Archives for February 2003

While Byrd sometimes sounds like an insane idiot when you listen to his speeches, I do respect him as the contrarian voice in the Senate…

A Box of Our Own Making. Senator Robert Byrd (D – WV) is to be applauded for today’s speech on the Senate floor in response to the Bush Administration’s insane rush to war. “We stand passively mute in the United States Senate, paralyzed by our own uncertainty, seemingly stunned by the sheer turmoil of events,” said Byrd. “On what is possibly the eve of horrific infliction of death and destruction on the population of the nation of Iraq — a population, I might add, of which over 50% is under age 15 — this chamber is silent. On what is possibly only days before we send thousands of our own citizens to face unimagined horrors of chemical and biological warfare — this chamber is silent. On the eve of what could possibly be a vicious terrorist attack in retaliation for our attack on Iraq, it is business as usual in the United States Senate.” [kuro5hin.org]

West Wing in 38 minutes.  Fish and black beans.  Life is good.

Microsoft to tweak Office for Macs. The update will give Macintosh customers access to corporate calendar and contact information stored on a server running the software giant’s Exchange software. By Ian Fried, Staff Writer, CNET News.com. [CNET News.com]

I will definately have to make the next one…..

A reminder, tonight we’re having a live session here at Harvard. It’s not an intro to weblogs for newbies. I’m going to say that right up front. If you don’t know what a weblog is, you can hang out, and maybe we’ll get around to explaining what they are, and maybe we’ll only talk about other stuff. I have a few ideas. But we never know what’s going to happen at one of these until it’s over. Tonight’s session starts at 6:30PM, at Lewis International Law Center 301 on the law school campus, and will run between 1 and 2 hours. After we’ll go out and get some food somewhere (cheap) in the Havard Square area. It’s a good chance to meet other people in the weblog world in the Boston area. We’ll probably do these sessions pretty regularly through 2003 as the blogging activity bootstraps at Harvard.   [Scripting News]

the illustrated encyclopedia of sex

Jenni Ripley is cool, n’est-ce pas? she even makes sex easy. sort of. not everything on the web is funny, smart, and aesthetically pleasing. all at the same time. but Jenni is. thank you to the lord for Andrew Gallix who sent me this link and reminded me: it does happen. well, i have to go work on flashing my gang-signs while naked now.

[the reverse cowgirl’s blog]

Tapes of Shuttle’s Descent Show Dawning of Disaster. NASA has released audio tapes of the final communications among ground controllers and the crew of the Columbia. By Matthew L. Wald and John M. Broder. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

Anyone want to see my ass branded?

Back in the ’90s, during the Net boom, Fast Company published an article by Tom Peters titled “The Brand Called You.” The idea was for professionals to start handling their own lives and careers with the same approach that a company takes in managing its brand.

The term “branding,” of course, comes from cattle, and there was always something suspicious about the idea of bringing such thinking into the realm of individual lives.

Now we have a new kind of branding on the personal level: Real honest-to-god physical branding. People walking around with corporate logos and advertisements not only sewn onto their clothing and plastered over their accoutrements but actually tattooed on their foreheads.

The idea is the brainchild of a London marketing outfit. Students who agree to be branded receive $6.85 an hour for three hours of being “out and about” with their foreheads on display.

Moo!

[Scott Rosenberg’s Links & Comment]