Senator Byrd - The Arrogance of Power

Senator Byrd - The Arrogance of Power --

"Why can this President not seem to see that America's true power lies not in its will to intimidate, but in its ability to inspire?"

Go read the whole thing. The old boy had it nailed.

O'Reilly Network: Top Ten Digital Photography Tips [Oct. 22, 2002]

Top Ten Digital Photography Tips

Senator calls for copy-protection tags

Senator calls for copy-protection tags | CNET News.com -- "WASHINGTON--Software, music and movies that employ copy-protection schemes must be prominently labeled with consumer warnings, according to a bill introduced in Congress this week." This is something I could get behind, as there have been more than a few recent CDs that I might have bought, but was concerned that they wouldn' t let me use them on my Mac or iPod, and didn't know how to find out if that concern was valid.

Searching for the Roots of 9/11 -- Discovery Channel

Searching for the Roots of 9/11 -- Discovery Channel -- Whenever I think about putting thoughts down about the Iraqi war (and for that matter, the events of and since 9/11), I seem to come across Tom Friedman, like on Tim Russert a couple weeks ago, or on Charlie Rose last night. Every time I do, I realize that he has the words (and the time and tools to form them) that so closely reflect my own feelings and thoughts and logic on the matter (including and especially my usual propensity to try to see a bigger picture) that my little comments would seem unnecessary and clumsy to boot. Tonight, the Discovery Channel is putting on a show by Friedman on 9/11 that will definitely be on my VCR.

The Onion | Bush: 'Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over'

The Onion | Bush: 'Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over' -- Don'cha just love it when satire and reality collide? Or do those folks over at The Onion have a time machine they're not telling anyone about, since this was written over a year ago.

If you haven't seen this movie, you've missed a 25-year old gem.

The Duellists -- Ridley Scott's (Alien, Blade Runner, Black Rain, Gladiator, Thelma and Louise...) debut film from 1977 has long been on my "waiting for DVD" list. It's as lush and intense as I remember. Harvey Keitel (fresh out of Scorcese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver) and Kieth Carradine (best known at the time for his work in Altman's Nashville) play Napoleonic soldiers who get caught up in an obsessive 15 years of duels rooted in a forgotten reason. Based on a short story by Joseph Conrad (and on a real life pair of duelists, according to Scott's commentary track (there's also an interview and a commentary by Howard Shore on the score.)), the imagery of the film is reminiscent of Kubrick's Barry Lyndon, but even more painterly, filled with chiarascuro lighting and evocative location shots. The intensity of the obsessive Keitel and the honorable Carradine is maintained through jumps in time to the final duel, the result of which is both unexpected and satisfying. Unless you've seen this film as it passed through HBO years ago, or on its previous VHS or laserdisc incarnation (as I did), chances are you're unaware of it, since when it was released in theaters, there were only seven prints, despite winning the debut award at Cannes in 1977. If you enjoy film, see this film. (Here's some additional reviews and articles.)

Sumo

Asashoryu survives Yokozuna debut -- The March Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka has begun with a new Yokozuna -- the highest rank in the sport. Asashoryu is the third foreign born rikishi to achieve sumo's highest rank, following the sixty-fourth yokozuna, Akebono, now retired, and Musashimaru. He is the first Mongolian born rikishi to earn promotion to Yokozuna. And he started the current tournament with a win.

World of Ends -- (Cross-posted from my Focused Performance weblog.)

If you're reading this, you're interested in communication about issues of management and leadership. If you're reading this, you're reading it on the Internet. If you spend any amount of time on the Net, it's worth a bit of understanding about the media. This link goes to a recent essay by a couple very influential netizens, known as part of the team responsible for the 95 theses that make up 1999's Cluetrain Manifesto...

The Nutshell
1. The Internet isn't complicated
2. The Internet isn't a thing. It's an agreement.
3. The Internet is stupid.
4. Adding value to the Internet lowers its value.
5. All the Internet's value grows on its edges.
6. Money moves to the suburbs.
7. The end of the world? Nah, the world of ends.
8. The Internet's three virtues:
   a. No one owns it
   b. Everyone can use it
   c. Anyone can improve it
9. If the Internet is so simple, why have so many been so boneheaded about it?
10. Some mistakes we can stop making already

and embedded within the details is..."All we need to do is pay attention to what the Internet really is. It's not hard. The Net isn't rocket science. It isn't even 6th grade science fair, when you get right down to it. We can end the tragedy of Repetitive Mistake Syndrome in our lifetimes and save a few trillion dollars worth of dumb decisions if we can just remember one simple fact: the Net is a world of ends. You're at one end, and everybody and everything else are at the other ends.Sure, thats a feel-good statement about everyone having value on the Net, etc. But its also the basic rock-solid fact about the Net's technical architecture. And the Internets value is founded in its technical architecture. Fortunately, the true nature of Internet isnt hard to understand. In fact, just a fistful of statements stands between Repetitive Mistake Syndrome and Enlightenment ..."There's something about NEA -- No one owns it, Everyone can use it, and Anyone can improve it -- that speaks to me very loudly. It's that kind of thinking that can and should be applied to the use and management of all kinds of human-based systems, even if they are, technically, owned by someone. If that could be translated beyond the Net, then maybe some real meaningful avoidance of the "Repetitive Mistake Syndrome" can be brought about.

Incredible Sunset Photo

Incredible Sunset Photo -- Attributed to the Shuttle Columbia, via American RealPolitik.

No more $17 CDs for me (maybe)

Apple Musics Service -- "An LA Times article (registration required) confirms previous rumors of an Apple Music service." Maybe I'll need to upgrade my old 5-gig iPod.