Back-room dealing a Capitol trend. First of three parts WASHINGTON — Dismayed that the technology company Accenture had located its headquarters in Bermuda, thereby avoiding paying hundreds of millions of dollars in US taxes, the House Appropriations Committee voted 35-17 this summer to strip the firm of a $10 billion Homeland Security contract. It was… Continue reading Back-room dealing a Capitol trend
Author: Vince Kimball
NYT
NYT. Friedman is taking strategy cues straight out of Boyd…. We're in trouble in Iraq. We have to immediately get the Democratic and Republican politics out of this policy and start honestly reassessing what is the maximum we can still achieve there and what every American is going to have to do to make it… Continue reading NYT
Tinker With Your Computer, and Reap the Rewards
Tinker With Your Computer, and Reap the Rewards. While Microsoft and Google dominate Internet browsing and search, smaller companies offer worthy alternatives. By JAMES FALLOWS. [The New York Times > Technology]
The McDonalds of open source software
The McDonalds of open source software. SourceLabs is a brand new company headed up by Byron Sebastian with Brad Silverberg on the board. They want to bring the advantages of commercial support, mostly dependable integration and accountability, to open source software. I've been reading their website to find out how they intend to make money… Continue reading The McDonalds of open source software
More on the Debate
More on the Debate. OK, I do have more to say on Bush, Kerry and the debate. Thursday night, we got to see the real George W. Bush: a small man who requires excessive handling, out of touch with the American people and out of touch with reality. Most of the time he stayed within… Continue reading More on the Debate
IP telephony: Why wait?
InfoWorld: IP telephony: Why wait? Jon Udell. Ironically, 1994 was the year in which Byte Magazine's computer telephony cover story — which I wrote — proclaimed that integrated voice/data applications were right around the corner. Here we are in 2004, and they're still right around the corner. What went wrong? [Tomalak's Realm]
My year with the PowerBook
My year with the PowerBook. In this week's InfoWorld column, I look back on my first year of using a PowerBook as my primary work machine: About a year ago, I enthusiastically switched to OS X running on a PowerBook laptop. Since then IÂ’ve experienced the ups and downs of managing enterprise IT from a… Continue reading My year with the PowerBook
'Will in the World': Reinventing Shakespeare
'Will in the World': Reinventing Shakespeare. Stephen Greenblatt, a leading Renaissance scholar, weaves a life from threadbare facts. By COLM TOIBIN. [The New York Times > Books]
Cybersecurity Chief Takes a Hike
Cybersecurity Chief Takes a Hike. The director of Homeland Security's National Cyber Security Division quits, giving one day's notice. His resignation comes during a push by the tech industry and several lawmakers to make cybersecurity a higher priority. [Wired News]
Mini Harper's index on Iraq:
- Monthly average of US casualties (wounded and killed) during the invastion: 482
- Monthly average of US casualties during the occupation: 415
- Monthly average of US casualties since the transition to Iraqi rule: 747
- The number of attacks on the Iraqi oil industry in April 2004: 4
- The number of attacks on the Iraqi oil industry in June 2004: 12
- The number of attacks on the Iraqi oil industry in August 2004: 21
- Oil prices (five year contract) 1991-2001: ~$20
- Oil prices (five year contract) 2004: $35
- Estimate of guerrilla insurgents in Iraq as of November 2003: 5,000
- Estimate of guerrilla insurgents in Iraq as of September 2004: 20,000
- Unofficial estimates of guerrilla insurgents in Iraq as of today: 40,000 – 50,000
- Average yearly cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: ~$82 billion (what was spent so far and the $87 billion requested for 2005 for warfighting and reconstruction).
- Average yearly cost of the Vietnam war (today's dollars): $61.8 billion
[John Robb's Weblog
Mini Harper's index on Iraq: Monthly average of US casualties (wounded and killed) during the invastion: 482 Monthly average of US casualties during the occupation: 415 Monthly average of US casualties since the transition to Iraqi rule: 747 The number of attacks on the Iraqi oil industry in April 2004: 4 The number of attacks… Continue reading Mini Harper's index on Iraq:
- Monthly average of US casualties (wounded and killed) during the invastion: 482
- Monthly average of US casualties during the occupation: 415
- Monthly average of US casualties since the transition to Iraqi rule: 747
- The number of attacks on the Iraqi oil industry in April 2004: 4
- The number of attacks on the Iraqi oil industry in June 2004: 12
- The number of attacks on the Iraqi oil industry in August 2004: 21
- Oil prices (five year contract) 1991-2001: ~$20
- Oil prices (five year contract) 2004: $35
- Estimate of guerrilla insurgents in Iraq as of November 2003: 5,000
- Estimate of guerrilla insurgents in Iraq as of September 2004: 20,000
- Unofficial estimates of guerrilla insurgents in Iraq as of today: 40,000 – 50,000
- Average yearly cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: ~$82 billion (what was spent so far and the $87 billion requested for 2005 for warfighting and reconstruction).
- Average yearly cost of the Vietnam war (today's dollars): $61.8 billion