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Monthly Archives: November 2006

A Review of The Decemberists' The Crane Wife

I have been listening to The Decemberists' latest album, The Crane Wife for a while now. Whenever I get new Decemberists music, I imagine writing the ridiculously long and detailed review that their lyrically complex music deserves. Reality always compresses my writing, but I think that my review of their previous LP, Picaresque was pretty [...]

The Two Types of Nationalism

Yesterday, I read Mark Mardell's BBC News article about Armenians in Turkey. I was sort of bored by it (no real new information nor insights) until the very end:
It seems to me that nationalism comes in two distinct types. One is fiercely proud of the achievements of the country, its history and language. The other [...]

The Ghost of Georgi Markov: Russian State Assassinations in the 21st Century

With the death of former East German espionage chief Markus Wolf and the nomination of ex-Director of Central Intelligence Robert Gates to be the next Secretary of Defense, the news has been full of stories about the tense and secretive atmosphere of the Cold War. Several of those articles claimed that this golden era of [...]

Core 2 Duo MacBooks: The Importance of Good Components

I have been semi-seriously considering buying one of the new MacBooks with Intel Core 2 Duo processors (I am partially serious because I would like a computer with a Core 2 Duo processor and a SATA hard drive; the seriousness is only partial because it would be hell to get everything properly working in Linux). [...]

Duke Gregarius Forever

I was poking around Gregarius' Trac installation when I ran across the funny screenshot that you can see to your left.
In retrospect, I am not sure what I was worried about in my earlier post about Gregarius development. I have all the time in the world…
Gregarius 0.6.0 - coming out when it is ready.

A Linux Smartphone?

In recent weeks, I have repeatedly been tempted by various smartphones. I have not bought one yet, since I am sort of picky.
The most important feature for me is undoubtedly Linux compatibility. There is no point in buying an expensive phone if it will not synchronize with my laptop (since my primary intention would be [...]

The Wonder of Wikipedia

I was in the midst of an essay about Adam Cadre's satire on Wikipedia, where I went to Wikipedia to look for a good logo and got distracted. I just finished reading the entry on the War of the Pacific, where Bolivia lost its access to the sea, an event that still has repercussions in [...]