These Blues is Killing Me

Burrell unrepentant over book. Former royal butler Paul Burrell remains defiant despite a scathing attack by Princes William and Harry for betraying their mother. [ITN Online - Top Stories]
6:57:10 PM

ITunes, Now for the Rest of Us. With his usual razzmatazz, Apple's Steve Jobs introduces the iTunes music download service for Windows PCs. He also announces marketing campaigns with Pepsi and AOL that could wean people off the illegal stuff. Leander Kahney reports from San Francisco. [Wired News]
1:21:30 AM

"Coupling" Comes Undone (E! Online). E! Online - The Peacock is benching the heavily hyped sitcom for the next two weeks, throwing the program's future in doubt. [Yahoo! News - Most Emailed]

lj:) Idiots. I think back to when they wanted to do Fawlty Towers (they tried twice on the American TV) and how that missed the point. AbFab with Rosanne Barr, ugh!

12:20:39 AM

Sun Microsystems Loss Widens, Sales Slide (Reuters). Reuters - Network computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW.O) on Thursday reported a wider quarterly loss as weak demand for its servers and tough competition caused sales to fall for the 10th consecutive quarter. [Yahoo! News - Technology]
12:16:24 AM

Samsung Says Considering Sony LCD Deal (Reuters). Reuters - South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Friday it was positively considering a joint venture with Japan's Sony Corp to make television-use LCD (liquid crystal display) screens. [Yahoo! News - Technology]
12:15:53 AM

InfoPath: Turn User Input into XML with Custom Forms Using Office InfoPath 2003. Office InfoPath 2003 lets you design your own data collection forms that turn user-entered data into XML. [MSDN Just Published]
10:48:53 PM

Sony Shows 'Crossover' Video-Game Machine (AP). AP - Sony Corp. offered a preview Tuesday of its next-generation PlayStation, a hybrid gaming machine with digital media hub features: a TV tuner, DVD and hard-drive recording and photo album and music player functions. [Yahoo! News - Technology]
11:51:24 PM

Sealaska and corporate socialism. INDIAN COUNTRY TODAY [10/08/03 11:19am] At a recent fundraiser in New York City, Rosita Worl was telling a lawyer from Salomon Brothers about her unusual corporate employer: Sealaska, she explained carefully, is required by federal law to share its profits with less successful Native... [more] [Indian Country Today]
11:50:07 PM

Adding Design Time Support to ASP.NET Controls. Discover how you can add design-time support to your ASP.NET Server Controls. This allows your users to work with your controls as easily as they work with the built-in ASP.NET controls. [MSDN Just Published]
11:48:10 PM

Alaskans Share the Oil Wealth From Fund (AP). AP - Robert Lague fingered the price tags on the guitars in the pawn shop as he fantasized about what he will do with his check for $1,107.56 in free money. [Yahoo! News - Most Emailed]
11:47:32 PM

Microsoft Builds Lead in Server Systems (AP). AP - Microsoft Corp. has increased its share of the worldwide market for operating systems that run servers, despite high-profile competition from Linux, a new study shows. [Yahoo! News - Technology]
11:46:17 PM

Chicago Garbage Piles Up During Strike (AP). AP - Rats and other vermin scurried through overflowing trash bins Monday as thousands of garbage haulers stayed off the job for a sixth day in a contract dispute. [Yahoo! News - Top Stories]
12:39:08 AM

Pick an investment: Collectors see electric returns from playing guitar market

His sticky fingers grasping a diamond-studded file, Kari Nieminen applies a final touch to one of the $12,000 investments slung from hooks inside a ramshackle warehouse in Helsinki, Finland. Read...

LAURI OLANDER / BLOOMBERG NEWS

Kari Nieminen checks one of the guitars at his shop in Helsinki, Finland. The Versoul electric and acoustic guitars provide more than rhythm to the investment portfolios of corporate executives and musicians.

