One of the things that I picked up at Macworld Expo was a copy of Spamfire, from Matterform Media. It works just the way I'd want a spam catching app to work, with virtually no changes to my workflow. And so far, it's doing a great job of catching the stuff. While it still needs some work (it has some occasional crashing problems), I give it a big thumbs up.

Majority Rules is an interesting article from The New Republic that posits an emerging Democratic majority, and provides a compelling demographic argument as support. It certainly defines me and many people I know as a Democratic constituency:

The most surprising component of the emerging Democratic majority is professionals. Professionals are highly skilled, white-collar workers, typically with a college education, who produce ideas and services...Today [this group] constitutes more than 15 percent of the workforce.

Professionals may only make up 15 percent of the workforce, but they vote at higher rates than any other occupational group. Nationally, they account for about 21 percent of voters; in many Northeastern and Far Western states, they form probably one-quarter of the electorate.

Professionals have contributed more than just their votes to the Democratic Party; they have contributed their political ethos. This ethos [is] socially liberal, fiscally moderate, critical of the market without being anticapitalist, and yet comfortable with the emerging new economy.

Worth reading. Though I'd like to see this article's predictions come true, I'd like to read a comparable article with the opposite view. Which I suppose, makes the article's desccription of people like me even more appropriate; it says that professionals "...value tolerance as an end in itself."

If you're a fan of Robert Heinlein's work (and if you're not, you really should be) site: Robert A. Heinlein is an excellent resource for practically anything Heinlein. Via Paul Music.

This is a test to see if a post here shows up on Movable Type's recently updated list of blogs. Yes, that means we paid for MT--what, you haven't yet?

Remember a couple of weeks ago I pointed to Sean's Amazon.com wish list as an example of 14 year old geekery? Well, Steven Vore followed that link and kindly bought him a birthday present, which arrived today. Sean says "Thanks, Steven!"

This New York Times article, Net Users Try to Elude the Google Grasp points out the downside to living in the Google Age.

Okay, I had to snicker at the story title New Robot Has Basic Social Skills. Well, that puts it ahead of many of the geeks I've known.

So, I'm updating my Appearances page, and I figure that it ought to be a good indicator of how much the net biz has tanked--if I'm getting hired to speak, business is good, and if not, not. Here's how the numbers broke down (minus LAMG-related speaking; they had to have me):

• 1998: 10
• 1999: 12
• 2000: 11
• 2001: 13
• 2002: 12

Gotta say, I'm not seeing a trend here, considering there's still a number of months left in 2002.

Oh, and if you're thinking about going to Web Builder, if you register before July 31 with special priority code: SPEAK, you'll save $100 off the standard conference rate. See you there?

If someone wants me to link to a site announcing System Administrator Appreciation Day, you shouldn't send me spam telling me so. Bad spammer, no link.

Last week, as I always do in NYC, I paid my annual visit to see Winnie the Pooh. That reminded me that at SXSW, Cory and I had discussed Pooh's legal situation but neither of us could remember where things stood. Today, Susan linked to a LA Magazine story Lawyers, Tiggers, and Bears, Oh My!, which brought me up to date. The bummer is that there's no permanent link for the story so it'll be gone in a month, and next time I see Cory I still probably won't remember Pooh's legal status.

Usually I have no trouble deciding if I love or hate things. I have no shortage of opinions! But in this case, I'm honestly torn: the SANS French Quarter conference is a women-only Information Security and Audit Kickstart.

While in general I'm a big fan of women-only (and men-only, btw) spaces, and I'm a loud voice in the need for more women at technical conferences, I think that a women-only tech conference is probably a bad idea. But I'm trying to figure out why I think that.

WTF is it with Amazon.com's Gold Box program, anyway? They seem to always offer me stuff carefully selected to elicit not the slightest interest. Today's gem:

The P3 International P7906 Vibrasonic Molechaser. One review on Amazon said of this device, "The moles will laugh as they run circles around this thing!" I'm beginning to think that the Gold Box program is really some dada piece of performance art exploring the frustration of the purchasing impulse.

Happy anniversary

Eight years and a few days ago, a friend of mine sent me an email thanking me for something, and said that the next time we saw each other he'd give me a hug in exchange. Eight years ago today, he gave me that hug, and one thing led to another...

Happy anniversary, sweetie!