Just heard from my mother. My grandmother's back in the hospital with some serious medical issues. She's 90 years old, and has been eating less and less. The doctors want to give her a feeding tube. Last time she was in the hospital, she needed an I.V., and she kept pulling it out. Denise may be right - I don't know if Granny has much of a will to live anymore. I'd like to believe she's just uncomfortable, and doesn't know the implications of what she's doing. She certainly is a lot less lucid and a lot more frail than she was a year ago. I miss her old self, and I wonder how much longer we'll have her with us.

:::

Judge OKs Most Microsoft Provisions [ABCNews.com]

W A S H I N G T O N, Nov. 1 — A federal judge on Friday approved most of the provisions of an antitrust settlement between Microsoft Corp. and the Justice Department, largely setting aside concerns by some states that the sanctions were too light on the software giant.

The sanctions are to last for at least five years unless extended by the court, the judge said. ...

The decision eliminates the establishment of a technical committee to assess Microsoft's compliance with the agreement. In its place, a corporate compliance committee consisting of Microsoft board members will make sure Microsoft lives up to the deal, the judge said.

Appeals are likely in a complicated case that has already lasted four years.

"It might not be resolved for another two years," University of Baltimore law professor Robert Lande said. "No one should count their winnings yet."...

From "For Microsoft, Ruling Will Sting but Not Really Hurt" - New York Times [requires registration]

Judge Kollar-Kotelly did try to strengthen the controls in the Justice Department's settlement, which was joined by nine other states, in a couple of areas. In what she termed the "most forward-looking" portion of her ruling, she required Microsoft to share more technical information with rivals like I.B.M., Sun Microsystems and others who make server computers, which act as the data-serving hubs of computer networks.

In taking up server software, she rejected Microsoft's objections, a rare setback in the ruling for the company. By singling out server software, she implicitly recognized the emerging threat to Microsoft from Linux....

The judge's order requires Microsoft to disclose the communications protocols in its Windows desktop PC software, so that competitors' server software can work as smoothly with Windows as the server operating systems sold by Microsoft do.

"That is a real effort to do something procompetitive," said Timothy Bresnahan, a Stanford professor who served as chief economist in the Justice Department during the Clinton administration.

But Mr. Bresnahan worried that Microsoft might well find ways around the requirement, since it only applied to Microsoft operating systems and not to all Microsoft programs.

More broadly, Mr. Bresnahan says that the conservative regulatory approach — instead of the break-up proposal championed by the Clinton administration — leaves Microsoft too many ways around the ruling. So, he contends, the policy goals of antitrust enforcement — curbing a monopolist so competitive alternatives and new ideas can flourish — have been badly undermined. ...

From "America's Most Wanting" - The New York Times [requires registration]

...there was a time when the U.S. Congress was an estimable branch of the American government. ...

Now — to put it in the slam-dance vernacular of politics today — it is a collection of the spineless led by the cynical, constantly lap-dancing for special-interest cash to finance the permanent campaign, deadlocked not over high principles but over petty partisan advantage and, as C-Span devotees know, incapable of mounting a debate worthy of a junior high school. ...

A few words about ground rules.

...The nominee should be a twit, extremist, sleaze or brute who makes a difference.

Second, this is a career achievement award. ...

Third, it makes no difference whether these people are vulnerable. ...

Representative Tom DeLay, Republican of Texas: ...If you administered truth serum to members of the House and asked whom they most blame for the fact that the place has become a snake pit....

Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana:...is the anti-Wellstone, a legislator who, in the words of a fellow Democrat, "has been afraid of his shadow since he got here."...

Representative Tom Tancredo, Republican of Colorado:... Mr. Tancredo has found his niche as the House leader of a caucus of immigrant-bashing nativists. He will tell you this is not bigotry, just aggressive law enforcement — though Mr. Tancredo opposed President Bush's effort to restore food stamps to legal immigrants on grounds it would encourage welfare-seekers to flood America. (There was also the little embarrassment of those illegal immigrants who remodeled the congressman's home.)...He has told his constituents he will not honor his pledge to retire in 2004....

