Eric Sink writes about "Career Calculus." - His message is to focus on learning through out your career because it's in your hands only. - He writes about mistakes, ``My own mistakes have been the difference-makers in my career. When SourceGear won the Inc 500 award last fall, the editors asked me to name the most surprising thing I had learned from being an entrepreneur. I told them the most surprising thing was that I could make so many dumb mistakes and still end up on the Inc 500 list.'' - And about managers who stand in the way of your learning, ``This a basic axiom and a starting point for taking responsibility for your career: "Don't work for a manager who is actively hindering your practice of constant learning. Just don't do it." Corollary: Next time you're interviewing for a job, pretend that the power structure is reversed. The hiring manager is trying to figure out if there is any chance you are worthy of the job. Ignore that. Instead, spend your time trying to figure out if there is any chance that guy is worthy of being your manager.''#

Via Outside the Beltway is Daniel Drezner wondering about Age and Sexuality. - ``Why is it that some celebrities under the age of eighteen can be universally acknowledged as sexy, whereas if that adjective is assigned to other underage but physically mature stars, people start leveling accusations of perversion and lechery? Why was it so shocking for Britney Spears to start flaunting her sexuality, but everyone instantly accepted Anna Kournikova as a sex object? Spears is about six months younger that Kournikova, but a Lexis-Nexis search reveals that Kournikova entered the pop culture zeitgeist as a calender-worthy subject when she was younger than Spears. [Maybe this is because Spears started her career as a Mouseketeer, and it's more difficult for Americans to accept former child stars in risqué stiuations?--ed. Yeah, that explains the careers of Alyssa Milano and Drew Barrymore real well.]''#

At LWN is Why SCO won't show the code - ``So...SCO's code demonstration, the one that it put up to convince its resellers of its case, comes from a version of Unix which first came out in 1979. The code was publicly circulated in the 1980's, and explicitly released under the BSD license by [the company now known as] SCO at the beginning of 2002. SCO might well have a complaint that SGI did not properly give credit for the code it used. But there is no possible way the company can argue that this code's presence in Linux is an infringement of its copyrights. And this, of course, is why SCO refuses to show the code that, it claims, is copied. These claims do not stand up to even a few hours' scrutiny on the net. SCO may yet have an interesting contract dispute with IBM, but, from what we have seen so far, its claims of direct copying of code are hollow.'' - This topic On Slashdot#

From Kuro5hin is an article about Journalists being killed in Iraq. - ``Dana is the 11th journalist to die in Iraq since March 20 and the second Reuters journalist to be killed by US troops. Dana's Ukrainian colleague, Taras Protsyuk, was killed by an American tank on April 8 as he filmed the US advance into Baghdad's center from the Palestine Hotel. Last week, the Pentagon released a report into the shelling of the Palestine Hotel. Menard is unconvinced by the report, saying that it "shamelessly exonerates the US army." It has also been described by the International Federation of Journalists as a cynical whitewash. The report, whose results have not been fully released to the press, states that the US troops were justified to fire a 120mm tank round into the hotel because they were under fire from the building.''#

From Matrix Essays is an Article from the Journal of Religion and Film. An excerpt - ``What's more puzzling is how does this make us reassess Cypher (Joe Pantoliano), the supposed Judas Iscariot of the piece. In The Matrix he meets with Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) at a cyber-created restaurant where he drinks fine wine, smokes a cigar and eats a juicy steak. He will give up Morpheus if the Agent will reinsert him into the Matrix. "Ignorance is bliss," Cypher says. From this scene, scholars have shouted a mighty "aha." Cypher, who embraces the sensual world and its distractions, must be the villain. Then we remember what Mouse (Matt Doran) tells Neo while he and the crew of the Nebuchadnezzer are dining on their bland bowl of "synthesized aminos, vitamins and minerals:" "To deny our impulses is the deny the very thing that makes us human." Mouse refers here not only to the woman in the red dress but also to those things that give a person pleasure. The only significant difference between Cypher and Neo is that one responds to his "impulses" in the dream world and the other acts on them in the real world.''#

