BillSaysThis

To the Editor,

In today’s column William Safire states “In last week’s apology before the Senate, Rumsfeld assumed ultimate responsibility.”

The one question I would love to see answered, by him or even better by a senior member of the Administration, is what this assumption actually means in practical terms. If Secretary Rumsfeld is not going to resign, as Safire states is unwarranted, than what is Rumsfeld’s statement other than words trying to absorb guilt like a sponge? Is he, like a pro athlete who’s mouthed off to a coach, gong to be benched for a game or two? Fined? Sadly, it seems like the Bush Administration, Mr. Safire and other Republicans are content to once again overlook bad actions based on easily mouthed but action-free apologies.

Spider Robinson is an old favorite, especially for his Callahan’s Saloon stories that go back over 25 years. The Callahan Touch, originally released in 1993, is the sixth of ten in the series.

Robinson is a master of the punning art and he shows it off throughout this tale. If you haven’t read any of the previous books, however, I’m not sure you’ll really get as much enjoyment from Touch as I did. Most of the characters are well worn, old friends that I’m meeting again and know well.

Although in science fiction aliens are not, of course, unusual, in the Earth of these set in the present stories they’re as unknown as in reality but several make appearances here as do a cluricaune, a half Far Darrig/half Pooky and a talking dog.

recommended to Callahan fans

Alan King was more of my parents’ generation than mine but I did grow up seeing him on Ed Sullivan, the Tonight Show and the movie screen. In fact they saw him live last year and gave a glowing review. King died this morning of lung cancer–at 76, less than a year older than my father by the way–and I remember him for his ability to be funny with the old schtick, the jokes and one liners, but also to grow in the ’80s and ’90s into a modern artist who could convey humor and pathos through stories. The title of this post is a good for instance, one of his gems summing up the essence of all Jewish holidays.

Honestly, I’m not sure I love the new Blogger editing interface. The old version, with it’s split between an authoring frame and the recent posts frame, was more appealing to me and I’ve never been terribly interested in adding comments, with the recent comment spam wars only adding to my disinterest. The goofy graphic displayed while waiting for an article to publish seems like a waste. Here’s a situation where having a personal installation might have made a difference.

“Don Rumsfeld is the best secretary of defense the United States has ever had,” our wonderful, thoughtful, obviously unbiased Vice President said today. I have to tell you, the laughing jag this article caused lasted for nearly 10 minutes.

I realize the NY Times doesn’t really publish a balanced set of reader letters and so even those written by supporters of Bush should be taken as part of this tilt. Still, in today’s set I note the repetition of the “Saddam was a really terrible guy” meme in those letters arguing against a Rumsfeld resignation: “Perhaps this is true, but it is also possible that if were it not for President Bush, Saddam Hussein would still be in power, adding to an estimated 300,000 Iraqis murdered by his regime and tortured in his prisons, including Abu Ghraib.”

What, I would ask these people, is the relevance? If there is an individual (or group) ruling another nation and that government seriously and savagely mistreats its own people, is it up to America to invade and overthrow? There is no proof, despite Administration lies over the past few years, that Iraq was any kind of threat to America and so that is no justification. Are we to become the world’s police, all on our own, and topple regimes in Cuba, Nigeria, Rwanda, North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia and several others that don’t come immediately to mind? How many years, thousands of troups and trillions of dollars are we to spend accomplishing this task?

Be serious and stop spouting nonsense that prevents us from reaching any sort of real resolution in Iraq and of the true terrorist threats to America and our allies. Because until you do life is just going to get worse. I surely agree with what Dan says; we need to acknowledge reality in order to save ourselves.

So I got to make my first Intransa business trip this week. Very short, up there Wednesday night back home Thursday night, but a very positive experience. While details wouldn’t be terribly appropriate, we (I traveled with Jay Weber, one of our excellent technical staffers) did go there to visit with an IBM group in Beaverton and install one of our systems in their lab. At the end of the day we had very positive feedback from the IBM team for the quality of our product and our effort.

I also spent half an hour on the phone at the request of an IBM Digital Media architect speaking with him and one of their solutions partners who’s interested in using us as the storage component in some upcoming deals. Participating in sales-oriented situations is definitely something I like doing, a lot, and hope for more opportunies as work goes forward. After all, my predecessor as product manager is now director of Asia/Pacific sales, and the Intransa execs seem very open to such transitions. We’ll see.

James P. Hogan is a much more prolific writer than Alfred Bester and though perhaps he doesn’t reach quite the same level of creativity and style, I’ve read and enjoyed many of Hogan’s books as well, especially the Giants series, Code Of the Lifemaker and Endgame Enigma. From 1995, Realtime Interrupt is set against the corporate development of a fully integrated, fully immersed virtual reality environment driven by a true, learning artificial intelligence. The sophistication is so deep that even one of the system’s own chief developers, the hero Joe Corrigan, does not realize where he is for 12 years.

