An oft-quoted myth by a properly-trained American is that the US is too ‘good’ to other countries; we give too much aid/money/support/food/personnel to other countries in need, purely out of the goodness of our hearts. Report on U.S. foreign aid statistics (Kuro5hin) covers the actual amounts given by the US and compares it in absolute and relative (to total GDP) terms to other nations. It’s the ‘relative-to-GDP’ number that’s the most damning — the US ranks lowest of the 22 countries listed, which... [More]

Fast-Food Chains Get a Break Today (Washington Post) notes that

“[t]he Republican-controlled House on Wednesday voted to ban supersize lawsuits that blame the food industry for expanding waistlines and health problems, saying such cases could bankrupt fast-food chains and restaurants.”

I’m sorry, what? I can understand a dislike for specious lawsuits and disengenous plaintiffs claiming they should get a lot of money for ignoring health warnings from not only their own groaning, wheezing, farting, sedentary, and... [More]

The earthli WebCore now uses a nifty JavaScript calendar component to let users easily choose and set dates. This makes choosing dates for pictures in earthli Albums a breeze!

You don’t have to get the WebCore to use it — it’s also available as an separate open-source component. Check out a demo or download it now.

Brought to you by earthli Software.

“Small men, seeking great wealth or power, have too often and too long turned even the highest levels of public service into mere personal opportunity.”

This article originally appeared in 2004. In the meantime (it’s 2009 as I write this), a lot has changed and the major complaint—a lack of explicit contracts in C#—will finally be addressed in the next version of C#, 4.0.

A Conversation with Anders Hejlsberg (Artima.com) is a four-part series on the ideas that drove the design of C#. (The link is to the first page of the first section; browse to Artima.com Interviews to see a list of all the sections.)

Virtual vs. Static

I found some points of... [More]

“The greatest trick the devil pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist”

In Fajulla recently, four Americans were burned to death. Their bodies (which were by this time charred beyond recognition) were dragged through the street and hung from a local bridge to cheers and dancing from a crowd of townspeople. Gruesome images jolt Americans (Canoe) talks about how torn the media was in deciding whether to air the gruesome footage. “White House press secretary Scott McClellan called for “responsible” media coverage of the murders Wednesday of four security contractors”. What... [More]

The other presidential candidate has written Equality Index Catalogues Economic Gap by Ralph Nader (Common Dreams), covering the recent release of the National Urban League on The State of Black America 2004. This list provides “a statistical measurement of the disparities which exist between African American and whites in economics, housing, education, social justice and civic engagement.”

There are some pretty significant differences between blacks and whites in America today, where whites still make up 69% of the population... [More] (US census)

Microsoft has been just plain bad in the world of business for a long time. They break rules, abuse monopolies and starve or absorb entire industries right and left. They’ve got strangleholds in dozens of tech markets and leverage them all to acquire even more. They get caught all over the world − you relatively often read of Microsoft in court or paying fines − but they continue to do business exactly the same way.

Why is that?

The answer is relatively obvious, but Timing is Everything by Robert Cringely... [More]

Ronco Spray-On Usability (Daring Fireball) is an essay on software usability triggered by a column by the rambunctious “Eric S. Raymond”. The setup covers some of the background of Linux usability, but gets interesting near the middle, where he proposes that:

“The problem isn’t just that dear old A.T. [Aunt Tillie] can’t use desktop Linux — the problem is that even Linux geeks have trouble figuring it out.”

That indicates that people, Raymond included, who believe that Linux is a few hard nights of coding away... [More]

The same busy little lobbyists who are doing their best to outlaw your Tivo are also hard at work preventing the Cable-TV consumer’s dream: A la Carte Cable. Sorry — No a la Carte Cable (Washington Post) explains that the same people are hard at work making sure your cable bill never, ever goes down.

What is “a La Carte Cable”? Imagine, if you would, a world in which you only pay for things you actually want and use. As a cable-consumer advocate put it: “When I go to the grocery store to buy a quart of milk,... [More]”

Did Somebody Say Macho? by Zack 'Geist Editor' Parsons (Something Awful) takes on the daunting task of creating an objective scale determining any given person’s “Macho-ness”.

The macho-factor is a 2-dimensional matrix defined along the Swayze-Eastwood Axis and the Shatner-Kressley Axis (Kressley is the dude from “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”, who, apparently, is the cultural opposite of a guy who “was probably watching re-runs of “TJ Hooker” when his wife drowned in the pool”).

There is, of course, a helpful questionnaire to help you find... [More]

“There is hope… but not for us.”

Kafka

According to several sources (check Google News), the Democrat and Republican parties have officially merged into one organization. The move was ostensibly made to cut down on administration and production costs and does not mean the two parties themselves cease to exist; it just means Kerry and Bush might be sharing the same TV studio when filming mud-slinging commercials.

RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie explains:

“…this move has nothing to do with ideology — it’s simply a matter of good... [More]”

The one real good side-effect of the invasion and take-over of Iraq was supposed to be a steady supply of oil to keep gas prices stable. Alas, Americans are feeling the pinch as gas prices hit an all-time record of $1.80 (national average). The Gas Price Crisis (White House.Org) is, as always, a highly non-reliable news source, but they did include a fake quote from Bush that caught my attention:

“Vice President Cheney and I know the oil industry inside and out. In fact, one of the reasons a near-majority of... [More]”

Here’s Aaron McGruder’s helpful contribution to Bush’s re-election strategy. This is the Boondocks from March 22 − March 27.

I got a link the other day, showing a recent talk show hosted by Dennis Miller. It was an interview with author Eric Alterman. Alterman’s written a pretty well-researched book called “What Liberal Media?”, in which he points out the rather obvious fact that the mainstream media is far from liberal. For all his trouble, he somehow got on the Dennis Miller show.

In the video, the guy on the left (Alterman) is presenting cogent arguments and facts. The guy on the right (Miller) is making fun of... [More]

In a fantasy world where people read and form their own opinions instead of accepting their thoughts from corporations intent on making them better consumers, Bush wouldn’t be hard to beat. In this fantasy world, Bush gets as many votes as Nader will in the real world and Nader is a legitimate threat. John Kerry is ignored because he had the gall to think people were dumb enough to simply vote for ABB (Anybody But Bush), regardless of his platform.

Instead our choice is restricted to exactly... [More]

I know it’s too late for Saint Patrick’s Day, but here it is anyway. Some of you can probably use it any day of the week.

Feet cold and wet.

• problem − Glass being held at incorrect angle.
• solution − Rotate glass so that open end points toward ceiling.

Feet warm and wet.

• problem − Improper bladder control.
• solution − Stand next to nearest dog, complain about house training.

Beer unusually pale and tasteless.

• problem − Glass empty.
• solution − Get someone to buy you another beer.

Opposite... [More]

The WebCore home pages have finally gotten an update — there’s a lot more introductory text explaining what it is and what it does.

• Check out Why use the earthli WebCore?
• The features page is all-new and focuses more on top-level usable features and time-savers offered by the WebCore.
• Downloads actually works now and doesn’t break every time a new release is made in earthli Projects.

The new library (2.5) isn’t available yet, but we’re getting there.
 

Nader brings on the ice age

So Nader’s running and there’s been a flood of anger from the left, curiously enough. It seems there’s a lot more people than I thought that believe that a democracy can only be properly represented as a two-party system. The Lone Ranger Of Righteousness (AlterNet) explains some of the current administration’s misdeeds:

“…That doesn’t even count global warming, which … now brings the potential for melting polar ice caps to shutting down the Gulf Stream and plunging Europe... [More]”

You know George Bush and his cabal are damaging the country and must be stopped no matter what. You’ve heard, recently, that Ralph Nader is an egomaniacal loose cannon, bent on America’s destruction. Let me explain why I think John Kerry is also a danger.

There’s a groundswell of activism and political interest these days in the States, mostly driven by Bush’s extreme policies and positions on pretty much everything. People are pissed. People are getting involved. People are trying to make a... [More]

“The only thing new in this world is the history you don’t know.”

- Harry Truman

“I think it would be a good idea.”

- Mahatma Gandhi (when asked what he thought of Western civilization)

The story is probably apocryphal, but it is said that Wilde was at a dinner party seated next to a young woman. He said, “I’ve recently come into a small bequest of 40,000 pounds which I do not need. I have, alas, never had sex with a woman. If I were to give you the bequest, would you have sex with me?”

She responded, “Yes, Mr. Wilde, I would.”

“Well, will you do it for 2 pounds?”

“Mr. Wilde, what do you take me for?”

“Oh, we know what you are. Now we are simply haggling over the price.”

Kerry: He’s Peaking, Already (CounterPunch) goes to the heart of the problem with every “viable” Democratic candidate:

“Kerry agrees with Bush about the tax cuts. He agrees with him about the Patriot Act. He agrees with him on trade. He agrees with him on the war. … Kerry voted for the Patriot Act and he voted for the ‘03 attack on Iraq.”

He’s a veteran of the war Bush skipped out on … but he objected to it afterwards. The sad thing is that objecting to the crime that was Vietnam will hurt him more than... [More]

Please be advised of a new Microsoft Knowledge Base article entitled: Steps that you can take to help…. In it, you’ll find the recommendation that you should “…not click any hyperlinks that you do not trust. Type them in the Address bar yourself.”

So now, you have to type all URLs by hand because Microsoft can’t fix their browser. Isn’t it time to consider Opera or Firefox?

A read on Slashdot put this latest development into persepective:

“To go back to an often used analogy, if Microsoft... [More]”

I just want to remind people that every single second you wasted feeling outraged by Janet Jackson is time you can never get back. There are morons who are suing someone (I really haven’t the foggiest who they aim to lay low for their suffering) for being forced to see Janet Jackson’s nipple on Sunday. Their lawyer stated that “…[a]s a direct and proximate result of the broadcast of the acts, (Carlin) and millions of others saw the acts and were caused to suffer outrage, anger, embarrassment... [More]”

Why is it that so many people in America believe in it, right or wrong?

They’re taught to from a very young age.