MotherJones.com just published Debt to Society, a special report on the current state of the US prison system. If you’re short on time, check out this atlas. The graphs on the front page alone convey a lot of astounding information.

Reliant Energy (one of the independent generators selling power in California) has issued a report explaining that they aren’t turning a higher profit in California now than they were before the energy crisis. Their report, Myths Debunked: The Real Story of Wholesale Power Costs in California (PDF) puts their higher revenue down to greater demand and higher cost for natural gas. Interestingly, the way the spot market for power works in California is that everyone sells their power at a rate set by the least efficient plants, which happen to be natural gas fired plants. So companies selling power that’s cheaper to produce (like nuclear or hydroelectric) are, in fact, making out like bandits. The gotcha here is that the hydroelectric and nuclear plants are owned for the most part by the California utilities, not the independents.

Dale Dougherty interviews Miguel de Icaza about .NET.

Fully Licensed has issued a report that answers some questions I had last night when I installed Windows XP RC1: Inside Windows Product Activation.

I’m done throwing money into pots manned by Salvation Army bell ringers at Christmas. The Washington Post has discovered that they’re cutting a deal with the White House that will exempt them from state and local laws barring discrimination against homosexuals in exchange for the Army throwing its support behind Dubya’s pet faith-based initiatives program. The thing is, they don’t even need the new program because they already get $300 million a year from the federal government.

Hey, if you’re going to ask for donations on your site, you probably ought to let your donor’s know where the money is going.

Microsoft and VeriSign have entered an agreement where Microsoft will use VeriSign’s authentication crap in .NET, and VeriSign will use Microsoft’s Hailstorm crap in Network Solutions’ domain registration system. That probably means that you’ll need a Microsoft Passport to deal with NetSol. Just another excuse to transfer your domains away from those morons as rapidly as possible. (I registered a domain with Dotster this weekend, and if things go well, I’ll be transferring my other domains over there ASAP.)

After talking about Windows XP here yesterday, I discovered that I had a Windows XP RC1 CD waiting for me at home last night that my editor mailed to me. I tried to install it, screwed up my hard drive somehow, went out and bought a new hard drive, and then successfully installed it. After turning off a few of the most annoying features that cropped up immediately, it’s pretty good. It’s certainly better than the abomination that is Windows 98, I don’t know whether it’s better than Windows 2000 yet or not.

There are actually useful sites hosted by Geocities. Who knew?

Miguel de Icaza explains his interest in .NET. His approach is very pragmatic.