about

who
what
where
when
why
how
comments

feeds

ATOM

RSS

categories

identity
jabber
language
literature
music
personal
philosophy
politics
public domain
society
technology

archive

current
2007-04
2007-03
2007-02
2007-01
2006-12
2006-11
2006-10
2006-09
2006-08
2006-07
2006-06
2006-05
2006-04
2006-03
2006-02
2006-01
2005-12
2005-11
2005-10
2005-09
2005-08
2005-07
2005-06
2005-05
2005-04
2005-03
2005-02
2005-01
2004-12
2004-11
2004-10
2004-09
2004-08
2004-07
2004-06
2004-05
2004-04
2004-03
2004-02
2004-01
2003-12
2003-11
2003-10
2003-09
2003-08
2003-07
2003-06
2003-05
2003-04
2003-03
2003-02
2003-01
2002-12
2002-11
2002-10
2002-09
2002-08
2002-07
2002-06
2002-05
2002-04
2002-03
2002-02
2002-01
2001-12
2001-11
2001-10
2001-09

2002-05-30

Total Freedom?

The lament of the politically homeless.

I'm feeling a long post welling up inside me about my political views. I've been working to sort them out for a long time now. I recently played guitar at the opening reception of the Colorado LP convention and that somehow crystallized for me that I don't think I'm quite a libertarian. So many libertarians seem to fight with each other over who is more purely absolutist in their commitment to laissez-faire (you know, let's privatize the parks, libraries, and city streets). Well, gosh darnit, I don't have a big problem with public parks and libraries, and I just don't see how it's realistic to sell off the streets and sidewalks (as pure libertarian theory would call for). I think my philosophy of government is becoming somewhat Hippocratic: first do no harm. The point of government is to protect individual rights. When government crosses the line and starts violating rights, that is a major problem. And so are policies that actively inculcate dependency, such as individual and corporate welfare, foreign aid and intervention, etc. But parks, libraries, bike paths, sidewalks, streets, water systems, and similar public goods or pieces of infrastructure seem pretty harmless to me.

Posted on 2002-05-30 at 22:01. File under politics.

~ link ~

Rocky Mountain Blogs

The Colorado blogging community re-awakens.

Way back last year sometime, I started a Yahoo Group for webloggers in Colorado. The group has been quiescent for months, but recently re-awakened in response to a message asking if the group was dead. In response to the recent activity, I created a Colorado weblogs page and it looks like we might get together sometime soon at My Brother's Bar. So if you're a blogger in Colorado, get in touch!

Posted on 2002-05-30 at 17:12. File under personal.

~ link ~

SuitWatch

The latest thoughts from Doc Searls.

LinuxJournal editor Doc Searls has sent out the latest issue of SuitWatch, his bi-weekly email newsletter on trends in open-source and the world at large. This time he brings a long-term perspective to recent Linux happenings. His conclusion? The "geological" bedrock of our computing environment consists of two things: Unix and the Net. But don't depend on me to post a blog entry whenever Doc sends out a new SuitWatch -- subscribe!

Posted on 2002-05-30 at 13:30. File under technology.

~ link ~

2002-05-29

Boob Tube Blues

The continued realization that television is worthless.

I watched some TV this evening. In between viewing the Colorado Avalanche lose to the Detroit Redwings (and why should I care?), I discovered that India and Pakistan are on the brink of war, that regular American citizens are being harrassed and intimidated by agents of our increasingly fascistic government, that the FBI is incompetent, and so on. The result? A bad mood. It's amazing to me how television almost always puts me in a bad mood, and how much happier I've been since I stopped watching TV.

Blissful ignorance, you say? Sticking my head in the sand? Avoiding the real problems running amok in the world today? Perhaps. I prefer to see it as keeping my intellectual independence and keeping my strings from being pulled by emotionalistic, sensationalistic, ratings-hungry fabricators who pander to the lowest common denominator of the human race. Do journalists (especially television journalists) bring you truth, or even care about it? I doubt it. Not that I blame them personally: they are simply responding to a perverse set of incentives, which value ratings above truth. But I can't forget that these are the people who brought you Y2K.

So now I'm washing my brain out by blogging and listening to a Yes CD at full volume. And feeling much better. :)

Posted on 2002-05-29 at 21:46. File under personal.

~ link ~

Why Blog?

Are there perhaps as many reasons to blog as there are bloggers?

