A Web Undone 2

Gnawa

Sun, 11 May 2008 01:06:59 -0500

The New York Times previews the Gnawa Music Festival in Essaouira.

Obama Wins North Carolina Primary - New York Times

Wed, 07 May 2008 01:24:20 -0500

After tonight, it does appear likely that Hillary can win, but it still seems possible that she can ensure that we and Barack lose.

I don't know which worries me more . . .

Wed, 07 May 2008 00:58:42 -0500

. . . that the two-year-old said jump, or that the four-year-old did it.

A Long Way Gone

Mon, 05 May 2008 08:43:17 -0500

I am half way through Ishmael Beah's A Long Way Gone, which I purloined from my wife before she had a chance to read it. The prose is crisp, but the writing has a nightmarish quality both because of the horror of its subject matter and its remove from ordinary experience. Watching a man's eyes give up hope before they roll back into his head as you cut his throat, seeing the mud shift and bubble as a man buried alive struggles to free himself, or viewing the ashes of the house in which your family was burned alive are scenes most of us will not have to face and which it would be easier not to imagine. The obverse of our privileged lives is all too easy to ignore, but it commands our attention.

Forgotten but not gone . . .

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:25:04 -0500

One reason that I have been away from the blog so long is that I have been pursuing my own minor, personal version of the Holy Grail of office computing — the universal address book, with partial success. (Are quests ever really achieved?) One of my ambitions has always been to link a universal address book to my Palm Pilot, my email system, and my word processor/office suite and to be able to share it with my family. To that end, having tried a number of alternatives, I am currently attempting to configure OpenLDAP, Horde, and OpenOffice.org on my Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon system — soon to be Hardy Heron if all goes well. For extra good measusre, I have been experimenting with O3spaces and webdav for document management as well. So far, I have mainly concluded that while LDAP may be very powerful, it is a beast to configure. And syncml is no walk in the park either.

French Women Don't Get Fat and Do Get Lucky - washingtonpost.com

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 08:28:51 -0500

The New York Times reports that French women have longer, more interesting sex lives than Americans. This is news? On the other hand, French women did not get the vote until 1944.

Bobby Fischer, Troubled Genius of Chess, Dies at 64 - New York Times

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 23:56:24 -0500

The New York Times reports that Bobby Fischer's unquiet spirit has finally been laid to rest.

Better Than Expected, Not As Good As Hoped

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 22:18:22 -0500

The Golden Compass was a good evening's entertainment while the power was out at home. While lushly produced, it did not have the clarity of the book.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A New Verse Translation - Simon Armitage - Book Review - New York Times

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 09:17:03 -0500

Just in time for Christmas, the New York Times reviews a new translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Does torture work? - Salon.com

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 22:46:22 -0500

Citing ~~American~~ French experience in Vietnam, French experience in Algeria, and British experience in World War II, Salon says no.

In Case You Were Wondering . . .

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 20:45:52 -0500

The New York Times makes the case for Linux in general and Ubuntu in particular. According to the Times, the biggest obstacle to wider deployment of Linux is that it does not come installed on the computer.

Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm?

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 09:07:10 -0500

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm You're probably in the final stages of a Ph.D. or otherwise finding a way to make your living out of reading. You are one of the literati. Other people's grammatical mistakes make you insane.
Dedicated Reader
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Non-Reader
Fad Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

Via Andrew Sullivan.

Fort Hunt's Quiet Men Break Silence on WWII - washingtonpost.com

Sat, 06 Oct 2007 14:26:52 -0500

The Post describes how the greatest generation fought the most monumental war of our time:

"We got more information out of a German general with a game of chess or Ping-Pong than they do today, with their torture," said Henry Kolm, 90, an MIT physicist who had been assigned to play chess in Germany with Hitler's deputy, Rudolf Hess.

The American interrogators of World War II got more information with more humane techniques in a vastly more significant conflict. We are not the men our fathers and grandfathers were, and we will be remembered as a generation whose confrontation of a lesser challenge was small, petty, cruel, and vindictive.

Prof. Tom Murphy at Dupont Circle Chess University

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:57:46 -0500

The Days and Knights of Tom Murphy and follow up with reporter Wells Tower.

Authenticity

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 08:27:48 -0500

I do not usually find myself in agreement with Media Lizzy, but Charles T. Moran has a very thoughtful post on the reaction to Senator Larry Craig's arrest and plea of guilty to sexual misconduct in a public restroom. Its most refreshing admission: "Republicans are no more virtuous or noble than Democrats."