Representative Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California:...Her colleagues regard her skills as average at best. But she has a gift for raising money... Ms. Pelosi didn't make Congress a self-lubricating money machine, but she has done as much as any sitting Democrat to perpetuate it.

Senator James Inhofe, Republican of Oklahoma: Mr. Inhofe is a dimmer version of Jesse Helms — an intolerant, xenophobic, might-makes-right ultrapatriot, but not as quick on his feet as Mr. Helms was in his prime....

Representative Dan Burton, Republican of Indiana: Mr. Burton is the nastiest of the prosecutorial wild men of Capitol Hill...As part of his fanatic pursuit of the Clintons, he obtained transcripts of a prison inmate's private conversations with his wife, edited out the exculpatory bits and published them. ...

I always love it when they name names.

Spent this afternoon playing with Flash some more. Cooked-up this refrigerator magnet thingy. It randomly picks from 4 different text files to create the magnets, so you can open it more than once, and you won't always be working with the same words. Still could use some tweaking - keep the magnets inside the boundaries, collision detect/ block from hitting the handle or the emblem, oh, and better graphics... but I'm just trying to get a lock on scripting right now. After that, I'll tackle issues like embedding the swf into my pages, checking for players, etc.

Some of the books I'm working from are Flash 5 books, and some are MX. Gets a little weird, trying to figure out best practices for now, versus when the Flash 6 player is pervasive.

Denise tells me that the press is running with the story of a "war" in the rap industry. It's a possibility, but have you noticed how fascinated the press is with warfare? sells a lot of pulp. You can't put your head in the sand about bad things that are happening, but it sure seems like the trash is drowning out the good (or useful) information.

Just a little something I put together today in Photoshop. Betcha can't guess what I've been listening to :-)

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Jam Master Jay, the DJ of the longtime rap group Run-DMC, was shot in the head and killed Wednesday night in a Queens recording studio...

:::

Happy Halloween, anyway.

:::

Poetry machine

Googlism for: lou

lou is dethroned
lou is available for adoption
lou is blue
lou is 42 [not a bad guess]
lou is trying to do
lou is now accepting orders for her
lou is online
lou is our newest kitty
lou is dethroned but still won't shut up
lou is back
lou is a loser
lou is lord by arazim
lou is considered a contemporary artist and when he plays the guitar
lou is p err och [huh?]
lou is used as a water container
lou is regarded as the mythical item representing longevity
lou is calling it a day?
lou is recognized by the media as a fashion and retail expert and has given in
lou is the smartest thing i have ever done
lou is proud to announce that polka casserole has just been rereleased on the cleveland international heritage label
lou is a student of ed warren thus making him in short a demonologist or technically a student religious demonologist
lou is god vs
lou is god clubhouse team
lou is a gifted
lou is trying to do » kiddo
lou is a licensed private pilot and a member of the aviation owners and pilots association
lou is worried that george will be attracted to laura because laura is very pretty
lou is not a millionaire
lou is an event in herself
lou is the chief sponsor of the ?fund education first act?
lou is also a highly sought after message consultant and product communications specialist
lou is backed by her touring band; record release party fpr "got no shadow"; setlist
lou is currently a senior member of the dykema gossett law firm
lou is an eminent ex
lou is now accepting orders for her famous baked goodies
lou is a very talented and versitile musician
lou is the master of whatever you need done
lou is a self
lou is chair of the committee on business and professions and the select committee on mobilehomes
lou is a serious guy
lou is multitalented in the following fields
lou is appointed editor
lou is alive and well
lou is the guy who actually created that little monopoly™ guy in the top hat we just can't seem to get enough of
lou is always the crowd pleaser
lou is
lou is on the forefront of the current jazz guitar explosion
lou is free from all of the practicing
lou is now in her third term as president of the southern oklahoma writers' guild and is the publisher of its first newsletter
lou is ch [Can I get you some water?]
lou is through coaching him vocally
lou is a girl
lou is a successful executive in business operations and management who has specialized in
lou is still dead
lou is doing great he is more adorable then ever
lou is standing in front of a mirror beside a dressmaker
lou is dethroned but still won't shut up by dean rotbart
lou is now preparing to produce 26 episodes of this groundbreaking series
lou is the
lou is having trouble with his game
lou is one smart girl who can polka with the best of 'em
lou is next seen helping marie winter in the riot she arranges at joan's instigation
lou is the perfect example of a learning professional
lou is actually a composite of several applications
lou is extremely professional
lou is to start filming the new thriller "absolon" on may 13th opposite christopher lambert and british star kelly brook
lou is currently in vancouver
lou is standing up
lou is a fierce competitor and he will not tolerate half
lou is a mitten cat
lou is principal of louis rosenfeld llc
lou is a story about the harvard law student being introduced to mountain justice
lou is almost a colorado native
lou is a real estate agent that is known in the community of north york for their dedicated client service
lou is that he jerks off
lou is a published songwriter
lou is a film maker of puerto rican/irish descent who grew up on the upper west side of manhattan
lou is working on a full
lou is responsible for information technology initiatives and personnel throughout ama?s united states operations
lou is great
lou is a wallflower who is pushed around by her boss
lou is an avid collector of books on the vietnam war
lou is a very gifted instructor who endeavors to instill personal confidence and to motivate students to attain their long
lou is only fourteen [Been there...]
lou is a man of many talents
lou is a cartoon duck character
lou is an associate professor in the department of management and marketing
lou is a contemporary art rebel

