links, random thoughts, various opinions
The IT Industry Is Shifting Away From Microsoft
“We are experiencing a major IT industry shift right now, and if you know where to look you can actually see it as it happens. This shift is all about Microsoft and open source.”
A particularly funny quote…
“In its wisdom, Microsoft decided to squeeze the users a little, and […]
Merry Christmas, Peace on Earth and goodwill to all men.
Best Wishes for 2004 everyone…and thanks for putting up with me through 2003 (not easy I know).
From Frank Rich, New York Times (Sunday Dec. 21/03)
“Should Dr. Dean actually end up running against President Bush next year, an utterly asymmetrical battle will be joined. The Bush-Cheney machine is a centralized hierarchy reflecting its pre-digital C.E.O. ethos (and the political training of Karl Rove); it is accustomed to broadcasting to voters from on […]
List of 5ives.
The RIAA Succeeds Where the Cypherpunks Failed
“For years, the US Government has been terrified of losing surveillance powers over digital communications generally, and one of their biggest fears has been broad public adoption of encryption. If the average user were to routinely encrypt their email, files, and instant messages, whole swaths of public communication currently […]
Three late takeoffs…two missed connections…four airports…no luggage…24 hours. Definitely glad to be home in rainy Vancouver though.
I was flying through Oslo airport quite a bit last year…this year I’ve only been to Oslo once, until Thursday night. I could feel the crisp air even before the plane door opened and the comforting smell of 7-11 hot dogs which are all over this country (that’s not necessarily a bad thing since […]
NYTimes - New intelligence agency within the FBI recommended
“Yuck; YABS (yet another bureaucratic silo) will not work. The flow of the information is limited (a single degree of freedom) and it promotes information hoarding. What would happen if the FBI, the CIA, state and local law enforcement, the military (intelligence, special ops, line commands), and any […]
Clinton’s Final Answer
“But don’t leave the little guys out. You know, I come from a little town in Arkansas. I was born in a town of 6,000 people, in a state that’s had an income just about half the national average. I’ve got a cousin who lives in Arkansas — he’s a small businessman, he […]
A friend who travels as much as me (it would seem) asked me for the best wifi in London…check out Foyle’s Cafe. There’s a huge O’Reilly book section too.
It’s Sunday morning, drinking coffee in a very Vancouver’esque style coffee bar, listening to jazz and using free wifi with a very strong signal (that doesn’t […]
From the latest Cringley article - No Confidence Vote: Why the Current Touch Screen Voting Fiasco Was Pretty Much Inevitable
“Voting is nothing more than gathering and validating data on a huge scale, which these days is almost entirely the province of IT. And like many other really big IT projects, this touch screen voting […]
After a few weeks of tavelling or working on the weekends I’ve had my first free Saturday in awhile. Was supposed to head out of the city with some friends but it didn’t work out so ended up wandering all over Christmas crazy London. The hotel does suck but it’s in a cool […]
The stupidist conceit of the software business is that commodities are bad.
Finally arrived in London, after my Hong Kong plane (and Singapore plane) both couldn’t take off (not complaining, safety first) and I spent a few hours wandering the streets of Singapore.
Of course I’m at Starbucks using the excellent T-Mobile Hotspot service, even though the hotel I booked - Best Western Shaftsebury promises broadband […]