Headline Questions - a cheap journalist ploy.

It would appear that we have become a society of questions.

Russia: Which way with the WTO?

Is Instant-On Chrome OS's Killer App?

QOTD: Are You Going 32 or 64-bit for Windows 7?

Israel: Does Violence Pay?

Chrome OS to Bring More Linux IT Jobs?

Azerbaijan: Overzealous minions?

Microsoft Window 7: Is New OS The Beginning Of XP's End?

Journalism or what passes for it these days is little more than reiteration of sound bytes and cut&paste press releases. What seems to be the objective is to entice the reader into rereading the pablum. To this end authors or more probably editors try to shift the responsibility from the writers to the readers.

I have written before that when I am asked a question the onus of the responsibility shifts from the asker to the askee. I have become increasingly uncomfortable with this shift. I find myself in the onerous position of either ignoring the question - and as such becoming the "Bad Guy". All too often the plaintive whimper issues forth, "I was only asking a question."

Or, should I pay attention to the question, I am faced with the ever present threats of dealing with a rhetorical question or even worse an inane (go-google-your-own-answer-question). The worst by far is the "I can ask you a question to remind you that I have the power to ask such questions." In all three cases I must accept the onus of responsibility (and do the work) of answering counter-productive questions.

For supposed journalists to rely on such a questionable practice speaks to their lack of initiative. The News should be reported as statements of fact - as best be determined by diligent research. Editorial content should be equally reported with straight forward declaration instead of whining attempts to garner interest or agreement.

Politkovskaya laureate murdered

Russia: Politkovskaya laureate murdered

from Global Voices Online by Vilhelm Konnander

This morning, prominent Russian Human Rights activist Natalya Estemirova was abducted from her home in Ingushetia by armed men. She was later found dead, a bullet through her heart. As mainstream media reports just another death of an activist - even when it comes to the assassination of one of the country's leading Human Rights' adovcates - some bloggers react with abhorrence.

Estemirova and Kovalev receive the Robert Schuman Medal

(Read more)

Because no one is above the Law!

Send and e-card: Demand a Special Prosecutor

Why my teenager doesn't twitter

1. Twitter doesn't belong to us. Like, Zanga was ours and so was, like, MySpace. For sure lately Facebook is becoming cool but only because, like, I know a bunch of college kids since I became a Junior.
   
2. Twitter only works good if everyone is, like, on at the same time an' half of us are at the Mall, duh!
3. And speaking of "Duh!" I really, like, don't want Jane to know exactly, like, what I am saying about Dick. Sheeeesh, that's like really dumb.
4. Oh yeah, and like, did I mention that Twitter is just, like, dumb. S'like soooo many rules and stuff.
5. Mostly I just don't wanna hear, like, you are always griping 'cause I am sitting in front of your computer. Like, that is all you do, like, all day long, is sit in front of your computer.

Like, gimme a break, Twitter is for dweebs...

What's good for GM...

Image via Wikipedia

Thomas Claburn writing for InformationWeek offered this observation about the recent announcement by Google of their forthcoming Chrome OS...

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) Windows represents slightly less than 90% of the personal computer operating system market, a position it has held for years.

I assume that Mr. Claburn was suggesting that MSFT has a lock on OSs and that Google might do well to direct their efforts in a more profitable direction. Well, I have one observation to make about MSFT's lock on the market...

What's good for GM is good for the country.

He asked for it and he got it!

Leonard Bernstein

this was posted by Tom Sutpen to

If Charlie Parker Was a Gunslinger,
There'd Be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats

Pressure to bear on the Redmond monster

Image by michperu via Flickr

The heart of Mitch Wagner's observation is that Microsoft will prevail...

Google's Chrome OS Threatens Linux, Is Good For Microsoft
Posted by Mitch Wagner, Jul 8, 2009 11:47 AM
. . .
Where there is confusion in the marketplace, hardware manufacturers and consumers look to the safe choice, and the safe choice is Microsoft. When the Unix market was fragmented into multiple different flavors, Microsoft settled the confusion by driving everybody to Windows. Now, with Linux fragmented, Microsoft has the opportunity to make history repeat itself.

