Archive for December, 2007

How dominant is Google?

How dominant is Google?

| December 31, 2007 | 1 Reply

Just ask Jeff Jarvis: — Google is the “fastest growing company in the history of the world.” – Times of London, 1/29/06 — Google controls 65.1% of all searches in the U.S. at the end of 2007 and 86% of all searches in the UK, according to measurement company Hitwise. — Google was searched 4.4 […]

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Why I love Language Log

Why I love Language Log

| December 30, 2007 | Reply

Language Log is one of my favorite blogs. It is a gathering of linguists, mostly unrepentant descriptivists, who don’t hesitate to bring to bear their full education and resources on, well, issues that only language geeks (like myself) would wonder about. Here, as a sterling example, are a pair of posts exploring the origin of […]

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The Blu-Ray/HD-DVD debacle — an update

The Blu-Ray/HD-DVD debacle — an update

| December 29, 2007 | Reply

Roughly 18 months ago, I wrote a post about the problems with the industry’s inability to agree upon a next-gen DVD format — leading to the split between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. Among other things, I said the following: So now we come to the next generation solutions for video playback: HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. During the […]

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Retaining perspective

Retaining perspective

| December 28, 2007 | Reply

George Santayana famously said: Progress, far from consisting in change, depends upon retentiveness…Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Victor Davis Hanson, the noted military historian and classics professor, reminds us of the recent past in Iraq: After the victory of the 1991 Gulf War, a bipartisan consensus had emerged that […]

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Map – Riots In Pakistan

Map – Riots In Pakistan

| December 28, 2007 | Reply

Following the assassination of former Prime Minister Bhutto yesterday, Pakistan has seen several large cities erupt in violence. Many of the protests have been peaceful but quite a few have turned violent, with rioters focusing on burning property and destroying anything they can. A summary map of the most active cities below: Far and away […]

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More Wallpaper – Arctic Sunsets

More Wallpaper – Arctic Sunsets

| December 27, 2007 | Reply

I recently took a wonderful trip to Scotland just before Christmas to visit relatives. It was a tremendous visit, and it was great to see everyone again. On the way home, I had the pleasure of sitting at a east facing window seat as we flew back to the US, with our route taking us […]

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Benazir Bhutto Killed In Coordinated Attack

Benazir Bhutto Killed In Coordinated Attack

| December 27, 2007 | Reply

It’s a sad day for the forces of moderation and cooperation in the Muslim world. Early this morning US Time, former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was killed a short time after a political rally. Reports from the scene state that multiple shots where fired, and one person detonated an explosive vest at the time […]

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A white Christmas, indeed

A white Christmas, indeed

| December 25, 2007 | 3 Replies

Forget that last posting; like almost every other predicted snowfall this winter, the actual accumulation was much less than predicted and didn’t have a lot of impact. Unlike today. As late as yesterday morning, the local weatherpeople were calling for “flurries” here in the front range (the plains and foothills east of the Rockies), and […]

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Here comes the snow again…

Here comes the snow again…

| December 21, 2007 | 1 Reply

A year ago today, I was blogging during the Great Denver Blizzard — which, as it turned out, was just the first of a series of weekly snowstorms that kept the ground covered with snow for two months straight (and missed by just a few days setting an all-time record here in Denver). Welcome to […]

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Tales of the Strange

Tales of the Strange

| December 21, 2007 | 2 Replies

Or, rather, images of the strange. Quick quiz: what is this thing? I don’t know either, but if you open up Google Earth (4.2 beta), scroll over to the middle of Greenland (70 deg N, 40 deg W), and then start zooming in, this is what you’ll find. I have to think it’s a data […]

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