Pure Speculation

2006 - The Year Of A Declining Standard of Living

My performance review coincided with the end of year, so it is easy to do some year-over-year comparisons.

Ubuntu, Day 2

I fiddled around with the system some more today. I’m still loving it.

Fedora--; Ubuntu++;

I reinstalled Linux on my primary home computer last night. I switched to Ubuntu from Fedora.

Overall, I’m fairly pleased.

REVIEW: King Kong

This movie had so many things in its favor, I’m surprised that I didn’t like it more. Naomi Watts was wonderful (and beautiful). Jack Black was great, although I think he toned down his intensity more than needed. Andy Serkis is probably one of the most talented and underrated actors working today.

If America were Iraq, What would it be Like?

Juan Cole, Professor of History at the University of Michigan, asks: If America were Iraq, What would it be Like? A very stark and thoughtful comparison.

88% of Americans see political corruption as problem -- will probably re-elect 98% of incumbents

Americans see corruption as problem

WASHINGTON - Indictments, investigations and a congressman’s guilty plea for taking millions in bribes have left most Americans convinced that political corruption is a deeply rooted problem, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll.

Graham on Web 2.0

Paul Graham has another excellent essay. This one is one “Web 2.0.” He’s talks about the origin of the term and what it means, and it boils down to three things:

• AJAX ( or, “Javascript now works”)
• Democracy
• Don’t Maltreat Users

Then he points out that Web 2.0 is whole point of the Internet.

Review: The God Who Wasn't There

I watched The God Who Wasn’t There last night.