- A sad and yet fascinating—if you're as morbid as a lawyer or an author—review of a recent book on "authors' worst moments." The kinds of books I've done don't result in readings or invitations to publishers' cocktail parties, so I have little first-hand experience…
- As further proof that Gordon Gecko is alive and well in the telecommunications industry, big DSL providers are busily jacking up their rates by attempting to recover the "Universal Service Fee" from DSL customers—all the while forgetting that, since DSL comes over telephone lines, the customer already pays the fee on another bill. The USF does not subsidize DSL in rural communities, but only basic telephone service. Thus, if I ever go to DSL from SBC, I'll be paying three USFs—one on the telephone service, one on the long-distance service, and one on the DSL service. Am I ever happy about that.
OK, one comment on the "press conference" last night. I think that everybody came off looking bad. George II looked unprepared and unwilling to admit to ever having made a substantial error. The press came off looking as if they want him to tell them when he stopped beating his wife, instead of trying to determine if his wife had been beaten in the first place, and if so who had done it. The broadcasters came off as morons for running it opposite today's staff summary report from the 9/11 Commission on C-SPAN; one or the other should also have offered a later, perhaps 9pm EDT or so, rerun. But nooooooooooo…