MS Who

Not long after one blogger expressed admiration for Microsoft founder Bill Gates' concept of "creative capitalism" to address the needs of the world poorest, the International Herald Tribune is reporting that the Gates Foundation may be responsible for fostering information hoarding within the medical research community.

According to the article, WHO officials are warning of "unintended consequences" of Gates foundation funded researchers who were once open with their information having a financial incentive to share their findings primarily with other researchers supported by the Gates Foundation, creating a kind of information "cartel".

Is this the same old Microsoft bullying that made the software giant the de facto computing standard brought to another sector? Or is it the result of fallen human nature and self-interest to follow the money? How "unintended" can the consequences be if the money comes with strings (and there are always strings)? Would you accept a Microsoft Vaccine?

To create a truly just society, surely it cannot be enough to do good deeds with our material possessions without creating just societal structures to support them.

Fair or foul? Sound off.

iStopMotion Movie Making Time

My firstborn and I had a great time last weekend making an iStopMotion movie. This was a little experiment with some cool software I picked up during MacHeist with some Playdoh, a MacBook, and a little imagination.



All told, we probably spent half an hour on it (we had some creative differences). Perhaps after this we'll put some actual thought into it and do some more. This movie is either thousands of years of plate tectonics compressed into 10 seconds or so, or else an erupting volcano island, or maybe it was a grass field with some rocks. We really couldn't decide, but we made the movie anyway.

Enjoy it for what it's worth. Leave us some comments!!

To Keep A True Lent

To Keep A True Lent

Poem by Robert Herrick, a meditation on how to keep a true Lent, not just following the letter of the law, but the spirit.

Is this a Fast, to keep
The larder lean,
And clean,
From fat of veals and sheep?

Is it to quit the dish
Of flesh, yet still
To fill
The platter high with fish?

Is it to fast an hour,
Or rag'd to go
Or show
A downcast look or sour?

No; 'tis a Fast to dole
Thy sheaf or wheat
And meat,
Unto the hungry soul.

It is to fast from strife.
From old debate,
And hate;
To circumcise thy life.

To show a heart grief-rent,
To starve thy sin,
Not bin;
And that's to keep thy Lent.

— Robert Herrick

Prayer Source: Holy Lent by Eileen O'Callaghan, The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, 1975

Shamelessly ripped off from: CatholicCulture.org.

How will you keep your Lent this year?

Girl Scout Cookies are like Crack

Well, shoot, you knew that. I was gonna post this witty blog entry on how Girl Scout cookies were like crack, but it looks like everyone beat me to that. I guess that makes my daughter a crack dealer now. Want some? Order now. This is going to be a looong Lent.

Oh, and for the record, Samoas are the best -- the very best.
Gimme some-mo'-a Samoas.


What's your poison?

Snow Driving

So ... you think you're a good driver in the snow?

We just had the first snow of the year and the unanimous verdict for our area is: NO.
Three inches of snow = total chaos.

How can such a "modern" city be full of nothing but back roads and backwards drivers?

Tell me: how's your Snow Driving?