Negligible Knowledge Base

For the third time, and the first time since 2003, the Williams sisters–Venus and Serena–will play each other for the Wimbledon Final.

Nice profile of Tennessee Titan Jevon Kearse by Paul Kuharsky at ESPN.com.

I’ve been saying for three years that Eddie George deserves to “retire” as a Tennessee Titan.  It would appear that Eddie would like the opportunity.  Who can blame him?

The “24 hour” contract is a pretty standard practice in the case of elite players and Eddie George qualifies without question.  It’s up to Bud Adams, of course, but he should do it without hesitation.  Eddie deserves that last chance to hear the sold-out crowd at LP Field chant “Ed-die” one more time.

Make it happen.

Interesting piece by John Tierney writing in the New York Times: Deep Down, We Can’t Fool Even Ourselves.

Yes. The question is how widespread is the practice and under what circumstances are they permitted to do so? The ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Department of Justice last November to try to ascertain the answers to those questions. The DOJ did not respond to the request. So, the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have filed a lawsuit seeking to force the DOJ to comply. (Doesn’t it suck when you have to sue your own government to try and “force” them to comply with the law?)

The government can get location data from the cellular/mobile carriers. The companies generally know the location of their subscribers when their mobile phones are turned on, accurate to within about the length of a football field.

At this point, however, we have only the governments “word” that they aren’t using the practice in a manner inconsistent with the Fourth Amendment, which doesn’t truly bother me until they start refusing to answer questions about the practice–then it starts to look like they have something to hide. Funny how often the government behaves like my children…

I know you have to “court” voters, but really! Obama wants to expand the awful “faith-based initiative”? Why not just choose Mike Huckleberry as your running mate and then we can throw out the whole of the Constitution? Next thing you know he’ll be saying he supports “teaching the controversy” in public school science classrooms… Wholly Jeebus!

Interview in the paper of record with James P. Evans, a physician and molecular biologist, who, among other things, teaches the nation’s judges about science generally and genetics specifically, under the auspices of the Advanced Science and Technology Adjudication Resource Center, a Congressionally mandated program.

Sounds like a good program–I’ll have to do a little research and learn more about it. Let’s hope the judges actually walk away with a little “scientific method” and “baloney detection kit” to use on the bench.

The nine-minute interview was recorded at the Scottish Television studios in April 1964.  The film of the interview sat forgotten for 44 years in a garage in south London.  Experts were surprised to find, given the condition of the film, that the audio track was still usable for radio broadcast.

Many people are taking a hard look at Windows, just not those at Microsoft, at least not those within the Windows group. Randall Stross, writing in the paper of record, makes some observations which are painfully obvious to everyone not working on the Windows team:

Painfully visible are the inherent design deficiencies of a foundation that was never intended to support such weight. Windows seems to move an inch for every time that Mac OS X or Linux laps it.

The best solution to the multiple woes of Windows is starting over. Completely. Now.

But sticking with that same core architecture is the problem, not the solution. In April, Michael A. Silver and Neil MacDonald, analysts at Gartner, the research firm, presented a talk titled “Windows Is Collapsing.” Their argument isn’t that Windows will cease to function but that the accumulated complexity, as Microsoft tries to support 20 years of legacies, prevents timely delivery of advances. “The situation is untenable,” their joint presentation says. “Windows must change radically.”

Interesting.

In September, Seth MacFarlane, creator of “Family Guy” on television, will unveil a carefully guarded new project called “Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy.” Unlike “Family Guy,” which is broadcast on Fox, this animation series will appear exclusively on the Internet.

The innovative part involves the distribution plan. Google will syndicate the program using its AdSense advertising system to thousands of Web sites that are predetermined to be gathering spots for Mr. MacFarlane’s target audience, typically young men. Instead of placing a static ad on a Web page, Google will place a “Cavalcade” video clip.

100 years ago today, the Tunguska Event occurred.

I still can’t find a story about the U. S. Extreme Court reducing punitive damages in the Exxon Valdez case from $2.5 billion to $17.38 on FoxNews.com. Hmmm.

I just love Phil Plait’s sense of humor.

Gizmodo says “highly probable,” citing “sources inside the Cupertino’s iPhone software development effort.”

This is pretty funny.