A life in words

  • Eighties Heritage Month

    Paris makes more than the law, it makes the fashion —Victor Hugo in Les Miserables, vol. 3 chapter XI Would it be accurate to say that prior to the 20th century, very few people had the luxury of worrying about fashion? The impression I get when I read an old novel is that back in…

  • Learning C++

    I’€™m taking (actually, retaking) Computer Science 240 right now. So I’€™m learning C++. This is someting I’€™ve always wanted to do. I was maybe 10 years old when we got Turbo C++. My dad was the only one who knew how to use it, but still, I had fun playing with the “Heap Walker”€ program.…

  • I Cast Mine Pod at Thee!

    Lately I’€™ve been listening to the UbuntuOS podcast about the Ubuntu Linux distro. It’€™s a good show, for sure, though there’€™s a bit too much down time where the guys are just sitting there saying, “Yeah… uh… so linux is pretty cool, yeah….” It really does remind me of my conversations with my brother, but…

The common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. It serves… to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection [and] opens the door to foreign influence and corruption….George Washington, Farewell Address