Month: June 2004

MSFT cuts the cord

Joel on Software – How Microsoft Lost the API War:

How Microsoft Lost the API War

So Joel is in a funk that MSFT has lost its way: by cutting off compatibility with older applications, it’s alienating its base.

I was surprised to learn than its common to write special code in windows to account for application bugs, to preserve their longevity through upgrades. So a program that took advantage of some quirk or other in WIN98 but breaks in 2000 would have had some exception code written to accommodate it.

This seems dumb to me: if you go to the trouble of publishing specs and practically giving away tools (Joel talks about the thin line between wooing developers and wiping out makers of competing tools), wouldn’t it be easier and more sensible to push those changes back to the developer and reduce the reliance on these accommodations? Could this explain the notorious flakiness of Windows in general?
Continue reading “MSFT cuts the cord”

misunderestimated or misdiagnosed?

Whiskey Bar: At a Loss for Words:

Now the idea that the 43rd president of the United States may have a severe, probably undiagnosed, learning disability isn’t a very original thought. (In his book, Dr. Levine also mentions that such disabilities sometimes seem inherited. Anyone who remembers 41’s own ferocious, but losing, battles with the English language might suspect the same.)

Billmon mentions this documentary as a helpful guide to understanding learning disabilities, some of which seem to be diagnosed as personality traits rather than problems.

He goes on to cite more of Dr Levine’s work, especially with the incarcerated, documenting the link between poor linguistic ability and impulse control:

In other words, those who can’t articulate their own thoughts may be literally incapable of talking themselves out of doing dangerous and/or illegal things – like, say, trading arms for hostages, or secretly subsidizing a Central American guerrilla army, or invading a large Middle Eastern country. As Levine says: “If you can’t talk out your temptations, you capitulate.”

Bill Clinton had his own issues with self-control but I don’t recall anyone dying as a result of any of it . . .

You can always tell a Harvard man, but you can’t tell him much

LawMeme – How Not to Shutter a Service: Weblogs.com Goes Dark:

Dave Winer says you can trust him. Can you?

There’s something funny about a Yalie taking apart Dave Winer — a Fellow at the Berkman Center at Harvard University — and his cavalier attitude towards people who trusted him with their work. Not that I would sanction intra-Ivy League pissing contests . . .

Thank goodness I read this before my curiosity got the better of me and I actually listened to the audio posting that serves as Dave’s idea of customer service: ten minutes? I saw a posting yesterday that suggested his friends perform an intervention in case he does himself some harm: perhaps there’s something to that.

Things you have to believe to be a Republican today

So if you don’t buy into all of these, do you have to start thinking for yourself?

1. Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you’re a conservative radio host. Then it’s an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery.

2. The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq.

3. Government should relax regulation of Big Business and Big Money but crack down on individuals who use marijuana to relieve the pain of illness.

4. “Standing Tall for America” means firing your workers and moving their jobs to India.

5. A woman can’t be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multi-national corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.

6. Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton.

7. The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches while slashing veterans’ benefits and combat pay.

8. Group sex and drug use are degenerate sins unless you someday run for governor of California as a Republican.

9. If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won’t have sex.

10. A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our long-time allies, then demand their cooperation and money.

11. HMOs and insurance companies have the interest of the public at heart.

12. Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy. Providing health care to all Americans is socialism.

13. Global warming and tobacco’s link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.

14. Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush’s daddy made war on him, a good guy when Cheney did business with him and a bad guy when Bush needed a “we can’t find Bin Laden” diversion.

15. A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense. A president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.

16. Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.

17. The public has a right to know about Hillary’s cattle trades, but George Bush’s military record is none of our business.

18. You support states’ rights, which means Attorney General John Ashcroft can tell states what local voter initiatives they have a right to adopt.

19. What Bill Clinton did in the 1960s is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the ’80s is irrelevant.

20. Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

Happy Bloomsday

cloudy, chance of sun breaks: makes me glad I can’t afford the Bloomsday Centennial:

I’d love to be part of a civil disobedience campaign where the readings go as planned but everyone identifies himself as a character in the novel: let the Joyce family find themselves in court against Leopold Bloom, Stephen Daedalus, and the rest of the people in Joyce’s work.

I wonder if anyone took up this or any similar ideas? It’s silly, to say nothing of impractical, to prosecute for this. The original link was to Larry Lessig: I can’t recall if he explains the Euro copyright and how it permits this.

And a tip of the peaked cap to Google:
james_joyce

new MT3 licensing, still no reason to upgrade

Six Log: Announcing Pricing & Licensing Changes to Movable Type

While I’m glad the licenses are being hammered on, a marked difference from Dave “I’ve known for awhile that I couldn’t do this but couldn’t be bothered to let anyone know” Winer’s attitude, I’ll be waiting to see some news of improved performance and features before I do anything.

respect is all you have in a reputation/gift economy

Many-to-Many: MT Licensing vs Weblogs.com Shutdown:

Last month, Six Apart changed the terms of their software licensing, for a new product. Public reaction was swift and scathing. Hundreds of users tracked back to Mena’s announcement of the changes, most of them outraged by the lack of warning, and the impact on current users. (I was one of those who expressed concerns.) [ . . . ] And, as many people pointed out, their announcements had no effect on existing sites, which continued to run under the original license.

In contrast, this past weekend, Dave Winer pulled the plug on ~3,000 weblogs that had been hosted on the weblogs.com server. He did this with no warning to the writers involved. All links to those sites now point to this page, which has only an audio file from Dave to explain the reasoning decision—meaning it can’t be quoted or searched (or even accessed at all by those who are deaf, hard of hearing, or unable to listen to sound files on their computer).

Count me in as one of those who grumbled about the licensing for MT 3.0 and how the lack of communication was beyond ironic . . . now we have Dave Winer just dropping 3000 people’s content on the floor, no warning, no links to backups, nothing, and for reasons I don’t understand (though Liz’s assumptions above make sense, given his track record), his explanation is an audio file. No text, not even a transcription of the audio.

As noted here:

How does Dave Winer handle criticism? He deletes what he doesn’t like. It may not be personal, it may even be on topic, but if it’s not what he wants to see, it’s gone. See here.

What a strange little man . . . .
Continue reading “respect is all you have in a reputation/gift economy”

more leadership from Arkansas?

NPR : A State’s Battle Against Obesity:

A State’s Battle Against Obesity
Arkansas Takes a Frank Look at its Weight Problem

Interesting piece on NPR this morning about Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and his campaign to fight obesity in the deep-fried South.

Interestingly, he’s framing this as an issue of personal choice and responsibility, not as the fault of the evil fast food purveyors: he’s even opposed to forcing restaurants to disclose their nutritional information. While I commend his for taking the high road on this, especially given the unhealthful regional cuisine, I quibble with that: I don’t know that you can ask people to take responsibility for their choices if they don’t have the information they need. But perhaps the food outlets will take the initiative and release this information themselves, to demonstrate that they don’t have to be forced to do the right thing.

I also like the reference to the new physical fitness in a related piece: this is in full swing at my kids’ school and it’s all about individual achievement and personal goals, rather than team sports and competition. They compete against themselves on a variety of skills and activities and no one loses: with young kids, I think it really helps to avoid the issues that physical differences can bring into it. There can be almost a year’s difference in age in the same classroom, and the different sizes and growth rates can distort that even more.