Computers are just tools. …

Computers are just tools. It’s what you do with those tools and technologies that matters. This is why I get so frustrated when someone claims that one operating system is superior to another, or one scripting language is better than another. People forget about using computers as tools and adopt some kind of bizarre religion around whatever OS and/or technology they happen to like the best. The same goes for front-end technologies like Flash. It’s a great technology — for certain types of uses. The problem comes when people mis-use that technology [perhaps because it is easier], or become blinded by technology religion. It really is about choosing and using the most appropriate technology for the job at hand. People who forget this simple rule will not get very far.

Eazel cuts half of its workforce. “The cuts fell most heavily in the business and marketing departments…”

Argus & Associates, Inc. announced yesterday that they were ceasing operations. Many people in the Information Architecture field are shocked. Argus was the company that popularized the concept and theories of Information Architecture within ecommerce. Most of their staff came from the University of Michigan’s School of Information. I lived and worked in Ann Arbor, MI (where Argus was headquartered) for two years and occasionally had lunch with Louis Rosenfeld, who co-authored the well-known O’Reilly book. While I’m rather surprised that Argus has folded, I do recognize that it is just another casualty of the dot-com mania. Argus and every other recently-folded company needs to take a few large steps back, re-examine the market, and think about what they can do next.

Tim O’Reilly: Is Open Source Unamerican?

Advogato: What does Microsoft putting .NET on Linux mean to us?

Has anyone else noticed the re-emergence of Mr. T. in today’s media? A few weeks ago, I read an article about them making an A-Team movie. Last night, I saw Mr. T. in a 1-800-COLLECT commercial. Are the 1980s really coming back into fashion? Wow, I’m getting old…

Kuro5hin: Why is online writing so bad?

NYTimes: When School is Held on Snow Days. Yes! Technology to the rescue. I am of the opinion that students already get far too many days off school. Why we continue to follow such an antiquated schedule with summers off, I don’t know. This is a holdover from the days when children were needed in the farm fields — hence, no school in summer, the peak farming months.

Linux.com: Writing Database Oriented Web Based Applications With Perl – Part I

MacCentral: Tenon products push the OS X-UNIX connection

Posted by Cameron Barrett at March 14, 2001 06:47 PM

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