Monthly Archives: April 2006

Netcraft reports that Apache has overtaken Microsoft Internet Information Server as the most-used SSL server. It’s a small lead, but look at the trend in the graph. Note the inflection point at 2001, after the patent on the RSA algorithm … Continue reading →

John Gruber writes about the far-too-helpful changes to selection, in which Apple added annoyance-level compatibility with Microsoft Windows to Mac OS X. Stop it.

Zimran points out an essay in Slate wondering whether increasing gas prices make politicians stupid. No, rising prices make them cowards.

It appears that Apple is building a giant NeXT cube in the hole in front of the General Motors building. The Midtown Book writes of that hole, The sunken plaza, scathingly detested by a majority of people with strong opinions … Continue reading →

Krzysztof Kowalczyk prefers Bloglines. I prefer Newsgator Online. We both win.

There should be sufficient data available to the State departments of transportation to describe the impact of variations in fuel prices on traffic. I wonder what the correlation is, and how elastic the demand curve is. I suspect it’s not … Continue reading →

Some days it seems to me that the history of the world is a story of brothers: Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob.

Jeff Pulver and Tom Evslin have a suggestion for a new FCC regulation [via phoneboy]. Their suggestion has two options: Firstly, that the FCC require that all phone numbers have an associated emergency voice mailbox; or, secondly, that the FCC … Continue reading →

Another item turned up by this archeaological dig was Mack White’s comic linking Operation Northwoods with the assassination of President Kennedy, the military-industrial complex to the Persian Gulf War, and Unocal to the destruction of the World Trade Center. The … Continue reading →

I’m cleaning my cubicle. As those who know me can attest, this is more of an archeological exercise than anything else. One of the papers I found was

I have an ineffective stapler, the ACCO 40. I suppose it would be classified as a light-duty stapler, because it can barely put both teeth of the staple through three sheets of paper. I thought, “Let me purchase a Swingline.” … Continue reading →

Martin Geddes wonders whether landlords will bypass network operators to deliver content to their tenants. Brough Turner points to some slimey ways in which housing developers can keep their tenants hostage to their own private data utilities. You kind of … Continue reading →

The Nebraska Legislature has segregated the Omaha Public Schools along ethnic lines, or so The Associated Press reports. LINCOLN, Neb. — In a move decried by some as state-sponsored segregation, the Legislature voted yesterday to divide the 45,000-student Omaha school … Continue reading →

Paul Victor Novarese asks if Thomas and Friends (Based on The Railway Series by The Reverend W. Awdry) is the best television show ever. I like the books too.

The Poughkeepsie Journal reports that the Town of Beekman proposes to amend the regulation governing the construction of dead-end roads. The existing law is one sentence: For greater convenience to traffic, and more effective police and fire protection, permanent dead-end … Continue reading →

I was remarking to one of my uncles that it might be fun to work on transportation at DisneyWorld. Given the rising cost of diesel fuel, one would think that a capital investment in extending the monorail might be attractive. … Continue reading →

Witold Rybczynski, writing in Slate, suggests that the Katrina Cottages should be shoddier. Wood framing, fiberglass insulation, and conventional vinyl siding would have been cheaper. So would asphalt shingles instead of the trendy tin roof. The designers have aimed at … Continue reading →

Does anyone actually like Daylight Saving Time? As I write this I’m stuck in an artificially illuminated artificial cave populated by cube-farmed troglodytes. Far as I can tell, the day’s a wasting away outside. For all I know though, the … Continue reading →

Well, I’ve got the title. Now I need the essay. Executive Summary from which Much Must be Built Disasters natural and otherwise disperse the residents of an area from that place. The functions of local political institutions are, by their … Continue reading →