A Lesson on Influencing Adults
When the news broke yesterday that Fred Rogers had died, it was amazing to see how many adults still remembered the Mr. Rogers show and even were personally moved by the show in later life. I think it...
View ArticleFred Rogers stories continue
Since my earlier article on Fred Rogers, A Lesson on Influencing Adults, more people have been doing stories on Fred and his impact (or not) to people. One of the best was Diane Rehm’s interview with...
View ArticleSwitching to a Hydrogen Economy
With the USA’s continuing oil-fueled interventionism in the mideast, one thing we should be thinking about is solving the whole problem at its root. To that end, Peter Schwartz and Doug Randall have...
View ArticleThe Military’s Class Divide
An article in the Village Voice discusses the difference between the socio-economic backgrounds of those in charge of the military and those fighting on the ground. One thing that is clear from this is...
View ArticleMartin Luther King vs. Bush
“Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.” That powerful quote by Martin Luther King, Jr., sums up what those of us opposed to the war in Iraq said,...
View ArticleBabylon 5, Sherlock Holmes, and Blogging
I am a person that is easily fascinated. I find the might of a massive steam locomotive almost a century old to be fascinating, and I think that the nanoscale engines now in development are fascinating...
View ArticleDumb Words: \”Sticktoitiveness\”
It seems that a lot of people are using the word “stick-to-it-iveness”. There’s even a page for potential authors that lists “stick-to-it-iveness” as a critical trait. As this excellent rant points...
View ArticleFDR\’s unfinished revolution
Salon has an article titled FDR’s unfinished revolution detailing FDR’s proposal for a second bill of rights that, more or less, never happened. There’s also some speculation on what would happen...
View ArticleVirginia Law Accidentally Gives People Weekends off
Check out CNN.com – Working for the weekend? – Jul 1, 2004. I’ve just got to ask — what’s so bad about letting people have either Saturday or Sunday off, and 24 consecutive hours off in a week? I think...
View ArticleRedefining Patriotism
To many Americans, it seems that patriotism is the flag-waving unquestioning devotion to the United States and its armed forces. July 4th and Memorial Day bring out these sentiments everywhere, and we...
View ArticleJohn Gilmore on inflight activism, spam and sarongs
As always, John Gilmore is funny, witty, and thought-provoking. Check out his latest interview at GrepLaw: John Gilmore on inflight activism, spam and sarongs.
View ArticleThe Olympics: Be Searched for Unauthorized Flags
There are two interesting stories about the Olympics over at Slashdot. First is a chilling story about the restrictions placed on athletes. They are not allowed to blog about the Olympics while it’s...
View ArticleA Typical American Day
A new study has a lot of interesting tidbits about the habits of Americans — who does more work around the house, who works more, and what we do in our free time. Some of the statistics are a little...
View ArticleReducing Health Care Costs While Expanding Coverage
I heard an interesting interview on KMUW this morning while driving in to work. They were talking to Kansas Governer Kathleen Sibelius about her health care reform package. One point she kept making is...
View ArticleEnjoy Being Slower
There’s a nice article in the Philadelphia Inquirer about how time seems to stop sometimes when you travel by train. It’s a good read. The site has an annoying registration system. bugmenot.com will...
View ArticleToday’s Reading
I think I’ve enjoyed every Paul Graham essay I’ve ever read. He’s got a new one: What You’ll Wish You’d Known, a speech he was going to give at a high school. He persuasively undercuts most graduation...
View ArticleSome Snapshots of Rural Life
Terah has an amusing series about small-town mechanics. In part 1, she talks to the mechanic. He doesn’t know of me, or my name… until she mentions what car I drive. Then he knows exactly who I am. In...
View ArticleYou might not live in the country if…
with apologies to Jeff Foxworthy… You might not live in the country if… you ever say “depending on the traffic” when estimating how long it takes to get somewhere you never say “but I can’t come if the...
View ArticleWomen in Computing/Linux
Hanna Wallach wrote recently about the article HOWTO encourage women in Linux. I had read that article some years back, maybe in 2002 when it was first written, but it is interesting to re-visit it. It...
View ArticleThe Long Emergency
The Long Emergency is a fascinating account of one author’s predications of shrinking oil capabilities and the results on American life. Sounds plausible to me; but even if you don’t agree, it’s still...
View ArticleYAPGE: PR Firms
In today’s installment of Yet Another Paul Graham Essay, he’s talking about PR firms. The article begins like this: “Suits make a corporate comeback,” says the New York Times. Why does this sound...
