Hi,

Stephen Fry has a delightful blog of no particular subject, but the man loves to chat about his gizmo obsession. In his latest piece he references Umberto Eco's little ditty on Mac's vs. MS-DOS (think proto-windows) and how both are like Catholics and Protestants.

I would send you to read it, but here it is in its entirty.

The fact is that the world is divided between users of the Macintosh computer and users of MS-DOS compatible computers. I am firmly of the opinion that the Macintosh is Catholic and that DOS is Protestant. Indeed, the Macintosh is counterreformist and has been influenced by the "ratio studiorum" of the Jesuits. It is cheerful, friendly, conciliatory, it tells the faithful how they must proceed step by step to reach - if not the Kingdom of Heaven - the moment in which their document is printed. It is catechistic: the essence of revelation is dealt with via simple formulae and sumptuous icons. Everyone has a right to salvation.

DOS is Protestant, or even Calvinistic. It allows free interpretation of scripture, demands difficult personal decisions, imposes a subtle hermeneutics upon the user, and takes for granted the idea that not all can reach salvation. To make the system work you need to interpret the program yourself: a long way from the baroque community of revelers, the user is closed within the loneliness of his own inner torment.

You may object that, with the passage to Windows, the DOS universe has come to resemble more closely the counterreformist tolerance of the Macintosh. It's true: Windows represents an Anglican-style schism, big ceremonies in the cathedral, but there is always the possibility of a return to DOS to change things in accordance with bizarre decisions.....

And machine code, which lies beneath both systems (or environments, if you prefer)? Ah, that is to do with the Old Testament, and is Talmudic and cabalistic.




And it struck me that this seems a little out dated. Windows does not have a likeness to the Anglican Church. And certainly much less likeness to a John Hodgman character.

You nerdy-nerds can pick that apart if you like. The rest can have fun reading Fry's blog.

What happened to Barack Obama?

The 2004 superstar, who had commentators calling for a presidential campaign just as he was elected a senator, is now limp and useless. Like other superstars, Menundo, Men at Work, Leif Garret, the Obama campaign has drunkenly crashed into a disappointing post-career of candidacy.

I liked Barack at first. He was everything Chriss Dodd wasn't. He was no washington insider, he did not seem partisan, and he took hope out of the pre-9/11 world and put it where it belongs in the future. But now...

Obama has had a confusing record with Iran, not bothering to show up to vote whether or not the Revolutionary Guard was a terrorist group. He sort of waited it out to test the waters of public opinion.

Then this whole South Carolina thing...

You may have heard a bit of controversy over anti-gay gospel singer Donnie McClurkin making a performance at an Obama rally. McClurkin has also become a member of the SC Obama team.

SC is a critical state for Obama who is trailing in Iowa and New Hampshire. If he can't get SC Obama is a non-entity. SC has a giant black population. In essence, to win SC is to win the black vote. McClurkin is supposed to supposed to be the feel good American Idol to win over the black vote.

So, the gospel singer had a little concert. Instead of diffusing the situation or simply not talking about it McClurking stopped the concert mid-way to slam homosexuals... and not in the hot way. Way to use someone else's forum to spread the love.

Well, this did not go over well with Obama supporters or sensible people. There have been protestors. Obama has been trying to have it both ways, saying he absolutely supports gay rights while having a very anti-gay person as a very visible member of his campaign. Just like Obama has been trying to have it both ways, saying marriage inequality needs to end but not supporting gay marriage. Is Obama giving a wink and a nod to the more socially conservative SC voter saying "don't worry, I really don't support gays"?

Maybe I would like to see him in eight more years, but right now Chriss Dodd sounds better and better as the candidate with both integrity and a set of balls.

My weekend has been awesome, though I feel like I am going to have a hangover on Monday despite complete sobriety today.

Friday I drove to Albany to go to a party my college friends were having. Oddly, I didn't go to college with any of them but met them through a high school friend who was dating one of them for a while. Additionally odd since non of them have every lived in Albany until after I had moved out of that town.

They were having a big weekend long bash, so everyone kept their drinking down to a lovely buzz. I, however, was only in town for the evening and drank myself into oblivion. Fantastic.

Around 3 in the morning I got up to get a cup of water. I brought it back to bed with me and fell asleep with it in my arms. I didn't spill a drop it looked like for a few hours. Well done me. How responsible are you? Not spilling alcohol at a party but instead spilling water.

And then Saturday. Oh man! If you were there, you knew how much fun it was. If you weren't... don't believe the hype. It wasn't that great. (ha, ha, suckers).

(e:Drew) had the most pleasing costume. It wasn't as flashy as those unicorn hunters, but the chuckles I got from it were more satisfying.

Felly makes the best Jell-o shots in the universe. When I die I would like my remains entombed in a batch of those jell-o shots and then have a large party fueled by them. But maybe they should be told about the secret ingredient afterwards?

It was a pleasure seeing everyone again and great to meet some new folks. (e:PMT), thank you so much for hosting.

Ahoi!

Good news kidos, NY is one green state. Well, not #1, #9 actually, but that is a mighty fine showing. (e:Cjamgeisgood)'s latest post about commuters sucking certainly can be heard in this report which credits the independence from the automobile in NYC as the largest contributor to our greenness. Sweet.

But what about those green loving hippie Californians? YA! #14! Eat it California! For those of you who live in or have visited California, you know that driving is insane. Cities like LA and San Diego aren't built up but out. Sprawling homes and lowrises as far as the eye can see. That makes for a lot of driving.

You can read the full report here

So,

President Bush tonight is supposed to give a big ol' speech tonight in which he says that America will not accept a power transition in Cuba between Fidel and Raul Castro.

Oh shit! The gloves are off now!

Let's see, what are we going to do to teach Cuba a lesson. Um..YA! Let's cut off all trade and diplomatic relations! Oh... crap.

I can't believe we still have this silly trade embargo with Cuba. I mean, sure, Cuba isn't so hot on civil rights. But they have a lower infant mortality rate and a higher literacy rate that the US of A has. And it isn't even like they are as horribly repressive as, say, the military Junta rulling Myanmar or the dictatorship in Bangladesh or the oppressive regime in Nepal... and that is just South Asia. With whom, by the by, we have pretty good relations.

So, I don't know what Bushy plans to accomplish with this. Maybe he figures that at the very least he could win the cold war... again. All wet and no boner.