I like the (new?) guest entries at DaveNet. The first one I read was by Adam Curry on the assassination of Pim Fortuyn. The latest is a personal look at blogging by Edward Cone. Although I still think he's too focused on how blogging differs from standard journalism (which I forgive because he is a journalist), I like it when he says people blog because they can. It's cheap, it's fun, and you can immediately get your thoughts out onto the net to a worldwide audience. Not that most people's thoughts are worthy of a worldwide audience, but who really cares? As long as you can reach the people you want to reach or who have an interest in you or your projects, that's all that matters. (BTW, for those with more available time than I have, here is a long and seemingly interesting analysis of the blogosphere; link courtesy of GeekPress.)

One thing I like about blogging that I've missed when writing all the words on my websites is the personal voice, both in my own blog and in those of others. I've made more personal connections with other people through blogging -- they learn about me as a person, and I learn about them (though one of my sisters said she learned a lot about me by poring over my websites!). I'm not sure that I would find that simply by visiting people's static websites. This also ties in with the relative immediacy of weblogs. Sure, much of what people blog about is ephemeral, but you know what? Life is ephemeral. We might as well get used to it. Striving for meaning that lasts is as important to me as anyone, but I recognize that most of life is as fleeting as the wind. Relax, let go, and live it.

Posted on 2002-05-29 at 21:24. File under personal.

~ link ~

On the Agenda

Stuff I'm working on.

Sheesh, gotta keep cranking here. Here's some stuff I'm working on or pushing forward within the Jabber Software Foundation:

• IPR policy (IPR == intellectual property rights)
• roles and responsibilities for the Board of Directors
• roles and responsibilities for the Jabber Council, too (thanks to reatmon for putting together the strawman doc)
• JEP-0030 (I promised I'd finish a re-org of it by end of day tomorrow! Yikes!)

And that's not to mention recruiting sponsors and Board members, re-working the IETF docs, finishing preparation of my presentations at JabberConf Europe, and so on. Hrm.

Posted on 2002-05-29 at 17:37. File under jabber.

~ link ~

2002-05-28

The Great Escape

Of frontiers and getting away from it all.

Here's a fascinating essay by the inimitable Claire Wolfe on the importance of frontiers as an escape valve for societies. She points out that human beings have always looked over the next hill or across the next river as a way to start over or find greater freedom. Unfortunately, the world is filling up fast and there aren't any frontiers left. Even out-of-the-way places like Alaska and the American West are pretty darn civilized these days -- and that civilization includes all the usual accoutrements, such as mounds of paperwork to fill out and busybody bureaucrats to satisfy. The few semi-successful freedom movements on the planet keep bumping into big governments of one kind or another, and it's unlikely that a small state could successfully negotiate greater freedom within the USA (as the Free State Project wants to do) or even that a small nation such as peaceful and increasingly-libertarian Costa Rica could long evade the ever-lengthening tentacles of the modern Octopus whose body is centered in the District of Columbia (oh, the imperialists would find some excuse for intervention, probably something about not prosecuting the War on Drugs fiercely enough). What are the inhabitants of a crowded, highly-governed planet supposed to do?

I know it sounds far-fetched, but the best answer in the long term is to find a truly new frontier, which means we need to look up. The options? As Claire Wolfe points out, space stations in L5 libration points (once popularized by the L-5 society) are one. Mars colonization is another (check out Robert Zubrin's books The Case for Mars or Entering Space for the full argument, or visit the Mars Society). Heck, just today came news that Mars may contain a lot more (frozen) water than anyone previously thought. And given the fact that there are 434 known Apollo objects (a.k.a. potentially hazardous asteroids), we would do well to split up the herd and seek long-term survival in habitational diversity.

Speaking of which, I wonder why so many SF novelists concentrate on the far future (FTL travel and all that guano) when the medium term offers so many more interesting times: L5 societies, Mars colonization, asteroid mining, and the like. Of course, it could just be that I need to read more SF novels. :)

Posted on 2002-05-28 at 20:36. File under society.

~ link ~

Urban Haiku

Music inspired by some of my poems.

Composer Jeffrey Lindon has posted MP3 files of four of the piano pieces he wrote based on my urban haiku. I like them a lot -- despite their classical form they've got some nice spiky rhythms and astringent harmonies. :) You can listen to them here.

Posted on 2002-05-28 at 15:45. File under music.

~ link ~

.plan

An open agenda.