Via Clay Shirky a definition of Flash Mobs from the New Devil's Dictionary - ``FlashMobs: An impromptu gathering, organized by means of electronic communication, of the unemployed. ''
Via Tom Coates a definition of Social Software - ``*social software*, Any arbitrary collection of algorithms, protocols and metadata that allows friendless agoraphobics to pretend otherwise. "I'm having trouble deciding which node in my social software network I'm going to ask to the e-prom."''#

Joi Ito is wicked cooool. - ``Today I went to see Governor Masuda of Iwate. Iwate is physically the largest prefecture in Japan. Iwate is also my "home town" where my mother's side of the family is buried. Our family house is there, the schools that my great grandmother and grandmother built, and our grave. I *think* we've been at the same grave for 14 generations. (I have to fact check this. I know it is between 14-17 generations.) The last time I visited my grave was to pour my mother's ashes into the grave. We pour the ashes on top of the ashes of our ancestors. You can see the hundreds of years of ashes when you move the stone. The generations of people buried under the stone are etched in the stone side by side. Looking at all of the names on the stones sort of puts my life into perspective. A blip in a lineage of rather interesting people.'' - I wish my family had history. I know about only two generations of my family. Sad.#

Nu Cardboard has logic. - ``A programmer can be significantly more productive in Python than in Java. How much more productive? The most widely accepted estimate is 5-10 times. Do really we really want programmers being 5-10 times more productive? Will this not equate to 80-90% job losses? Any developer coding in Python is a traitor to his IT brothers.'' - This could be Satire.#

Via Bacchus is Vikki giving advice to men talking to women. - ``Realize that (above the tits and pussy you're hoping to get your hands on) there is a brain, and the brain is the Gatekeeper for all the delicious naughty bits. Talk to her about everything, not just sex.''#

Haha - ``In December of 1999, I sold my car from a page on my website, taking out online ads in the appropriate places and mentioning the URL. The funny thing is I get a steady stream of emails asking if it is still for sale. If you check out the pages, I think it's pretty obvious it was in fact sold, but still once a week or so I get a request for it.'' - There's a big red "SOLD" on the pictures.#

Ryan McGee on the Boof. - ``Now, in keeping with the 80's theme from yesterday, "The Boof" is just another name for "The Duckie". In both instances, what we've got is the terminally "uncool", but extremely sweet friend who would treat as good, if not better, than the people the protagnist either tries to get with or eventually does get. For instance, Blane isn't a jackass, but we root for Duckie, mostly because scientists have found we're genetically programmed to hate Andrew McCarthy. Seriously, look it up. 8th chromosome. These people are "uncool" because the social castes in these films are tighter than a Britney Spears tube top. Boof can play a mean basketball (albeit with a 50-year old guy, but he's a werewolf, so that's OK), and Duckie could be a serious rock star, as evidenced by his great lip synching in the record store. However, the generic "Bitchy Blonde Bimbo/Arrogant Male Bimbo" will never let these people truly be accepted as cool. As such, our protagonist, who abides by these social structures until the final reel (usually breaking free from the shackles of conforming at the prom or in a karate tournament) cannot truly like "The Boof" until said Boof has been humiliated by our hero figure, usually in public and/or a house party where a TERRIBLE SECRET is revealed, at roughly the 62 minute mark.''#

From Gene Expression - ``How to use your tool(s)... This is NOT worksafe (though no nudity), but it is worth watching just to gape at how different European advertising is from American advertising. And, uh, you can gape at other things too. Wow. ''#

From Hunting the Muse - Suicide Bombers Can Be Stopped - `` We treat suicide bombers as delusional figures, brainwashed by imams. But they are also products of political realities. There are many differences between the Kurds and the Chechens. But both are Muslim populations that have political grievances. In one case, the grievances and tactics grew more extreme and violent, culminating in suicide bombing. In the other, suicide bombing gave way to political negotiations and even coexistence. There is a lesson here.'' - HtM adds, ``And this is the sort of thing that if a democrat would be saying it, the republicans would be screaming "Appeasers!" for the faint implication that sometimes concessions work.''#

Moxie is "not a libertine nor 'toid" - ``Has no one seen the mock-ups of school vouchers I have framed on my walls? The fire arms in my gun closet? My pro-life born-again flaky white fish on the back of my car? Okay, kidding on the last bit.''#

