(and it's shipping for the Mac at the same time as Windows -- which for them has traditionally meant the Mac & Windows versions come on the same disk. Woowoo!)  1:54:04 PM  (comments [])   

Through this, I found a pair of pretty interesting thoughts on why free software tends to have lousy user interfaces and why the Mozilla guys should lighten up and listen to critism.

Amen, brother.  1:17:43 PM  (comments [])   

An article about the book A New Kind of Science, by Steven Wolfram. Wolfram is responsible for, among other things, the program Mathematica. Mathematica is a pretty hardcore visual environment for solving complex mathemetical problems. (And one of the programs that always seemed to show of the NeXT nicely).

Wolfram is essentially arguing that equations are insufficient for describing complex natural phenomena; instead, we should be using algorithms. I must confess I'm sympathetic to this view -- but then again, I'm a programmer, and I've always found the continuous nature of equations limiting. I'm a hacker and a tweaker at heart. Maybe that's why I did some much better in CS classes than in my math courses :).  11:21:10 AM  (comments [])   

Ashcroft's ominous tone surprised the White House and law enforcement officials here and abroad, including some who had tracked Al Muhajir to al-Qaeda meetings in Pakistan. The law enforcement officials say the evidence against Al Muhajir, 31, indicates he was interested in many scenarios involving explosives, and radioactive materials was one possibility. They say that the former Chicago gang member once known as Jose Padilla was up to no good, but that any plans involving radiation were not as mature as Ashcroft suggested.

Seems pretty clear the Ashcroft is still feeling the need to assert his dominance as czar of Homeland Security over that upstart Ridge.

At the end of the article is an interesting side effect of Ashcroft's grandstanding:

Monday's announcement came a day before a New York judge heard a request by Al Muhajir's attorney, Donna Newman, to try to force officials to charge her client or release him. U.S. District Judge Michael Mukasey on Tuesday denied prosecutors' requests to hold the hearing in secret, citing Ashcroft's remarks about the arrest. Newman wants a civilian court to decide whether Al Muhajir is being held lawfully.

11:13:41 AM  (comments [])