October 1999

• The ITV RUGBY WORLD CUP 1999 pages cover the World Cup that's into the semi-finals this weekend. It's kind of a shame to see Ireland and all the UK teams eliminated, but at least there's good odds of someone beating the French yet.
• Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. takes A visit to Waco and tells what it's like there now. Even though there aren't any Branch Davidians there, people are rebuilding the compound.
• Fighting U.S. imperialism because it's ugly when empires fall.
• The greatest American who was never President is good reading if you've got the time.
• Peers pave way for the end of their days is a story I first spotted reading the paper during my vacation in the UK. It seems like an awfully big change in the way things are run.
• Is the Government Watching Your Computer? There's a reason classified work happens in rooms that are heavily shielded.
• The Antitrust Division Manual is the law behind the US v. Microsoft case.
• Problems with Web Anonymzing Services is just what it sounds like. There's also a test page which will let you check the anonymizing service you're using is actually working.
• Gibson Research Corporation has introduced Shields Up! which will test your computer to see if the bad guys can do nasty stuff to you. Looks pretty cool.
• Cybercrooks Breach Borders Of Cyberspace tells how criminals are using the net to ship stolen Intellectual Property around. No real surprise there, but it's nice to see people actually noticing it.
• AMD has introduced Magic Packet Technology which can remotely power on your computer. Now shutting off the power isn't enough, you need to pull the plug.
• The Sky is Falling: Return of the Leonids promises good viewing in mid-November.
• NASA Liftoff Home lets you track spacecraft in real time. Watch for a bit, and you'll see things moving. Cool! Cool enough that even though it requires Java, I picked it.
• TIME Magazine: Steve's Two Jobs is a profile of that iCEO. Annoyingly enough, they pop up a new window in your browser when you leave. Easily solved by turning off JavaScript, but it's a bother that almost made me not link to them here. On the plus side, this article demonstrates a good way of linking to related stories.

Weather in Minneapolis for October 29, 1999     October 29 in History

• Salon: Colombia's powder keg. The United States is about to make an enormous mistake.
• Self-destructing email has a key with a lifespan from seconds to years. After that, it's gone. Of course that doesn't stop someone from printing it out and forgetting to shred it, but it might be a good step.
• Colt exiting consumer handgun business just as Court Rejects Cincinnati Suit Against Gun Industry, which may derail the suits they're worried about.
• Citizens Of America has put together radio ads designed to destroy those who are tampering with 2nd Amendment freedom. Moms Insisting on Licensed Tools takes a slightly different approach.
• New military unit for domestic deployment. At a ceremony commemorating the new unit, Defense Secretary William Cohen told participants the American people shouldn't fear the potential of seeing U.S. military forces on the streets of U.S. cities.
• The Oregonian: Small Towns stock up on riot gear for Y2K, just in case. A lot of departments wanted this stuff for a long time. The Y2K thing -- it kind of gave them an excuse to buy it now. Closely related is The Militarization of the Police. Sigh.
• Washington Post: Maine Gets Taste of Y2K Glitch. Cars from model-year 2000 get registered as horseless carriages.
• Companies are cracking down on personal use of PCs at work. Glad my boss doesn't do that.
• David Plotnikoff talks about Generation Net. What do young cyber-citizens really want? Usefulness was the top attribute cited. Amen!
• Jargon Scout is an irregular TBTF feature that aims to give you advance warning -- preferably before Wired Magazine picks it up -- of jargon that is just about ready to hatch into the Net's language.
• Wineries don't want Net business blocked. This is a tricky one. I'm for states' rights, but I also like buying mail-order wine. Hmm. Of course, if something is regulated by The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms it's gotta be good, and regulation's gotta be bad, right?
• Salon: Interview with Kurt Vonnegut. The good Earth -- we could have saved it, but we were too damn cheap and lazy.

Weather in Minneapolis for October 13, 1999     October 13 in History

• The Alternative History of Public-Key Cryptography.
• Take the Densa Quiz.
• Cool! The Department of Agriculture links to me. Agnic Mead Made Easy entry is the pointer. AgNIC Search looks pretty useful if you're interested in something agricultural. I'm also the only entry in the AgNIC Q120 (Microbiology of Food Processing) category, and one of three in AgNIC Q100 (Food Processing (General)).
• BBC News: There might be A planet beyond Pluto.
• Wired: Keeping 'Net Capital' Censorship Free.
• Good ale can stop you ailing. Woo-hoo! Beer is good for you!
• Jesse Ventura was Exercising the First in the Playboy Jesse Ventura Interview. (note that the interview link will only be good through October) I think he did a good thing, and after reading the interview, I think that while his words were inflammatory, they weren't as bad as you would believe if you only read the reporting on it, and not the actual interview.
• Washington Post: FBI Lagging Behind on Cyber Crime. Seems they've got virtual security.
• Executive orders go too far? Sen. Orrin Hatch thinks so. Stroke of the pen. Law of the land. Kind of cool. was the White House statement.
• Dan Gillmor: Merger mania runs amok and consumers will pay. It's nearly enough to make AT&T look like good guys.
• Dan Gillmor: CA's high ranking on privacy is nothing to brag about.
• Not happy with the Presidential candidates? Chec out Mark Twain for President - Campaign 2000. As an aside, it still seems far too early for this sort of nonsense. We've still got over a year before the election, and I'm worried a lot of people just aren't going to care anymore by then.

Weather in Minneapolis for October 8, 1999     October 8 in History

• Games developer to eat insects if bugs infest software. Ambrosia Software is cool. Details in The Bug Free Pledge.
• Salon: A worm in the Apple? talks about the horrible new QuickTime 4 player.
• National Organization for Non-Enumeration offers tips on avoiding being a number. Maybe The Prisoner could've used this information.
• The Geek Disease. Interesting questions. More info at IT Professionals & EQ
• John Bergstrom's Attack Cartoons are hilarious. I particularly like the Joe Camel 'toon and 1001 ways to annoy beatniks.
• Clinton Doubts FBI's Motives, Suggests Focus On China Gifts Hides Waco Woes. In other words, Clinton thinks the FBI is bringing up the matter of money from China in order to get the Waco news out of the headlines. Hmm. Last President to attack the FBI like this was Nixon, as far as I remember.
• SALT made the world go round. More valuable than gold.
• Reuters Oddly Enough has a lot of those you won't believe this news stories.
• WebExhibits presents Calendars through the Ages.
• Learning at Random - Learn something every day. That's a good idea. Sadly, the site hasn't been updated since July.
• Leon's Calendar and History of U.S.A. Politics. Interesting history site. Much of it isn't flattering to the political types cited.
• the Dingbat pages -- Dingbats galore. All either free or shareware. Special.

Weather in Minneapolis for October 1, 1999     October 1 in History