FYI, I now have a public .plan file (a.k.a. to-do list). You can find it here or type 'finger stpeter@jabberstudio.org' to view a version that is updated daily (I wrote a cron job to wget the URL pointed to above and write that to the actual .plan file in my home directory on hades.jabber.org). Open source, open protocol, open agenda.

Posted on 2002-05-28 at 14:31. File under jabber.

~ link ~

News Flashes

Open-source news of note.

I just posted a news item on jabber.org about the fact that the DotGNU Project has endorsed the use of the Jabber protocols. Yet more evidence of Jabber adoption on the web services front.

And here are two other interesting articles: InternetWeek reports on secure instant messaging and InfoWorld columnist Russell Pavlicek thinks that open-source software may yet conquer the desktop.

Posted on 2002-05-28 at 11:50. File under technology.

~ link ~

Monadnock

My webzine turns five years old.

Wow, it was five years ago that I started publishing my literary webzine, the Monadnock Review. There's some good stuff in there, if I do say so myself. My interest in it waxes and wanes, but I'm feeling the need to solicit more contributions before too long (haven't updated it since January!).

Posted on 2002-05-28 at 10:08. File under literature.

~ link ~

2002-05-23

PGM==DOTM

One last act before logging off.

I just posted a new "developer of the month" interview over at www.jabber.org, this time with Peter Millard. I cropped one of Peter's bouldering photos for the picture, but I might try to get something more up-to-date next week. Note to pgm: I know you subscribe to my RSS feed, so feel free to bring in your digital camera on Tuesday if that old "1492" photo doesn't meet your high standards. :)

Posted on 2002-05-23 at 22:19. File under jabber.

~ link ~

Playing Hooky

Net-free weekend on the way.

Yes, I'm playing hooky from work tomorrow -- a four-day weekend! We have friends coming into town, so I'll be spending time with them (they're thinking about moving to Denver, so we're going to give them the grand tour). Thus I won't be touching web, email, or Jabber until next Tuesday.

BTW, I got to talking with a non-native speaker of English today about the phrase "playing hooky" (yes, there's a web page about the phenomenon). My copy of Webster's New World Dictionary College Edition (my second-favorite dictionary after the trusty OED) reports that "hooky" derives from the slang phrase "hook it", which means "to run away". American idioms are fun.

Posted on 2002-05-23 at 21:44. File under language.

~ link ~

Escape!

Foiled by an ampersand.

OK, what am I doing wrong? When I try to link off to URLs that contain an ampersand (you know, fancy stuff like http://somedomain/script.php?foo=123&bar=456), all hell breaks loose. I can't leave the '&' character alone because xsltproc chokes on that when it converts my XML into HTML. But if I try to escape the '&' with '&', '&', or even %26, servers return 404 or 501 errors. The hex representation seems like it should work, but it doesn't. Hrm.

Posted on 2002-05-23 at 21:33. File under technology.

~ link ~

HOT and HOV-y

Do HOV lanes work?

Paul Hsieh over at GeekPress is linking to an article on HOV (and HOT) lanes. We were talking about them just the other day over lunch at the office -- some people love 'em (mostly those who are able to take advantage of them), some people hate 'em (mostly those who'd like to take advantage of them but can't), but few are neutral. Personally I commute work on the bike trail, so HOV lanes don't have a direct impact on me, but I recognize that they're a waste of time and money, and most likely cause more pollution because they force the non-carpoolers to sit in more stop-and-go traffic. I'm not saying there is an easy solution to traffic jams, because there isn't. Probably my libertarian friends would say that the solution is simply to end government control over the roads -- after all, ending government ownership and control is always the solution to a libertarian. Or so some of them seem to think. When you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Posted on 2002-05-23 at 20:43. File under society.

~ link ~

Renaissance

Thoughts on one of my favorite rock bands.

I've been listening to the music of Renaissance a lot lately. No, not the music of the Renaissance, but the music of the English progressive folk-rock band Renaissance. Funny thing is, Rob (Jabber Inc.'s CEO) stopped by my desk about an hour ago and noticed my Renaissance CDs -- it turns out he's a big Renaissance fan, too! They're pretty obscure, so that's quite a coincidence.

