:: Event Horizon ::

:: Friday, June 20, 2003 ::

Best In Blogs
So, who are the top bloggers, the best bloggers, the crème de la crème of the blogosphere? According to Mark Glaser’s review there is a great deal of agreement within the blogging community about who the most influential bloggers are. Sadly, I’m not one of them. That’s ok with me. I know that for the vast majority of us who toil in relative obscurity hit counts and audience size are not important, certainly not the primary motivation to keep blogging. I know that I have a few loyal readers who may find what I have to say mildly interesting, from time to time, and that is enough for me. I write more for myself than for any audience, real or imagined. I’m just a traveler on the road of life, enjoying the journey, commenting on the scenery and glad to have you along to share the experience. It has been said that an unexamined life is not worth living. I would add a corollary to that sentiment and suggest that the unexamined age is not worth living in. Blog on.

:: Joel 2:37 PM [+] ::
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Orrin Hatch: Software Pirate?
A follow up on the attack of the conservative computer crashers, Wired News reports that the senator is using unlicensed software on his website. Why am I not surprised.

:: Joel 2:10 PM [+] ::
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East of Oprah
According to the AP, the daytime TV diva and pop culture icon has selected the Steinbeck novel East of Eden as the selection for her book club. I am an avid reader and applaud Oprah for inspiring a renewed national interest in literature. I’ve participated in book clubs in the past and found the experience to be very rewarding. Reading is a solitary pursuit, but talking about a book with others leads to new insights and a deeper appreciation for the work. Given the power of Oprah’s past recommendation, I can’t help but wonder if Steinbeck will once again be on the bestseller lists? I just checked the Amazon.com 100 Hot Books list and found that East of Eden is already #2. Amazing.

:: Joel 4:54 PM [+] ::
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Conservative Computer Crashers
A great example of how modern Republicans have turned conservatism upside down, here expressing a willingness to destroy private property to protect corporate greed. According to this AP report, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, favors developing technology to remotely destroy computers used for illegal downloads. This implications of this are staggering. What if your teen is downloading music on your family PC and it gets a Hatch bomb? There goes all your financial info, your tax records, your digital family photo album. Gone. I would like to suggest that all members of Congress get immediate classroom instruction on Internet basics, what it is, why it exists, and how little jurisdiction they have over the global network. Ok, end of rant, I'm off to a used bookstore to purchase used books and music, the copyright holder will not be compensated. Is that any different than downloading? You be the judge. Or actually, you won't, Orrin Hatch will be the judge. Better backup your data now while you have the chance.

:: Joel 1:54 PM [+] ::
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Catholic Criminals
Here is another news story about bishops behaving badly, this one about the Catholic bishop of Phoenix, arrested Monday for a deadly hit-and-run accident (hmmn, I just hit something in the road, should I stop and see what I hit or keep driving? Keep driving, yeah, that's it.). He has now resigned. And a related news report about Oklahoma Governor Keating refusing to apologize for comparing the Catholic church to the Mafia. I was raised Catholic and attended several Catholic schools as a child, but have not considered myself Catholic for many years. I just had enough of the hypocrisy and arrogance of the organization, though I never saw it as a criminal organization, more like a cult than anything else. Part of the problem is that we expect bureaucrats and functionaries to be spiritual leaders, and life just doesn’t work like that.

:: Joel 1:36 PM [+] ::
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Better Late Than Never
The Independent has discovered blogging. Let’s see, blogging has been a trend for at least the last two years, and became the Next New Thing last year, and then a Cultural Force this year, and they are just now doing an article about it. That’s cutting edge journalism for you.

:: Joel 1:32 PM [+] ::
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