The United Fools of Kuro5hin bring us the US's wonderful future plans. - ``According to this news report, North Korea takes the top spot in the world for having the lowest risk of terrorism on its soil. North Korean citizens are the least likely to be attacked by terrorists. The North Korean government has the most effective mechanism in providing the best homeland security. By comparsion, the US ranks number four globally in risks of new terrorist attacks. Only Colombia, Israel and Pakistan have higher risks than the US. Despite the US's war on terror, average Americans have higher risks of being hurt by terrorism than the Iraqis. *Clearly there is a long way to go for the US government before it can provide the same level of homeland security the North Koreans long enjoyed.*''#

From Boing Boing is www.amigovernorornot.com - I love it.#

Brian Carnell - ``Dave would never have the animal-related feeds and tech-related feeds grouped together, so why would I ever want this? It's the Henry Ford principle -- any color you like as long as it's black (or reverse chronological).''#

Jonathan Delacour thinks about "Spirited Away" - ``the original Japanese title, Sen to chihiro no kamikakushi ("Sen and Chihiro's spiriting away") implies that Sen was always present within Chihiro and one of the story's themes is Chihiro's discovering a lost or unacknowledged part of her identity. I'm not suggesting that a Western audience won't understand the story at this level; I'm simply pointing out that the Western translations of the title fail to communicate something that—from the Japanese perspective—lies at the heart of the story. Sen always understands that her "real" name is Chihiro and that if she forgets her name she has no chance of freeing herself and her parents. In that sense, another theme of the film is the need to value words, including one's name. '' - And include an explanation from Miyazaki Hayao, - #

`` A word has power. In the world into which Chihiro has wandered, to say a word out of one's mouth has a grave importance. At Yuya, which is ruled by Yubaba, if Chihiro says one word like "No" or "I wanna go home," the witch would quickly throw Chihiro out. She would have no choice but to keep aimlessly wandering until she vanishes, or is changed into a chicken to keep laying eggs until she is eaten. In turn, if Chihiro says "I will work here," even the witch cannot ignore her. Today, words are considered very lightly, as something like bubbles. It is just a reflection of reality being empty. It is still true that a word has power. It's just that the world is filled with empty and powerless words.
The act of depriving (a person) of one's name is not just changing how one (person) calls the other. It is a way to rule the other (person) completely. Sen becomes horrified when she realizes that she is losing the memory of her name, Chihiro. And every time she visits her parents at the pigsty, she becomes (more) accustomed to her parents as pigs. In the world of Yubaba, you should always live in the danger of being eaten up.''

Don Park - ``There are things that amaze us, but amazement itself is entirely our own making. What saddens me is how fast amazement fades into mundane. Things, places, people, understanding -- nothing escapes, all fading like photos left out in sunlight -- flowers, mountains, Ferrari, Walkman, campfire, my son's little toes, all becomes mundane eventually.''#

Tony Pierce links this article by Greg Palast entitled, "POWER OUTAGE TRACED TO DIM BULB IN WHITE HOUSE --- The Tale of The Brits Who Swiped 800 Jobs From New York, Carted Off $90 Million, Then Tonight, Turned Off Our Lights" - `` After LILCO was hammered by the law, after government regulators slammed Niagara Mohawk and dozens of other book-cooking, document-doctoring utility companies all over America with fines and penalties totaling in the tens of billions of dollars, the industry leaders got together to swear never to break the regulations again. Their plan was not to follow the rules, but to ELIMINATE the rules. They called it "deregulation." It was like a committee of bank robbers figuring out how to make safecracking legal.''#

Jen Chung has some suggestions for Jude Law, who is getting divorced and has to deal with his ex-lover's name tattooed on his arm. - ``Gothamist wonders how attractive it is to date a someone who has their ex's name tattooed on them, but if it's someone like Jude, Johnny, or Angelina, we understand overlooking it.'' - She has links to various Angelina Jolie tattoos - I'm kind of jealous because Angelina has 13 in Roman Numerals and a Big X, two things that I always thought would be cool. I guess I'll just have to pull it off as a tribute to AJ.#

