Blackmoor Vituperative

For 37 years, Science Applications International Corp. has been owned by its employees. In that time, the company has grown from nothing to an $8 billion giant that does some of the government’s most sensitive work in intelligence, homeland security and defense.

But within days, those employees — 43,100 of them, more than a third of whom live in the Washington area — will have to learn to share their company with people who have never before had the chance to own SAIC stock: members of the public.

SAIC shares could begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange as soon as tomorrow in an initial public offering estimated to be worth $1 billion, which would be among the largest IPOs ever in the defense industry.

(from WashingtonPost.com, Filings Illuminate IPO’s Bumpy Ride)

It’s about time. I have a small amount of SAIC stock (I worked for them from 2002 through 2005), and this IPO has taken forever. I am really glad that they have professionals handling the stock program now. When I was there, it was handled in-house by Bull, Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of SAIC), and I had more than a few problems with them. As much as I took pride in being a SAIC employee-owner (and I would still be one if my management had permitted me to accept a job offer I received from a different SAIC division), I think it will be a good thing for SAIC to go public. I think it will make them more accountable and force them to make better business decisions, particularly in these post-Sarbanes-Oxley days.

I could be wrong, but that’s what I think.

I have been watching the recent re-release of Star Wars (the movie George Lucas later renamed “A New Hope”, so that he could build a franchise out of the name “Star Wars”). It has weathered the past 30 pretty well, all things considered. The DVD set also includes a more recent revision, courtesy of Lucas’ obsessive desire to keep tinkering with a classic. I will admit that the revision has better sound and visuals than the original. I still do not like some of the changes — I see no reason to clutter up Mos Eisley with a bunch of random CGI monsters, for example, and the added scene with Jabba is dramatically and cinematically superfluous. Not to mention the completely gratuitous take to the camera by Boba Fett. But overall, I think the current revision of Star Wars is a pretty decent movie. Not as good as the original, but still, pretty good.

What I simply can’t abide is the commentary. Yes, I listened to it. I kind of had to, Star Wars geek that I am. But I am apparently unlike most people who listen to this drivel because I was alive when Star Wars came out, I was a huge Star Wars fan, and I actually paid attention to what Lucas said at the time. And his story has changed a great deal since then. I am listening to this nonsense about how he wanted to “re-create myths and the classic mythological motifs”, and I just want to interrupt him and tell him, “George, the suckers may buy this line of crap, but I know better. So save the song and dance and just talk about the movie, okay?”

But what the hell. It’s still a great movie.

P.S. Go read Galactic Gasbag, by Steven Hart.

Julie Harris-Hulcher has an interesting article about Lovcecraft’s work and how it thrived while eschewing the protections of conventional copyright. It is worthy of serious consideration.

The article itself is part of The Reader’s Guide To The Cthulhu Mythos.

“You got your Edsels, diesels, Dumonts, and Eddie Wilson all together forming our own incredible monument to nothing. Here’s to nothing, fellas, here’s to nothing.”

If you haven’t seen Eddie And The Cruisers, you won’t get it. You might think you do, but you don’t.

I have not been writing as much on Spider Season as I’d hoped. I need to put forth more effort to write more. Zelazny once said in an interiew that he aimed to write something at least four times per day, even if it’s just a couple of sentences. I am going to try and adopt this.

I did manage to get a few lines into the rape scene. That is going to be difficult. I have done a lot of reading in the past week of accounts from rape victims in real life, and frankly it’s pretty horrific stuff. I considered taking that scene out of the book entirely. But it’s her motivation for several short-term goals which are important later, and it also explains her aversion to intimacy. On the other hand, it does seem awfully hackneyed. I am sick to death of having a sexual assault trotted out in every book by every half-assed hack novelist as though it’s a requirement like a copyright notice. (I am looking at you, Piers Anthony). Am I vain to think that I am doing anything better?

I think I am doing something better.

Operations of global software companies, financial institutions and government offices in India’s main technology hub shut on Wednesday after activists called a strike over a border dispute with a neighboring state.

The 12-hour stoppage in Bangalore, the capital of the southern state of Karnataka, was called by groups disputing claims by next-door Maharashtra over a small border town.

“The strike is going on very well all across the state. All works in government departments have come to a complete standstill,” L. Byrappa, president of the Karnataka Government Employee’s Association, told Reuters.

The streets of Bangalore, home to over 1,500 Indian and multinational tech firms like Microsoft Corp., Intel Corp. and IBM, were deserted as companies and shops shut down. Schools closed and traffic was sparse.

(from eWeek, Software Giants Shut as Strike Hits Indian Tech Hub)

This is what happens when you outsource your IT services to a third-world country.

If your copy of Vista does not pass Microsoft’s anti-piracy sniff test, you won’t be able to use the Aero user interface, Windows Defender anti-spyware and ReadyBoost memory-expanding technologies that will be built into the premium versions of Vista. (Will other Vista elements, like Vista Ultimate Extras, get the WGA lock-down? The Softies had no comment when I asked.)

[…]

There are also some WGA and Volume Activation 2.0 myths that Microsoft is out to debunk, officials said. If a Vista machine doesn’t pass WGA or Volume Activation 2.0 muster, Microsoft cannot and will not “shut it off,” officials said. (If you fail to activate Vista in 30 days, however, it sounds like your Internet access is shut down after an hour. Sure sounds like a “kill” switch by any other name.)

(from ZDNet, What Microsoft still isn’t saying about WGA and Volume Activation 2.0

Remember: at least 20% at least 42% of the 60 million people hassled by WGA (aka Windows Genuine Aggravation) are licensed users who have obtained the software legitimately.

Just say “no thanks” to Vista.

Software Being Developed to Monitor Opinions of U.S.

Defective By Design presents ten things you can do today to fight the Digital Rights Mafia.