bfwebster on March 30th, 2008

I left a slightly snarky and flamebaity comment over at Slashdot on a post about problems with C++ education; among the deluge of responses, pro and con, was a post from someone saying that programming was a dead end and that “computers write programs”. I pointed out that I’ve been hearing that for decades — [...]

Continue reading about Just because I’m feeling my age

bfwebster on March 27th, 2008

Under the wide and starry sky
Dig the grave and let me lie:
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.This be the verse you ‘grave for me:
Here he lies where he long’d to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.
– Robert Louis Stevenson
I [...]

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bfwebster on March 26th, 2008

Nearly two years ago, I wrote a post about the future of broadcast video, comparing Al Gore’s venture, Current TV, with YouTube and similar venues. The post ended thus:
On our DirecTV satellite system, we have hundreds of channels, though fewer than we used to; we dropped all the movie channels when we discovered that we [...]

Continue reading about GoreTV, revisited

bfwebster on March 26th, 2008

At least, not yet. That’s the assessment from Robert Samuelson, a commentator whom I respect:
Regarding the economy, it’s hard not to notice this stark contrast: The “real economy” of spending, production and jobs — though weakening — is hardly in a state of collapse, but much of today’s semi-hysterical commentary suggests that it is. [...]

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bfwebster on March 25th, 2008

One of the wonderful things about the internet is that if you wait long enough, someone somewhere will post just what you’ve always wanted.
In this case, someone over in Germany had made a comparison between how food looks in ads and on packages and what the food actually looks like:

Admittedly, it’s mostly German food, but [...]

Continue reading about What prepared/packaged food really looks like

bfwebster on March 24th, 2008

[UPDATED 03/27/08 -- some additions and a few corrections]
Of course, I’m talking specifically about “anthropogenic [human-caused] global warming” (AGW), the cause célèbre of the Environmental Left.
Here’s the short answer: because I have a degree in computer science, I’ve done professional work in simulations and modeling, and I’ve had classes in numerical analysis (not to mention [...]

Continue reading about Why I’m an global warming skeptic

Bruce Henderson on March 24th, 2008

Word from Bloomberg that Ford is likely to sell its Jaguar and Land Rover units to India’s Tata motor company:
Jan. 3 (Bloomberg) — Ford Motor Co. selected Tata Motors Ltd. as the preferred bidder for Jaguar and Land Rover, putting India’s largest truckmaker in a position to take over two iconic British luxury auto brands.
Buying [...]

Continue reading about India’s Tata To Buy Jaguar - Marks Top of Globalization

bfwebster on March 23rd, 2008

Here and elsewhere, I have decried the deliberate or inadvertent lack of historical perspective on current problems, particularly with regard to things military, and especially among the mainstream media and the Left. I come from a family with a strong and long history of military service and am myself a student of military history. My [...]

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bfwebster on March 22nd, 2008

“Shutter”, which just opened on Friday, is an Americanized remake of a Thai horror film named “Shutter” (or whatever the equivalent is in Thai). It (the remake) stars Joshua Jackson (”Ben Shaw”) and Rachel Taylor (”Jane Shaw”) as a newlywed couple that moves from New York to Japan so that Ben can take a job [...]

Continue reading about “Shutter”: a brief review (with spoilers)

bfwebster on March 21st, 2008

We still have nearly eight (8) months left in this Presidential campaign. In fact, the campaign for the Democratic nomination alone is likely to go on for another five (5) months.

Couldn’t have said it better myself. Hat tip to a comment posted at Pharyngula. ..bruce w..

Continue reading about Guess what?