From Ryan is an article about various "Religious" movies that will be coming out this fall. One such movie will be Luther - ``Luther, an epic starring Joseph Fiennes as the charismatic Martin Luther, who challenged the Vatican's supreme authority and became known as the Father of the Reformation, also opens in the US on September 26. [...] "It seems a shame that a film like Luther is branded religious when in fact it's the story of one of the most influential men in history." ''#

Also from Ryan is an article title, Astrologers fail to predict proof they are wrong from the Telegraph. - It contains information about research the proves Astrology inaccurate. - ``The quoted reaction from the astrology community was rather muted: Roy Gillett, president of the Astrological Association of Great Britain, wants us to treat the results "with extreme caution", and says that the leading researcher wants to "discredit astrology." Well, of course Dr. Dean wants to discredit astrology. Everyone who hopes for progress in the corpus of human knowledge, who longs for a citizenry trained in the methods of science and the discipline of rational thought, would love to see astrology and other sundry psuedo-sciences and superstitions vanish from the earth.'' - Ryan says something great, ``Of course, there is something tenacious about astrology (and about religion, for that matter), that will render it practically immune to the flaming volleys of scientific discourse. This is why studies like Dr. Dean's will really have no impact- they are rational discourses aimed at people who have sincere, meaningful, emotional attachments to irrational, poetic imagery and narrative. I'd be willing to wager that when *reason and emotion collide in untrained, unreflective people, emotion will usually win.*''#

Something else interesting from Ryan an article that consists of journalist drivel about a Buddhist monk. Ryan mentions that it contains something really silly as an indication of his kindness. Kind of interesting.#

When you are a parent, like Jorrit Wiersma , it seems like everything is so much more complicated. - ``I hate dog poo. Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm not the only one. You start to notice it more when you have a kid. Especially because toddlers have a tendency to pick it up and you're always afraid they're gonna put it in their mouths too. I've never really understood why dogs can't poop in a litter like cats do. Sadly, however much I would like cats to be cleaner than dogs, I have to admit that they are not. A sand box on a playground near us has made that blatantly clear to me. There's not a square foot of it that isn't graced by a cat turd. And probably the patches that are clear have a turd buried a few inches down. Now I hate cat poo as well. It hurts, being a cat person and all.''#

Leslie was blog-interviewed. The interview is fun but how it came to be is even cooler. It's kind of like chain letter blogging, this is the explanation at the bottom of the post - ``1) Leave a comment by ten o' clock tonight if you want to be interviewed. 2) I will respond; I'll ask you five questions. 3) You'll update your journal with my five questions, and your five answers. 4) You'll include this explanation. 5) You'll ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.''#

Kevin wishes there was a keyboard command to cycle through tabs in Safari. In IE it was "Command-`", That was convenient.#

Michael Feldman links an article in the Boston Globe about a baby found inside a weapons box in Iraq. His comment asks for an answer I'd like to hear and is very funny, `` What I want to know is WHY WAS THE BABY IN THE BOX IN THE FIRST PLACE? It would make more sense if they had found automatic weapons in the baby's crib. Hiding weapons makes sense. But why hide a baby? In a closed metal box of weapons? Were they affraid the British soldiers would take the baby? Are babies illegal in occupied Iraq? This story is driving me crazy, and I hope details emerge later in the day.''#

The Yeti write about Kate Hudson - ``I was watching How To Lose a Guy in Ten Days. I have to say, it was pretty funny. And Kate Hudson looked pretty good, pre-op and all. Ridiculous that she wanted large breasts. Is that us, or is that Hollywood? Would it bother us, the viewing public, if she always had small breasts? Or is it just Hollywood directors putting pressure? Horrible either way. I honestly don't understand. '' - Body mutilation is not my thing, I knew a girl who wanted a nose job. I told her I'd never to talk to her again as a signal of protest if she got it. I'm a terrible person.#

Just a Gwai Lo on "Wooing as Work" - ``The Dating World Sucks. This is required reading for those wishing to understand how so-called Missed Opportunities aren't even Opportunities to begin with. Soundbite: rejection without a reason "causes you to doubt the value of the attempt itself." This is what I mean when I say that if wooing feels like work, I want no part of it.'' - Clevah.#