...in a manner of speaking, yes, Microsoft will survive. Microsoft will always survive. Personal computing will change. Personal computing will evolve. Personal computing will improve because the collective effort of Google and Linux and BSD and BEOS and OSX and all the rest will relentlessly pressure Microsoft into getting their sh*t together, finally. And that would never have happened if the market had not brought pressure to bear on the Redmond monster.

Linus Fortune #23

Before he became a hermit, Zarathud was a young Priest, and
took great delight in making fools of his opponents in front of his
followers.
One day Zarathud took his students to a pleasant pasture and
there he confronted The Sacred Chao while She was contentedly grazing.
"Tell me, you dumb beast," demanded the Priest in his
commanding voice, "why don't you do something worthwhile? What is your
Purpose in Life, anyway?"
Munching the tasty grass, The Sacred Chao replied "MU". (The
Chinese ideogram for NO-THING.)
Upon hearing this, absolutely nobody was enlightened.
Primarily because nobody understood Chinese.
-- Camden Benares, "Zen Without Zen Masters"

Linux Fortune #17

I lately lost a preposition;
It hid, I thought, beneath my chair
And angrily I cried, "Perdition!
Up from out of under there."

Correctness is my vade mecum,
And straggling phrases I abhor,
And yet I wondered, "What should he come
Up from out of under for?"
-- Morris Bishop

Computers in the future...

Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equipped with 18,000 vaccuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vaccuum tubes and perhaps weigh 1 1/2 tons.

-- Popular Mechanics, March 1949

The Stranger Is Truthier Than Fiction

OMG! What a treat to read about folks living in foreign lands eating exotic foods and cavorting with (in)famous people... (Obviously they is ferrin'ers ... cain't be from around here ... tain't right to be talkin' about fois gras like it was goose liver or sum'thin.) So I ended up reading this article in The Stranger ... (warning: contains adult themes ... like gourmet food and adult tastes)

Same Food, Less Attitude

Elemental Next Door Might Be Just What You're Looking For

by Bethany Jean Clement

If you've ever been to Elemental@Gasworks and been cold-shouldered at the door by co-owner/sommelier/waiter/ bossypants Phred Westfall, you've thought to yourself, "Well, self, here I am literally at a dead end, and I'm thirsty and hungry and I've nowhere to go."¹ Then you've cursed Phred's (irritatingly spelled) name and slunk off into the evening...

What you would truly like right then is a place, say, right next door, with lovely food, and tons of wine, and (why not?) the same kind of loftlike but not hyperdesigned atmosphere as Elemental, and (while you're at it) a man who's the opposite of Phred to hand you a complimentary glass of sparkling wine and then proceed to be as sweet as humanly possible for the remainder of your time with him.

(More...)

OMG! OMG! I was dragged to the aforementioned site because I was swayed into visiting ...

...which opened my eyes to the delights that are possible when discriminating palates gather to observe delectable treats... (ya'll ain't from around these parts, are ya?)

Braving the Elementals

In the overlapping sets of Seattle restaurant owners and people who are dicks there stands Phred Westfall, and it's not because he spells his name funny. Call him eccentric, call him quirky, call him sui generis if you must, but he's got a most unusual way of running his candy store, Elemental @ Gasworks.

Elemental's kitchen, by Laurie Riedmeman, does very well indeed. Last meal here was exceptional, in fact. After a refreshing aperitif, a cascade of delights: gnocchetti, beef tartar topped with a quail egg, asparagus-spinach salad with shaved parmesan, quail over green beans, a pulled pork tamale with corn, a generous cheese board. Wines to match each course (selected and poured by Phred, on his best behavior), and the tab (which includes tax & tip) was about $80.

(More...)

I haven't had my coffee yet...

MASTERMIND: Aubrey Martinson

MASTERMIND: Aubrey Martinson

By: Amy Whitesall, 7/1/2009

Pottery appeals to Aubrey Thornton Martinson for a lot of reasons – beauty, functionality, the challenge of striving for unattainable perfection. She likes its concrete ways to measure success. Is the pot heavy? Is it clunky? People can use the things she makes, and that feels fulfilling.

"I'm really happy still when people tell me, 'I use that mug I bought every day,' or 'That's my ice cream bowl.' " she says. "That is exciting to me."

Martinson, the 30-year-old executive director of the Chelsea Center for the Arts, doesn't throw pots anymore. The studio she and her husband, Chris, set up in their Grass Lake home gave way to renovations, then to their daughter, Lily. The kiln they started building as college students is almost done, and has been for years.

