Monthly Archives: February 2002

The W3C Rejects RAND!

Posted on February 26, 2002 by Pace Arko

The World Wide Web Consortium today rejected the RAND proposal I spoke of here a few months ago. This means that key Web protocols, standards and technologies will remain royalty free and open for all users. The little folks win … Continue reading →

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Why I Don't Read Science Fiction Anymore

Posted on February 26, 2002 by Pace Arko

When I read stuff about giant arcologies and I note that hardware stores still don’t sell robot housekeepers or personal jet packs, I just sigh. Hopefully I’ll see these things before I die.

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Yes, CSS-based layout is better

Posted on February 24, 2002 by Pace Arko

Despite what older and supposedly wiser heads say, layout tables are evil.

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The cyberpunk movement got it wrong

Posted on February 24, 2002 by Pace Arko

Asia will be old hat, along with Europe and North America, when nano and AL really get going. I predict the real interesting technological churn will happen in the finally developed, finally stable countries of Africa. Think I’m nuts? Stranger … Continue reading →

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Lego: The Best Toy in the World

Posted on February 24, 2002 by Pace Arko

When I was a kid back in the Seventies, they just started to import these really neat robot toys and models from Japan. This was about twenty years before the word anime came into the common English. Anyway there’s this … Continue reading →

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Reducing the Chance of Greymatter Script Hacks

Posted on February 17, 2002 by Pace Arko

The Greymatter script, while excellent in almost every aspect (A tip of the Farlopsian hat to Mr. Grey!), needs a little help so that, after installation, it runs in a secure fashion. For example, many of the forms it uses … Continue reading →

Posted in The Internet, Webmastering | 2 Comments

Hollywood Creates Another Cliche

Posted on February 17, 2002 by Pace Arko

Apparently the bad guys use Microsoft–boring, stogy, patronizing–and the good guys use Apple–cool, stylish, friendly (Although I’d argue just as patronizing, at least before the release of OSX.). Out in the real world of course, we all know this really … Continue reading →

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Pre-Colonial, Sub-Saharan African History

Posted on February 14, 2002 by Pace Arko

A few days ago, Ms. Carlysle pointed me in the direction of some interesting historical scholarship namely, helping Steve Jackson Games to compile a GURPs source book on the pre-colonial history of the kingdoms and nations of Sub-Saharan Africa. It’s … Continue reading →

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Game Theory and Philosophy

Posted on February 12, 2002 by Pace Arko

Inspired by the Dead Kennedys stuff cited below, I did some searching on things related to Jello Biafra and came across some local folks dedicated to the idea that life is a game. It’s weird how the Web thinks these … Continue reading →

Posted in Games, Personal | 2 Comments

The Accoustics of Coiled Wire

Posted on February 12, 2002 by Pace Arko

Article Abstract: As relayed to me by Blogdex, an Australian researcher has assembled a test rig to study the behavior and properties of an enormous slinky. This includes accoustics, fluid dynamics and group psychology.

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