New Hampshire

In about twelve hours, we'll have a good indication about how the Democratic primary will shape up post-Iowa. I posted an Anybody-But-Bush post a few weeks ago, but I haven't picked any particular Dem to root for. To be honest, I'm most drawn to Dean and Edwards much more than any of the others in the field. I get a kick out of watching Dean campaign and I think he'd make a nice president. (I like his fiscal conservatism, deferring to states on some issues, and his style.) I like Edwards because he seems to have a better idea of the state of the nation and how to fix it than any of the other candidates. I also appreciate his style, and if the stuff I've heard is any indication, I think he'd cream Bush in the general election. I'm still holding out on choosing a horse in this race, but I hope both Dean and Edwards do well tonight.

Wow

Maybe one of these days, I can write as completely and calmly as Steven Den Beste. In this piece, he speaks of America's continuing revolution.

The Weekend

I've been pretty lazy today. Between answering a few Books-related e-mails and lounging my through the first three discs of Star Trek: TNG Season One, I've not really accomplished all that much. This next week will be spent in California and I imagine that it'll be busy. The first half of the week is at an educational technologies conference in San Diego and the rest of the week will be spent in San Francisco talking to the Internet Archive and Creative Commons about further things that we can do with Oyez. Continue...

Reviewing Discrete Math

I have to make a confession. As an undergrad, I absolutely despised my discrete math course at Princeton. It was taught by Andrew Yao, who is a figure of some importance in the field (including winning the Turing Award), but couldn't seem to teach in a way that made the material relevant or interesting. So, I took the course twice. The first time, I dropped it before the midterm, and the second time, I limped along with the help of my friend Stephany. Continue...

Repurposing This Blog

Over the next few days, I'll be repurposing this weblog from a general technology weblog to one focused on my year-long quest to get into computer science graduate school and get a PhD. At the moment, I'm in the process of starting to shore up my computer science and mathematics background by revisiting discrete math, algorithms, and complexity courses that I studied as an undergraduate. This site will serve as a public journal and log of that process. Hopefully it'll be useful to others pursuing similar paths.

Creative Class War

Creative Class War is an article about how the US is changing with respect to creative workers and how this is changing things. (Great description, huh?)

Batman: Hush

Batman: Hush comes in two seperate volumes. Volume One is the first five issues where Batman is tripped by an unknown figure and he goes on the search for his unknown assailant. He encounters Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, and a host of additional characters (in addition to the mandatory mano-y-mano against Superman). Volume Two is the last seven issues of the twelve part arc where Batman continues to search for the identity of Hush. This volume takes a wonderful trip down Batman's past and present and the reader is left guessing and figuring out the identity of Hush before the rug is pulled out from under him and you see that you were wrong from the beginning. I'm trying not to post any spoilers (hard for a mystery story like this), but I believe that "Hush" may be the perfect Batman story. All of the elements are there -- Batman and co., the villians, the mystery, the twists and turns, and then the resolution. It's all there in spades.

Bah

I haven't been writing too much as I've been really busy over the past few weeks. Between work, Books, and other things, it's hard to justify the time and energy and attention to write a quick quip here or there. For those curious about what's been going on, read more below. Continue...

Weapons of Math Instruction

I don't know where this comes from originally, but Jerry Goldman sent this to me via e-mail this morning. It's quite funny. Read it. Continue...

Saddam

Radley Balko is posting a number of good Saddam-capture pictures. Enjoy.

Dean on Iowa Caucuses

Open foot, insert mouth. (You're welcome, Paladin.)

Trying to discuss things online...

... often feels like you're banging your head against a wall.

More Money to be Spent on Tivo

It looks like Tivo is will be doing some interesting things this year. Microsoft an others are trying to move into this home media convergence market, but my money is on Tivo at the moment. If they provide strong Mac / iLife support and integration, I'm theirs for life. If not, I may switch to someone who will provide Mac support.

Stupid Word of the Day

Webinar - Webinars are web-based seminars.  By using a telephone and the internet, a broad audience of attendees can participate in a seminar without having to leave their desks. The moron that coined this word should be taken out and shot. Why not call a web-based meeting a web-eeting or something like that. Gawd, I hate stupid words.

"What is MacOS X?"

It's a fascinating article at KernelTrap.

Yeah. That's what I meant to say.

Daring Fireball describes today's keynote. My sentiments, exactly.

"Vote NO for Jesus"

This is a funny Pat Robertson parody about voting for Jesus in 2004.

Atom Slideshow

Some of my work projects use RSS as a core part of their architectures. This slide show is a good presentation on another RSS take called Atom.

Media Concentration? Not?

I just found this piece challenging the conventional wisdom behind media consolidation and mergers in the entertainment industry. The author argues that we're better off because of deregulation, and an utopian vision where no large companies were involved in media production and dissemination would be a disaster. This goes contrary to what I've been thinking for some time, so it's nice to find something that may make me reconsider.

Lack of Posts

I apologize for the lack of posts as of late. It's not that I haven't been doing and researching interesting things, it's just that I haven't had the time or energy to write about it. Books is progressing nicely and some of the weblog stuff has taken off at work. I'll be posting again one of these days, once things slow down a bit.

"Only in America"

Watch our illustrious leaders have a bit of fun a few years ago. (1996?) This is really funny.

Due Process

I've seen mention of criticism of Howard Dean regarding his thoughts that Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein deserve the same due process as everyone else from people like James Carville. Now, I'll be the first to say that Dean has said some really stupid stuff, but is it really a political gaffe these days to suggest that criminals in their trials should not receive the same due process as everyone else? Isn't that the point of a fair and impartial judiciary? Why should it be necessary to make exceptions (Do people fear that Saddam and Osama could get off the hook in a real trial?), and once we start making exceptions, where do we draw the line?

For what it's worth, I'm firmly against the way that Bush and Co. has handled Gitmo. I understand the need for extracting intelligence, but I find it suspect that every member of the Gitmo gulag has a useful secret and has to be sequestered indefinitely.

Mandatory 2004 Predictions / Resolutions Post

So I was surfing NetNewsWire and saw that lots of blogging folk had been posting their predictions and resolutions. I've gotten a bit of a start on this, but I might as well finish. Continue...

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Recent Entries
New Hampshire
Wow
The Weekend
Creative Class War
Bah
Weapons of Math Instruction
Saddam
Dean on Iowa Caucuses
Trying to discuss things online...
More Money to be Spent on Tivo