Recent Articles

Microsoft Surface 2: initial reports are underwhelming

Microsoft Surface 2: initial reports are underwhelming

| September 5, 2013 | Reply

I don’t mean to seem to be picking on Microsoft, but the Surface really is a case of too little, too late, being crushed by Apple (premium) on one side and Android (commodity) on the other. The current leaks about the Surface 2 don’t look to change the game any; Woody Leonhard over at Infoworld […]

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After all, our efforts in Libya worked out so well

After all, our efforts in Libya worked out so well

| September 4, 2013 | Reply

It’s pretty sad that we have to rely upon the British press for the news that the US mainstream media doesn’t want to touch, but there you have it. Latest example: an article by Patrick Cockburn in the UK Independent on just how wretched things have gotten in Libya since our “humanitarian intervention” there: Libyans […]

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Let’s look at the actual impact of Obamacare

Let’s look at the actual impact of Obamacare

| September 3, 2013 | 2 Replies

My wife, age 60, has a high-deductible policy with Humana. She got a letter today from Humana outlining the exact impact of Obamacare on her insurance coverage. In essence, she has a choice of converting over to an ACA-compliant policy now, or continuing with her current policy until the end of 2014 (at which point […]

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Article: The Legal Consequences of Illegal Wars

Article: The Legal Consequences of Illegal Wars

| September 3, 2013 | Reply

I am a member of a special-interest national security e-mail discussion group (long story); one of the other members today posted a link to an article in Foreign Affairs by David Kaye entitled “The Legal Consequences of Illegal Wars”: So what is the law? The black-letter law on the use of force is quite simple: […]

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Happy Labor Day! ILWU leaves AFL-CIO over Obamacare, immigration reform

Happy Labor Day! ILWU leaves AFL-CIO over Obamacare, immigration reform

| September 2, 2013 | Reply

Breitbart posts this news: In what is being reported as a surprise move, the 40,000 members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) announced that they have formally ended their association with the AFL-CIO, one of the nation’s largest private sector unions. The Longshoremen citied Obamacare and immigration reform as two important causes of […]

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So, where did Syria get those chemical weapons?

So, where did Syria get those chemical weapons?

| August 28, 2013 | Reply

Lewis Amselem, who writes the always-entertaining-and-insightful blog the DiploMad, shares the likely answer:  I asked about chemical weapons. He perked up. Abbas laughed. He claimed that Iraq managed to slip those into Syria, “Right under your noses!” He roared this line, letting his nationalist sentiment overwhelm his new putative role of American vassal. Abbas insisted […]

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Up-and-out at Microsoft

Up-and-out at Microsoft

| August 27, 2013 | Reply

I experienced the stack-ranking method of subordinate evaluation during my two years at PricewaterhouseCoopers and had very serious reservations about it. Now, in just the past few days, I’ve learned that Microsoft has been using stack-ranking for its personnel since before Steve Balmer became CEO: The stack rank was harmful. It served as an incentive […]

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The Peter Pinnacle

The Peter Pinnacle

| August 25, 2013 | Reply

Michael Swaine has been around, well, possibly even longer than I have, and has been far more prolific as an author and editor in both the programming and personal computer industries (many will remember him as an editor and author at Dr. Dobb’s Journal). Possibly inspired by recent events, he just coined the following twist […]

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War and comics

War and comics

| August 22, 2013 | Reply

Harvey Kurtzman — to the extent he is remembered — is remembered for his iconic stories and drawing style from EC’s classic (and ultimately banned) horror comics, such as Tales from the Crypt. But, as this article by Matthew Gault over at War is Boring explains, Kurtzman pioneered a realistic, non-propagandist style of war comics […]

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Dell drops keyboardless Windows RT tablet

Dell drops keyboardless Windows RT tablet

| August 20, 2013 | Reply

Over at IT World (via Slashdot) comes the news that Dell has stopped selling its Windows RT tablet without a keyboard (which had been priced at $299) and now only sells a Win RT tablet with a keyboard at $479: Dell made several changes to the RT offers on its website. By Friday evening it had […]

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