Finally, with the help of another involuntary participant, he does come to the truth. Before being inserted into the system, 50 people had their short term memory scrubbed and so had no understanding that they weren’t in the real world. Along with them, the ‘realscaped’ Pittsburgh environment was populated by thousands of computer-driven persons who interacted directly with the real folks, attempting to learn and develop along human lines by observation. Also inside the system are a set of controllers real people who can enter and exit the VR as desired.

Hogan makes some interesting propositions here and does have a good touch with pacing and plot development but I’d expect something written by an experienced engineer and former computer salesperson to have a better use and extrapolation of contemporary technology. For one simple instance, there is nothing analogous to the Internet in either the real or virtual worlds in the book. I do wonder if this is a story first written a few years earlier, say mid to late ’80s, which would explain quite a bit.

recommended

Alfred Bester was not a prolific novelist, publishing only five in a 30 year span, but what he did write is generally considered top shelf. He opened with two classics in the 1950s–The Stars My Destination and The Demolished Man–and then let nearly 20 years go by, spending much of his time writing television comedies, before bringing out 1973’s The Computer Connection.

In this medium future story Bester posits a group of immortals, made so by galvanic shock during near-death experiences, who generally befriend each other but do not operate en mass to, say, rule the world. Our protagonist Guig–short for Grand Guignol, as all the long lifers have adopted nicknames of famous mortals–is given to experiments aimed at purposely creating new immortals and after many attempts he seems to succeed. He hasn’t though, and instead a massively powerful computer has inserted itself between Dr. Sequoya Guuess and death, using intricate linkages between the neurons of Guess’s brain and one of the computer’s main components to create a vast network of formerly independent devices.

The story is wild and vivid yet clearly written at the end of the ’60s. Political, sociological and economic developments twist but depend on popular ideas of that time and most of which have become irrelevent or bypassed in the intervening time though Bester is such a good writer that Connection remains an interesting, exciting, enjoyable read. This edition, from iBooks, has a nice Forward by Bester’s friend Harlan Ellison.

recommended

Had a fun trip to Oregon, more later. I also owe two book reviews here, both decent if dated science fiction novels, will post them after work.

Gena Lee Nolin is a bad girl!

Author, journalist and Vietnam veteran William Broyles Jr. posted a powerful, insightful essay on today’s Times OpEd page: A War for Us, Fought by Them. I was too young to serve in Vietnam and too old for the first Gulf War, not that I would have volunteered anyway, but I think Broyles’ points about the disconnect between our leading politicians and family military service are not just important but also meaningful in policymaking.

On the one hand I think this is kind of cool. On the other hand, I’m not so sure. Either hand you choose, I’m taking my first business trip this week, a quick up and back to visit IBM in Beaverton. Amusing how long my boss’s boss’s boss took deciding whether to sign off on the travel request, though.

This movie was, um, totally fetch! Oh my god, do not even go there! See, it’s all about this new girl and these bitches and how the new girl thinks she’s going to teach the bitches a lesson but then she, well, she falls off the wagon and–oh my god–becomes the queen bitch herself. But she totally comes to her senses, learns her lesson, and remembers that being good feels good. We sure do get to laugh watching, girlfriend!

We went to see Mean Girls because it was written by Tina Fey from Saturday Night Live. Not at all because the film features four teenage hotties in the lead roles. Nah, that had nothing to do with our decision, and I’ll sue you if you say otherwise! Director Mark Waters also featured Lindsay Lohan in last year’s Freaky Friday but I was less impressed with his influence in this movie, the transition and pacing, not to mention the visuals, weren’t nearly as interesting.

The movie is an adaptation of Rosalind Wiseman’s Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends & Other Realities of Adolesence, which was apparently not the easiest job since the book is non-fiction and without story. As one reviewer wrote (about the book, not the movie): “This reads like a chess manual for social interactions (or more accurately dysfunctional interactions) of teenage females with their peers. The goal of this book is to give parents insight into why certain situations occur and how to help their daughters address them.” So props to Mrs. Fey (yeah, guys, she’s married) on her initial produced screenplay for giving us an actual story with interesting characters.

recommended

Fairly low odds but still, got to be heard: Stop FCC

In the first in a new series, storage and security maven Dann Sheridan analyzes Intransa competitor Lefthand Networks.

Good on ya, Kevin Shelley: California Bans E-Vote Machines. I especially enjoyed the bits about possible criminal charges against Diebold.

Should Sun commit corporate hari kari?

In an editorial today (The President’s Testimony), the Times mentions Bush’s frequent nonresponsive responses. But I’d really like to know why the press corps lets him (and other similarly inaccessible public figures) get away with this. How about asking the obvious followup: “Mr. President, your answer doesn’t actually respond to the question I asked. Will you please give us an actual answer?” Is that too disrespectful to our Commander-in-Chief? As they used to say at Heritage Junior High, tough titties!