Memo to critics: Thou shalt not groupthink
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Many film critics' top 10 lists are very similar. Agreement or conformity?
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To forgive is divine. To forget may be asking too much of religious conservatives when it comes to Sen. John McCain.
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Comment is free: Marcel Berlins: The reason I'm writing about Redwood is not to discuss the merits of his argument - there are none
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Jay Evensen, in one of his typically lucid, thoughtful columns (Sept. 3), pointed out that free speech means nothing if no one listens. Last week in Salt Lake City we had a virtual "free speech festival" that never drew the attention of those whom they most hoped to influence.
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Popular wisdom is often an oxymoron.
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I just read an article on the Village Voice website that summed up one of the complaints I have had for some time about the Democratic Party: They won't fight.  At the same time, they are trying to convince conservative voters to vote for them instead of the Republicans and are losing votes on the liberal side as a result.   For both of these problems, I blame the Democratic Leadership Council.
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Â· Civil liberties activists condemn proposalÂ· Conservatives back other counter-terror measures
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Some critics question proposed federal spending hikes for nuclear research.
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Spare a thought for the reviewers of &quot;Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows&quot;.
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Record labels don't trust us with their music. They need to retune that thinking
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Some fashionable texts are based on ''shaky thinking.''
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I just figured something out, and it's the kind of thing that's best said publicly, even though it's likely to: 1. Be misunderstood and 2. Upset some people. But since it's all about this blog it really is best to air it here. First what triggered the epiphany. I was over at Loic Le Meur's house in San Francisco yesterday having lunch with his family and friends. We were all drinking wine (very good wine of course), enjoying the view, and talking about this and that, when the subject turned to Mike Arrington. Loic said that Mike told him that we used to be best friends. I couldn't figure out what that meant, because our friendship was the business kind of friendship not the personal kind. What does it mean to best friends in that way? And how does that relate to having a blog? It never occurred to me that friendship meant that (here's the epiphany) that I would only say positive things about Mike's business. It didn't occur to me until I heard Loic's side of a blog-fight that I saw happen from a distance, with Sam Sethi, Mike and Loic.  Complicated? You bet. Too complicated. An unspoken deal that I never agreed to. When Mike was starting TechCrunch, I pointed to his blog all the time, with glowing phrases. Because I was truly impressed with what he was doing and because I wanted to encourage other people to do it too. I wanted people to write about technology products based on how they used them, not based on alliances, investment, posturing of execs, the crappy stuff that means almost nothing to users, and imho is just a substitute for actually understanding the technology. Mike was approaching products the way I felt they should be approached. Hence the praise. Fact is, my opinion of Mike, as a person, hasn't changed much in the last couple of years. He has a personal charm and charisma that not everyone finds appealing, but I do. I like hanging out with the guy. However, that doesn't mean that if my opinion of TechCrunch, his business, isn't uniformly positive (and of course these days it is actually fairly negative) that I will withhold it. But it's also part of Mike's way of dealing with people that he sees criticism as betrayal. I just don't see it that way. I've had the shit kicked out of me so many times, and as a programmer I understand that criticism is necessary to perfect a user interface, even to get the damned thing working, that even when it hurts, I have to push the hurt aside and listen to what people are saying, and try to respond to it. Professionalism demands it.  Anyway, one of the reasons I want to write this now is that I've written about Loic's business here a couple of times in very positive terms. I don't want anyone, esp Loic, to assume that this will always be so. If they get in the way of other creative people, or otherwise act as a poor example of entrepreneurship in technology, of course I will write about it, and will say what I think. I would expect Loic and people at his company to take what I write to heart, and consider it. My feelings won't be hurt if they don't do what I say.  Same as when I said Facebook sucks. Or when I criticize Techmeme. This isn't in any way meant to reflect on the quality of the people at Facebook (some of whom I know to be outstanding people of high principle) or Gabe Rivera who I know to be a very smart and competent and honorable person. It's possible to critcize someone's work and still admire the person. My epiphany is that a lot of people who thought were my friends, didn't understand this very basic thing about me.
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In response to a previous article from the Symfony blog, Paul Jones has pulled together some thoughts to some of the comments they made.   As the author of a relatively popular benchmarking article, I feel compelled to respond to this bit of misguided analysis from the Symfony camp about benchmarks.   Paul talks about the "straw-man arguments" presented in the Symfony article, including some references to Paul's previous benchmarks. He's even broken it down into a point-by-point response to make each point clear.
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Damn those movie critics - and I make that statement fully understanding the irony behind it. Every now and then, for whatever reason, it seems as if critics get together in a secret clubhouse and decide to tear a picture to shreds.
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This is not the kind of group you would want as your enemy. Its members have experience, political savvy and an insider's knowledge of how the place is run. They also aren't afraid to talk.
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"Nation of Rebels: Why Counterculture Became Consumer Culture" is not your typical business book. Instead, it's a wide-ranging work of social criticism peppered with examples from the movies and rock music. The authors focus more on the psychology of consumers than the inner workings of the boardroom, which is not surprising, considering that both come from backgrounds in philosophy. Each ...
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Interesting music does not tell us to be good or bad. It asks only to be admired. Getting great music and simple faith together happens, but with difficulty.