The Grand Fallacy

Linux, musical road-dogging, and daily life by Paul W. Frields
 
The Grand Fallacy

Post-holiday chill.

Well, certainly I’m not talking about the weather. This is the second Saturday in a row with temperatures at or above the mid-60s. But after the normal stress of the holidays, there was not much news to report here. Ethan has of course abandoned all the toys Santa brought him …

Happy 2007!

We finished out 2006 with a wonderful weekend stay at a beautiful, enormous lakefront rental house, with two other families who have been good friends of ours for many a year. Unfortunately, we partied a little too hard the night before New Year’s Eve, so when the big night came …

Sagan lives!

Ten years ago one of my favorite popular scientists passed away. Carl Sagan made science fact more romantic and poetic than the best science fiction, took us on journeys of discovery and wonder at the dichotomy of the unlikelihood of our existence and the certainty of our insignificance, and filled …

A welcome diversion.

I had intended to write a post this week about the pathetic fumblings of Congress this year — only in session for 103 days, even fewer than the 110 of Truman’s “Do-Nothing” 80th Congress — or the exceptional performance of Red Hat on the CIO Insight 2006 Vendor Value study, …

Wheee!

Frankly, I’m outraged that my favorite didn’t make it to the list of Firefox Flicks that will be advertised on TV. Before you cringe, note the similarities between this ad and other highly successful (if annoying) ad campaigns: Simple, memorable, and annoying repetitive meme (cf. “Where’s the beef?”, “Whassuuuuuup,” and …

Not getting it, Part 36.

My friend Christopher (possibly the de facto king of thoughtful geeky Christian libertarian blogging) asked me to blog this response to some email he sent me: Wow, that article is one of the most prima facie ignorant pieces I’ve read on free software and open source in quite some time. …

Clown Prince of Pizza.

Here he is in all his manic, third-birthday glory — our little man Ethan: Tonight we’re taking him out for pizza (and maybe a balloon or two). Grandma and Grandpa will be joining us too… Then back to the homestead for presents, cake, and tranquilizer darts! (Gotta kill that sugar …