Cory Doctorow’s latest novel, Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town is out and available for free download. Man, I haven’t even finished Eastern Standard Tribe yet, I’m going to have to start reading more.
The album of the week is Sleater-Kinney’s The Woods
Neal Stephenson has an interesting op-ed on Star Wars and the cultural signifigance of geeks in NYTimes.
The American Conservative has a terrific article by former Bush speechwriter Matthew Scully. Scully argues that conservatives should be opposed to factory farming and animal cruelty in general. While there is much in this article that I don’t agree with, it provides an excellent framework for arguing about animal rights with conservatives on their terms. Here are some choice quotes:
If one is using the word “obligation” seriously, moreover, then there is no practical difference between an obligation on our end not to mistreat animals and an entitlement on their end not to be mistreated by us. Either way, we are required to do and not do the same things. And either way, somewhere down the logical line, the entitlement would have to arise from a recognition of the inherent dignity of a living creature. The moral standing of our fellow creatures may be humble, but it is absolute and not something within our power to confer or withhold. All creatures sing their Creator’s praises, as this truth is variously expressed in the Bible, and are dear to Him for their own sakes.and
Having conceded the crucial point that some animals rate our moral concern and legal protection, informed conscience turns naturally to other animals—creatures entirely comparable in their awareness, feeling, and capacity for suffering. A dog is not the moral equal of a human being, but a dog is definitely the moral equal of a pig, and it’s only human caprice and economic convenience that say otherwise. We have the problem that these essentially similar creatures are treated in dramatically different ways, unjustified even by the very different purposes we have assigned to them. Our pets are accorded certain protections from cruelty, while the nameless creatures in our factory farms are hardly treated like animals at all. The challenge is one of consistency, of treating moral equals equally, and living according to fair and rational standards of conduct.Scully also comes up with my favorite one-line response to my least favorite comment about vegetarianism:
When people say that they like their pork chops, veal, or foie gras just too much ever to give them up, reason hears in that the voice of gluttony, willfulness, or at best moral complaisance. What makes a human being human is precisely the ability to understand that the suffering of an animal is more important than the taste of a treat.[via Treehugger]
Crunk Kingpins (Explicit): Coming out of the Dirty South, the “Crunk Revolution” changed the game and dominated charts in the new millennium. 1. Still Tippin’ – Mike Jones feat. Slim Thug and Paul Wall 2. Some Cut – Trillville 3. Get Back – Ludacris 4. Salt Shaker – Ying Yang Twins (featuring Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz) 5. Girlfight – Brooke Valentine (featuring Big Boi/Lil Jon) 6. GAME OVER (FLIP) – Lil’ Flip 7. Freek-A-Leek – Petey Pablo 8. Sugar (Gimme Some) – Trick Daddy feat. Ludacris, Lil Kim, and Cee-Lo 9. U Don’t Know Me – T.I. 10. Stand Up – (featuring Shawnna) – Ludacris 11. Goodies – Ciara 12. Back Then – Mike Jones 13. Let’s Go (Amended) – Trick Daddy 14. Slow Motion – Juvenile (featuring Soulja Slim) 15. Get Low (Feat. Ying Yang Twins) – Lil’ Jon & The East Side Boyz 16. Bring It Back – Lil Wayne 17. 24’s – T.I. 18. Get Crunk – Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz 19. Neck Of The Woods – Baby (featuring Lil’ Wayne) 20. Never Scared – Bone Crusher (featuring Killer Mike/T.I.) 21. Damn! – (featuring Lil John) – Youngbloodz 22. Heart of Tha Streetz – B.G. 23. One, Two Step – Ciara 24. Chickenhead – Project Pat 25. How We Ride – Mannie Fresh
Bonnaroo 2005: 1. Ain’t Life Grand – Widespread Panic 2. Gravedigger – Dave Matthews Band 3. Alive Again – Trey Anastasio 4. Banana Pancakes – Jack Johnson 5. She Talks To Angels – The Black Crowes 6. The Lucky One – Alison Krauss 7. Golden Age Of Radio – Josh Ritter 8. Paper Thin Walls – Modest Mouse 9. John The Revelator – Gov’t Mule 10. Scratch & Sniff – Bela Fleck 11. Quit Hollerin’ At Me – John Prine 12. Carolina – M. Ward 13. The Bear – My Morning Jacket 14. Star Star – The Frames 15. Mental Breakdown – Yonder Mountain String Band 16. Ya Viene El Sol – (live) – Ozomatli 17. Bongo Joe – Galactic 18. Becky – The Benevento Russo Duo 19. Freedom – Jurassic 5 20. Reggae Got Soul – Toots & The Maytals
Edd Dumbill points to a great article on programmer productivity. These are issues that any manager of programmers should familiarize themselves with if they really want to understand how programmers work. Experiencing Stuckness first-hand changed the way I think about multitasking and priorities. I used to think that switching back and forth between tasks was pointless because it would just mean that all tasks, except for the lowest priority one, would be done later than if I worked on them serially. For this reason I always wanted my managers to assign absolute priorities to the tasks they wanted me to do, so I would know what order in which to work on them. Then I realized that I was wasting lots of time banging my head against tasks on which I was stuck. These days I set a time limit, if I’ve been struggling with a problem for more than half an hour with no progress I switch to something else and come back to it later with a fresh perspective and, hopefully, new insight. So now I prefer it when managers give me multiple tasks with vague priorities, there’s nothing more frustrating than having to work on a stuck problem.