View ArticleDefining Moments
Terah has an interesting post about defining moments — usually some tragedy — that shape the world view of a generation. She mentions Pearl Harber, Kennedy, and the Challenger explosion. I can’t really...
View Article24-hour news == crap
Today, CNN turns 25. To that I say: bah. CNN was once useful. As we were traveling last week, we spent time in different waiting rooms. One had Fox news on; another, CNN. I had never really seen Fox...
View ArticleAmish and cell phones
Wired has an interesting story about the Amish, their philosophy towards technology (it’s a lot more complex than you might think), and the approach to cell phones (which are starting to appear).
View ArticleSmall Town Festivals
Just over a week ago, Threshing Days took place in my hometown (population: 550). Yes, the event that causes the town’s population to swell to many times its normal levels for a few days. This year, I...
View ArticleControl Room
Have you ever wondered why so many Arabs hate Americans? Why they view us as occupiers? Why they want to be rid of both Saddam Hussein and us? We watched Control Room tonight. What a fascinating...
View ArticleCliff, This Link’s For You
I haven’t had a chance to check this out much yet, but it sounds interesting, and I think Cliff would love it: The Fray is a site where people tell stories and others comment on those stories, and once...
View ArticleTuttle, OK city manager offered choice about being an idiot
I just read a story on The Register entitled Oklahoma city threatens to call FBI over “renegade” Linux maker. Quite hilarious. Apparently Jerry Taylor, city manager for Tuttle, Oklahoma, noticed that...
View ArticleToday’s New Word: “Tuttled”
So remember Jerry Taylor, the man from Tuttle, OK that threatened to call the FBI on a Linux vendor because an unrelated hosting company had misconfigured Apache? Well, this story is just getting...
View ArticleSmall-Town Banks
Last year, I wrote about a small town funeral home. Today it’s time to write about small town banks. So last Saturday, Terah and I went to the bank in the town we’re going to be closest to (population...
View ArticleWe need to follow the Amish example
Just a few weeks ago, the world heard the news of the tragic school shooting at an Amish school in rural Pennsylvania. A deranged man entered the schoolhouse, bound and gagged female hostages, brought...
View ArticleSociety’s Views of Dads
Back before Jacob was born, I was reading The Expectant Father: Facts, Tips, and Advice for Dads-to-Be, 2nd ed. by Armin A. Brott and Jennifer Ash. It was a good book and I recommend it. Towards the...
View ArticleThe Climate Crisis
Wow. We just watched An Inconvenient Truth. Not much in there was new to me, but to see it all presented at once is amazing. There are vast undisputed scientific facts out there — for instance, that...
View ArticleYoung People NOT Delinquent?
Here’s an interesting and probably controversial article. It starts with: When I hear people my age (35+) rip the younger generation I usually keep my mouth shut. But I have something I need to say, so...
View ArticleDeath sure is cost-effective, isn’t it?
I just read Death Be Not Proud (But It Is Cost-Effective) by Chez Pazienza. In his story, Chez talks about his stay in the hospital to have a marble-sized brain tumor removed. Across the room during...
View ArticleA Realistic View of the Economy
Yesterday, I read an article on CNN called From $70K to food bank. It describes a woman who was laid off in February from a job paying $70,000 a year. “Weeks later”, with bills “piling up and in need...
View ArticleHope
Our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. . . Our security emanates from the justness of our cause; the force of our example; the tempering qualities of humility and...
View ArticleReview: Travel as a Political Act by Rick Steves
Rick Steves is known for writing books, and producing public TV shows, about travel to Europe. He encourages people to get out of their comfort zone, advocates staying in homes instead of hotels, and...
View ArticleMusic Powerful and Fun
Sometimes there’s nothing quite so heartwarming as hearing a 4-year-old that doesn’t think anybody is listening. When Jacob is all alone in his room, sometimes he will sing. Maybe it’s a song he knows,...
View ArticleGeeks, Hobbies, and Free/Open Source: Feedback Wanted
I’ve been thinking lately about ways to improve ways in which I interact with Free Software projects, and ways in which they interact with me. Before I proceed to take steps or make suggestions, I’d...
View ArticleCrazy Enough?
So far this year, I’ve read somewhere in the neighborhood of 5000 pages. As I’ve started to read more, I’ve started to watch TV, movies, and Youtube less, because they are simply boring and shallow in...
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The world is still a good place
At times like these, it is easy to think of the world as a cold, evil place. Perhaps in some ways, it is. I saw this quote from Fred Rogers floating around today: When I was a boy and I would see scary...
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