Journal of Post-Ralphaelite Thought

Finally got to visit the new Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, which opened last December. Hign ceilings, lots of glass which flooded the exterior spaces with light. It was like being in a very modern church. Which in fact it was. In Jacque Barzun's intriguingly titled little book "The Use and Abuse of Art" there is (as I recall) a chapter entitled "Art as Religion." I can identify. Part of my problem these days is that I am a lapsed artist.

Interesting way of describing working with Windows on Salon . To quote: Sam Hiser, a technologist who spends much of his time promoting open-source alternatives to proprietary software, has an interesting way of describing the main difference between Microsoft's Windows operating system and Linux, its open-source competitor. "It's something I call the 'Windows pucker,'" Hiser says. "That's the feeling Windows users get when they're about to open a fifth program and they're so worried, they're clenching up their butt cheeks because they just don't want the system to lock.

Having run a one-person consulting business for a number of years, I guess I'm on countless mailing lists as a "small business owner." Must be why I've gotten half a dozen or so letters recently from the Business Software Alliance gestapo, suggesting in ominous tones that I'd better have them check me for illegal software and GET RIGHT before they slap me down. Surprise, surprise--I've gotten almost identical letters from Microsoft. This band of thugs busted Ernie Ball , maker of guitar strings and guitars, a couple of years ago and Ernie paid his fine ($90,000) then rid the company of all Microsoft products, including Windows. They now run on Linux, use OpenOffice and thumb their nose at Microsoft and BSA. Oh, and for the record, I use Linux AND Ernie Ball strings.