The album of the week is Teenage Fanclub’s Man-Made.
Wow, Nat’s right, superheroes are the world’s biggest source of Stop Energy
Don Marti brilliantly explains in LinuxJournal why making and using DRM software is bad business.
Kelly Osbourne Selects: Though she was a wee lass in the ’80s, Ozzy’s little girl proves to have a fondness for the sounds of that era. 1. Autobahn – Kraftwerk 2. Super Freak – Rick James 3. Suicide Solution – Ozzy Osbourne 4. Mary – Scissor Sisters 5. Planet Earth – Duran Duran 6. The Metro – Berlin 7. Pretty In Pink – The Psychedelic Furs 8. Holiday – Green Day 9. Banquet – Bloc Party 10. I Should Be So Lucky – Kylie Minogue 11. Connection – Elastica 12. The Sign – Ace Of Base 13. Never Ending Story – Kajagoogoo And Limahl 14. One Word (Album Version) – Kelly Osbourne 15. Strangelove – Depeche Mode 16. Tainted Love – Soft Cell 17. Just Like Heaven – The Cure 18. Girls & Boys – Blur 19. Rapture – Blondie 20. You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) – Dead Or Alive 21. Do You Really Want To Hurt Me – Culture Club 22. Walking In L.A. – Missing Persons 23. Apart – Elkland 24. Feel Good Inc. – Gorillaz 25. Time After Time – Cyndi Lauper 26. Photograph – Def Leppard 27. I Touch Myself – Divinyls 28. Walking On Broken Glass – Annie Lennox 29. Deceptacon – Le Tigre 30. Mega Colon – Fischerspooner 31. Tiny Dancer – Elton John 32. Total Eclipse Of The Heart – Bonnie Tyler 33. Satellite Of Love – Lou Reed 34. What’s Up – 4 Non Blondes 35. The Sound Of The Crowd – Human League
Steve Garfield has a video interview with Holmes Wilson of Downhill Battle and Participatory Culture Foundation. They talk about Broadcast Machine and DTV, which make up PCF’s Internet TV system.
God Bless the White Stripes: In honor of the release of Get Behind Me, Satan, we’re proud to present new tracks mixed with older faves. 1. My Doorbell – The White Stripes 2. The Hardest Button To Button – The White Stripes 3. Astro – The White Stripes 4. Blue Orchid – The White Stripes 5. Black Math – The White Stripes 6. The Denial Twist – The White Stripes 7. Hello Operator – The White Stripes 8. Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine – The White Stripes 9. Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground – The White Stripes 10. Sugar Never Tasted So Good – The White Stripes 11. Little Ghost – The White Stripes 12. Hotel Yorba – The White Stripes 13. Little Bird – The White Stripes 14. Stop Breaking Down – The White Stripes 15. Death Letter – The White Stripes
The album of the week is Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.
Novell gets a big deal with the Department of Health and Human Services.
The contract provides unlimited use of Novell products to about 70,000 at HHS, including about 30,000 NIH users. Under the arrangement Novell is providing to HHS “unlimited access, upgrade protection and technical support” for products, including SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, Novell Open Enterprise Server, Novell Linux Desktop, patch management, and a range of identity-based services for management, integration and security.