So what kind of music is this? Long-time readers of this weblog know that I'm a big Yes fan, so it's easiest for me to compare the two than to talk about Renaissance in isolation. First off, I know less about Renaissance because I'm not quite as a big a fan of theirs and I possess only the two volumes of their "greatest hits" (entitled Tales of 1001 Nights). Whereas Yes is perhaps the best-known progressive rock band, Renaissance's music is more like progressive folk. Their lyrics, almost all of which were written by a poet who was not a member of the band, are more openly-understandable than those of Yes. In addition, they featured a symphony orchestra on a number of their recordings, whereas Yes orchestrated their pieces with only the standard rock instruments (although some of those keyboards almost sound like a string orchestra). Supposedly Renaissance was influenced quite strongly by Russian music, and one of their songs is even entitled "Mother Russia" (it's about Solzhenitsyn). Personally I think that the music of Renaissance is a little more simple than that of Yes. Plus the fact that Renaissance has a woman vocalist (the incredible Annie Haslam) gives them a different sound. And their music is more piano-focused than that of Yes. But if you ask me, both bands are amazing! Especially this live version of Ashes are Burning that I'm listening to right now (yes, it clocks in at 23:47!).

Posted on 2002-05-23 at 14:24. File under music.

~ link ~

O'Reilly on OS X

Further thoughts on alpha geeks.

Following up on his essay Inventing the Future, Tim O'Reilly gave a keynote address on OS X at the recently-concluded Apple developer conference. His notes are of interest to anyone who cares about Linux, Unix, or computing in general. Maybe one of these years I'll return to my roots (my first two computers were Macs) and get myself an OS X machine. By that time it might be OS XI, though. ;)

Posted on 2002-05-23 at 14:03. File under technology.

~ link ~

Jabber on Windows

Jabber options on RedmondOS continue to multiply.

Thanks to JabberCentral, I just found out about the new Merlin server. Seems this is yet another Jabber server for Windows, joining the servers from Tipic and JabCast, as well as the win32 port of the original JabberD server. All of a sudden there's a plethora of Jabber server options on Windows!

Posted on 2002-05-23 at 13:56. File under jabber.

~ link ~

Artificial Societies

Simulating the reality of social relations.

The other night at my local branch of the Denver Public Library, I read a fascinating article in The Atlantic about the simulation of societal behavior through the modelling of "artificial societies". I'm not quite sure what to make of it yet, but it seems to have something in common with what's known as experimental economics, and to have intriguing implications for public policy and social psychology. More research required. :)

Posted on 2002-05-23 at 12:23. File under society.

~ link ~

2002-05-20

blog.jer

Yet another blog to like.

Jeremie Miller, fearless leader of all things Jabber, has started blogging. Yay! He actually has two blogs: one for Jabber and another for more personal thoughts. I like the short profile Jer put together -- that captures the essence of Jer in just a few words. No RSS feed yet, though. I'll have to poke him about that. :) (But my blog doesn't have Jabber presence on it, so he may well poke right back.)

Posted on 2002-05-20 at 21:09. File under jabber.

~ link ~

Punctuated Catastrophism?

Stephen Jay Gould and beyond.

Paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould is dead. Gould is best-known for his co-development of the theory of punctuated equilibrium in evolutionary biology, which challenged the intellectual hegemony of gradualism and paved the way for a much more dynamic view of evolutionary history. (Though some would say that Gould didn't go far enough.)

Stepping beyond the relatively safe realm of punctuated equilibrium, I've recently discovered the altogether bizarre landscape of catastrophism. This line of thinking was originated in recent times by Russian scientist Immanuel Velikovsky, who seems to have become something of a cult figure (info: 1 | 2 | 3). SF writer James P. Hogan, whom I respect, has been intrigued enough about Velikovsky's claims to write about them on his website, use them as the imaginative basis for his novel Cradle of Saturn, and link to a recent extension of Velikovsky's ideas. Although I'm normally skeptical about dogmas of science (including gradualism in geology and evolutionary biology), I must say that some of these catastrophist views are simply fantastical and beyond what I find believable based on the evidence. So follow the links in this paragraph at your peril. :)

Posted on 2002-05-20 at 20:24. File under society.

~ link ~

2002-05-19

Keeping an Eye on Ions

From the new explanations for old phenomena department.

Hmm. Surfing at (relative) random over the vast expanses of the Internet, I found this page about the correlation between sunspot activity and political activism. The author argues that the causative force here is ionization, since negative ions may induce heightened human activity. It's an intriguing thesis. Perhaps I'll ping James P. Hogan and see what he thinks of it.

Posted on 2002-05-19 at 21:34. File under politics.

~ link ~

Small is Beautiful

Is the new economy old news?

