] But debate over the Iraq war has gotten far hotter since
] those early months, and the administration continues to
] defend its position in Iraq in terms of the attacks of
] Sept. 11. So the approach of the June 30 deadline for the
] transfer of power in Iraq heightens the political tension
] around all aspects of the war on terror. And that tension
] will crackle around the report of the Sept. 11
] commission, now expected July 26.

I ran across this essay while seeking information about Rice's upcoming testimony on Thursday. I found it an interesting perspective on things.

NPR Essay : Politically Speaking : Getting Ahead of History

] SmarterChild, for those not in the know, is America
] Online's artificial intelligence program. That's right -
] an AOL IM AI.

The IM-bot SmarterChild disappeared for awhile, but seems to be back now. I find it enormously useful, since it's a quick way to get word definitions, find out what movies are playing, check the weather in a city that I'm traveling to, look up an encyclopedia entry, check a stock quote, etc. etc., all in plain english queries, "What's the weather forecast for Butte, MT?" "What time is Hidalgo playing?" or "What time is Hidalgo playing at the St. Charles 18?"

Or, when I'm really bored (or just want to procrastinate), it's fun testing the limits of its conversational ability, like to ask it about its parents (which it does indeed respond to).

If you haven't checked this out this bot yet, I recommend it. Just open an IM window and send a message (any message, even just "hi!") to "SmarterChild", and watch the time-wasting begin. :)

Observational Humor - Conversations with SmarterChild

About the mobile labs:
] Powell said the evidence included firsthand accounts from
] four sources -- among them, an Iraqi chemical engineer
] who supervised one of the facilities and an Iraqi civil
] engineer "in a position to know the details of the
] program."

I remember watching Powell's speech live. I didn't find all of it particularly compelling at the time -- I had other reasons to believe that Iraq was systematically refusing to disarm. One thing I *did* find interesting, but that isn't mentioned in this article, is that Powell also showed a video of an Iraqi aircraft that had a special attachment that was spraying some type of gas.

The bit about the mobile labs though still puzzles me. I have a lot of respect for Powell, and if he says that there were four sources, I believe that there were four sources. So there were four different Iraqis who all agreed that this mobile lab was producing chemical weapons. Was it an urban legend within Iraq? Was it a conspiracy to lie to the U.S. in order to get sanctuary? Or was the lab a dual-use facility, that could easily be flip-flopped back and forth from WMD to garden supplies?

I'd very much like to learn more about those four sources, and whether they said the lab *could* be used for making weapons, or whether it *was* being used for making weapons. And if the latter, then where were those chemicals shipped to, and who paid for them?

Summary of Powell's points about Iraq at U.N. in February 2003

] 2004 Web & Downloadable Games White Paper

Hot off the presses, the new 93-page report from the International Game Developers Association Online Games Committee. I was one of the senior editors on this, pulling in bits of data from dozens of industry professionals who volunteered time and data.

It's free for download, if anyone wants to check it out. :)

IGDA State of the Industry - 'Web & Downloadable Games' White Paper

February 26:
] FBI agents arrested a Louisiana man last week for
] allegedly tricking a handful of MSN TV users into running
] a malicious e-mail attachment that reprogrammed their
] set-top boxes to dial 9-1-1 emergency response.

This is from several weeks ago... I'm meme-ing it because I'm currently interested in the "what types of hacking count as terrorism" concept. And fwiw, I'm pretty appalled that this moron was messing with 911. They've got enough crap to handle without dealing with stunts like this.

Alleged WebTV 911 hacker charged with cyberterrorism

] QPX provides all of the information required to book and
] ticket any itinerary directly in a carrier's inventory
] system

I've bookmarked this site along with orbitz and Yahoo Travel, as a very comprehensive price search site. It indexes every airline except for Southwest, and it also has a very cool graphical display. You can choose to show each flight on a bar chart, so you can quickly see departure and arrival and connection times. You can also sort by price, schedule and other factors, as well as getting advice on price differentials if your departure times are flexible by a day.

To my knowledge, orbitz still has the best multi-day search (3 days before and after), but the ITA display has been invaluable to me for checking tight connections through a variety of airports.

Airline Tickets: ITA Software

Acidus wrote:
] ] ``I've ordered this level of cooperation because I
] ] consider it necessary to gaining a complete picture of
] ] the months and years that preceded the murder of our
] ] fellow citizens on Sept. 11, 2001,'' Bush said.
]
] You considered it necessary? Or you consider it necessary only
] after getting your ass handed to you by the media during the
] last week?
]
] Seriously this man so transparent. Why would any vote for him
] in Nov?

If I vote for him (and I haven't made up my mind yet), it would be because I agree with many of his policies and goals, and I trust that what he says he wants to do, is what he really wants to do.

So far, I have not seen anything from Kerry that makes me trust anything he says. He'll say one thing one day, and then flop around and say something completely different the next. When Bush says something, even if I disagree with it, I at least get the sense that he's speaking from his core beliefs. Some of those beliefs (protecting the country, fighting terrorism, being proactive against gathering threats) I strongly agree with. Others (especially his views on marriage, and a woman's right to choose) I strongly *disagree* with. So, I'm still undecided. The worst-case scenario for me if he were elected, would be fear of what he'd do during the next four years to the upper ranks of judgeships around the country, including the Supreme Court. I don't want to see Roe v. Wade overturned, and abortions made illegal.

As for the flap about Rice testifying, I see both sides of it. I *don't* think that the National Security Advisor should be required to testify before Congress as a matter of course. Then again, this was a special case.

And what I really hate, is the idea that a 9/11 investigation is being used like this during an election year. I agree that it's worthwhile to find out the truth, but I see many other motivations here than truth-finding. I see Democrats who are hungry to find anything that they can use to attack the current administration, just so that they can give their own candidate a boost. In other words, if it weren't an election year, I don't think they'd be all so hot and bothered about this investigation. I also really despise any insinuation that the White House knew about the impending attack but did nothing to stop it. That's just absurd.

Bush Agrees to Let Rice Testify Publicly

] This rule amends the Export Administration Regulations
] (EAR) to allow the export and reexport of any encryption
] commodity or software to individuals, commercial firms,
] and other non-government end-users in all destinations.
] It also allows exports and reexports of retail encryption
] commodities and software to all end-users in all
] destinations. Post-export reporting requirements are
] streamlined, and changes are made to reflect amendments
] to the Wassenaar Arrangement. This rule implements the
] encryption policy announced by the White House on
] September 16 [1999] and will simplify U.S. encryption export
] rules. Restrictions on terrorist supporting states (Cuba,
] Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan or Syria), their
] nationals and other sanctioned entities are not changed
] by this rule.

January 2000 Encryption Export Regulations

] 1. NRTA/AARP Bulletin 21,703,580
] 2. AARP Modern Maturity 17,360,979
] 3. Reader's Digest 12,078,469
] 4. TV Guide 9,067,124
] 5. Better Homes and Gardens 7,605,204
 . . .
] 47. Woman's World 1,639,759

A list of the top 100 magazines, I assume in the United States, and their total paid circulation numbers.

Top 100 Consumer Magazines 2002

] For some little girls, it's a favorite doll; for others, it's a
] dress-up set. But when Elonka Dunin of St. Charles, Missouri,
] was little, her favorite toys were puzzles.

Let's hear it for geek girls! :)

Elonka in 'Woman's World' magazine