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Wednesday, October 27, 2004 |
October 27, 2004.
Gary Cornell: “While the reason we published the essays collected in "Joel on Software" is obvious to anyone who has read anything Joel has written, the cover of the book has given rise to more than a few questions!”
I've gotten lots of great nominations for essays that deserve a place in the next book, tentatively titled “// comment”. It's going to be your book: the 30 best essays about computer software over the last year... the kinds of things that Joel on Software readers want to read, edited and introduced by me. Check out the list of nominations, vote for the ones you like, and add your own nominations. [Joel on Software]
9:39:12 PM 
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Rhetorical Tricks of the Ruling Classes, or False Consciousness 101.
Sharp analysis here; an excerpt:
"Ever since formally democratic governments have replaced monarchies, one of the main rhetorical tricks of conservatives of various stripes--including what are called liberals in Europe and are now called Republicans in the US--has been to continually invoke the image of the free individual versus the authoritarian state. Freedom and state power, they say, grow in inverse proportion.
"In the impoverished condition of contemporary American political discourse, this antagonism takes an increasingly simplified and distorted form in conservative rhetoric: state power is defined as intervention into the economy, primarily through taxation. Thus, freedom is diminished whenever the government taxes individuals (or even corporations!) or attempts to regulate private industry.
"Meanwhile, as critics from Marx to Chomsky have pointed out, private power grows and concentrates in fewer hands. Global mega-corporations, which own or set the terms of business for most smaller corporations and businesses, increasingly control more aspects of life.
"Hard working individuals spend years working forty, fifty or more hours per week for companies that increasingly show little commitment to their employees. Private tyranny grows, unabated, while citizens and workers are instructed--by populist rhetoric fashioned by economic elites and their apologists--to fear public tyranny."
. . .
[The Leiter Reports: Editorials, News, Updates]
8:47:22 PM
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The Candidates on Science Issues. Not to be left behind by the AAAS, Nature has also published the results of questions they sent to the candidates for the upcoming election: news@nature.com - specials - us election Scroll down the page for the nifty flash app they built to display the questions and answers. Well done. It's nice to be able to toggle between each candidate's... [GalaxyGoo Blog]
4:52:52 PM
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The Remix Masters. Hip-hop pranksters. Pop culture giants. Digital music pioneers. A conversation with the Beastie Boys. By Eric Steuer from Wired magazine.
Lexmark Injunction Overturned. An appeals court orders additional hearings in a case that pits the printer company against a competitor that makes chips that allow replacement ink cartridges to work in Lexmark devices.
Missouri Home to Seismic Hot Spot. Nearly 200 years ago, a Mississippi River town experienced some of the most powerful earthquakes in U.S. history. Today, scientists say it's hard convincing people that major shakers can hit anywhere but the West Coast. Michelle Delio reports from New Madrid, Missouri.
[Wired News]
7:22:01 AM
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The Red Sox Make a Leap to the Doorstep. Boston throttled the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-1, in Game 3 of the World Series and on Wednesday can win the title New England has craved for generations. By By TYLER KEPNER. [NYT > Sports]
Grumble, grumble.
7:21:17 AM
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