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Category: books
Si Monumentum Requiris, Circumspice
The translation of the Latin is from St Paul’s Cathedral, designed by Christopher Wren,and means “If you seek his monument, look around you.” Apologies to Wren, but that’s how I see the task of progressives now and going forward: remind anyone and everyone that the mess we see on the news, in the papers, and all around us is the product of the administration, perhaps the least competent, yet most venal, in US history.
This piece on the truthful triangle is interesting. We caught a glimpse of an unleashed media in the wake of Katrina, as the facts came in faster than they could be spun, as journalists were so caught up in telling the stories they were seeing. It didn’t last but the fact it occurred gives me hope it could happen again.
Setting aside 2006 congressional prospects and the remote hope for progressives that Bush will be impeached, the grand political battle of the next three years is over Bush’s legacy.
For rightwing bloggers who have fiercely defended one of the most controversial and polarizing presidents in our history, their fortunes will rise or fall with his approval ratings. The blind allegiance to Bush and the furious assault on his detractors will be vindicated if he leaves office with popular support.
Rightwing bloggers will thus do everything in their power to prevent another Katrina triangle, where the confluence of blogs, media, and Democratic leadership exposes the real Bush and shatters the conventional wisdom about his ability to lead. And they will struggle mightily to boost his poll numbers, whether it means ignoring the reality of the Iraq fiasco or the terrifying implications of the bungled federal response to Katrina.
For progressive bloggers who see a president presiding over the collapse of America’s credibility, the urgent work ahead is to cement the post-Katrina impression of Bush as a failed president. Whether or not they succeed depends to a large extent on their ability to compel the media and Democratic establishment to stand with them and speak the truth.
anyone have any recommendations on better iPod earpieces?
The Apple ones are fading, crackling in the bass and generally starting to lose their punch.
ipod earphones – Google Search
These look like the ones to beat.
I tried the Sony Fontopias but they didn’t last all that well. I didn’t realize earbuds were a consumable. And at the high end, Bose offers a pair that cost the same as the iPod: no thanks.
Continue reading “anyone have any recommendations on better iPod earpieces?”
summer’s bounty: balsamic strawberries
Off to a backyard cookout this evening and since I was raised never to go to anyone’s house empty-handed, here’s what we’re bringing.
Balsamic strawberries[1]:
1 pound ripe red strawberries (doesn’t matter if a few are underripe or overripe: this covers a multitude of sins). These are on sale at a lot of places right now so make the most of it.
1-2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Clean/hull/trim the berries and cut them in pieces no larger than the last joint of your thumb, halving ordinary ones and quartering the big monsters. I clean mine with a damp paper towel and wipe down each one: if you rinse them, they absorb water and taste, well, watery. You could use a squirt bottle and a mushroom brush: I haven’t tried.
Drop the pieces into a bowl, and add the sugar. Cover with plastic wrap or a tight-fitting lid, and shake/swirl/agitate the contents so that the berries all get some sugar on them.
Leave them on the counter for a couple of hours, gently swirling them every half-hour or so as they sit.
Uncover and marvel at the rich red color and heady smell. And all that juice you’ve released makes them a perfect complement to a rich vanilla ice cream. But first, drizzle the balsamic vinegar over the top and gently stir it all around. Then serve in small bowls, over a shortcake, with ice cream, or however you like. We’re bringing vanilla ice cream with us.
This sugar technique (if I can call it that) is similar to macerating, but the strict definition is to steep in a liquid. We’re not doing that, so I’m reluctant to call it that.
1. Previously written about here.
Continue reading “summer’s bounty: balsamic strawberries”
Drupal needs a clue, perhaps?
As noted previously Drupal had a little trouble, and the community rallied around: individuals to the tune of over $10,000 and my employer with a server. So, I note that to build out their infrastructure, Drupal is going to use the community donations to buy Dell boxes. Um, let’s see here; IBM and Sun invest in Open Source, big-time. HP’s there too. Dell… uh, Dell? Ecosystem? Community? There’s something wrong with this picture.
Tim’s not saying that Drupal owes Sun anything, to be clear. I’m a little puzzled by this as well. If I had donated, I would be asking some questions of the Drupal decision-makers. Dell may offer a compelling price/performance solution: do the others not compete as well because of their self-imposed community obligations?
Continue reading “Drupal needs a clue, perhaps?”
the old ultra violence
Just heard a commercial during the Ms game for a local addiction treatment hospital. Took a look at their website and realized it was uncannily like the Ludovico Treatment from Clockwork Orange. they call it aversion therapy . . . whatever.
Continue reading “the old ultra violence”
primer on sed
sed is the ancient UNIX “stream editor”, mastery of which is every UNIX newbie’s test of true geekness. I find it vastly preferable to the Perl behemoth for parsing simple files in embedded systems – or brain-dead semi-proprietary UNIX boxes that have nothing but the most basic userland components.
bookmarked for later reference
[composed and posted with ecto]
functional sculpture
School field trip to the Center for Wooden Boats today. Lots of beautiful wooden boats of all sizes, functional sculpture for some of us.
I grabbed this picture of a little skiff before the gentle breeze came up and before the seaplanes started plying their trade and kicking up wake.
[composed and posted with ecto]
gloom and doom
Currently reading The Long Emergency. I have read more cheerful books. I knew it wasn’t going to be upbeat, but it’s plenty grim.
I found the earlier parts about the history of the oil economy to be pretty interesting. If the predictions are accurate about Peak Oil, we may find out the meaning of the Chinese proverb about living in “interesting times.”
The descriptions of the energy economy, of oil vs nuclear vs a variety of alternatives that really aren’t was informative, but the discussions of plagues, epidemics and large-scale die-offs are no fun.
[composed and posted with ecto]
fact-free reporting?
Dow Closes Up 52 on Apple-Intel Report:
An Apple move to Intel’s chips would make Macs far less expensive — a major hurdle in Apple’s ongoing battle with cheaper PCs already using Intel processors and Microsoft’s operating system. The possible deal, reported in The Wall Street Journal, could spell trouble for International Business Machines Corp., Apple’s current supplier.
How do they know? I have no idea how much Apple pays for its G4/5 CPUs or what kind of a sweetheart Intel would give them to move away from the PPC. I do know that a lot of what you pay for in Apple hardware is design, both in software and hardware. It’s not obvious to me that an Intel-powered mini would be a lot cheaper than a the current model. Given the different levels of power consumption and heat generation, it wouldn’t be a straight swap.
And taking a short trip through the Wayback Machine . . .
One reboot away, indeed. Competition between OSes right ON YOUR DESKTOP. May the best platform win.
Wouldn’t that be interesting?