Older blog entries for davidw (starting at number 166)

23 Mar 2003 (updated 24 Mar 2003 at 05:38 UTC) »
ianmacd: I think the US should be part of the international criminal court as well, but from what I have read, it really needs to be, at least initially, for the worst of the worst - rape, torture, genocide, stuff like that. As much as you (or I) might not think this war is a good idea, you can't be taken seriously if you think that that is condoned by US leaders. By declaring that Bush and company should be dragged before the ICC, you play right into their opposition to US involvement in it, because you would use it for what amounts to political purposes, and that's why they say the US shouldn't participate.

As to the illegality of the war, that's a different matter from war crimes. The Economist has an interesting article on the issue, at http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=1649850 although unfortunately it's "premium content". A relevant quote:

It is not yet clear whether the United States is proposing to ditch the whole idea of international law, or merely to revise its rules. Many statements by Mr Bush and other senior American officials seem to indicate the former.
22 Mar 2003 (updated 22 Mar 2003 at 09:28 UTC) »

I've been quite stressed out by things. I have some doubts about the war, and don't like how Bush has handled things. The rhetoric on both sounds, for and against, is disconcerting, because I think as people, the only thing that keeps us going forward is thinking about things rationally.

Is Saddam's Iraq like Hitler's Germany? Certainly not, even though Hussein himself is certainly a horrid person. Is Bush like Hitler? Please, be serious. If you really believe that, you should be calling for your government to strike against the US militarily before Bush goes on with his world conquest, and before he starts sending millions of americans off to gas chambers. By making assertions like this, you turn moderate people off to your point of view, and paint yourself as a deluded extremist. Why go to those lengths to color your opposition as 'evil'? On the face of the evidence, there are plenty of logical reasons to avoid going to war this hastily, no need to go to such extremes to vilify those who don't agree with you.

I have had trouble concentrating on work, this whole situation has been extremely distracting, and makes it very hard to get 'in the zone' so conducive to programming.

18 Mar 2003 (updated 18 Mar 2003 at 20:34 UTC) »

I tend to be a bit of a worrier, and world events surely have me working overtime. It strikes me as deeply unfortunate that calmer, more rational heads don't prevail more often in the world. Let's all hope that somehow, things turn out for the best for all involved.

It's official. On April 10th, Ilenia and I will be heading back to Padova, Italy, where she will be pursuing a doctorate, and I will resume consulting there. We're nervous, but happy. Life is, by and large, better there - at least more balanced. People work hard for the most part, but also have time for friends, family, and relaxation. Can't wait to get off the last plane of the day... that will feel good:-)

Listening to Last Days, Critical Times by Fishbone. I kind of feel like that at the moment... The world is going a little too fast, and I'd like to get off for a minute or two - maybe on a tropical island somewhere. Taxes are coming up. Lots of work to do for my current client. Trying to figure out the best things to do for my business. Trying to spend time with my girlfriend.

My interview with the Tcl Core Team went live today. I'm happy, because I spent several months trying to pull the whole thing together. I think there are things I could have done better, but all things considered, I'm glad it's done. There are a lot of really bright guys working on Tcl (not all of them were interviewed, unfortunately), and it's nice to help show their story to the world.

Work proceeds apace first and foremost for my client, and on a variety of my own open source projects.

7 Mar 2003 (updated 8 Mar 2003 at 00:45 UTC) »

From the SCO lawsuit (http://www.sco.com/scosource/complaint3.06.03.html)

84. Prior to IBM s involvement, Linux was the software equivalent of a bicycle. UNIX was the software equivalent of a luxury car.

What a crock of shit.

In more positive news, Tcl 8.4.2 is out!

It's been a long and really draining week - I'm really looking forward to the weekend.

MichaelCrawford's thoughts are interesting. I'm working as an independant consultant at the moment, and in some ways I like it. It's pretty obvious that it doesn't scale, and unless I stumble on some field where I can really sock away a lot of cash by being very highly paid... just coding isn't going to cut it forever. What I need is an exit strategy of some kind, be it actually creating a company and going somewhere with it, or getting hired full time somewhere else. I wish I had a better handle on the situation.
dyork: you want The Economist.

It's sort of right-leaning, but in a way that's pretty obvious, and generally very well reasoned. The news from around the world is good, and the articles are well written. Definitely blows Time, Newsweek and all that other dreck in the gutter, where they belong.

2 Mar 2003 (updated 2 Mar 2003 at 19:09 UTC) »

"xe inutie che te me mandi el bocia e dopo 10 minuti el va via e xe tuto roto come prima, *** ***!"

Frustration with Debian again. Working to see if I could build anything interesting worth using to replace some of the previously mentioned crufty perl scripts, and all I get is some petty beaurocrat insulting me?

I don't care if this is all volunteer work for most of us. It's important to behave professionally and not treat others like some annoying piece of dirt that stuck on your shoe. Especially when you are a relatively important person within the project.

In any case, insults aside, I think this pedantic mentality just doesn't sit well with me. I like Debian a lot, from a technical point of view, but it's not going to make up for the deficiencies if innovation is stifled.

Bought Beppe Severgnini's "Ciao America" (Un Italiano in America)... although I think I'll get a copy of it "in lingua originale" when we go back to Italy. My girlfriend will doubtless get a kick out of it.

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