brainstorms

Saturday June 04, 2005

notes from the week...

path of least resistance: ulrich drepper's slashblotted entry about dictatorship of minorities should come as a jolt to some of the more reflective parts of the open source community. there are a few meek rebuttals here and there, but i think this article requires more consideration. this is not because ulrich has good arguments [he does not, and abnoxiousness does not help] but in between the lines, he is really writing about favored, recalcitrant modes and branches of development that disadvantages other architectures, less common platforms, thus increasing the cost of accommodation. [linus's law reconsidered: given enough myopic eyeballs, all our favorite bugs are shallow.]

ipod: i wonder if there will be additional cases in other countries against apple to seek relief from battery-challenged ipods. unfortunately i ended up with a third-gen. also re-ripping over a thousand CDs [more on this later] in mp3. aac is going nowhere, and i do not like being locked into non-standards.

freakanomics: [from a recent review] people don't really like contrarian thinking. it is too much work. yet, contrarian thinking can be a useful survival tool. [i will have a more to say about this book in some future entry; it is very entertaining; drop anomics from the title and you get the description of the general reaction this book has created in some circles, especially those who detest contrarian thinking. i would love to see more a through research into the connection between abortion and crime statistics.]

clever design touch: [apple] if the earphone plug is disconnected, ipod shuffle automatically pauses. [i am now making a list of clever design touches for a future blog entry]

david pogue on spotlight: Of course, the truth is that Windows Indexing Service is to Spotlight as Thomas the Tank Engine is to a bullet train. [i laughed. i should remember to photograph our thomas collection before giving it away to some other family]

tintin volumes 1-5

the first five volumes (ten episodes) of the animated french series is now available as a boxed set in canada, and it is a joy to behold. each episode is either heard in original french (with or without subtitles) or in pretty decent english dub. each episode is drawn with frames that are nearly identical to the original comics, as if Hergé filled in between the frames with movement. it is as authentic a transfer from pages to screen as is imaginable. i and my son can hardly wait for the second boxed set due in september. [if i remember correctly asterix had a similar animated treatment, but so far i am not aware of a boxed set available; i hope one comes out soon]