Useful info: JavaScript and DOM

Useful info: JavaScript and DOM Level 1 compatibility.

Maybe I'm missing something, but

Maybe I'm missing something, but what qualifies Colin Powell to be Secretary of State? Don't get me wrong; I think that he's a fine guy who has served our country well in the past. I'm also told by a family member who has worked with him that he's very pleasant to work with. But as I recall, he spent thirty years in the Army, then when he retired, became a businessman and ran a variety of charitable organizations. Has he ever been on a diplomatic mission? Can he get past his military training to view things from a standpoint of negotiation and talk, rather than force? I'm sure that he's thought a lot about projecting America's might around the world; but will he be able to wield the carrot, as well as the stick? I could easily see Powell as Secretary of Defense. But Secretary of State (aside from it being a more prestigious job) doesn't make immediate sense to me.

Just One of the Girls,

Just One of the Girls, by Brenda Laurel, is an excellent "What Went Wrong?" analysis of Purple Moon.

We tell ourselves a story about how women are more "collaborative" than men. In our business dealings, especially in a female-dominated workplace, we value consensus, and we sneer at hierarchy and order. Yet what often happens in reality might be described as an excess of "democracy." Everyone must agree, everyone has a vote, and everyone must feel good about it all.

The feminist ideal of collaboration is not a great recipe for getting things done. On the contrary--without a clear authority structure, a faux-flat organization forces people to resort to the underworld secret alliances and covert operations in order to exercise personal power. Such an organization can expend far too much energy on the complexities of its emotional and political life.

Bumblebees finally cleared for takeoff:

Bumblebees finally cleared for takeoff:
Insect flight obeys aerodynamic rules, Cornell physicist proves. And about time, too.

Without rehashing the details, let's

Without rehashing the details, let's just say that I completely disagree with Dori's biased assessment of what my former chiropractor was doing. And I would state for the record that when I've had back problems, I have found relief with chiropractors.

A Layman's Guide To The

A Layman's Guide To The Supreme Court Decision In Bush V. Gore

Worth checking out: Chirobase: A

Worth checking out: Chirobase: A Skeptical Guide to Chiropractic History, Theories, and Current Practices. Ever since a chiropractor once tried to cure Tom's pneumonia by adjusting his back, I've had a low opinion of the field. This site is run by the same people as Quackwatch, who I recommend highly.

Hey, I'm not the only

Hey, I'm not the only one who thinks this. (Thanks for the pointer, Maddi)

Dori was wondering this just

Dori was wondering this just the other day: What Is a "Blue-Dog" Democrat?

No other comments, but some

No other comments, but some URL's I've come across recently that I thought worth mentioning: http://www.bushneverwonflorida.com, http://www.allegedirregularities.com and http://www.hail-to-the-thief.org.

Macromedia covers the Web Standards

Macromedia covers the Web Standards Project Panel at Builder.com. I'm impressed that they left in my opinion of WYSIWYG tools in general, although I'm not surprised (given that it's Macromedia) that they included my specific damnation of Adobe. For reference, here's the Adobe PR quote:

The compliancy argument, despite its good intention, does not have any important real-world application or meaning when considering the challenges Web designers face today. Nearly all professionally-created sites created with a plethora of web design visual authoring and coding tools will not pass compliancy tests as presented at http://validator.w3.org/. Failure of this test likewise does not serve any strong indication as to the validity of the Web site design itself in terms of user experience.

Once again, it's time for

Once again, it's time for the Hess Memorial Macworld Expo Events List. The pickings are looking slim, but it's still a few weeks till the show. I expect that we'll be at the Dantz, MacSpeech, and Peachpit parties (at least!), so if you're there, please say hi.

Shirley Kaiser now has a

Shirley Kaiser now has a blog, Brainstorms and Raves. As with everything she does, it's well worth checking out.

Sony's Santa Sadists details a

Sony's Santa Sadists details a narrowly averted advertising disaster. Check out the commercials if you have a fast connection (and QuickTime); having worked in the TV commercial biz in my youth, I appreciate good advertising. But these definitely raise that "What were they THINKING?" feeling.

Earth's City Lights is a

Earth's City Lights is a really cool NASA image of the Earth at night, as seen from space. See if you can pick out your city by its lights! Be sure to click on the image to get the bigger version; it's worth the 500K download.