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USNews.com: Eat more, weigh less: The answer may lie in the new science of "Volumetrics" (3/7/05)

Bush in Germany: Could George W. Bush Be Right? - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE: "It was difficult not to cringe during Reagan's speech in 1987. He didn't leave a single Berlin clich? out of his script. At the end of it, most experts agreed that his demand for the removal of the Wall was inopportune, utopian and crazy. Yet three years later, East Germany had disappeared from the map. Gorbachev had a lot to do with it, but it was the East Germans who played the larger role. When analysts are confronted by real people, amazing things can happen. And maybe history can repeat itself. Maybe the people of Syria, Iran or Jordan will get the idea in their heads to free themselves from their oppressive regimes just as the East Germans did."

Astronomers spot first ever dark galaxy | The Register

Army loses in games war

Worldandnation: Did the Army get out-gamed?: "'The Army got an incredible deal,' said Josh Resnick, president of Pandemic. 'This kind of product had never been done before.' But the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense says the game was 'full-spectrum welfare' for the companies - and a lousy deal for taxpayers. Keith Ashdown, the group's vice president for policy, said the game was 'a feeble attempt at training our troops in urban combat. But it became a cash cow for Pandemic and Sony.'"

Predictions Database: "Prediction on politics By 2014, most people will use the internet in a way that filters out information that challenges their viewpoints on political and social issues. This will further polarize political discourse and make it difficult or impossible to develop meaningful consensus on public problems."

The Observer | UK News | Why chattering classes have nothing to say

Joel on Software - Thursday, February 17, 2005: "So far, it looks like this is a nifty program, and consumers should be happy that Microsoft has announced it will be free, but it really, really would have been nice for us here in the software industry if Microsoft had set a price on this thing just to provide some air cover for the other companies working on spyware removal. This is not a software category where a monopoly monoculture will be a good thing." Ah, but this is the beauty of the thing. The same company that flooded the world with this poorly designed bloated bag-o-crap needs to hit another home run, and it's the bottom of the ninth and all their best hitters have struck out as mighty Bill wheezes up to the plate... "HEY... let's tie another wagon to the cash cow!" And as what's left of Norton and Macaffee hurl themselves from the burning superstructure we watch it sink into the tar pit as MS corporate management are hanged by their private parts from the mizen mast. err, or something. Anyway, this whole notion that Microsoft must fix the bad design of Windows by adding more software, free or otherwise, on top of it is a major admission of failure, one of several, inability to support multiple hardware architectures quickly being the other one that comes to mind. Like the mangled mass of metaphors in this post, Windows can't be fixed, and the egos at Microsoft won't let it be re-written. Apple use will continue to grow, as will Linux, and there will be a continuing trend back to server-centric computing that will make the outcome of the OS wars less interesting anyway. Can Microsoft succeed in a competition for on-line storage and services? Do they have the courage to buck Intel and start coding for radically new processors? Can you spell "Razor thin profit margins"? Well, of COURSE you can NOW. Anyway, this is all fun to watch from the vantage point of never having to boot Windows again. The longer the agony lasts the better. I don't think I should add future posts right after watching epic movies such as Return of the King.

Bill Gates: Microsoft created PC industry I wonder if he actually believes this?

Fed chief sees home price bubble - The Washington Times: Business - February 18, 2005

JunkScience.com Nice to find so much de-bunking in one place.

CBS News | States Mull Taxing Drivers By Mile | February 15, 2005?10:30:02

CBS News | States Mull Taxing Drivers By Mile | February 15, 2005?10:30:02: "Seeing tax dollars dwindling, neighboring Oregon has already started road testing the idea. 'Drivers will get charged for how many miles they use the roads, and it's as simple as that,' says engineer David Kim. Kim and his team at Oregon State University equipped a test car with a global positioning device to keep track of its mileage. Eventually, every car would need one. "

Yahoo! News - 'Trustworthy' Computing Now Gates' Focus: "He will speak to an estimated 11,000 security experts gathered for the weeklong RSA Conference, sponsored by RSA Security Inc., based in Bedford, Mass." Oh yes. RSA, that would be the company that puts out many of the Windows security alerts I get in my inbox (I try to stay informed even though I don't actually use Windows). They also offer training and certification (apparently at least 11,000 times so far) to become a "security expert". I'm sure Mr. Gates, the creator after all of many of their jobs, was well received.

Just Letters Cute

PBS | I, Cringely . Archived Column: "Carly looked like she could walk on water because Lucent Technologies had been filled with helium." Funny quote of the week.

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Scientists urge calm over fears of new HIV strain: "HIV and Aids scientists and advisers on both sides of the Atlantic urged caution yesterday over suggestions that a new fast-acting strain of the HIV virus resistant to most anti-retroviral drugs had emerged in New York." I'm just curious. Has there ever been an instance where scientists urged panic?

ABC News: Silicon Insider: R.I.P. Microsoft? "The health of established firms, especially great ones, is more difficult to diagnose. The balance sheet can give some clues, but, because it captures the recent past rather than the near future, it can fool you. Most veteran reporters look at more subtle clues, like the comings and goings of key employees, slippage in the release dates of new products (or missing features), and subtle shifts in the tone of company news releases, advertisements and executive speeches. But most of all, at least for me, there is the smell test: the faintest whiff of decay that comes from dying companies. "

Microsoft reels in another big one | News.blog | CNET News.com: "Microsoft landed another big fish today when Verizon Communications agreed to use its Internet-based TV software." I'm ahead of them on this one: I already don't watch TV.