Memex 1.1

“Today’s necessary but likely very expensive action for taxpayers is the consequence of regulatory neglect and of a broader political system’s reluctance to take on what should have been clearly seen as festering problems.”

Larry Summers, former Harvard President and former Treasury Secretary, commenting on the nationalisation of Freddie Mac and Fannie May.

“We spend too much time getting our systems to work, and not enough putting them to work.”

Lorcan Dempsey

“Greatness is measured by the size of your manhood.”

Subject line of a junk email caught by my spam-filter. Sounds vaguely Churchillian, don’t you think?

“Maybe he is interested in some subject, but it isn’t a subject we teach here.”

From one of Lord Snowden’s school reports during his time at Eton.

Source

“I’m hoping the two of them will beat each others brains out over search and leave the display market to us.”

AOL CEO Randy Falco commenting on Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo.

Ah, the proved advantages of scholarship

whereas his dad took cold tea with his snap

he slaves at nuances, knows at just one sip

Chateau Lafite from Chateau Neuf du Pape.

Tony Harrison, Collected Poems, Viking, 2007.

… in 1970, Bertrand Russell died. I’ve always loved his essay In Praise of Idleness for its wonderful definition of ‘work’:

Work is of two kinds: first, altering the position of matter at or near the earth’s surface relatively to other such matter; second, telling other people to do so. The first kind is unpleasant and ill paid; the second is pleasant and highly paid.”

Great career advice for any young person.

The trouble with Oppenheimer is that he loves a woman who doesn’t love him — the United States government”.

Albert Einstein

“He was too New York, too Italian, and he had too many wives”.

Dorothy Kaliades, a retired jewelry designer who was having her nails done in Howard Beach, Queens when she was interviewed by the New York Times. She was explaining why she had never believed that Rudi Giuliani had a real chance of becoming the Republican candidate for president.

Putting [Lotus] Notes on iPhone is like getting out a piece of exquisite Wedgwood china and using it to serve a steaming pile of dog shit. Have you ever seen Notes? It’s not software, it’s a form of punishment. Companies that use Notes have to staff not only a help desk but also a suicide prevention center — it’s that bad. Even the poor bastards at IBM, who are forced to use it, do nothing but complain…

From the The Fake Steve Jobs diary.