All those topics that i wish i had time to pursue more earnestly.
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Posts from — January 2004

good news for the blog

The good news is that you won't have to suffer my uncaring nature regarding spelling and grammar much longer, nosirreebob… why, because now grammarian works in the radio userland window and spell/grammar checks the boxes. Now if I just remember to use it.

January 8, 2004   No Comments

Thu, 08 Jan 2004 15:08:32 GMT

What's wrong with binary logic?.

I've been accused of using binary logic and am still having a very difficult time understanding the problem with it. Anne Galloway's blog has very high quality readership so I am fascinated by the discussion, but I still need some help understanding. Anne, I hate to highjack the comments section on your blog entry, but I have a feeling I'm still missing a very important point.

I am turning off comments on the this item on my blog. If you have thoughts, please post them in context on Anne's blog.

[Joi Ito's Web]

January 8, 2004   No Comments

Thu, 08 Jan 2004 13:35:52 GMT

now aristotle's golden mean is exemplary of this, because it is frequently misinterpretted. for aristotle: the virtuous/excellent person will find the mean, but you cannot use the mean to guide you to be a virtuous person. you can habituate yourself to be a better or more excellent person, a person who fullfills their function as a human being, but you still have to have certain capacities to start even start that pursuit. Books 2-5 of the Nicomachean Ethics(NE) more or less say that. However, aristotle does not provide endpoints or the vices for all the virtues he lists in book 5 of the NE, and certainly one of the virtues he mentions only has one end, so it is clear that the golden mean probably isn't his test. What is his test? well, you have to go back to book one, where he says what ethics studies, which is in most translations 'political science' or governing reason which is like practical reason and in the last few books of NE its excellence is said to lead to the good life. it is one of the intellectual virtues, practical reason….

January 8, 2004   No Comments

Thu, 08 Jan 2004 12:27:18 GMT

Turn OFF The TV.

Turn OFF The TV

I'm starting a new campaign. It's about how totally UNCOOL TV is. It's more uncool than smoking. It's more uncool than drinking. It's dangerously uncool to watch TV. Turn it off.

Your brain is melting, thanks to TV. Your butt is broadening, thanks to TV. Your kids are learning how to shoot people with guns for fun, thanks to TV. It's showing you that your neighbors have more money, more soda, more fun, more sex, more retirement savings and nicer clothes than you. It's teaching you how to be miserable. It's teaching you how to be passive. Turn it off.

You want news — read a newspaper or go online.

You want weather — try the radio or you might even go outside.

You want someone to keep you company, invite someone over.

You want sex, try it with a real partner, not late night TV.

[Halley's Comment]

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i think this is right on. i through out my tv on new years, it's gone. however, i'm not yet more productive, though i have to change that today, i really do, because if i don't get the things done that i need to get done, other things won't work out the way that i want them to. tv takes time, and it gives you in its place exactly what halley says, which i term cultural placebos which your mind then uses in part to create your worldview. the problem is that the tv isn't real…

January 8, 2004   No Comments

Thu, 08 Jan 2004 12:19:07 GMT

January 8, 2004   No Comments

more on the university charter push

ÊÊÊ But with Virginia's public colleges now underfunded by nearly $400 million annually, officials insist the additional flexibility could allow them to chip away at their respective budget gaps before the schools suffer permanent blows to quality and reputation. That margin of financial independence would, in turn, leave more state money for Virginia's other underfunded colleges, officials said.

really, these universities have already suffered permanent blows to quality and reputation. it is somewhat too late for that. but now they might be able to regain and rebuild some reputation. however, i'm not sure it is possible given other peices of the puzzle.

January 8, 2004   No Comments

Thu, 08 Jan 2004 00:02:33 GMT

New York Times Archives 1851 – Present. New York Times Archives 1851 – Present
http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/nytarchive.html

A searchable archive of the New York Times all the way back to Setember 1851 is now available. Searching is free, but then articles must be purchased. The archive is hosted by Proquest, but you can get to it from the Times front page. This opens up a primary research source on just about everything that's happened in the last 150 years! [Marcus P. Zillman, M.S., A.M.H.A. Author/Speaker]

January 7, 2004   No Comments

Thu, 08 Jan 2004 00:00:07 GMT

“Electronic science: a license to print money”. David Mort, Science makes money for Europe's information companies, Research Information, Winter 2003, pp. 13-14. (Not yet online but soon to be here.) A summary of the 2003 profits, margins, acquisitions, and shifts to electronic publication and bundling at the major journal publishers. In the TOC of this issue the editors plug the article with the line, “Electronic science: a license to print money”. Excerpt: “[R]estructuring, cost-cutting programmes, and improved operating efficiencies should boost industry margins compared to last year.” (PS: Despite the rosy forecast, this is pre-Paribas, pre-Citigroup, and pre-Investec. Unlike other recent financial analysts, Mort doesn't even mention open access, let alone try to take its progress into account.) [Open Access News]

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e-science is in europe. it is occuring in a very big way, alot of research dollars are flowing in the sixth framework and it will be interesting to see how it all works out in the end. however, publishing….. still isn't profitable.

January 7, 2004   No Comments

Wed, 07 Jan 2004 23:57:03 GMT

What We Really Meant…. From: Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. Dick Cheney Speech to VFW National Convention August 26, 2002 To: For bureaucratic reasons, we settled on one issue, weapons of mass destruction (as… [Eat Your Vegetables]

January 7, 2004   No Comments

YOU SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO BUY AN ELECTION

$131 MILLION. MSNBC – Bush re-election effort raised $131 million in 2003 As he seeks a second term in the White House, President Bush's re-election effort raised… [OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY]

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this should be google bombed, or so I think.
YOU SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO BUY AN ELECTION
HAVING MONEY DOES NOT MAKE YOU PRESIDENT
THERE IS MORE AT STAKE THAN MONEY
IS THIS WHAT OUR PRESIDENT DOES WHEN HE IS SUPPOSED TO BE DEFENDING THE COUNTRY?

January 7, 2004   No Comments