I bolded my comments and favorites.

Now, on to that age-old subject...(slightly edited)

sex is dead
sex is good
sex is worth the wait
sex is better than religion
sex is here to stay
sex is popular
sex is poetry
sex is cool
sex is like a box of chocolates by theresa m
sex is great too
sex is boring
sex is a brain thing
sex is your guinea pig?
sex is a misdemeanor
sex is the preeminent form of bringing love into physical reality
sex is better than school
sex is usa's fault
sex is optional
sex is rampant
sex is comedy film review
sex is sacred
sex is safer sex
sex is for loving
sex is for marriage
sex is a 13
sex is the only thing worth talking about
sex is ok if done for the cause
sex is your computer?
sex is normal?
sex is your responsibility
sex is free
sex is a process of leaning to arouse your partner
sex is a myth in samoa
sex is a rare event
sex is best wet to avoid condom breakage
sex is
sex is too much?
sex is not everything
sex is dull and boring
sex is worth the inconvenience
sex is your brain? condensed from "brain sex
sex is awesome
sex is it? pamela moy
sex is worth the wait
sex is positive
sex is great
sex is here to stay e coli bacteria
sex is popular by malcolm ritter the associated press feb
sex is your brain? the brain game what’s sex got to do with it? july 31 — if you want a clear illustration
sex isn't and is for
sex is like a box of chocolates trance fever ©2001 theresa m
sex is a crime
sex is too painful
sex is great too a personal view of our m/s relationship; the benefits and problems we initially faced; details of day to day rules and routines
sex is best when you lose your head
sex is your guinea pig? it is relatively easy to sex guinea pigs
sex is good sex is good
sex is an option
sex is a misdemeanor got the group therapy blues
sex is coming [ehem :-)]
sex is neutral an investigation into sexuality and its relationship to the multidimensional nature of true humanity by andrew cohen
sex is pleasurable
sex is way more complex
sex is a necessary and proper
sex is main factor in hiv infection for men and women who inject drugs
sex is ambivalent is killed at birth
sex is often about anger
sex is important to single women and why they want good sex
sex is for combating parasites
sex is optional since our son's birth
sex is safe
sex is not bad by lopix
sex is good by david deida
sex is comedy
sex is comedy cannes film festival andrew pulver saturday may 18
sex is sacred by dr
sex is life energy
sex is safer sex it's true
sex is secret of
sex is not safe
sex is a 13 letter word
sex is subverting our culture
sex is repulsive
sex is disgusting
sex is better than gods
sex is beautiful
sex is your computer?
sex is normal?
sex is presented as a fun time with no consequences
sex is a myth in samoa"
sex is good for you
sex is great any time
sex is not everything adrian mole
sex is dull and boring by diane sollee
sex is worth the inconvenience by pat mccoy/counselor

