuses you too, that's just gravy. =)

Cobra: so i was watching a pr0n
Thunder: wait
Thunder: why u guys always say pr0n instead of porn ??
Thunder: has been kicked by Guardian (No porn on this channel !)
Cobra: ...
Cobra: so i was watching a pr0n

Has it just been me, or have the last few years seemed almost surreal? Specifically, there are a number of emperors with no clothes on, each with a legion of inexplicably rabid supporters.

Emperor the first: GW Bush. Forged Nigerian Uranium claim against Iraq, leaked memo suggesting that war was intended independent of Iraqi action, prison torture, lawless wiretaps, outing of a CIA agent and more (read about it all here
). It's like the Simpson's episode where Burns' ailments are so numerous that they hold each other in check. The marvel of Bush's second term isn't how low his approval ratings are. It's how high they are.

Emperor the second: Microsoft. OS is 4 years late and no one seems to notice.

Emperor the third: Tom DeLay. Two indictments, two convicted staffers and he still has a shot at winning his party's nomination for the next election.

These three emperors suggest a further question: what has to happen before anyone will notice their nudity?

The coalition of ideological forces that support the Republican establishment in our country depends on near-absolute faith in two books: the Bible and The Wealth of Nations. I hypothesize that the majority of the party is devoted to the doctrines of one or the other.

I won't address the first here, but I feel that complete faith in the second is folly. I propose that the vaunted "market forces" fail in some major categories of public policy. One of these is the social version of the prisoner's dilemma (aka "Tragedy of the Commons"). Another is the mistaken attempt to apply market principles to sectors that fail to qualify as true commodities.

The real world implications of these two fallacies are diverse: SUV safety regulations, school vouchers, health care systems, environmental protections and who knows what else fall into those categories. Unfortunately, when all you've got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. It's time to add more tools to the tool chest than just Jesus and Adam Smith.

More to follow if I get around to it and if I overcome my angst over seeming pompous and/or preachy.

While I'm on an the anti-MS warpath, wouldn't "Snowcrash" be a great codename for the next Windows version?

"I'm sorry. The number you have reached is imaginary. Please rotate your phone 90 degrees and try again."

Just thought I'd share that.

I used to think that being a speed trap cop would suck. Occasionally you get to really help out - respond to an accident and save a life, catch a drunk driver, even help change a tire. Mostly though, you're ruining people's days. Every single day, the majority of folks with whom you have direct contact are worse off for it. I have great respect for those guys because they show up every day anyhow. Deep down they understand (or at last convince themselves) that they are keeping the roadways safe for everyone.

While reading the latest installment in the IE saga, I wondered what it's like to code on IE. You have to know that professional web developers curse your product with near unanimity. You have to know that your users are having their data and identities stolen. You have to know that your product exists not to provide value or innovation, but to prevent the ascendance of other companies that would do so. How on earth do you come to work each day when your "contribution" to society ruins the days of those who travel the information superhighway?

I'm a programmer and I love my job. Our customers voluntarily spend lots of money on our products, then call us to tell us how happy they are with them. I honestly don't know how MS manages to keep their team staffed.

It's been a rough  day  for  Microsoft.

I stumbled into an interesting post-Katrina piece. Highlights:

• "If your conversation partner had flooding and you did not, etiquette dictates that you are now the listener in the conversation, even if your roof blew off and both your dogs died."


• "It's odd that an impromptu autumn of exile that went Houston-Tulsa (tire blowout) - Indianapolis (fuel pump failure)- Philadelphia - Ontario - Boston with a 6-year-old and 18-month-old is considered doing well, but there it is."


• "I tend not to drive on main thoroughfares because we are still sorely lacking in functional stoplights."

Yeah, so moderation is off. I just wanted to duck whatever "new blog created" buzz there must have been that was earning me the attention of the grievers. The set of people who are grievers is unfortunately the same as the set of people who make up a large portion of the internet. Young people have lots of free time -> immature people are bored on the internet.