12:36:51 AM

'Iron' Mike Tyson cried for Bruno. Mike Tyson has revealed he cried when he heard his rival and friend Frank Bruno was being treated in an Essex psychiatric hospital. [ITN Online - Top Stories]
2:57:58 PM

Local sculpture irks some on Kansas campus

By The Associated Press
October 2, 2003

TOPEKA, Kan. - A sculpture from Longmont that depicts a Catholic clergyman in a cap bearing resemblance to a penis has drawn angry criticism from people who want it removed from the Washburn University campus.

lj:) Dick head, redux, he-he...

2:53:58 PM

Pope is dying, Austrian cardinal says

One of Europe's top cardinals said yesterday that Pope John Paul was nearing "the last days and months of his life," the first ranking prelate to say the 83-year-old pontiff is dying and the second this week to express alarm over the Pope's health. Full Story

lj:) More like roting I'd call it...

10:31:36 AM

Analyst: Sun Micro Facing 'Crisis' (Reuters). Reuters - Network computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW.O) should slash as much as 19 percent of its work force and tighten its product focus or it could become a takeover target, an influential Wall Street analyst said on Thursday. [Yahoo! News - Technology]
11:55:41 PM

Beckham set to be fit to face Turkey. David Beckham looks set to win his battle to be fit to lead England against Turkey in their crunch Euro 2004 qualifier in Istanbul. [ITN Online - Top Stories]
11:50:56 PM

lj:) Scorsese's "The Blues" gets better each night. Tonight was a drame version with a young Charles getting schooled in the blues, women, gambling, drinking and violence. It was mingled with the great history of the music around Mississippi and Memphis. They touched on the juke joints, fish frys, it was all in there. Rather be down south anyday than be on 405 taking this shit, baby I got the technology, working man blues...
11:14:53 PM

School Apologizes for Nazi Display by Band (Reuters). Reuters - The Paris, Texas, school district apologized Tuesday for a performance by one of its marching bands which played an Adolf Hitler anthem and waved a Nazi flag during a football halftime show. [Yahoo! News - Most Emailed]

lj:) Another one for the "What the fuck!?" Department

11:10:31 PM

Student May Wear Bush 'Terrorist' Shirt (AP). AP - A high school student has the right to wear a T-shirt to school with the face of President Bush and the words "International Terrorist" on the front, a federal judge ruled. [Yahoo! News - Top Stories]

lj:) and "It Takes a Village to Satisfy Slick Willy!"

11:04:47 PM

Sun goes down on rise of cheaper rivals (FT.com). FT.com - Fresh evidence that Sun Microsystems may be the biggest casualty of the rise of Linux and a new generation of standardised computer systems prompted a sharp drop in the company's share price on Wall Street on Tuesday. [Yahoo! News - Technology]

lj:) Another FUSM article. CYA!

10:42:42 PM

Dixie Chicks Turn Their Backs On Country Genre (LAUNCH). LAUNCH - The Dixie Chicks want out of the country music scene, according to comments group member Martie Maguire made to German magazine, Spiegel. She said, "We don't feel part of the country scene any longer, it can't be our home any more." [Yahoo! News - Most Emailed]

lj:) Madonna, Three more distraught and confused recruits to be frenched and signed to your harem!

10:40:44 PM

Report: Nazis Used Hospitals for Killings (AP). AP - Nazi Germany used hundreds of hospitals and clinics to kill at least 200,000 handicapped, mentally ill and other institutional patients who were deemed physically inferior, researchers said Tuesday. [Yahoo! News - Top Stories]

lj:) Bloodbath

10:39:14 PM

Microsoft's Media Center Targets Living Rooms (Reuters). Reuters - Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O) launched a major upgrade to its multimedia personal computer software on Tuesday, aiming to bring more computers out of offices and into people's living rooms. [Yahoo! News - Technology]
10:37:37 PM

The dirty bomb beneath our feet, thousands of miles of ageing sewers

Deep beneath the clock tower in Leicester city centre, Martin Webster shines his torch on the stream of human waste coursing through the Victorian sewer. Faeces, clumps of toilet paper and sanitary pads slip past in a muddy, ceaseless flow, as a methane monitor checks the warm, foul air and emits a steady, reassuring shriek...

lj:) Oh Shit

10:36:47 PM

Saudi Weds Four in One Ceremony to Spite Ex-Wife (Reuters). Reuters - A Saudi man married four women in one night only to prove to his estranged first wife that he was still attractive, a newspaper reported on Saturday. [Yahoo! News - Most Emailed]

lj:) Big Whoop, I did this in Salt Lake in 2.5 hours.