Of course, MICROSOFT is one of the most popular phrases... (again, slightly edited)

microsoft is wary of open source
microsoft is vulnerable
microsoft is calling you
microsoft is a good
microsoft is building new monopolies
microsoft is committed to competition
microsoft is immoral
microsoft is guilty
microsoft is plain crazy
microsoft is serious about
microsoft is back
microsoft is more
microsoft is a dinosaur
microsoft is huge and getting bigger
microsoft is going to have to do better
microsoft is forced to turn over price information from its sales
microsoft is a threat to freedom
microsoft is fighting the wrong battle
microsoft is not an ogre
microsoft is victim of 'denial of service' hack attack
microsoft is losing its grip
microsoft is right
microsoft is serious about security
microsoft is evil
microsoft is
microsoft is forced
microsoft is so desperate
microsoft is stupid
microsoft is exhibiting at
microsoft is my muse by carol wells
microsoft is losing to linux in china
microsoft is history
microsoft is competitive
microsoft is superfluous after all
microsoft is an evil company
microsoft is snubbed for rival
microsoft is going down
microsoft is a rip
microsoft is een monopolist"
microsoft is building a global monopoly
microsoft is pushing its proprietary windows media technologies and its pending successor
microsoft is exhibiting at linuxworld expo
microsoft is vulnerable by anthony b
microsoft is calling you lab rat
microsoft is bullish on wi
microsoft is a good citizen
microsoft is using its own legal defeat to hurt java by robert x
microsoft is successful
microsoft is immoral tonya harding approach to competition is anti
microsoft is no monopoly
microsoft is bad
microsoft is now accelerating
microsoft is ahead because their products are superior
microsoft is going
microsoft is plain crazy by rich karlgaard
microsoft is all talk about
microsoft is working to incorporate the well known
microsoft is a little late in the game
microsoft is broadening java's scope
microsoft is serious about windows
microsoft is back enrique r
microsoft is more david than goliath
microsoft is glued to the tube
microsoft is the current undisputed fierce reigning king of the dinosaur world
microsoft is going to decline the unemployment rate
microsoft is ordered to turn over source code to its windows 95
microsoft is forced to turn over price information from its sales and oem databases
microsoft is fighting the wrong battle the company is losing its antitrust case ? but only because it is afraid to assert its moral right to defeat its
microsoft is pleased to announce the availability of our internal technical training courses to mvps in europe
microsoft is how to convince the skeptics that palladium
microsoft is losing to linux in the general embedded market a number of market studies microsoft is a big deal
microsoft is doing something that is bad for software users
microsoft is a bargain at 39x earnings?
microsoft is set to steamroll crm space
microsoft is doing right and wrong with biztalk
microsoft is a cat and linux is a dog
microsoft is not an ogre "standard oil is a good example of how the us justice department protected consumers against mon
microsoft is dead
microsoft is making life difficult says german asp
microsoft is trying to carve its way into and dominate an entirely new market that it
microsoft is the net's biggest bugger by
microsoft is a monopoly
microsoft is serious about security one executive talks about the software giant's efforts to keep all of its web services safe and secure
microsoft is guilty as charged
microsoft is plenty of punishment
microsoft is forced to issue ssl patch for ie
microsoft is so desperate to fold internet explorer into windows 98 by robert x
microsoft is my muse
microsoft is history
microsoft is already two companies
microsoft is making this connection
microsoft is grand larceny
microsoft is filling out
microsoft is snubbed for rival software firm
microsoft is already branching out to new lower margin or lower volume products
microsoft is a rip off