John Robb has written an essay on the new economy. You do remember the new economy, don't you? Well, Robb argues that it's alive and well, just that it's taking a form that people and pundits hadn't expected. Specifically, technological innovation is putting large corporations under severe pressure while small companies and individuals are thriving (not surprising, since innovation favors the small and nimble). My favorite quote:

What most of us care about is the ability to think, create, and enjoy. The new economy makes that better, easier, and smoother for more people than ever. Say goodbye to the tarriffs from the tolltakers of corporate America. We won't miss them.

Posted on 2002-05-19 at 21:24. File under society.

~ link ~

2002-05-16

YABTL

Yes, yet another blog to like.

Thanks to Virginia Postrel, I've just discovered that Eric Raymond now has a weblog. Yes, the same Eric Raymond who is famous for the poems published in the Monadnock Review. Well, actually he's more famous for his advocacy of open-source software. As you might expect, ESR has already posted some thoughts on the Second Amendment -- you know, that inconvenient right to keep and bear arms. Further evidence that ESR can write both effective code and impressive English. Welcome to the blogosphere, Mr. Raymond!

Posted on 2002-05-16 at 21:44. File under technology.

~ link ~

Bright Idea

Open source for the rest of y'all.

Here's a bright idea: a CD full of open-source software for Windows. Yes, open source is more than just Linux. You don't need to have an open operating system in order to run open-source code. There is plenty of good open-source software for Windows, as this CD project shows. I was happy to see that their software list includes WinJab. Hopefully Peter Millard will convince them to upgrade that to his new Exodus client. Jabber on, Peter!

Posted on 2002-05-16 at 20:52. File under technology.

~ link ~

Heir-less

Correcting a journal entry from 1998.

Got an email the other day from Michael Hardy regarding a journal entry I made in 1998. Michael (who was an active poster -- as I was -- back in the old days of the now-defunct MDOP mailing list) points out that there is no evidence that Leonard Peikoff was ever anointed by Ayn Rand as her intellectual heir. This claim is thus probably a mere assertion on Peikoff's part. Not that the notion of an "intellectual heir" is legitimate, since it assumes that a philosophy is a kind of intellectual property that can be deeded to a single person like a house or physical estate. And that assumption does violence to the very nature of ideas. But it's just like Peikoff to claim that a philosophy is a closed system over which property rights can be asserted. Those Randians are weird.

Posted on 2002-05-16 at 20:30. File under philosophy.

~ link ~

The 80/120 Rule

Are we all working too much?

DJ Adams points to an essay by Nick Denton on the benefits (yes, even the productivity benefits) of working 80% instead of 120% of the standard work-week. He's even started a company that enforces a four-day work-week. I've long thought that a company with such a policy would clean up in recruiting talented people (well, talneted people who want a life). DJ has arranged things so that he works 80%. I don't think I can do the same -- as a certified Jabber fanatic, I'm out on the 120% end of the scale. But Jabber is both work and play for me. (Speaking of Nick's company, it sounds like Jabber integration would be a big plus for his business: real-time content delivery to a web portal is one thing, but real-time content delivery to any connected Jabber device -- desktop, PDA, cell phone, etc. -- is true power.)

Posted on 2002-05-16 at 20:13. File under society.

~ link ~

2002-05-13

JUG

The Jabber User Guide is now up to date.

OK, I just made a slew of Exodus screenshots for the Jabber User Guide. It's better than ever! I still need to add some more pages but overall it's in great shape. Jabber on!

Posted on 2002-05-13 at 18:14. File under jabber.

~ link ~

Whew!

The Pope blesses the Internet.

After almost ten years of working and playing on the Internet, I guess I can stop feeling guilty: Reuters is reporting that Pope John Paul II has blessed the Internet. The article mentions some Vatican rumors to the effect that "he is searching for a patron saint for Internet users". I think St. Peter is an obvious choice. ;)

Posted on 2002-05-13 at 13:43. File under technology.

~ link ~

WSJ.jer

Boy from Cascade, Iowa takes Wall Street by storm.

The technology section of today's Wall Street Journal contains a good interview with Jeremie Miller, our fearless leader here at the Jabber project. Check it out if you subscribe. Plus the article mentions ralphm's cool Jabber world map. :)

Posted on 2002-05-13 at 13:42. File under jabber.

~ link ~

Blogrolling Redux

And another journal to add.

It seems I'd forgotten that Jabber phenom Julian Missig keeps a diary over at Advogato. Guess I need to add him to the blogroll, too. :)

Posted on 2002-05-13 at 13:23. File under jabber.

