so how about a new laptop?
how about 2?
1 from the new job, complete with port replicator (does someone own hte patent on the term docking station?)
IBM Thinkpad A21p

1 for me, myself, and I for home and family use
Dell Inspiron 8100

Sweet.
Initial impression is that I like them both, but I'll post more comments as I come to a better opinion.

first week at a new yab (that's bostonese for job you the uninitiated).
all strangely familar, as I got hired by a place I used to consult.
and 2 other guys from SAPE headed over here as well.
of the people I know from the last lay-off, we are the first to be placed, and the only ones I know to be placed.

in less weighty news, I have been drooling over the Treo device from Handspring (all gadgets in one, cool)
but as usual, sounds like version 1, named the 180, doesn't live up to the hope nor hype it inspired.

Got laid off from sapient, end of february.
Hard to feel bad about it, since it is a large group of laid off alumni I join.
Already have a new and better paying job.
Again, hard to feel bad about it.
So how should I spend my severence?

I guess the point is that too much thinking and moral system building can end up leaving out some really obvious facts, when convenient, that or this is just funny : God Angrily Clarifies 'Don't Kill' Rule

For those wondering where to invest in the middle of so much failure, turn to a specialist: Exponent

If you code, especially you consultants out there who inevitably have to pass their code on and disappear, then this is for you.

For those who have forgotten, please work on how to tread water

A nice account of the Pentagon (oh yeah, that got hit too, oh yeah people died there too) from McSweeney's : The Works of Humankind

A quick rant - lots of folks are lately writing about how human rights and such are being stomped in the quest for terrorists (perhaps crusade is a better term).
Fair enough. This is definitely happening, and shame on anyone who is invoking the current crisis in their acts of probably pre-existing prejudice.
And its also true to say that the levels of security that are being increased could be considered losses of personal freedom. Guys with machine guns may be a common place sight in other parts of the world, but not here, and arguably this is a hallmark of a move towards draconian enforcement of governmental wonts.

But does it still strike anyone else that this is also a great example of progress?

Sure, we are seeing more hate/fear towards anyone that looks like they could be arab/muslim, but when was the last time that was such outspoken response or protective media coverage? I don't see any camps being set-up, so maybe the current generation has learned from history.

Human rights are getting stomped, particularly privacy, but I see this as part of the dialogue between citizen and government that is part of a health state. Since the civil rights movement there has been popular support for more rights and protections, be it for African Americans, in what language we should use, in how all people should act in the workplace. In a crisis, we now see the popular dialogue swaying back to empowering the government - this is temporary, I really believe, as is our general shock and fear - but it is these back and forth motions of opinion that home in on a better future state, perhaps several generations from now.

So yes, please, everyone keep attuned to the disgraceful treatment of innocent people who resemble the terrorists we all fear, and fight it and speak out against it.
And likewise, make sure we don't allow our privacy to be lost to the immenent domain of new staging grounds for the war on terrorism.

But also take a step back and think what would have happened if this disaster had been perpetrated a generation ago, or two, and how we would want the next generation to react.

I guiltily enjoyed this free sample of The Cynic's Dictionary, a book I would never buy. Not nearly as clever as this could have been (not that I am volunteering to do better).

A first message - how boring