Pope Rules Quietly, Quietly, but Maybe Actively, Actively. Pope Benedict XVI is showing signs of a papacy that moves quietly but where “nevertheless, changes are happening.” By IAN FISHER. [NYT > Home Page]

Opinions and free software. Taking an opinionated view to open source software may seem risky, but it pays off.. . . Here are a few wishes for some free software projects that I want to see succeed further, but which really need to get opinionated to be effective. These projects aren't failing, but they're not… Continue reading Opinions and free software

Weather Threatens to Continue to Disrupt Holiday Travel. Light snow in the Midwest helped produce two-hour delays at some airports, while a tanker fire near Washington slowed traffic. By JENNIFER BAYOT. [NYT > Home Page]

Losing the Moral Conflict at Home I've been discussing moral conflict over at GG . However, it's likely the US government lost the moral conflict here at home well before the events of Iraq spun out of control. Here's what I mean. Moral cohesion comes from making connections. One of the most important connection to… Continue reading Losing the Moral Conflict at Home

Zubbles: Technicolor Bubbles. Popular Science has a wonderful feature about colored bubbles. The inventor, Tim Kehoe, spent 11 years figuring out a way to make bubbles with color that disappeared after the pop. And then the bubbles broke—on the kids, on the parents, on cars, on Haddleton's prized German Shepherds. It looked like there had… Continue reading Zubbles: Technicolor Bubbles

The fine art of programming. Here's a list of excellent online programming guides that i am compiling. I will add more links as time permits. How to be a Programmer: A Short, Comprehensive, and Personal Summary, Robert L Read: Not short, but excellent distillation of one man's programming wisdom. The Art of Unix Programming, Eric… Continue reading The fine art of programming

To Tech or Not to Tech? – Article. Here's the Key. You must choose technology on the basis of whether it helps you be who you are and do what you want better than the other alternatives that you are considering. There are several consequences of this approach. First, my best technology choices will not… Continue reading To Tech or Not to Tech? – Article

Niall Kennedy: “I created a Simple Sharing Extensions exporter for NetNewsWire followed links as a proof of concept.” [Scripting News]

The enterprise evaluation of Rails vs Java. Rick Bradley has kindly shared the evaluation document that was part of the decision for picking Rails over Java for the rewrite of CenterNet. Their enterprise health care system. On top of that, Rick has started a blog to follow the project through. Right on.  [Riding Rails]

Microsoft SSE Thoughts. Everyone knows Ray Ozzie is my hero right? I spent the first several years of my professional career as a Lotus Notes developer, and even worked for Lotus itself for a brief stint in 1996, so you can imagine what an Ozzie disciple I am. I even was able to pay fealty… Continue reading Microsoft SSE Thoughts