Jynnan Tonnyx

In this nifty piece of FUD from a so-called “open source” developer, the author goes on and on about the GNU GPL’s costs to developers and its supposed disincentives to create. He conflates the imitative quality of some GPL software with the innovative character of the free software community as a whole, and their dislike of non-free software companies like Microsoft and its entrenched position in the marketplace with their own pleas for the good will and charity of the community they serve. What always gripes me about these “exposé” pieces is that there’s nothing in them (other than this character assassination) except “this is why I won’t use the GPL for my software, so you shouldn’t either.” Frankly, I don’t know who he thinks is twisting his arm.
Read more…

That’s short for “Yet Another New Website Look.” I’ve been experimenting a lot with stylesheets since I moved to the new website, and I wanted to find a way to make the menus work without complicated JavaScript. I adopted a technique from Eric Meyer’s CSS/Edge website. They work great in Mozilla (and thus I assume Navigator 7) and Safari, but there are problems in Camino. Other browsers, I couldn’t say — I’m not interested in paying for a browser. Of course, the standards-scoffing beast that is Internet Explorer doesn’t render the menus, because they use a CSS2 selector that Microsoft didn’t implement. Read more…

I was on the fence about war with Iraq until I read this speech by Tony Blair. I have always held that while war is never a good thing, it is sometimes the right thing. After reading Mr. Blair’s speech, I am now convinced that war with Iraq is the right thing. Most of these issues had been swirling around in my brain, terms like “material breach” and “full cooperation.” I had simply been unable to find my way through the thicket of accusations and possible ulterior motives. Mr. Blair’s calls for full UN involvement in rebuilding the government of Iraq and in administering its oil make me feel much better about the UK’s motives, at least. I know the Pope has said that this is not a just war, but from this argument, I am now convinced that it is.
Read more…

That was one of the longest 24 hours I’ve ever spent in my life. In the midst of Denver’s second worst snowstorm in history — the worst since 1913 — our power and phone got knocked out. From 9pm Tuesday to 9pm Wednesday, we had no power, and thus no heat, no stove, and since we’re on a well with an electric pump, no water. We’re totally hemmed in by six-foot drifts in our driveway, so we can’t go anywhere, even if the roads were safe to drive. Read more…

So I was reading Excite News today, and I came across this story, about two teachers in Albuquerque who were suspended for putting anti-war posters in their clasrooms. About 45 students walked out in protest, and 4 were arrested for refusing to go back to class.

Read more…

I’m at the end of my second day of work at Raytheon. I’m sitting in the “Training Pod” waiting for my security clearance to come through, a process that can take weeks (or months, in some cases). Of course, when it finally does come through, I won’t be able to tell you what I’m working on. In the meantime, the Training Pod is a little dull, at least until I get a non-classified project to help out with. It turns out that one of my cubicle-mates is a fellow Quark refugee. I would say “small world,” but then again, they did lay off almost 90% of the U.S. staff.

On the plus side, I have a window, which won’t be the case once I’m assigned to a classified project. Too bad the view outside is so ugly today.