The Extent of Revisionist History

The web is a very forgetful and forgiving place.

Without Google's cached pages or the Internet Archive, the web would have almost no memory.

You'd never be able to revisit how CNN first responded to 9/11, reexamine what they said as the Iraqi War began, or remember how now-defunct companies sounded during their heyday.

Sadly, this historical record is fragile. The Internet Archive is only as good as Amazon (its owner) decides it should be. Google's cached pages refresh regularly, only showing a window into the brief past. Moreover, webmasters can prevent these pages from being generated in the first place.

By creating a robots.txt file, webmasters can tell these services which pages they don't want catalogued.

Last fall, I heard that the Bush Administration was preventing the creation of this de facto historical record by making large portions of www.whitehouse.org off-limits to archiving services.

I heard this news, believed it probably to be true, and moved on.

Only just now did I discover the immensity of www.whitehouse.gov/robots.txt. If you printed out the list of pages and directories that the Bush Administration wants off-limits to history, it would take 31 pages!

For a window into how protective the Bush Administration has became during this term, the Internet Archive has documented the growth of their robots.txt file.

For the first 8 months of his term the Bush Administration didn't see the need to block much of anything, as evidenced by their robots.txt file from August 29, 2001. Suddenly, on September 1, 2001, they started blocking archiving and caching functions for a list of pages that has grown and grown.

What happened at the end of August 2001 to start this trend?

Name My Supporters? How Much Time Do You Have?

Kerry's claim of foreign leader support is yet another general election gaffe by the Democrats, an opportunity for Bush to shift the focus away from the current state of affairs.

The more that Democrats defend Kerry's words, they less they discuss how a change in the White House will hasten cleansing of Bush's various messes.

The best way for Kerry to put a rest to this issue is highlight the Pew Research Center, which surveyed people in the US, England, France, Germany, Russia, Turkey, Pakistan, Jordan, & Morocco to get a cross-section of attitudes about the United States. This survey, performed annually, illustrates how global opinion regarding the US is growing dramatically more frigid.

Moreover, it finds that:

Large majorities in every country, except for the U.S., hold an unfavorable opinion of Bush.

Foreign public opinion should not dictate American elections, but more worldly Americans should see it as their duty to highlight these findings to their less-traveled compatriots.

Keeping Granny Online

If you're like me, you're basically a one-person IT department for any relative you have over the age of 40. For me, holiday trips home typically include a minimum 4-hour meditation on whatever computer problem has my parents or grandparents beleaguered at the moment.

To address this problem and ones like it, John (my intrepid brother-in-law) has founded Instride Systems, a company that makes software for sharing your desktop with someone while you are IM'ing them.

John's software lets you grant remote control of your desktop. Once your helper has control of your desktop, you see your mouse moving onscreen as they work, trying to solve your problem. The whole time they're taking these actions, the two of you can IM back-and-forth.

John's software is currently in beta, so you can try it out for free. Go ahead. Give it a shot.

The Justice League vs. The Legion of Bush

I agree with The Progressive. Kerry should name his cabinet and run as a team.

Extreme Makeover: Pathological Liar Edition

Let's say you're Jayson Blair.

How do you touch up your image after everyone in the world knows you're full of hot air?

Impersonate Samuel Jackson.

The Most Subtle President Since Cal Coolidge or Is that Flag Warm When You Wrap Yourself In It?

My initial reaction to these well-produced Bush campaign ads is, "What? Bush was President during 9/11? How come he never brings that up? You know, he really should mention it from time to time. You know, just to remind us."

Some days, I just wake up astonished that half the American electorate falls for this stuff. I agree with The Independent that:

If the human race as a whole, rather than 50 states plus the District of Colombia, could cast a ballot this coming November, John Kerry would surely win the presidency by a landslide.

We'll just have to see if roughly one half of the American electorate wakes up to this reality before November.

Always Bet on Red

The most reassuring sign that Mars once teemed with life is not coming from a Red Planet rover.

The most telling indicator is that Ladbrokes is no longer taking bets on the topic. In their eyes, the odds of past life on Mars have steadily improved from 1,000-1 in the '70s to 16-1 in 2003.

Days of Burritos, Days of Bacon

I was cheered mightily when local gourmet Hoff set up Sibilous last week, a chronicle of his Bay Area food experiences.

Part of Hoff's inspiration comes from baconpilgrim's Journal, the story of one man's journey through the world of sliced and smoked meats.

Transferable Excellence

Although their equipment may be constructed under questionable working conditions, Nike's advertisements occasionally say something interesting about the human condition. Nike's new What If? (NY Times, reg. required) campaign is an enjoyable, wordless commentary on achievement and high achievers.

(Warning: To appreciate this ad, you must be at least passingly familiar with Lance Armstrong, Andre Agassi, Marion Jones, Randy Johnson, Serena Williams, Michael Vick, and Brian Urlacher. You must also forget just how average Michael Jordan is at baseball and Terrell Owens is at basketball.)

Aristide's Last Stand

Details are hazy regarding President Aristide's sudden departure from Haiti on Sunday. Although Aristide seems to think he was kidnapped by US forces, the Bush Administration denies this account, claiming that Aristide chose to leave.

The same accounts that claim Aristide was kidnapped portray him as a man willing to fight to a violent end, a choice that would have almost certainly meant the end for his contingent of bodyguards.

Whereas you may think these bodyguards were die-hard Haitian partisans, loyal to their President even as the walls came crashing down, Aristide's bodyguards are American contractors, employees of US security firm The Steele Foundation. Haitian rebels would probably have cared little that these soldier/contractors were just doing their job -- it's likely that they would have met the same bloody end as the desperate man they were hired to protect.

Aristide may not be a villain on par with other despots around the world; however, as long as the US allows corporations to deploy bodyguard/mercenary teams for protection of global VIPs, there will always be the possibility that some of these teams will find themselves too close to the business end of some Marine's M16.