Quips: Quick commentary on politics, technology and life, I think.

Thursday, December 18

For Bush, weapons no longer matter

An interesting article out of the New York Times today. Called a "White House Memo" — in Times-parlance a behind-the-scenes look — it's headlined "Remember 'Weapons of Mass Destruction'? For Bush, They Are a Nonissue." It takes a look back at the various statement the President and his administration have made regarding WMD. And, of course, Dick Cheney still believes weapons might find their way into terrorist hands.
  In yesterday's news, The Post has a story about, in the words of reporter Dana Millbank, "the Bush administration has been using cyberspace to make some of its own cosmetic touch-ups to history."

"This smells like an attempt to revise the record, not just to withhold information but to alter the historical record in a self-interested way, and that is sleazier than usual."
  — Steven Aftergood, who directs the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists, where incidently you'll find a report called "Terrorist Motivations for Chemical and Biological Weapons Use" as a pdf.

In fact, I really must recommend the Post's Administration page for those who want a feel for what's going on in the executive branch.

Posted by jb, 4:30 PM :: :: #

Wednesday, December 17

You mean bullets are bad? Clarity vs. Context

Apparently, PowerPoint presentations may not be the best way to distill complex information. The Columbia Accident Investigation Board said so.

''It is easy to understand how a senior manager might read this PowerPoint slide and not realize that it addresses a life-threatening situation,''

In his slim 28-page pamphlet, Tufte claimed that Microsoft's ubiquitous software forces people to mutilate data beyond comprehension. ... PowerPoint also encourages users to rely on bulleted lists, a ''faux analytical'' technique, Tufte wrote, that dodges the speaker's responsibility to tie his information together.

— both from an NYT magazine piece.

On a completely unrelated note: Sony Pictures has made blog skins available for anyone who wants to be a part of the Spider-man 2 advertisement onslaught. I think they might be on to something. I'm not sure what it is yet, but it's something.

Posted by jb, 4:13 PM :: :: #

Friday, December 12

Comic philosophy, a reminder

Love today's Frazz.

You can't make a complicated question simple by dumbing down the answer.

And, if you get a chance, the creator chatted with readers of The Washington Post last week. It's an interesting read if you want to know what's behind a comic strip.

Posted by jb, 9:18 AM :: :: #

Wednesday, December 10

What does it all mean for Dean?

So, a friend of mine has taken a liking to Howard Dean. I found a number of Dean-related articles today, so I thought I'd post them and see if it means anything.

• Dean, and Dems in general, should be more respectful of religion. (Same person wrote both articles.)
• Dean's blog has an interesting post (and 193 comments) about a Des Moines Register editorial about the history of government.
• And there's Dan Gillmor's take on the Gore endorsement. As well as his thoughts about the NYT magazine article that started this whole frenzy for me.

Posted by jb, 6:49 PM :: :: #

2 to the 20,996,011th minus 1

The world's largest known prime number has more than 6.3 million digits. (Which makes it a 6 megabyte file.) It ends in a 7.

Posted by jb, 6:37 PM :: :: #

Tuesday, December 9

The tree is up

We got the tree up and a start on decorating the rest of the house over the weekend. Thought you might like to see a few pictures.
  Feel free to compare it to last year's tree. (Yes the tree is different, but we'll leave it to you to guess whether this year's is real or faux.)

Posted by jb, 9:07 AM :: :: #

Wednesday, December 3

Look, giant light bulbs

What happens when you use hot air balloons as gigantic luminaria near a pond in a park high above downtown during a holiday weekend? Apparently hundreds of people show up to gaze at the spectacle and even cheer when all the balloons light up (a feat of timing often heralded by an airhorn, I found out).
  I broke away from work Saturday and took the camera over to see what the whole thing was all about. Came back with 20 decent pictures to give you an idea.

Posted by jb, 10:02 AM :: :: #

Signs of the apocalypse, college football style

Nebraska has fired it's football coach after a 9-3 season. True, he went 7-7 last year, the school's first non-winning season in three decades. But he shook up the coaching staff, got back to the 9-win plateau, and was about to head to the school's 30-something straight bowl game, still the longest streak in the nation. Not good enough, the AD said. A few columnists have disagreed:

• Terry Douglass says Frank Solich deserved better, and that Steve Pederson has put the onus for national titles on himself: "A Nebraska native, you'd think Pederson would be a little more committed to doing things "the Nebraska way" he so fondly speaks of while trying to get you to reach for your checkbook."
• Drew Sharp says the boosters are to blame and that nobody is safe: "Any outrage over Solich's fate only underscores the hypocrisy in the sport. Who cares that he graduated more than 70 percent of his players or that he won 75 percent of his games in six seasons? ... The true bottom line is revenue, and it's becoming increasingly difficult for the Big Red to get some Big Green when Oklahoma and Texas dominate the Bowl Championship Series discussions in their corner of Football Nation. ... the heightened competition has changed the definition of mediocrity."
• George Ayoub welcomes Nebraskans to college football hell: "We don't operate this way, this pink slip after a 9-3 season, this blame it on the media or somebody with an agenda. We may borrow the West Coast offense or defense from a rival, but Solich's firing sounded like something from Miami or Alabama or even Pittsburgh -- not Nebraska."

On another note entirely, Mitch Albom writes about Lloyd Carr's remorse over his reaction during the worst halftime interview in television history. Albom's conclusion? Manners matter in major college sports.

Posted by jb, 9:55 AM :: :: #

 More in the archives.

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