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ROTC on Memorial Day
Many more comments have come in about ROTC and the elite universities, which I'll get to shortly. Here are two for Memorial Day.From a reader who asks not to be named:I served in the USN for four...
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Running Again
(I am in transit for several days and have queued up some items for this period. They don't have anything to do with the grim news breaking from Gaza and the ongoing BP grimness, as I left early on...
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More on Witopia in China
Over the years I've testified repeatedly about the virtues of a "virtual private network" VPN from Witopia.net as a way around China's Great Firewall. Last week I mentioned that Witopia, which has...
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OK. Uncle! I Guess China Really Must Be #1!
I mentioned here and here my bemusement at studies showing that 44% of Americans and 55% of Australians think that China, with 150 million people living on around $1 per day, is the world's "leading...
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On the Moral Splendor of the Early Adopter
Whether writing about the joys of the first personal computers nearly 30 years ago, or about flying cars or personal organizers or magic running shoes or VPNs in recent days (links too numerous to...
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Why Americans and Aussies Can't Think Straight About China
In response to this item and related stories, on the substantial minority of Americans and absolute majority of Australians who believe that China is already the world's "leading economic power," a...
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Another Speech Worth Noticing: Obama in Pittsburgh
I don't know whether this was broadcast in the US -- on a trip in Asia again, Tokyo at the moment -- but I have just now read Barack Obama's speech today at Carnegie-Mellon, about science, technology,...
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Internet: Friend of Dictators or Dissenters?
Late last month, the New America Foundation had its annual board retreat, featuring policy discussions on several topics. I was the emcee for a panel consisting of Eric Schmidt of Google, Alec Ross of...
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"Barefoot" Running: Salvation, or Mirage?
In response to this plaintive request for advice on Achilles tendon problems, many useful suggestions have arrived. Rather, one-by-one they are useful, erudite, and sincere. Yet collectively they more...
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Interesting Software: More on Scrivener
I've mentioned several times my use of and enthusiasm for Scrivener, a $39.95 writing program put out by a two-person operation in Cornwall, England. It's Mac-only, so stop right here if that means you...
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Twitter with Chinese Characteristics: 马马虎虎?
On the question raised several days ago -- Is the Internet a tool for dictators or for dissidents? -- several wags write in to say that the obvious answer is "Yes."But a reader who studies Chinese...
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Yet More Running, From a Big-Time Runner
Here is today's installment on the ongoing mystery of whether "barefoot" running makes any sense, and the related question of whether there is hope my battered right Achilles tendon. Previous entries...
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Closing the Circle on the Polish Airplane Crash
This news is now several days old, but for completeness' sake, given previous discussions here, it seemed worth mentioning. The cockpit transcripts from the heartbreaking crash that killed so much of...
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I Stand Corrected, Part #23,752 (Running Mac Programs on a PC)
I mentioned several days ago that with a virtualization program like VMware Fusion, "I can happily run any Windows program on a Mac, but things don't work the other way around." In accord with the...
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Sanity About Security: Kicking Off a Series
I hate negativity! Therefore, as a counterweight to chronicles of "security theater" nuttiness on this site and from Jeffrey Goldberg in the magazine and online, let's kick off a little hall-of-fame...
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A Nation of Readers
Sanlitun area of Beijing, this afternoon. Scrap-paper guy, reading a magazine. (Click for larger.) I found this touching. Yes, yes, I am struggling the resist the obvious joke here about the...
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If You're in Beijing Next Week...
... and looking for something to do on the evening of June 15, you might consider going to hear Deborah Fallows (disclosure: my wife) discuss her book Dreaming in Chinese at the Beijing Bookworm, at...
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A Different Aspect of the Internet-and-Freedom Story
Previous discussions here and here. When you ask Chinese officials why they feel compelled to control the Internet, the first thing you hear back is: It's not just China. No country believes in...
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Two Important China Updates
1) I mentioned earlier today the new Chinese government white paper explaining its rationale for censoring the Internet. I should have known that my favorite newspaper, the China Daily, would be all...
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Scrivener-style Functions for the PC
In response to this recent mention of some of the convenient features of the Mac-based writing program Scrivener, several people wrote to say: Hey, what about the PC? From the horse's mouth -- I mean,...
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