Joel on programming efficiency:
I’ll go out on a limb here. In my years of experience, I have seen many language and programming fads come and go. But there’s only ONE, that’s right, ONE language feature I’ve ever seen that actually improves your productivity significantly. No, it’s not object oriented programming; no, it’s not intentional programming [...]
Matt Haughey’s thoughts on Windows XP jibe pretty squarely with my own (posted back in July, when I first installed it). Here’s the relevant excerpt from Matt’s post:
When you go to the store and buy a box with a CD in it, you figure you own those 1’s and 0’s that make up the [...]
Another fun quiz: The Bible, the Quran or “Mein Kampf”?
Well, now that the FBI has released pictures of the Anthrax-laced letters (link via Now This) received by Tom Daschle, Tom Brokaw, and the New York Post, I understand why they are pinning this on Islamic terrorists rather than on some rednecks.
I’ve updated my weblogging application so that it notifies weblogs.com whenever I add or update an item, so if you’re a weblogs.com user, you won’t need to worry about this site being left behind in the transition over there. (I’m using an adaptation of Bill Humphries’ PHP script to do the notifying.)
Even as the Taliban condemn the United States for killing civilians with our bombs, they are hiding amongst civilians themselves. It’s interesting that the Taliban accuse us of intentionally targetting civilians, but at the same time hide amongst them for protection. If the US intentionally targetted civilians, or even selected targets without regard for [...]
In Ireland, the IRA has put some quantity of arms beyond use in compliance with an agreement reached in August in order to preserve the ongoing peace process there. In any conflict, a meaningful unilateral action is the best first step toward reaching a positive resolution. In the meantime, Israel launched another armored assault [...]
NewsForge has an SSSCA, update. The hearings have been cancelled, at least for the time being.
Salon has an excellent article today on Islam in America (Premium only). The article makes the point that the Nation of Islam, a small group which has beliefs that are completely outside standard Muslim orthodoxy, is not the same as standard Koranic Islam. Here’s the relevant excerpt:
At the same time, some African-American Muslims [...]
It’s a music player called the iPod. Here’s the official site.