Microsoft Claims... · I quote directly from a CNN article: “Microsoft contends that setting standards could stifle innovation”. They're talking about product-liability standards in this piece, and in general I am not a member of the church of anti-Microsoft (reality is just more nuanced than that), but if the position is as stated, it is shallow, stupid, and untruthful. Enough said.
Mish-Mish · Mish-mish is Arabic (colloquial Lebanese Arabic, anyhow) for apricot. When I was a kid there, it was also the expression for what health food stores here call “apricot leather” (illustrated below). It also has an amusing second meaning having to do with a distant tomorrow ...
Sahara Unveiled · Sahara Unveiled, by William Langewiesche, is a fine book. He traveled around and across the Sahara by local transit and writes about it beautifully. He likes the people and respects but does not romanticize them. This is a harsh unbeautiful landscape and the writing is often that way. There are surprising illustrations of petroglyphs ...