My favorite googlisms about Harvard:

harvard is learning from motivaction [Is that a word?]
harvard is my safety man
harvard is becoming a hotbed of women's studies
harvard is for the birds
harvard is again new england's top daffodil days fundraiser
harvard is one of the popular college comedies of the 1920's
harvard is funny
harvard is the `stanford of the east
harvard is producing a generation of socially isolated students who spend all their time staring at computer screens
harvard is not as impressive as one might think
harvard is a challenging school and has some nerds who only enjoy working on a good homework problem for fun
harvard is a well respected member of the cleaning industry
harvard is so lucky

... and about New York:

new york is book country
new york is nuked
new york is no place for olympics
new york is the quick and easy way to sell your car
new york is not enough
new york is a free reservation
new york is now more convenient with online shopping
new york is committed to rescuing our democracy from the strangle
new york is now available
new york is still downtown
new york is not going to give up the career
new york is an accredited branch of the ramakrishna order of india
new york is een begin voor van der sterren
new york is now ornette coleman

Can't get enough? Visit the Top 30 Googlisms or whip out one of your own.

This is fun, twisted Flash animation and really clever interface design. You grab a critter from a cliff and drop it into a hole to select a movie. The movie pops up in a new window. For the heck of it, make sure you miss at least once. The pacing of the movies slow enough to be suspenseful. The stories are funny. The critters are strangely cute.

The simple cartoon drawings are augmmented with effective touches: corroded/weathered lettering effects and film "dust." Notice also that when the creatures are standing still, they blink once in a while.

Maybe the best part is the music! Make sure you check out episode 9. It's the second hole from the right.

:::

Well, it's cold season, and I've already got one. I don't think it has anything to do with getting chilled. There are too many studies that fail to induce colds by freezing their subjects. But I did shake hands with a number of people last week. Supposedly Donald Trump never shakes hands for that very reason. Oh- and he dismisses it by saying it's an archaic and barbaric ritual. (This being the same man who's a major proponent of the death penalty, but that's a different story.)

:::

Speaking of the death penalty, it's pretty sick watching all those jurisdictions falling over each other to try to be the first to try the DC sniper. Apparently, the guy was talking, when the US Attorney in Maryland interrupted the interrogation to press Federal charges. He hasn't talked since. A confession probably doesn't make much difference in this case. It might be instructive to have found out more of what was going on in the guy's head, but I think Ashcroft was more interested in insuring that whoever tried him could kill him. And since you can only kill a person once...

It is intriguing to consider that both Timothy McVeigh and now John Muhammed were trained by the military. Toss in the training and weaponry we gave to Bin Laden when it was "in our interest" to defeat Russia in Afghanistan, add the germ stock that we gave to Hussein, and it looks like our government's been creating some pretty toxic spills over the last few decades. I doubt that it's possible to have the foresight to see where these "blowback" situations are likely to come from, and I wonder if anything will actually be learned.

:::

A friend of mine asked me if I was worried about the world the other day. I thought things were going from bad to worse when the Gulf War broke out, but the latest round of turmoil makes all of that pale by comparison. Still, this might be a skewed perspective. I took a cab ride a couple of months ago with a driver who said he was from the Sudan, and that his country's been in civil war for something like 18 years. We just don't hear about it. For that matter, Jeraldo Rivera was in Central America just before September 11 last year, covering the ongoing fighting that nobody else was speaking of. Apparently these wars aren't relevant, because they don't directly affect "American interests." Out of sight, out of mind.

I also wonder if Putin will ever feel the need to make amends for the loss of life in the hostage situation last week. Accidentally killling nearly 25% of the people you're trying to rescue doesn't sound like a successful operation to me.