At Kung Fu Tv is this note...#

Joi Ito once wrote about the difference between monochronic time (M-time) and polychronic time (P-time). I find myself actually living in C-time, a space-time mapping that lies somewhere between the former two. C stands for Chaos, Coffee, Conversation, Coding, as well as for the family of C-languages and their inspired derivatives.

Aaron Swartz with a comprehension response to all arguments against gay marriage...#

Gay marriage seems to be a popular political issue, but I have not heard one legitimate reason why it shouldn't be allowed and mandated by the courts. Essentially, I see no difference between gay marriage and interracial marriage. In Loving v. Virginia the US Supreme Court struck down laws that banned interracial marriage. Can anyone explain why laws against gay marriage should be treated any differently?

To see how this comprehensive response works, let's try it on a letter by Sen. Cornyn [via Volokh]:

[O]nly one kind of relationship has received such historic and multicultural elevated status in law, culture, and morality: the traditional marital union of two people of the same race. That is not because other kinds of relationships are unimportant, but rather because stable unions of two people of the same race are the strongest foundation mankind has ever known for ensuring the healthy upbringing of children. A wealth of social science research and data attest to this fact.

It does not disparage other kinds of relationships for society to recognize that children are raised best when they are raised by two people of the same race. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine an institution that has enjoyed such overwhelming consensus as traditional marriage. The traditional institution of marriage has existed as such throughout human history, across numerous and diverse cultures, countries, and civilizations as well as party lines, and in the laws, judicial precedents, traditions, and historical practices of all [] states.

etc.

In the New York Times is a story about the Dalai Lama about his visit to New York and his thoughts on terrorism.#

At a time when many political and religious leaders are saying that the American antiterrorism campaign and the war in Iraq are only fueling additional terrorism, the Dalai Lama refused to pass judgment.

But he emphasized that "the real antidote" to terrorism in the long run is "compassion, dialogue — peaceful means" — even with terrorists. "We have to deal with their motivation," he said. "Terrorism comes out of hatred, and also short-sightedness."

He likened Osama bin Laden to a butcher who had grown inured to slaughtering animals. With terrorists, the Dalai Lama said, applying a Buddhist analysis, "their whole mind is dominated by negative emotions."

He rejected the prediction popularized by some scholars that the world is headed toward a "clash of civilizations" between Christian and Muslim nations. He cited the citizens in the Soviet Union who once expressed hostility to the United States and the West and have now changed their minds. The Arab world can do the same, he said.

Ole at Gene Expression links to the Fellowship Baptist Creation Science Fair 2001 and here is an excerpt...#

High School Level, 1st Place: Eileen Hyde and Lynda Morgan (grades 10 & 11) did a project showing how the power of prayer can unlock the latent genes in bacteria, allowing them to microevolve antibiotic resistance. Escherichia coli bacteria cultured in agar filled petri dishes were subjected to the antibiotics tetracycline and chlorotetracycline. The bacteria cultures were divided into two groups, one group (A) received prayer while the other (B) didn't. The prayer was as follows: "Dear Lord, please allow the bacteria in Group A to unlock the antibiotic-resistant genes that You saw fit to give them at the time of Creation. Amen." The process was repeated for five generations, with the prayer being given at the start of each generation. In the end, Group A was significantly more resistant than Group B to both antibiotics.

Joel just moved into the new office...#

In the software industry we're always saying things like, "scheduling software is inherently difficult because it has never been written before, so it's science. It's not like the building industry, where everyone involved has done the same thing 100 times before and it's possible to make good reliable schedules. The software industry needs to become more like the mature trades with predictable schedules and budgets."

Well, what I've learned from my first large construction project is that this is hogwash. The building industry doesn't know how to do anything on schedule or on budget, either.

Dan Sugalski quotes...#

"I have always wished that my computer would be as easy to use as my telephone. My wish has come true. I no longer know how to use my telephone." - Bjarne Stroustrup

Peter Lindberg finds gems, like this one from Semiotics for Beginners...#

[Studying semiotics] can help us to realize that information or meaning is not contained in the world or in books, computers or audio-visual media. Meaning is not transmitted to us—we actively create it according to a complex interplay of codes or conventions of which we are normally unaware. …

The study of signs is the study of the construction and maintenance of reality

Bill Noll has a great pictorial.#

If beauty is only skin deep, nobody told the industrial designers at Apple - the new Power Mac G5 is stunningly gorgeous - both inside and out.

MacSlash:#

The Speedy G5 is apparently far too hot for the Powerbook form factor at the moment, according to the MacWorld/UK report from the Paris Expo: "While declining to comment on unannounced products, he did concede that the possibility of a G5 PowerBook was simply 'an issue of good, solid engineering'" Remembering some history, it was over a year before the G4 tower turned into a G4 laptop.

Richard has quotes and commentary on an article about Britney Spears. They are the idea picks.#

Adam Sternbergh: "There, on the cover, is Britney, a star whose made her career by teasingly peeling away her clothes while also occasionally singing. On Rolling Stone, she's down to her panties. Flip the magazine open and you'll find she's got those tugged half-off as well. America's reigning pop princess is now serving herself up to the nation like a truck stop breakfast: greasy and over easy."

The article then compares Spears to Courtney Love—yes, that Courtney Love—and rejects the oft-made comparison of Spears to Madonna.

At the end of the article, this quote: "If you pick up the current Rolling Stone, an insert card might flutter to the ground, one we can take for an omen. It's a Rolling Stone subscription card, bearing a photo of the cover from last year's Hot List issue. The cover girl? Jennifer Love Hewitt, also sprawled out in her underwear. When's the last time you thought about her? The hot girls, it seems, are stale-dated. Only the panties endure."

Tony Bowden quotes Robert Henri.#

You can do anything you want to do. What is rare is this actual wanting to do a certain thing: wanting it so much that you are practically blind to all other things, that nothing else will satisfy you.

Raymond Chen compares Windows services to a reality TV show.#

For performance reasons, groups of services are thrown together and run in a shared process called svchost. Sort of like a reality TV show, but without the voting.

This means that if you see a copy of svchost.exe going a bit haywire in Task Manager, you can't really tell which service inside it is responsible. For performance reasons, groups of services are thrown together and run in a shared process called svchost. Sort of like a reality TV show.

Tony Pierce had another interview with George Bush.#

was saddam a major force behind 9/11?

tony, im glad you ask me that. i think the jury is still out.

vice president cheney on meet the press said yes, that saddam was a major force.

the vice president and i differ in that opinion.

what else do you and the vice president disagree on?

oh, lots of things. he's a top, im a bottom, for example.

pardon me, sir?

sometimes when we go to camp david and want to pretend like we're kids we like to sleep in bunk beds, i like the bottom.