~ link ~

Blogrolling

Adding some blogs to the hono(u)r roll.

Over the weekend I added Adam Curry to my blogroll because of his intelligent postings about Pim Fortuyn. Today I've discovered that Jabbermeister DJ Adams has started a weblog, too! It's a shame he started it after my interview with him last month. I think I'll need to add an editor's note at the end of that page. :) BTW, I'll be posting the next Jabber interview sometime in the next few days....

Posted on 2002-05-13 at 11:29. File under jabber.

~ link ~

WWL Revisited

The Worldwide Lexicon in the news.

Cool: the O'Reilly Network has published an article by Brian McConnell about the Worldwide Lexicon Project. Rock on, Brian!

Posted on 2002-05-13 at 10:41. File under technology.

~ link ~

Triskaidekaphilia

On the number 13.

Yes, today is the 13th of May. Why are humans afraid of the number 13? Weird. It's always been one of my favorites. But then again I love prime numbers.

Posted on 2002-05-13 at 10:34. File under language.

~ link ~

2002-05-12

The Dutch Way

More on Pim Fortuyn.

Thanks to Adam Curry, I've found an English-language version of Pim Fortuyn's platform in the upcoming Dutch elections (no, my Dutch isn't good enough to read it all in my mother's language). The platform seems eminently reasonable to me, but then again I'm a libertarian. Probably it would strike others as horrifically radical. What I find interesting is that many countries in Europe are trending towards something like realistic or populist free-market policies. Denmark and Holland are two such countries -- France is decidedly not (those who compare Fortuyn to Le Pen are wrong in a particularly loathsome fashion). Hartelijk bedankt, Mijnheer Curry!

Posted on 2002-05-12 at 21:48. File under society.

~ link ~

Happy Jabbering

A Jabber fanatic's work is never done.

Today I totally reworked the Jabber User Guide. About time, too. I first wrote this tutorial for beginners about two years ago (it began life as the "WinJab HowTo"). A lot has changed since then in the Jabber world! One thing I did today was change the recommended Windows client from WinJab to Exodus (both by the incomparable Peter Millard). I still need to update all the screenshots, though -- no Windows at home for me, so I'll have to do that at the office.

I've also put together a list of official Jabber namespaces. Let me know if you see any errors or ommisions.

Posted on 2002-05-12 at 21:17. File under jabber.

~ link ~

Thanks, Mom

On Mother's Day.

I always thought Mother's Day was one of those Hallmark holidays (my mom did, too, which is why we never really celebrated it when I was a kid). Talking with my mom today, she mentioned that Abraham Lincoln started the holiday as a way to honor the suffering of mothers who lost children and husbands in the Civil War. Naturally I turned to Google to find the answers, and found a few pages on the web devoted to Mother's Day. This page says that the holiday was started in 1872 or thereabouts by Julia Ward Howe (better known as the person who wrote the lyrics to The Battle Hymn of the Republic) as a holiday of peace.

Posted on 2002-05-12 at 21:10. File under personal.

~ link ~

2002-05-11

Blogs and News

A multitude of links.

Friday night is often my blog night, but last night I worked on a Jabber URI scheme instead. It will be great to be able to express Jabber IDs as URIs and interact with them through a browser or whatever, though obviously we'll need to build that support into web browsers and email clients and such. Don't hold your breath for support in IE or Outlook. :)

More evidence that bloggers like to blog about blogs: everyone is linking to essays in Salon by Scott Rosenberg and Steven Johnson. How do I know everyone is linking to them? Because Blogdex says so. BTW, I'd never visited Blogdex until this evening -- it's a fun if ultimately narcissistic window on the blogging world. But narcissism is what makes the blogosphere go round -- it's an incestuous community of people who love to hear themselves talk. I suppose I'm no better than the rest. ;)

As usual for a Saturday night I've been enjoying baklava, Turkish coffee, and good music. Right now I'm listening to the music of New Orleans piano guru Professor Longhair -- specifically, his song "They Call Me Dr. Professor Longhair". I love the left-hand part he plays on the low bass keys in this song. There is something so delectable about that low, growly, chocolatey range on the piano, at least to a bass-hungry listener like me. Yum.

