My Notebook features over 500 posts across over twenty years, covering everything from movies to ethics to personal stories to random links. Browse recent Notebook entries below, or use the category buttons or search to go deeper. The “Clip File” category contains my favorite writing.
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Hitch on Ramsey Clark
In an LA Times editorial, Christopher Hitchens makes the case against Ramsey Clark, one of Saddam Hussein’s lawyers.
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Idea factory: Dell, let us share our customized systems!
OLSTM (one-line summary): Dell should provide a “Send this configuration to a friend” link on the page of its website where you customize the components of your Dell system. Here’s one way it could work: If you’ve ever ordered a computer online via Dell’s website (or even browsed the site without ordering), you’ve probably seen…
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Win ‘Cinderalla Man’ on DVD!
Want a chance to win a free DVD of this past summer’s critically-acclaimed Cinderella Man? Then head over to Network Landscape, the TV/DVD blog I publish, and read Henry’s instructions for entering the contest! Shameless shilling: Network Landscape covers TV, DVD, digital video, and other interesections of content. Thanks to the site’s head writer, Henry,…
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More on Christmas
Our tree is up (photos soon UPDATE: Photos here), yet with a two-year-old and a cat in the house, we’re not sure how long it will remain standing- it’s already been subject to some rambunctious shaking and jumping in just two days. We also added some more lights to the outside of the house (see…
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Idea factory: Save and share Your Laws
OLSTM (one line summary): It would be fun if somebody created a site called YourLaws.org (as of this writing, it’s available). The site would be a place to record and publicly share personal “laws”, such as “Clarke’s Law states that a traffic light will only be green when you don’t want it to be.” Here
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Idea factory: deliver school closings via RSS
Here in Maine, the weather is likely to turn bad any day now (possibly today) and stay that way until at least early April. Hence, we’re nearly upon the beginning of the school snow day season. One idea I’d love to see is a site where a parent (or anybody else) could grab news for…
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Is there an ideal gender mix in academia?
In which I link to Rex Hammock twice in one day: Rex reports that colleges and universities are seeing a drop in male students. As Rex quotes, from the WaPo: “Colleges and universities across the country are grappling with the case of the mysteriously vanishing male. Where men once dominated, they now make up no…
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Rex Hammock says: “You’re crazy if you take what you read in Wikipedia at face value.”
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Idea factory: integrated bittorrent search
OLSTM (one-line summary): a bittorrent client that includes an integreated search box. Here’s one way it could work: A user downloads a bittorrent client that includes an integrated torrent file search box. As the user, you can specify one, or a series, of URLs to pre-load the search with. The software’s maker could also choose…
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Keeping the Christmas tree
This may anger or distress some people, but I have to make a quick mention of the fact. You can call yours whatever you like, but in my home we’re going to keep calling it the Christmas Tree, not the “Holiday tree” that unfortunately appears to be sweeping the nation. At the right is a…