What Ever Became of Interoperability?

I was reading this ZDNet blog about the Browser becoming the new Desktop, and one question came to mind. What happened to the promise of inter-operable parts of your computer environment? About 15 years back, when computers were going to create the paperless office, all of the operating system and…

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The annual non-sequitur of Easter (Or is God’s “gift” based on a warped version of the moral accounting metaphor?).

Imagine that a neighbor walks up today and tells you that he really cares about you.   In fact, he loves you like a daughter/son and he wants to show his love.  You might be delighted to hear such an expression of affection. 

Then imagine that he tells you that he wants to prove to you that he cares for you.  He wants to prove it in a way that you will never doubt the depth of his caring.  

You would probably be thinking that he’s going to do something nice.  Maybe he will give a big donation to charity in your name.  Or maybe he will go buy you something nice, or take you to dinner at a good restaurant.  But then he surprises you.

He reminds you that he has an adult son named Bill (which you knew, because you know Bill).  He then tells you that he is going to let a mob of goons torture and murder Bill in a bloody spectacle, for you!

You are aghast, but he continues on.

He tells you that he is going to let that mob drive large nails through Bill’s hands and feet, for you, to prove that he cares about you.   For a grand finale, he is going to allow this sadistic crowd to jab a spear through Bill’s side, to make sure that every drop of blood has been drained from Bill’s body.

It would be patently obvious to you that decent people don’t “show their love” by …

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Continue ReadingThe annual non-sequitur of Easter (Or is God’s “gift” based on a warped version of the moral accounting metaphor?).

Biblically Correct Tours of Science Museums

According to this ABC News report, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science allows private tours for children so that the displays can be properly interpreted to keep them from accepting the displayed, scientifically derived explanations as true. Yes, the actual science displays are being specially interpreted to support Young…

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Write your biography in six words.

Putting one's life description into only six words is the subject of a new book, Not Quite What I Was Planning. This review published in The New Yorker gives you the flavor: It started as a reader contest: Your life story in six words. The magazine was flooded with entries. Five…

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Separating virtual wheat from chaff

As usual my head is abuzz with the social media explosion and the impact technology has on my world. While communication has always been a part of the technology, folks that barely own computers are becoming familiar with Linkedin, Facebook, myspace, and twitter.  iPhones are being advertised so deliciously on…

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