Leafing through the hit parade at Blogdex, I rediscovered the essays of Victor Davis Hanson over at the National Review. I've just read half a dozen or so of his latest essays. He certainly is consistent in this views, which are quite the opposite of those expressed in essays like this one on the "disastrous foreign policies of the United States". Hanson's latest piece on "Occidentalism" captures much that is wrong with Islamic thinking. As the Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn argued before he was assassinated recently, Islam is a backward culture because it is a closed culture (incidentally, the word 'assassin' comes from the Arabic word for a secret society whose hashish-eating members killed Christian leaders during the Crusades). BTW, Adam Curry has written an important essay about Fortuyn's assassination and the resulting reaction; the title is The Big Lie. Fortuyn's killing hits closer to home for me than it probably does for most Americans, since my mother is from the Netherlands and I've inherited important parts of Dutch culture, which is so open and tolerant (the very opposite of Islamic mores). Perhaps my Dutch heritage is why I'm able to keep a bit of perspective about intolerant aspects of American culture. Or so I like to think.

Posted on 2002-05-11 at 22:14. File under personal.

~ link ~

2002-05-08

More Jepping

The JEP activity continues.

Since I last blogged five hours ago, two new JEPs have been added to the list. I published a JEP on Jabber security that I received from Paul Lloyd of HP (#31) and I also just wrote up an initial version of a JEP for a Jabber URI scheme (#32). Plus I know of at least three more proposals that people are close to submitting. JEP-o-rama indeed!

Posted on 2002-05-08 at 22:32. File under jabber.

~ link ~

JEP-o-rama

Things are hopping on the Jabber front.

The Jabber Council just approved JEP-0022 and is now voting on JEP-0029 (finally, a thorough definition of Jabber Identifiers!). Starting with JEP-0029 I've instituted the tradition of Last Call in the Standards JIG before sending JEPs to the Council, which I think will help focus discussion. The IETF uses Working Group Last Call in a similar fashion. I'm still learning about standards processes, and the IETF is a good group from which to borrow. We may soon borrow from the IETF with regard to legal notices and intellectual property rights, too. (The Jabber Council has had some difficulties with the jabber:iq:browse JEP though, which has been troubling me. Sigh.)

Posted on 2002-05-08 at 17:38. File under jabber.

~ link ~

2002-05-07

Seeing Patterns

Some links on software design patterns.

In doing some research for a document I'm writing, I found some good links about software design patterns. As you might expect, UML guru Martin Fowler has a helpful website. Since I was specifically doing some reading on the Model View Controller pattern, check out his MVC page. Even better, I think, are the pages on MVC by Cristobal Baray. I like how he brings the user into the picture and shows how the various parts of the MVC model interact.

Posted on 2002-05-07 at 14:34. File under technology.

~ link ~

You Say You Want a Revolution?

We all want to change the world, but....

Long-time readers of this weblog know that I lean libertarian, albeit in a progressive sort of way. I'm even registered as a Libertarian (that's big-L as in the Libertarian Party) in Colorado and back in the mid-nineties I was fairly heavily involved in the LP back when I lived in New Jersey. Although I won't support the national LP (too corrupt), I had been inching back towards getting involved at the state level here in Colorado, and had even entertained the notion of standing for election on the LP line.

That brief fling may have come to an end. In an article published the other day by the Rocky Mountain News, LP Senate candidate Rick Stanley asserted that any congressperson who voted for the (quite likely unconstitutional) USA Patriot Act should be "indicted for treason" and "hung when found guilty". Is Rick Stanley disturbed, or merely disturbing?

I most definitely do not agree with Mr. Stanley's assertions. For starters, he presupposes the legitimacy of capital punishment, opposes the presumption of innocence and the rule of law (notice he said "when found guilty"), and verges on revolution by assuming that the time has come to hang (not vote out of office) elected officials who do not uphold their oath of office to honor the Constitution. If the Colorado LP supports these positions or will not distance itself from a party representative who spouts them, then I shall change my registration to independent and resign from the LP. I've contacted Colorado LP officials and I'm waiting to hear what they say.

As John Lennon once sang: "But when you talk about destruction / Don't you know that you can count me out..."

Posted on 2002-05-07 at 08:10. File under politics.

~ link ~

2002-05-05

The Blogosphere

The great grey lady weighs in on the blog phenomenon.

As probably every other blogger on the planet has already noted, the New York Times (or, more specifically, Judith Shulevitz) has published an essay about weblogging. No harm in that. My favorite line: "No matter what a blog may actually say, its more visceral effect is to prove, again and again, the irreducible individuality of the blogger."

Posted on 2002-05-05 at 22:03. File under society.

~ link ~

DAWG

On first-hand scholarship.

