In his post on migrating from Ruby on Rails to Expression Engine, Dan Benjamin references the following quotation from Jianzhi Sengcan: The Path is not difficult for those who have no preferences. I think I’m just going to sit and contemplate that for the rest of the day.
Dick Cheney has said that torture extracted important intelligence from prisoners. Former FBI counterterrorism agent Ali Soufan says not so much: One of the most striking parts of the memos is the false premises on which they are based. The first, dated August 2002, grants authorization to use harsh interrogation techniques on a high-ranking terrorist, Abu Zubaydah, on the grounds that previous methods hadn’t been working. The next three memos cite the successes of those methods as a justification for their continued use. ...
As sports fans know, the NFL draft is this weekend. In many ways, it’s the most exciting event of the year for football fans. Every team gets to participate, and fans have the chance to believe that their favorite team has improved itself, at least until games are played and reality sets in. Mike Tanier has written the best article I’ve read analyzing the meaning of the NFL draft – Made, not Born. I don’t want to talk about it in terms of football, though, but rather in terms of hiring software developers. ...
Does buying “green” products rather than the more conventional alternatives really make a difference in terms of improving the environment? Environmental activist Joel Makower says not so much. He argues that the drive for efficiency and cost savings in business makes a bigger difference: But there’s a deeper problem with green consumerism: It’s often hard to know which companies are improving their environmental performance—and how. The key element of making consumer choices—knowledge—is missing. Companies’ environmental improvements (or lack thereof) aren’t usually obvious, even to the experts. In fact, some of the most environmentally improved products make no green claims at all. ...
Anil Dash and Mike Monteiro have launched a web site evangelizing the idea of appreciating what you have. The idea is simple and may be particularly compelling during a recession, but should probably be in the backs of our minds all the time. I’ll share a little story along those lines. I drive an old car. It gets bad gas mileage and has uncomfortable seats. I would love to drive a new car. But the truth is I don’t drive an awful lot and the car runs really well. A couple of years ago I mentioned to my mechanic that I was considering getting rid of it, and he told me that if I did, to let him know, because he would be interested in buying it. At that point, I looked at the car with fresh eyes. If your mechanic wants to buy your car, it’s not time to sell it. ...
Scott Rosenberg takes a look at Mark Penn’s crazy numbers in his article on professional blogging. Needless to say, his assertion that 2 million Americans are being paid for writing online don’t hold up.
Michael Widenius, the founder of MySQL, has posted his thoughts on the acquisition of Sun by Oracle. I agree with this sentiment: The biggest threat to MySQL future is not Oracle per se, but that the MySQL talent at Sun will spread like the wind and go to a lot of different companies which will set the MySQL development and support back years. I would not like to see this happen and I am doing everything I can do to keep this talent pool together (after all, most of them are long time personal friends of mine). I am prepared to hire or find a good home (either at Monty Program Ab or close to it) for all core MySQL personnel. ...
Hendrik Hertzberg publishes a <a href=http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/hendrikhertzberg/2009/03/more-fashions-i.html">concise definition of fascism, written by E. B. White in the August 7, 1943 issue of the New Yorker. There was much abuse of the term “fascist” when George W. Bush was President, and we’re seeing lots of abuse of the term “fascist” in reference to Barack Obama. Here’s White’s definition: If we recall matters, a Fascist is a member of the Fascist party or a believer in Fascist ideals. These are: a nation founded on bloodlines, political expansion by surprise and war, murder or detention of unbelievers, transcendence of state over individual, obedience to one leader, contempt for parliamentary forms, plus some miscellaneous gymnastics for the young and a general feeling of elation. ...
Since President Obama said he’d name a “federal CTO,” I’ve been watching with interest to see who he’d pick. A lot of people expected that he’d pick a big name industry figure, but he went another direction and chose Aneesh Chopra, the Secretary of Technology for the state of Virginia. Chopra’s name is not one I’d heard before, but Tim O’Reilly makes a compelling argument for why he’s a good choice. ...
Karlheinz Jardner visited East Germany in 1990 immediately after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and recounts the trip 20 years later. The photos from his original trip are not to be missed.