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| There are great benefits to connectedness, but we haven't wrapped our minds around the costs. |
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| Topic: Telecom Industry |
11:52 am EST, Dec 28, 2004 |
There is actually a thread running through these quotes, which you actually need to click through to get. Here is a sampling. "There seems to be a lot of crap getting funded." "When you take the lumpiness, we don't associate it with anything other than the fact that it's lumpy." "We informed a group of engineers that their function would now reside in India, and we gave them the option to relocate there." Did they remember to expense those options? "We saw we were in the middle of a desert, and we turned into a camel." "Our business continues to be impacted by industry-related conditions." All of which reinforces my thesis that most people are stupid. Notable Quotes |
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Tape Opposing Vote Attributed to bin Laden |
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| Topic: Elections |
9:56 am EST, Dec 28, 2004 |
"I am Relevant, hear me opine," he said to no one in particular. No one in particular immediately responded, "Is that you again, big O?" There is always so much ado about being unable to "determine whether the speaker was Mr. bin Laden." Wouldn't it be easier to just have Verisign issue him a certificate, and let him run an SSL-enabled web site? But perhaps the logistics of that model are too complicated. Is it too much to ask for him to publish a public key? He could distribute his messages with BitTorrent in the form of GPG-signed Ogg Vorbis files. And of course, the messages themselves would be protected by a Creative Commons license. Tape Opposing Vote Attributed to bin Laden |
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When Nature's Wrath Is History's Reminder |
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| Topic: Science |
8:47 am EST, Dec 28, 2004 |
Oddly, a tsunami cannot be felt as it passes ships on the open ocean, for the wave is usually small, one to two feet, and traveling very fast, as fast as airliners. It is only as it approaches shallow water that it begins to break; as the bottom of the wave slows, the top keeps traveling at the higher speed and increases in height, hitting landfall at 30 to 40 miles an hour. In 1958, an earthquake in Lituya Bay, Alaska, caused a landslide into the ocean that created a tsunami 1,720 feet high, a wave that could have swept over the Empire State Building. Fortunately it headed into a wilderness area and did not travel across the ocean to Hawaii or Japan. When Nature's Wrath Is History's Reminder |
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The Cabinet of Incuriosities |
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| Topic: Politics and Law |
8:33 am EST, Dec 28, 2004 |
Undistinguished in college, business school and in the private sector, he spent nearly 30 years sitting in seminar rooms and corporate suites while experts and high achievers held forth. Now it appears that he's having his revenge -- speaking loudly for a kind of anti-meritocracy: the idea that anyone, properly encouraged and supported, can do a thoroughly adequate job, even better than adequate, in almost any endeavor. Personality is destiny. What you do is not as important as whether you are deemed morally sound and trustworthy. In other words, a "good" man -- or woman -- beats a leading expert every time. Welcome to the new meritocracy. The Cabinet of Incuriosities |
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CIA's private jet an open secret in terror war |
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| Topic: Knowledge Management |
8:01 am EST, Dec 28, 2004 |
The plane's owner of record, Premier Executive Transport Services Inc., lists directors and officers who appear to exist only on paper. And each one of those directors and officers has a recently issued Social Security number and an address consisting only of a post office box, according to an extensive search of state, federal and commercial records. CIA's private jet an open secret in terror war |
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| Topic: Music |
10:28 am EST, Dec 27, 2004 |
PopMatters ranks the top 100 of the year, and Loretta Lynn clocks in at number 14. Have you heard it? "Truly a record for all seasons, Loretta Lynn's Van Lear Rose sounds just as good driving towards the water with the windows open on a summer day as it does when the skies are gray and snow is falling. It's the one to put on when you're not certain what you want to listen to because it always sounds great. Loretta Lynn sings as if the world attempted to break her and she returned not only triumphant, but with a brighter gleam in her eye. Jack White, in his best role yet, adds all of the atmosphere and attitude, with a surprisingly subtle touch. 'Portland Oregon', the best single of the year, is the aural equivalent of unwittingly biting into a hot pepper -- at first you're only aware of something being different, and then suddenly, you're on fire. With Loretta belting these out so wondrously, one ponders when mainstream country music executives will catch on to what the world really needs: more, and more, and more of this." "Loretta Lynn joins forces with blues-punker Jack White in the unlikeliest pairing of the year and the results are stunning -- a raw and honest work that surprisingly has garnered some play on conventional country radio. White provides an energetic impulse on the disc, his burning guitar and crystal clear production turning raw and edgy country songs like 'Family Tree' -- a song in which the singer stands up to her husband's mistress -- and the barroom romp 'Portland Oregon' into new country classics. Lynn's voice on Van Lear Rose offers a connection to the past without giving up anything to that past, a drawl-soaked soprano that floats in on angel's wings - though, her phrasing and range remind the listener that she is no push over." Best Music of 2004 |
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A Klezmer Christmas - Oy to the World! |
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| Topic: Music |
10:11 am EST, Dec 27, 2004 |
Put a little "OY" in Christmas. It couldn't hurt. "Think of it as Santa meeting the fiddler on the roof." "A perspective that is utterly different, yet utterly fascinating." A Klezmer Christmas - Oy to the World! |
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The Best Defense Is a Good Offense |
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| Topic: War on Terrorism |
7:11 am EST, Dec 27, 2004 |
Like the furor over improved armor for trucks and Humvees, the Mosul mess tent attack rouses the instinct to make force protection the immediate priority for United States forces in Iraq. No American wants Americans soldiers to be vulnerable. These instincts are wrong. The Best Defense Is a Good Offense |
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| Topic: Literature |
10:09 pm EST, Dec 26, 2004 |
This is a staggering tribute to uber-critic Jacques Barzun's legendary intelligence and cantankerousness. What truly impresses here is Barzun's breadth of knowledge; in an age of academic specialization, he is a rare, confident master-of-all-trades. These essays constitute one of the great critical collections of recent times and amply showcase one of the outstanding scholarly intellects of the last century. Barzun combines a depth of knowledge and a rare facility with words. A selection of Barzun's most inventive, accomplished, and insightful essays, compiled in one impressive volume. A feast for any reader. Demonstrates again the depth and breadth of his learning, the originality of his thinking, and his commitment to speak to the general reader in engaging, intelligent prose. Challenging, satisfying, elegant. A Jacques Barzun Reader |
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| Topic: Music |
9:57 pm EST, Dec 26, 2004 |
... Listen up
You can be anything in the world, in God we trust
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But nothing comes easy, it takes much practice
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Timbuktu, where every race came to get books
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Read more, learn more, change the globe |
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