I recently received an invitation from a local Ayn Rand club to attend their next discussion meeting. The topic: Aristotle. The readings: taped lectures by Rand disciple Leonard Peikoff and Peikoff disciple Robert Mayhew, as well introductory books by writers on the history of philosophy such as W.T. Jones, Jonathan Barnes, and John Herman Randall. Nowhere to be seen: readings from Aristotle himself! Given how harshly Rand criticized second-hand thinking (the working title for The Fountainhead was Second-Hand Lives), I'm amazed at how most Randians never read the actual texts of any philosophers they want to praise or blame, let alone take the time to read them in the original language.

I'm sorely tempted to start an Aristotle study group here in Denver to get some real learning and discussion going. You know, line-by-line readings of the Metaphysics and Nicomachean Ethics and such, with frequent reference to the Greek. Sounds like a blast to me! Naturally, the first thing I've thought of is a clever title: the Denver Aristotle Working Group or DAWG. In honor of the name, I'm now listening to jazz-grass mandolinist David Grisman's CD Hot Dawg. (And yes, I've already thought of similarly-named forum for mile-high Nietzsche studies: the Denver Area Nietzsche Group or DANG.) Now I just need to find people who might be interested in participating (too bad I'm now so far away from my friend Irfan Khawaja -- he'd be game). Well, scratch that. The first step is to hurry up and wait: I won't have even the semblance of time to start something like this until 2003. Sigh.

Once I get going on this, I suppose I'll contact professors interested in Aristotle or Greek philosophy at the local universities (such as Christopher Shields, Naomi Reshotko, and Gabriela Carone) to see if they or some of their students might want to participate.

Posted on 2002-05-05 at 20:27. File under philosophy.

~ link ~

2002-05-04

Disco is Back!

A new Jabber protocol is born.

I'm sitting here enjoying some baklava and Turkish coffee, and listening to the Dire Straits song "Lady Writer". Is this the best power pop song since the Beatles' "I Feel Fine" or what? Dire Straits afficianados will hear the musical germ of "Lady Writer" in "What's the Matter Baby?" by David Knopfler (Mark's less famous brother), although the lyrics to "Lady Writer" are much more intelligent and intriguing.

I've been getting into music again more recently. Among other things, I've been getting reacquainted with my steel-string guitar -- a beat-up old six-string jumbo from Taylor (model #815, serial #690) built back when they were still located in Lemon Grove. I just relearned "Taxman" by George Harrison and "Don't Think Twice It's All Right" by Bob Dylan. I also picked up the (fairly) new Bob Dylan album Love and Theft yesterday -- it's amazing how hard Dylan can rock (and swing!) given that his first album was released in 1961.

I was going to blog last night but instead I wrote up a Jabber Enhancement Proposal capturing a new protocol for service discovery in the Jabber world. The namespace in this JEP is intended to replace jabber:iq:browse, which has seen only limited adoption and which a lot of people aren't fully happy with. So yesterday morning Ryan Eatmon had a chat with Peter Millard about an alternative, and afterwards Peter stopped by my cube and we began to talk, and then we roped in Joe Hildebrand and hit the whiteboard in a nearby conference room and threw around some ideas and mapped out a protocol, then we brought in David Waite for some feedback, and later in the day I chatted with Ryan for a while and we worked out some more details. So we've got a JEP with five co-authors and more on the way for all I know. And yes, the proposed namespace is jabber:iq:disco (short for discovery) and Joe had me whistling "The Hustle" all morning yesterday. So it's no surprise I had to go out and buy that Bob Dylan CD to clear my head of horrid disco tunes. :-)

Posted on 2002-05-04 at 21:06. File under jabber.

~ link ~

identity...

my back pages

me
home
music
jabber
poems
journal
essays
dotplan
résumé
ism book
contact me
colorado blogs

my group blogs

albion's seedlings
extended conversation
floss foundations
microid development
planet jabber

jabberites

adam nemeth
daniel henninger
google talkabout
hal rottenberg
jeremie miller
kevin smith
mickael hallendal
ralph meijer
remko tronçon
robert quattlebaum

techies

barry leiba
bob wyman
eric rescorla
fred stutzman
future pundit
mike linksvayer
paul hoffman
the speculist
steve o'grady
stowe boyd

wonks

cafe hayek
chicago boyz
the futurist
instapundit
joel kotkin
marginal revolution
michael barone
rand simberg
rants and raves
samizdata

i use...

i support...

i listen to...

fighting censorship...

current threat level...

flying the flag...