Sunday, September 11, 2005

BTW, when people ask what RSS is, I say it's automated web surfing. We took something lots of people do, visiting sites looking for new stuff, and automated it. It's a very predictable thing, that's what computers do -- automate repetitive things.  

Continuing the discussion about technologies with weird names, consider Wifi. What does "wireless fidelity" mean? Who came up with that nonsense phrase and why? There are TV commercials that talk about wifi, so it's become pretty mainstream. While we're at it, what does TV mean? Vision over tele. Hellllo. Okay, one more, what will we call EVDO? Do you know what it is? Some people who think RSS isn't a good enough name for RSS throw around the term EVDO as if everyone knows what it means. Remember that TV commercial about wifi? They talk about "wireless broadband access." What do you suppose that means? Oy. 

Stan Krute on blogging of the Roberts hearings, which start tomorrow.  

A factoid gleaned from the Sunday talk shows -- most of the people who left Louisiana were Democrats, meaning that the future for a Democrat governor and senator are in doubt.  

The Times-Picayune reports that 5.2 million gallons of water are being pumped out of New Orleans every minute, and that the airport will re-open for commercial flights on Tuesday. 

I could only watch two minutes of Meet the Press before the disgust came back. Russert is doing what he always does, tries to twist the soundbite into an admission of hypocrisy. New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin doesn't have the lawyer's gift that former prosecutor Rudy Giuliani does. "Is it really racism?" Russert expresses doubt, asking over and over for proof that decisions were made on a racist basis. The answer is in another question. If the dying tax-paying grandmas were white do you think they would have been left to die? I don't care if a Republican actually said out loud that he or she hates blacks, the actions speak for themselves. We live in a sick country with a sick governing process, and that sickness definitely includes the press.  

Scott Rosenberg has a talk with his past self.  

ABC News Nightline, a daily news broadcast, is a podcast.  

Steve Gillmor: "There's nothing up Bill's sleeve." 

Four years ago, you know what.  

Doc Searls on 9/11/01: "I need to pick up the kid from school soon. This morning he wanted to know why his parents were crying. We couldn't begin to explain."