The Guardian Unlimited | Information | What is a weblog? page contains links to software that cna be used to build weblogs. Conversant isn't included, but should be IMHO - especially since it has much more potential in comparison with run-of-the-mill weblogging tools.

Living Without Microsoft

We are building an information hub for those who would like to kick the Microsoft habit and move to using software which does not emanate from Redmond. Given the range of what's available, we could not pretend to be the world's experts on all the alternatives available, and so have designed a site which -- we hope -- encourages other like-minded folks to contribute ideas, news, reviews and essays. So please come in and help us harness the collective IQ of the Net.

The Register: How Microsoft invented open source, by Billg

The open source movement wouldn't exist without Microsoft, Bill Gates told his company's shareholder meeting earlier this week. Open source is also a follower, not an innovator, and destroys jobs, the economy and world peace (we made that last bit up).

Sigh! Next thing Billy (Liar) will be telling us is that the Internet wouldn't exist without Microsoft! B-}

I think from now I think I will refer ro Microsoft as 'Ambrosia' for reasons which will be apparent from the film Billy Liar. BTW, is this a meme?

Like Seth I think that Doug Baron return to the Userland team is very exciting news.

On a local departmental newsgroup the students and I are currently reminiscing about my idiosyncratic lecturing style and some of my most memorable lectures over the years. One student thinks I am unnaturally pre-occupied with sign extension and the way I try and get the students to remember the 16-bit to 32-bit sign extension that takes place in, for example, the MIPS architecture. Of course, my all-time favourite processor was the M6809 and not just because it had a SEX instruction ;-):

The Motorola 6809, used in the UK's "Dragon 32" personal computer, actually had an official "SEX" instruction; the 6502 in the Apple II with which it competed did not. British hackers thought this made perfect mythic sense; after all, it was commonly observed, you could (on some theoretical level) have sex with a dragon, but you can't have sex with an apple.

There are quite a few other memorable quotes and events that pepper my lectures. Some of which have cropped up in the undergraduate lifetime of the current cohort of students but many others that only past students know about! Hopefully, none of them are reading this now!!

Personal favourites of mine - i.e. the ones I can remember - include:

• Shades of the Dr Strangelove Syndrome from my 'hand-in-pocket' lecturing delivery
• The 'woolly hat' diatribe about plagiarism
• The "I've never met anyone like you in the real world!" heckle
• The 'loss of tooth' lecture
• The 'floods of tears' and the 'low-tech animation' lecture
• The many, many lectures where I go off on a tangent - mainly about Ambrosia and/or the company that advertises its processors using the Blue Man Group
• The 'dance to the mobile phone ringing tone' lecture
• The 'beach wear' lecture
• The 'chin-heads' lecture
• The 'DMA' lecture. Unfortunately DMA in its full form has a very unfortunate spoonerism. You might like to check out The history of spoonerisms to find out how/why.
• and lots more... ;-)

In fact, it's a wonder that my students learn anything at all.

The Register: MS throttles research to conceal SW bugs

Microsoft Security Manager Scott Culp revealed unilateral steps the company has taken to throttle the exchange of vulnerability information relevant to their famously buggy products, clearly in hopes that patches and fixes can be fed to consumers discreetly, without ever realizing they've been at risk to attack.

Frequently asked question: "What is a meme?"

via Scripting News - Weblogging: Another Kind of Website

The Register: Home Office extends online snooping laws

It is looking increasingly likely that The Home Office will award itself the power to gather:

• Your email addresses
• The Web sites you visit
• Details of people you email
• The ISP(s) you use
• Your location according to a mobile phone and other details, if the Government believes it is detecting crime and disorder, protecting public health and safety, collecting tax or there is an issue of national security.

Tom's Hardware Guide CPU Guide: AMD Turns Up The Heat: Athlon XP 1900+ - A New Battle Front: Athlon XP 1900+

Summary:
AMD puts the pedal to the metal! The new Athlon XP 1900+ (clocked at 1600 MHz) pummels the more expensive Intel Pentium 4/2000 in most of our benchmark disciplines. It beats the P4's complicated architecture, proving that it pays to have a good conventional CPU design. In the end, only the results count!

via hbwt - Robot Dog 'Bugs' Inventor

A mechanical bug toy is fighting a robotic dog for more than just space under the Christmas tree this year. The two toys represent rival schools of thought vying for supremacy in the quest for artificial intelligence.

glish.com : CSS layout techniques

The Daily Sucker - Web Pages That Suck -- learn usability and good Web design by looking at bad design