Oh yeah!

Landon Donovan did it again, babies, scoring the golden goal tonight in the 117th minute of the MLS Western Conference finals to lead the Earthquakes to a 3-2 win over Kansas City. Second game in a row that the Quakes had to come from behind and did. I thought the referee wasn't all there and missed badly on a foul in the box that he didn't call that would have given San Jose a penalty about two minutes before the winner. But, oh yeah, Landon was the Man!

Interesting insight into the House of Saud's burgeoning internal battles against a foe they created: Same Tactics, New Target

Darwin Award nominee: The Subway Surfer. Tragic but amazingly stoopid.

Personal Bankruptcy Filings Jump 7.8 Pct.: Go recovery go!

Cult finds 'eternal youth' formula: Wonder if only believers will get the treatment. Assuming that this is valid and not a hoax, of course.

Exploding Dog: You know I never used to cry.

Oddly, there has never been a TV series named Police Department.

Oh yeah, time for the funny

Yes, FT is back, six full panels this week!

Morning squats

SprintPCS Tower Maps: a handy reference for us subscribers...

Nerdware alert!!!

Though one should always take vendor-sponsored research with a grain of salt, I think that corporations that can deploy reasonably secure WiFi networking to their workspaces will get some significant financial benefits and especially if wireless is used to replace the high cost of wiring new buildings.

Bushinations: When a White House spokesman has a script, he can sure stick to it! Fuck clarity, not to mention truth or fairness.

Uggh!: If you're country star Wynonna Judd, you don't want to be arrested without your makeup. Damn!

Fair and balanced

This article pissed me off. I've been thinking about what to write all day but I'm just not finding the right words. Had an email exchange with the writer and her editor but no satisfaction there, what a shock.

Those darn scientists! "New memory device could offer smaller, simpler way to archive data." Plastic, one gigabyte of information per cubic centimeter.

Book review: Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets

David Simon went from Baltimore beat writer to TV writer extraordinaire via his excellent 1991 book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. And yes, if that sounds like the name of one of the best TV shows ever, you'd be correct since the book was the source of the show. In fact, I had quite a few pleasant moments connecting stories in the book to specific episodes.

Simon got permission from the Baltimore PD brass to ride along with the city's CID Homicide Division for the year of 1988 and did some wonderful things with that permission; his writing is fresh and insightful. The cops come across as real, flawed people, who make mistakes, drink too much and joke about happenings we'd find horrifying while the criminals mainly come across as foolish and/or stupid. Of course, Simon probably never got to meet the perps smart enough to evade the Murder Police so there is a bit of bias there.

One case, which Simon returns to throughout the course of the year, is that of a 12 year old girl who was raped and murdered, then left for dead in an alley behind some rowhouses in the worst part of the city. The case also formed the basis of a major story arc in the show's first season though for dramatic purposes the show's version had a more definitive resolution while in the book the young detective who's primary on the case eventually realizes he won't find the Answer. A very interesting comparison of fact to fiction, if you've seen it.

Absolutely recommended

Bushinations: Facing reality

"London police said on Wednesday there would be no special 'exclusion zones' for President Bush's visit next week and he could easily come into contact with anti-war protesters." So sad that GWB will have to leave his cushy cocoon of fantasy.

1928 was a good year

The flappers were dancing, the party was shaking, and my Dad was born. Seventy five years ago today, Richard Leon came into this life in Brooklyn, NY and his greatest achievement (me, sorry Jo) is happy to have had his love and guidance for a lifetime. Happy birthday, Dad, and I look forward to sharing many more with you!

Money does talk to some juries; the verdict is hard to explain otherwise.

Three years for eight minutes.

Sorry, Dr. Don

Vaxgen had hopes that, despite the failure of their American trials, AIDSVAX would be successful against the strain of AIDS prevalent in Thailand but today announced that the vaccine did not work there either. The stock is down substantially in response.

"KrView - the Kernrate Viewer - provides a visual representation of kernel/user mode CPU utilization based on Kernrate output." Someone must find this useful but I really can't imagine who...

Ooh, reversible computing, isn't that cool?

Good corp, bad corp

Apparently, the corporation needs defending from those who might point out a certain lack of clothes. I agree with the author of the book review, rather than the authors of the book, and in fact I think that the 1880s Supreme Court decision giving corporations the legal status of persons is one of the worst decisions the court has ever made. Very few of the major ills afflicting our society today will be cured until that is changed in a substantive way.

Oh, it creeps closer every day, in little ways...

Someone should tell Quincy Carter that the Back Judge is not an eligible receiver.

Tempting to add this Cost of War counter to the site...

What a cruddy Sunday morning!

The CIA publicly confirms that North Korea now has The Bomb, Al Quaeda is strong enough to strike in the heart of Saudi Arabia, and Liverpool FC lost at home to Manchester United.