http://www.sjwalter.com/blog As you travel life's path, keep open eyes and an inquisitive mind... Fri, 10 Aug 2007 01:59:08 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en ... or has Google Reader become slower than crap lately?  Try to add a feed, and it wanders off into no-man's land. Use Firefox, flip between tabs, and it takes upwards of a minute to come back to the Reader tab.Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.Google ... hello?  You been ... http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/08/10/is-it-just-me/ Ok, so I absolutely detest the feeding frenzy the media's been in around last Wednesday's collapse of the 35W bridge here in town.  I'm even disappointed with how MPR's gone FoxNews with inanely repetitve reporting, leading questions, and dubious "experts".But ... that all pales in comparison to this joker, who ... http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/08/07/and-i-thought-the-media-was-bad/ I wasn't near downtown with this happened last evening. While my heart goes out to those who've either lost loved ones or just don't know yet, I'm growing more and more irritated at the media, even public radio, who apparently has decided that the Fox News method of reporting is ... http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/08/02/im-fine/ If you believe, truly believe, in the RIAA's extortion tactics, bald-faced lies, and petulant "we're protecting the artists" statements ... do nothing today.If, however, you want to enjoy music the way you want to, not the way some overpaid, under-endowed media mogul wants to sell it to you, call your ... http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/06/26/internet-radio-day-of-silence/ The governor of Virginia's declared today a day of morning:Virginia Tech -- 04.16.2007I think we all need to stop ... reflect.  If you wish to lend assistance, check out the Virgina Tech Tribute Blog. http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/04/20/a-moment-to-reflect/ ... and, I must say, I'm a bit ambivalent.  MSNBC dropped their simulcast, CBS fired him, the media's "analysts" can't stop talking about it, Al Sharpton claims a victory, Rutgers accepts his apology ... and I can't help but think:"Are we going to consistently treat everyone who uses racially improper ... http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/04/13/don-imus-leaves-the-airwaves/ ... and talks like the RIAA, it probably is extortion.  It's about time that word got associated with the recording industry's latest tactic.  Wikipedia's entry is most interesting, including such tidbits as:"the simple four words "pay up or else" are sufficient ...""...may also be committed as a federal crime across ... http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/03/06/if-it-walks-like-a-duck/ In Neal Stephenson's book The Diamond Age, one of the more intriguing (at least, to me) mechanisms was "the feed", a connection that served up atoms for replicator-like devices to use to construct whatever they were programmed to make.  Fantastic fiction?  Perhaps ... but now, it seems that science has ... http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2007/01/23/a-slightly-different-yet-exciting-definition-for-the-feed/ I've been getting into Librivox, the site that takes public domain literature and (through a network of volunteer readers) creates audio versions that are freely downloadable and shareable (think Audible but older books and without the monthly fee).  Right now, there's a project going on where a group of "voicers" ... http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2006/12/21/king-lear-in-a-week/ Well, they sentenced the bastard who killed my friend yesterday.  Actually, "bastard" is too good a word, as it implies "human" and Derick Holliday is anything but human.  Life in prison without parole.  He deserved worse, much worse (the death of a thousand cuts comes to mind) ... but, I ... http://www.sjwalter.com/blog/2006/12/12/closure/