davidvoegtle.net

I’ve never been one for conspiracy theories. The 9/11 Truth movement? Not credible. Alex Jones from InfoWars? I’m from Austin, TX, and he’s been our town idiot with a cheesy cable access show for as long as I can remember. Nevertheless, there’s something curious going on in California with regards to their ballot initiatives. I [...]

Just what is up lately with John McCain? One has to wonder if his campaign is sabotaging him on purpose. Surely it can’t be the case that the candidate of a major American political party is completely without access to a basic fact checker? Even a college-aged intern (with the Google or other basic Internet [...]

Several months ago, I ran across a review in MacWorld entitled The real paperless office, a brief explanation of setting up a paperless office. Quoth Wikipedia: The paperless office is now considered to be a philosophy to work with minimal paper and convert all forms of documentation to a digital form. The ideal is driven [...]

An argument that the Hillary Clinton campaign occasionally floats for reporters is that Hillary’s wins among the “big states” and among states that Democrats traditionally win make her the stronger candidate against John McCain in November. As the argument goes, Hillary has proven she can win California, New York, Michigan, Florida, New York, New Jersey, [...]

I like analogies. I like them a lot. Those of you who have seen me comment around the ‘Vine over the last couple years have probably seen me make my own fair share of analogies when discussing complex issues. A well-crafted analogy is a way to increase the contrast on the image, to pick out [...]

This is a little late, since the festival was a month ago this weekend. However, I’m testing out a version of MarsEdit, and I would like to start blogging more. This is a re-post of an article I wrote for Newsvine the weekend of the festival. Another Austin City Limits Music Festival has come and [...]

Or “Why I Know I Am Truly a Moron.” We have just finished reading Book 9 of the Odyssey in my ancient Greek class. I rather like mythology, so it’s been a real treat. However, we’ve been reading fast enough (~100 lines/night) that it’s been a little stressful. Herein, then, lies the story of my [...]

There’s almost nothing I love so much as book shopping. Every year UT Press has a book sale where they sell some of the titles and also have a large clearance sale on “hurt” books. I’ve gone almost every year for a while (I didn’t make it out last year). Anyway, here is this year’s [...]

So, I lied. I forgot that there was something I wanted to post about this week: the immigration question. Of course, it’s not that much of a question. Immigration will happen, the question is how much control will we exert over it, and also how much should we. If you’re just tuning in (to LIFE) [...]

Or, “Latin & beer: a good combination.” The weirdness of yesterday was not just limited to my sudden feeling of paranoia. After the programming class, I went to what has been my favorite class so far this semester: Latin. To understand just how much I’m enjoying the language, it helps to know that I’ve actually [...]

Yesterday was kind of weird. There were rumors all week that my school would close after noon for Good Friday. Supposedly the governor had in the past decreed state workers could leave early, but hadn’t last year. Thus, there was some confusion as to whether he would this year. I have it on good authority [...]

From the comments (who am I kidding, the comment): chasing Says: But even our own society isn’t necessarily “free and [tag]liberal[/tag]” – it only is when compared to those which relatively are not. [ . . . ] Just ask a 70 year old gay person, or, for that matter, an African American, or a [...]

I want to play a game. The game is “Let’s suppose.” Let’s suppose that there is an oppressive, dictatorial regime somewhere in the world. You have to power to grant to that society one of the two following characters: either you can make grant them a democratic form of government or you can engender in [...]

Alan Keyes’ Empty Rhetoric: Alan Keyes has a column at the Worldnutdaily about the Afghani man targeted for the death penalty for converting to Christianity. It sounds very much like something I might write on the subject of liberty and the need to protect it not only from dictators but from democratic majorities as well. [...]

Illinois leads new push for universal preschool: The programs give children a boost in school and into adulthood, advocates say. (Via Christian Science Monitor.) If you know me at all, you know that education is probably my #1 issue. I view quality education as the best way to advance the most people in society. An [...]

That whole Domenech thing? I think it’s probably a tempest in a teapot. Honestly it seems like an awful lot of people got way involved in something that, ultimately, changes very little. Has the Washington Post learned its lesson? I doubt it, or they wouldn’t keep making the same mistake. What’s the mistake? You don’t [...]

For those of you who have been predicting that China is the biggest future threat to America (and you know who you are), it may be of interest to know that China has probably secured their resource needs (or at least a significant portion of them) for the next several decades: China signs big Russian [...]

On the one hand, I’m glad to see this piece done; I think there are still many, many people in this country who will benefit from seeing perspectives that emphasize the biological nature of homosexuality (whether genetic or in utero hormone levels or a combination). And the article does offer some of that: In case [...]

Familiarity Breeds A User Base: W00t! It’s gotta be a good week, when it starts with a dose of John Gruber. The Daring Fireball is back, with a very interesting take on why most PC users won’t switch to the Mac. For those who have invested years and many dollars in the Windows platform, even [...]

Why has crime gone down over the past ten years? Is it: Increased availability of gun licenses via concealed carry permits in more states? Decreased availability of gun sales through illicit markets via more rigorous law enforcement? Some combination of both of the above? Neither of the above? Well, if this article is any indication, [...]

Too many options dilute shared experience: Our community is fragmented because we don’t do things together the way we used to. (Via Christian Science Monitor.) A few weeks ago I was discussing with a friend how the Olympics didn’t really seem like a big deal anymore. Certainly, I hadn’t watched any of the coverage. But [...]

How dumb am I? I bought a slew of new books just before I move next week! Half Price Books is really quite dangerous for a book addict like myself. Oh well. Here’s my haul: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (vol. I & II) by Gibbon The New College Latin & English [...]

Several related stories for this post. There’s been much discussion lately about education in this country, and (happily) at the moment rational forces are winning out over those that would dilute the foundations of a rationally-based humanistic liberal arts and sciences education with not-so-sly “teach critical thinking” attacks that are designed to sow confusing, pseudo-science, [...]

Apple To Drop Mac OS X In Favour Of Windows: “Ahhh, I’m perpetuating the machine! That John Dvorak may be whack, but he knows how to get a click. See? Here’s another one!“ (Via MacSlash.) Back when I was like . . . 15, John Dvorak was sort of the “cool” PC Magazine columnist that [...]

I’ve been playing around with this newish site called Newsvine. It’s . . . hard to describe exactly what it is. It basically seems to have elements of LiveJournal, Plastic.com, and Wikipedia, all stirred into a stew of news-y goodness. Or maybe it’s just a more cerebral Myspace. Basically, one can submit their own articles [...]