Monthly Archives: August 2004

I just filed the following letter with The Student, on the topic of campus security lighting (which I mentioned earlier). The Student publishes very long (400 word) letters that are really more like stand-alone opinion blurbs than traditional letters-to-the-editor, and … Continue reading →

I will be going on a short trip with my parents and brother starting tomorrow and ending on (like) the 26th. That’s my excuse for not having anything brilliant to say during that time.

Way back when, I complained about Amherst’s practice of assigning students e-mail addies of the form fmlastname for current students and fmlastname06 after they graduate in 2006. I won’t rehash why I thought this was a bad idea, but the … Continue reading →

Has anyone received any kind of bundled software in jewel-cases lately? All of the drivers, OS CDs, and bundled utilities I’ve encountered in recent memory come in CDs in little paper or plastic envelopes. This holds true even when they’re … Continue reading →

I found this link in Bruce Schneier’s Cryptogram for August 2004. It’s a discussion critical of the use of pervasive electric lighting to reduce crime. Of course bear in mind that it’s on the website of an astronomy group, but … Continue reading →

Since I flat-out abandoned my AOL e-mail address a couple years ago instead of trying to de-clog it’s spam-filled guts, I never got around to cancelling my subscription to LD-L, a high school debate listserv. As luck would have it, … Continue reading →

The legal distinction between satire and parody is getting a lot of play lately in regards to two upcoming cases. What I actually wanted to discuss, though, are the features of successful satire (in the colloquial sense of the word; … Continue reading →

No one who’s not a telemarketer likes telemarketers. Even with the federal “no-call” list it’s not clear those dinner-time solicitations are going to become less numerous (and they’re almost certainly not going to be less annoying). Many people deal with … Continue reading →

The Shobu Show — now playing in a Toronto nightclub, this is the hilarious apotheosis of the cultural phenomenon of “those crazy Japanese.” Check it out.