Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Monday, December 18, 2006
Update on IE7 Drops..
So far it's almost pleasurable. I'm still pretty skittish about visiting boston.com and some sites are loading kind of slow (but what banking site doesn't?). I had to root around for the refresh button too. Loving the tabbed browsing. Not quite the monster I expected.
Friday, December 08, 2006
IE7 Drops on Thursday
-Right onto my desktop. Will it touch down ever so gently like new-fallen snow? Or will it hit like Fatman? My inquiring mind can't wait.
BTW, I'm taking a little informal survey; Has anyone noticed lately that they have a lot of browser issues when they visit Boston.com? It seems like almost every time I sign on using IE6, the browser starts whimpering and cowering like a traumitized puppy. Is anyone else having issues with that site?
BTW, I'm taking a little informal survey; Has anyone noticed lately that they have a lot of browser issues when they visit Boston.com? It seems like almost every time I sign on using IE6, the browser starts whimpering and cowering like a traumitized puppy. Is anyone else having issues with that site?
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Monday, December 04, 2006
Book Report: Collapse, by Jared Diamond
This was a fun book to read in several ways. First of all, the paperback said "COLLAPSE" in big red letters on the front cover. People on the train kept giving me strange little looks, probably because it wasn't a cute little cover with drawings of cocktail glasses and shoes all over it.
Also, it was by the author of "Guns, Germs and Steel" which was a fairly fast read despite being something you could hold open a door with. "Collapse", like "GG&S" is built around a single poignant and pithy question that one of Diamond's students asked in class. "What were people on Easter Island thinking when they cut the last tree down?"
They were probably blaming their government and/or some convenient sub-group of the population. It's a good question though. Diamond broke down every reason he could come up with as to why different societies collapsed at different times in history, and compared societies like Easter Island, Greenland Vikings and Anaisazi to the list. And, much like modern life, it comes down to Location, Location, Location. Try to live too far away from your required resources for living and you won't survive very long. And it pays to play nice with your neighbors too. Erik the Red apparently wasn't and things didn't go so well for his descendants.
But if you tend to spend resources that aren't really there, over-populate your territory and piss off your friends and neighbors, don't come crying when all of a sudden you realize that you can't sustain your societial structure. You should have read this book.
Also, it was by the author of "Guns, Germs and Steel" which was a fairly fast read despite being something you could hold open a door with. "Collapse", like "GG&S" is built around a single poignant and pithy question that one of Diamond's students asked in class. "What were people on Easter Island thinking when they cut the last tree down?"
They were probably blaming their government and/or some convenient sub-group of the population. It's a good question though. Diamond broke down every reason he could come up with as to why different societies collapsed at different times in history, and compared societies like Easter Island, Greenland Vikings and Anaisazi to the list. And, much like modern life, it comes down to Location, Location, Location. Try to live too far away from your required resources for living and you won't survive very long. And it pays to play nice with your neighbors too. Erik the Red apparently wasn't and things didn't go so well for his descendants.
But if you tend to spend resources that aren't really there, over-populate your territory and piss off your friends and neighbors, don't come crying when all of a sudden you realize that you can't sustain your societial structure. You should have read this book.
Shalom Punks!
If you are like me and are of a "certain age", you might remember the perpetual ad that used to run in the Boston Phoenix's classifieds in the late 90's. "Shalom Punks! Boston's only Jew-core band seeks drummer that can keep a kosher beat..." it ran something like that. Now Steven Lee Beeber has come forth with the hypothesis that without Judaism, particularly New York Judaism (or, Jew Cool as the article puts it), there would be no Punk. I can hear Linda Richman in my head right now, "The punk rock revolution was neither punk nor rock. Discuss!"
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