Go HERE and read the rest.

Araki Nobuyoshi

Nobuyoshi Araki (Araki Nobuyoshi) is a Japanese photographer and contemporary artist. He is also known by the nickname Arākī.

TouchPuppet: Photographer Spotlight: Nobuyoshi Araki

Paparazzi feeding our blood lust.

Paparazzi feeding our blood lust.

(Curious that each side of the tableau is so carefully staged.)

Eastern ratsnake (Pantherophis alleghaniensis)

Last time I saw this guy in my back field I thought it was just some old coarse weave tarp laying in the deep grass ... imagine my surprise when it slithered away.

fatchance: Eastern ratsnake (Pantherophis alleghaniensis),...

fatchance:

Eastern ratsnake (Pantherophis alleghaniensis), observed at [an undisclosed location, because some people who share the same space with this harmless creature would never step outdoors if they knew he was there]. This snake was about five feet long (1.5 m). Learn more here.

[link to original | source: all creatures [great and small] | published: 3 hours ago | shared via feedly]

Perfidious Albion, deLux Fiat

[link to original | source: ffffound.com | via: feedly]

Crumb, Burroughs

nevver: Crumb, Burroughs

nevver:

Crumb, Burroughs

[link to original | source: /Ambivalence | published: 1 day ago | shared via feedly]

I'm going back to IRC ... See you there.

If you are old(er) like me you will remember the communities in IRC. You will remember the conversations. You will remember the friends...and the feuds. You will remember when groups of people talked with each other in near-real time. You will remember full sentences. But most of all you will be a member.

irc://irc.freenode.net#Pa^Patois

irc://irc.freenode.net#Joiito

irc://irc.freenode.net##Slackware

I cannot promise that I will be on all the time - I do have a real job and some semblance of a life. I can promise that if you catch me there we can share more than 140 character blurts.

The circle of Life and Death here at the Flying Pig Ranch

Out of the corner of my eye I caught the shadow. A fast moving dark blur.

"What the heck was that?"

I stood at the kitchen sink window and watched. There it was again. More an illusion than a fact. A large dark visage careening across the front field of the Flying Pig Ranch. I stood stock still and waited. Perhaps my aging mind was playing tricks on me.

It swooped low on broad wings. It was being chased by three sparrows and a starling. Undeterred it turned again, folded its wings and settled two thirds of the way down the driveway. The huge vulture paced. Warily eying its prize. A prize invisible from my vantage point.

---

Here at the Flying Pig Ranch we don't have fur bearing indoor pets. Too many allergies to 'animal dander'. So we have outdoor cats - or more specifically now, one outdoor cat - Pussin.

Anyone who has spent time with cats knows the difference between ambling and intent. When Pussin got up from her throne on the stoop and walked by me with intent I knew something was up. She made a direct line for the field behind the new shed.

---

Enamored with the prospect of a new species to list on the ranch roster I made my way outdoors to stand behind one of the Norway spruces closest to the driveway. The vulture was still being pestered by the smaller birds. Opening it 6 foot wing span it made a graceful leap to a nearby fence post. There it turned and kept a careful eye on the still unidentified prize. Mollified the smaller birds skittered away to their respective places.

Majestic in its stature the vulture just sat... almost as if in a cartoon segment... waiting... so we waited together ... I from my somewhat hidden vantage point and the vulture for ...

---

Pussin returned as intently as she had left. Proudly she presented the field mouse at my feet. As only a cat can she then accepted her accolades ... my scratching her behind the ears and compliments on her kill. Duly acknowledged she sat down with the dignity befiting her station and respect for her prey she began crunching away.

---

Satisfied that the time was right the vulture slipped from the fence post and settle next to its prize. Affixing it with one foot the sharp beak made quick work of the dissection. Three good tears each followed by a head-tilt swallow and the meal was over. A moment to preen and then taking wing the vulture rose in characteristic circles seeking thermals off our hillside to drift into the summer afternoon.

---

Pussin, having completed her repast, settled again on her throne to wash. Once properly appointed she languorously stretched out and napped.

---

Curiosity bested me. I went down the driveway. It took a moment of searching but there I found the lone fore claw of a mole.