All those topics that i wish i had time to pursue more earnestly.

Gates Dismissive of $100 Laptop [1]:

Many technology leaders have praised a nonprofit effort supported by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to build a $100 laptop for schoolchildren in the developing world. But Bill Gates is not among the project’s fans. Mr. Gates, Microsoft’s chairman and chief software architect, was dismissive of the project in remarks at an event for govenment leaders yesterday. If you’re going to give computers to the poor, he said, “geez, get a decent computer, where you can actually read the text and you’re not sitting there cranking the thing” while you use it. (The proposed $100 laptop includes a hand crank so that the device can be used even when no power outlet is available.) “I’ve yet to meet who’s going to buy the $100 thing. But it’s great, you know, the more computers the better.”

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I talked to quite a few people at wsis about this when i was there and I have to agree with Bill, this is not a great or even good project. What it has become is one huge publicity stunt, which isn’t uncommon for MIT. Nonetheless, the foundational idea of one laptop per child is fine…. It is the implementation that is a problem. They want to distribute these without support, basically cargo cult computing. here’s some gadgets, have fun… has never worked to develop the world.

whatsonwhen.com – Procession of the Unmarried Women:

Husbandless women eager to tie the knot seek assistance at this annual devotional procession in Palestrina, held in honour of St Anthony of Padua.Admittedly, the practice of segregating all single women in the village, dressing them in white robes and getting them to walk in line through the city praying to the patron of spinsters for a husband has been phased out somewhat lately. But the procession still takes place, on the evening of 12 June, the day before the feast day of the saint.

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it is amazing what some people do in the name of a cultural event.

Helen Thomas Makes a Preemptive Attack:

Q Does the President know that he’s in violation of international law when he advocates preemptive war? The U.N. Charter, Geneva, Nuremberg. We violate international law when we advocate attacking a country that did not attack us.

MR. McCLELLAN: Helen, I would just disagree with your assessment. First of all, preemption is a longstanding principle of American foreign –

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It is against international law and has been for some time.

The Australian: Muzzling of science [ 08mar06 ]:

The censorship against which more and more leading Australian scientists are speaking out is both overt and covert. It exists in managerial directives not to communicate, to comment or otherwise share information and scientific conclusions with the public. It exists in the reprimand, the bullying, the sidelining, the punishment and the actual dismissal of those who dare to transgress. This is not supposition; it is on the public record.

But it also exists in self-censorship. Step out of line and your paper won’t be published, you won’t get the next grant, you’ll be passed over for promotion, you’ll be made redundant. Nothing is ever said, just a veiled threat and the rest left to the victim’s imagination. And in science it’s hard to find another job that isn’t in a taxi.

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another great tragedy proceeding as normal….

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Dictatorship is the danger:

Dictatorship is the danger

A Reagan-appointed supreme court justice voices her fears over attacks on US democracy

Jonathan RabanMonday March 13, 2006The Guardian

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I wonder too….

Bore Me – Funny Cats 2 – Much anticipated sequel to Funny Cats compilation:

Funny Cats 2Much anticipated sequel to Funny Cats compilation 

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this is a bit too much….

CSPD Comics:

Tales from the Public Domain:BOUND BY LAW?

“Will a spiky-haired, camera-toting super-heroine… restore decency and common sense to the world of creative endeavor?” -Paul Bonner, The Herald-Sun

“Bound By Law lays out a sparkling, witty, moving and informative story about how the eroded public domain has made documentary filmmaking into a minefield.” -Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing.net

“Bound by Law translates law into plain English and abstract ideas into ‘visual metaphors.’ So the comic’s heroine, Akiko, brandishes a laser gun as she fends off a cyclopean ‘Rights Monster’ – all the while learning copyright law basics, including the line between fair use and copyright infringement.” -Brandt Goldstein, The Wall Street Journal online

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this is great… we need more educational material like this.

Photo:

Cute Overload! :

It really is too many…

Go to your music player of choice and put it on shuffle. Say the following questions aloud, and press play. Use the song title as the answer to the question. NO CHEATING [yeah, right].

How does the world see you?
“Have a Cigar” Pink Floyd… I really had no idea that i had this bit of music…

Will I have a happy life?
“The Preacher” Charlie Robison I suppose there is some answer in there….

What do my friends really think of me?
“Teenage Lobotomy” by the Ramones….. Well, I guess that works for some of my friends…

Do people secretly lust after me?:
“Black Wind Blowing” By Billy Bragg, the Hamburg Concert from Archive.org

How can I make myself happy?
“I Dreamed I Saw Phil Ochs Last Night” by Billy Bragg…. I think this means yes.

What should I do with my life?
“Metal Firecracker” By Lucinda Williams I guess should tell someone they are my queen and my biker?

Will I ever have children?
“It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” By Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffet … That pretty much means no, I think. Oh well, ‘poor me something tall and strong, make a hurricane before i go insane, but i don’t care, it’s five o’clock somewhere’.

What is some good advice for me?
“Take Five” by the Dave Brubeck Quartet on the Double Live from the U.S.A. album. It seems pretty self-explanatory.

How will I be remembered?
“World Turned Upside Down” By Billy Bragg from the Vancouver, Vogue Theater show from Archive.org
“The world will be a common treasury for all.” yes, I could live with that.

What is my signature dancing song?
“Down Berry Wood” by Bad Manners. Again, I have no idea where this song came from. But yeah, I could dance to it I guess…

What do I think my current theme song is?
Blackbird by The Beatles. That’s what came up…. but everyone knows that the soundtrack that i generally hum to various parts of my life is the Indiana Jones Theme song, “Raiders March”.

What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
“Always on my Mind” by Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash on the Storytellers album. I guess this works pretty well, as I’m always thinking about everyone else and everything else instead of what i’m generally supposed to be directed to be thinking about.

What song will play at my funeral?
“Yégellé Tezeta” (My Own Memory) by Mulatu Astatqe Oh this is a pretty good song for my funeral actually. It is jazz, a dialogue between a sax and an organ that comes together in the end in some sort of back-beat synthesis.

What type of men/women do you like?
Women: “Shirley” By Billy Bragg live at the Phonecian club… Ok, that works….
Men: “Rudy Can’t Fail” The Clash

What is my day going to be like?
“O Morro Nao Tem Tez” (Somewhere in the Hills) [A.K.A. "Favela" live] by Vince Guaraldi & Bola Sete on Vince & Bola Any song that has 3 names…. this can’t be good.

found at Dogma through Weez

theory of sara: The APSA, false elitism and the flight from reality:

To wrap all of this up, I am quite frustrated with the fact that the APSA continues to go down this path of denying the importance of real politics in favor of propping up false elitism and irrelevance. This of course assumes that my work is relevant, which I would naturally challenge that it is, but more importantly, what I wish the organizers of APSA would get through their heads is that the American Political Science Association is supposed to bring together each year a conference on politics, not fantasy or phantom menaces.

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I don’t think that it is supposed to bring together a conference on politics, but a conference that represents political science. Those are two distinct positions.