Large Hadron Collider Created Blackhole!

Wonderful little letter to the editor in this week's The Economist:

Can it really be a coincidence that within weeks of the Large Hadron Collider being switched on for the first time a financial black hole has appeared in the universe?

-- Barclay Price, Edinburgh

Hawpe's Hot, And Rightfully So

This time it's not something Mitch McConnell said, nor is it an incendiary Anne Northup comment. No, The Courier-Journal's David Hawpe is taking issue with comments University of Kentucky head football coach Rich Brooks made following the "greatest comeback in University of Kentucky football history."

When Brooks was asked if he understood why so many fans left the Wildcats game early, in which the team scored two miraculous and improbable touchdowns in the game's waning moments, he answered he didn't, but "that's their prerogative."

That's what set Hawpe off. And, rightfully so.

Who are today's coaches and players (Wildcat QB Mike Hartline supposedly shook an angry fist at the stadium's empty seats) to call fans out? If I want to leave early, I shouldn't have to justify that action before a board of regents.

The same trouble is brewing in Cincinnati, where the winless (0 and 7) Bengals are having trouble igniting any enthusiasm among its fan base. No one better call me out for failing to attend any games there this year. I've been dealing with Bengals losses and futility for 40 years. 40 years! There's not a player on the team now that was even alive when I began rooting for this club to win.

So, just as fans are required to have patience, so too should teams understand people are human. If you're playing poorly, and it's cold, don't get mad when folks fail to show up or leave early. Instead, let your play do the talking. Play so well and with such intensity that you actually sustain winning over a period of years, not months. Earn fans' respect. Then you'll find a fan base willing to sit through the tough times.

On Capitalism And Free Markets

I am not an economist. Nor are the members of the band Cake. But the band posted an interesting quote, attributed to British economist John Maynard Keynes, last week.

Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone.

That's what Keynes wrote. And, that's what Cake brought to my attention, which got me thinking.

Then today I pick up the new copy of The Economist that arrived in the mail. What do I read inside the back cover but an incredibly intriguing collection of answers by prominent thinkers to the question "Does the free market corrode moral character?"

Chess impresario Garry Kasparov answers "Yes, but other systems are worse."

I rather like Princeton professor emeritus Michael Walzer's response. I think it's the most honest. He says "Of course it does."

You can read more online at the John Templeton Foundation. Interesting stuff.

Favorite Windows Flavor

At any given time I have three or four desktop and laptop PCs on my workbench. These systems are almost always Windows XP boxes, with the increasing exception of Vista machines and the occasional Macintosh.

This week, though, I received a Windows 98 machine. The PC required a new hard disk. The client did not wish to replace the system with a new XP system, which was my recommendation. Thus, I was taken back to the days of installing Win9x. Yikes. Painful. In fact, drivers proved so troublesome I upgraded the client to Windows 2000 Professional (as I had a retail box copy available).

Wow. Installing Windows 2000, something I haven't done for years, reminded me just how fast, graceful and stable that Windows' flavor was. It's a shame Microsoft provided this sleek OS with such a short shelf life.

In particular, I'm amazed at how fast Windows 2000 runs. And its windows; they're very clean. With just 128MB RAM, the Celeron PC was quick to boot, lightning fast to open windows and fast to access email, install Office, etc. Oh, how I miss it.

Am I the only one?