10:19:19 PM

Globalization Architecture for ASP.NET. Learn how to architect and build Web applications that enable you to add support for multiple languages and cultures. [MSDN Just Published]
10:15:02 PM

Microsoft buffs up its Media Center. With an upgrade to the Windows XP variant due Tuesday, the software maker aims to address critiques from its earliest customers. Dell, Sony and other PC makers are standing by. [CNET News.com - Front Door]

lj:) Yeah, PVR and Customer Choice!

10:08:34 PM

Software's Gentler Giant? (washingtonpost.com). washingtonpost.com - For millions of consumers at home and at work, using a computer means using Microsoft. [Yahoo! News - Technology]
9:52:10 PM

Schumacher wins US Grand Prix. Ferrari's Michael Schumacher has won the United States Grand Prix, with Kimi Raikkonen second and Heinz-Harald Frentzen third. [ITN Online - Top Stories]
10:49:21 PM

lj:) Year of The Blues - Past Handy Shows

Cool cd from Tone-Cool that highlights killer blues at the W.C. Handy awards in Memphis. I got to see the following...

5. Deborah Coleman and Bernard Allison - Bad Love
6. Paul Rishell and Annie Raines - Michigan Water
7. Susan Tedeschi - Just Won�t Burn
8. Taj Mahal and the Phantom Blues Band - Senor Blues
9. Bobby Rush - Hoochie Man

9:03:13 PM

Researchers Map Dog's Genetic Structure (AP). AP - Using a male poodle, the family pet of one of the scientists, researchers have completed the first rough draft sequence of the genes of a dog. [Yahoo! News - Most Emailed]

lj:) We still don't know why they bark...

8:52:51 PM

Levi Strauss closes American plants (FT.com). FT.com - Levi Strauss, the iconic jeans brand that has been worn by generations of Americans, on Thursday announced plans to close its four remaining North American manufacturing and finishing plants, with the loss of almost 2,000 jobs. [Yahoo! News - Most Emailed]

lj:) What the fuck? This is so wrong.

6:33:08 PM

lj:) What makes Software Teams Work?

There are books and classroom instruction galore on software development processes, project and people management. They all examine methodologies, process and approaches that produce outcomes that you could replicate in your project if you follow their advice. I have read many of these tomes and most of them make me cynical towards the author. If you have time to write a book about something, you are already out of the game.

How come the results you get when you apply the techniques are different and unsatisfactory? People!

People are volatile and are often not very predictable. In my experience (even with people I have worked with for a long time) teams are likely to suprise you during projects and always at different times than last time. It requires that I keep a reserve of energy, attituide and flexibilty. The good teams can implode a bit and then correct themselves, they grow and they get better. The work must remain compelling, but the best outcomes happen when the DNA of a team grows through successive deliverables and they begin to trust those around them. This happens when you ship software into production and it can happen in no other way from my observations.

The constant attribute that produces the results is someone with "Tenacity". This attribute is key for a software developer. Problems are hard and they require finding the solution and the compromises. Some believe in the press, marketing and acedemic knowledge and these teams produce software that is brittle and non-durable. Good development teams have strong domain knowledge over the development tools environment (warts and all!) and constantly update and verify their assumptions.

6:29:26 PM

Versioning, Virtual, and Override. Part IV of Anders' interview is up. [Eric Gunnerson's C# Compendium]
7:22:34 AM

lj:) The fun of Reno911

Comedy Central has a new satire on cop shows called "Reno911". This is some of the best satire and comedy on tv right now. If you have ever sat down and watched Cops, laughed at the shirtless-toothless perp or hummed the "Bad Boyz" reggae song, you can appreciate this show. Visit CC for show info...

7:18:34 AM