05 Dec 2006
Santa in Trouble

So is Mr. Claus an alcoholic?

Santa Beer label (AP)

or a Nazi?

Nazi Santa?

Or has he been reduced to just another marketing gimmick? I think I'll vote for the last option...

09:31 /Humor | 2 comments | permanent link

Bjarne Stroustrup on the Problems With Programming

Lot's of insights here - engineering of all sorts is more art than science, and will be as long as humans are both engineers and users of the products.

MIT's Technology Review has a Q&A with C++ inventor Bjarne Stroustrup. Highlights include Bjarne's answers on the trade-offs involved in the design of C++, and how they apply today, and his thoughts on the solution to the problems. From the interview: "Software developers have become adept at the difficult art of building reasonably reliable systems out of unreliable parts. The snag is that often we do not know exactly how we did it."

(link) [Slashdot]

09:09 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

Say Hello to the Goodbye Weapon

Man, I see a severe case of unintended consequences coming on here - have these folks really thought about the implications of this stuff, especially as the technology gets spread around?

Wired's also published a listing of the testing reports - scary stuff. And while they've done extensive testing into the actual physical effects of the weapons, nobody seems to be paying any attention to the broader psychological and political implications. Human beings are a very adaptable lot, and if street protests are rendered useless, my belief is that those so oppressed with naturally turn to other methods to express their frustration - say, car bombs and assassinations.

Just what the world needs.

A new radiation weapon that produces the "Goodbye effect" -- making victims run like crazy -- has been certified for use in Iraq. It feels like the skin is being ripped from your face, but the military says it's perfectly safe. A special "Freedom of Information" report by David Hambling.

(link) [Wired]

09:04 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

E. coli sickens 22 in New Jersey

What kinda shit you want on that taco?

An E. coli outbreak that has sickened at least 22 people -- two of them seriously -- was linked by health investigators Monday to three Taco Bell restaurants in New Jersey.

(link) [CNN]

08:54 /Agriculture | 0 comments | permanent link