The old blog, active from 2006 through 2012.
The Separation of State and Military
Darryl Sharratt is the father of Justin Sharratt. Who is Justin Sharratt? Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt is one of the Marines accused of murdering civilians in Haditha, Iraq. Darryl Sharratt recently shared his feelings on the case in an interview with the right-wing website NewsMax. In that interview, I found this revealing quote: We have a constitutional amendment that separates church and state, but we need one that separates state and military. Regardless of the... Continue reading→
Ten Tech Companies That Blew It in the Past Two Decades
What makes a technology company fail? Here are a handful of companies from the past twenty years that strike me as prime examples of organizations who lost a commanding lead and/or market dominance in a particular field due to their own idiocy or incompetence. Continue reading→
The End of MySpace
MySpace has made the classic gamble that short-term gain will trump long-term stability. And like so many Web 1.0 companies that came before them, MySpace is headed for a big, clumsy fall. Continue reading→
Winners of the Jewish Marxist Werewolves in Bolivia Giveaway
I received several great entries for my Jewish Marxist Werewolves in Bolivia contest to win a signed copy of "Infoquake." Here are the winners. Continue reading→
Stupid Writer Tricks: 10 Writing Tricks to Avoid
Here are ten writing tricks and techniques you sometimes see in amateur manuscripts that I think it’s best to avoid. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, some of which I’ve noted below; there will always be exceptions to the rule. But in general, if you hew to these guidelines except in very special circumstances, you’ll be a better writer for it. Let’s use a football analogy here. Sure, once or twice a season, you’re going... Continue reading→
The Jukebox in the Sky
Is music distribution going to follow the RealNetworks Rhapsody model and become a "jukebox in the sky"? Or are people going to continue buying tracks to store on their own systems? Continue reading→
Share This: A WordPress Plug-in
[Quick reminder before we get underway: my Jewish Marxist Werewolves in Bolivia Infoquake giveaway contest is still open! Deadline is this Friday, and lots of opportunity for you — yes, you — to win a signed copy of the book.] I’ve nearly completed all the modifications I wanted to make on this blog for 2007. Finally this weekend I cleared one of the last remaining hurdles: a good hook to social bookmarking and Web 2.0... Continue reading→
…And Justice for Some
People have jumped all over the inconsistencies of the Duke lacrosse team rape accuser and concluded that her story is wildly improbable. But is it, really? Continue reading→
The Real Iraq War Acid Test
As the death toll for the Iraq War continues to climb and President Bush decides to ramp up the U.S. commitment there instead of ramping it down, public support for the war has taken a nosedive in the past year. The latest USA Today/Gallup poll gives Bush a 72% disapproval rating on his handling of Iraq. Politicians and pollsters are now lining up to declare themselves in essentially two separate camps: The camp that says... Continue reading→
My 30 Seconds of Fame on NPR
This morning, NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday broadcast a piece by Rick Kleffel of The Agony Column on economics in genre fiction. In addition to snippets with authors T.C. Boyle, Jeff VanderMeer, Charles Stross, and Amir Aczel, the piece also features about 30 seconds of Yours Truly talking about how Infoquake is “the dot-com ’90s turned up to 11.” (You can listen to the whole thing in RealAudio or Windows Media on the NPR website.) The... Continue reading→