Why is it that so few people ask the interesting questions that turn institutions on their heads? Philg contemplates colleges optimized for learning.

You heard it here first folks. And it appears MySQL AB’s intends to make version 5 the one that really puts the hurt on Oracle and MS SQL Server. Note to Larry: Sell short.

The little loan on my house got sold to Countrywide (though a closer inspection of the paperwork makes me think it was probably sold to the Bank of New York, which is having Countrywide service the loan for them). They kick ass, because they have real people, not lawyer-automatons write their letters. Here’s an excerpt: Welcome to Countrywide Home Loans, the nation’s largest independent home loan lender. Your home loan servicing was recently transferred to us and this is your official notice, as legally required. So please excuse the formality. ...

I just wrote a big post about a 10 mile hike I took today, but I lost it. I hate web-based UI’s! The hike was awesome, because it kicked my ass and will help get me in shape for more hiking and camping this summer. It took me all over the Purisima Creek Open Space.

I was poking around the WHO’s website and I found something called the Codex Alimentarius. Sounds mysterious, huh? Turns out it’s like the IETF, but for international exchange of food products. Guess what type of “nutritional packet” comes in these varieties: Sweet-fig, Pisang Mas, Amas Date, Bocadillo, Ney Poovan Ney Poovan, Safet Velchi, Cavendish Dwarf Cavendish, Giant Cavendish, Lacatan, Poyo (Robusta), Williams, Americani, Valery, Arvis, Gros Michel, Highgate, Pink Fig, Green pink Fig, Ibota, Apple Fig, Silk, Pacovan, Prata Ana, Mysore Mysore, Pisang Ceylan, Gorolo. ...

This weblog post, and the last one, brought to you courtesy of the owner of adsl-34-22-231.mia.bellsouth.net. Whoever you are, thanks for making it possible for me to sit in the shade on a Fort Lauderdale street and use the net. If you are ever on Arch St. in Redwood City, I’ll happily return the favor.

I used to work for Arnold de Leon. He has a method of teaching his coworkers lessons that Dave Winer just explained: Moore did coin a new phrase, and like all good bloggers wanting to initialize a new meme, he repeats it over and over. This is not a new idea. Jake Savin was a music major at Reed College. He told me his composition teacher taught him that a good theme is worth repeating, many times. ...

I spent yesterday reading, debugging, and then fixing a Java program. What a pain in the ass. If I manage to go another 5 years until I do Java again, I’ll be happy. The problem with Java is that the language provides the tiniest little basic units, and everything else you need you have to build. Or use other things that other people built for you (but first you have to learn about them and understand their quirks). That all makes sense from a theoretical viewpoint, but it is just much harder to use than a language like Perl which has very well developed, robust primitives whose quirks I already mastered years ago. ...

In the Daily Telegraph, Patrick Bishop writes of American soldiers, “In short, they must work harder to show that they belong to the human race.” I don’t know who he is or if he has any credibility, but if the difference is visible to him, it probably is to the Iraqis too.

Dave Winer points to a paper from a new colleague of his. His thesis is that a new super power is coming into existence to hold in check the United States. It’s about time, since it looks like we really need one. This brings to mind something else I heard on the radio, I forget where. Many people in other countries say, “We don’t hate Americans, we just hate their government.” And it would be nice if we could just shrug off our current administration’s deplorable diplomatic manner so easily. But we can’t, because our government is a government of the people. If you don’t like my government, you don’t like me. ...