It's odd how we can be at war with them, or they can be at war with us, and the term doesn't give any indication on which one is the one being attacked, or where the war is taking place.

I guess it's because before roughly 300 years ago, wars were things that happened on mutual borders, so it didn't matter as much who started it, as both populaces felt the real effects of the struggle. Certainly many wars are still like this, and there are terms for it, 'border conflict' for example. We have 'civil war,' and 'coup' for an internal struggle, but we don't really have words for some of the modern faces war takes on.

Consider that war almost always involved the desire to acquire land. This is a natural reason for wars to happen along borders, to push them one way or another. Distant wars, the Falklands War, the Revolutionary War, though not attached to the 'mother country' were still about gaining or keeping ownership of land.

I guess the change started with allies. In WW I and WW II we were allies to various countries under siege, and after winning the war, these governments were either solidified or reinstated. It wasn't about the US getting more land, even in the countries that surrendered. Sure there were places where land was divvied (East/West Germany and Israel to name a few), but the US wasn't going for a land grab.

Vietnam, Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan. All these wars involved massive US troops on foreign soil for reasons having nothing to do with gaining territory, but to enforce ideology and, in the larger sense, decrease future threats to our own country.

'War' is a great umbrella term, and maybe there's a more specific term that's just slipping out of my mind at the moment, but I can't think of it.

Now that I'm ending this post, I'll confess that I didn't really have a point. It just seems that, evidenced by the stupid names CNN, ABC, et al have for this 'military action' we need to do what English-speakers do best, and expand our vocabulary with a few new terms.

I rag on Berkeley a lot, but there really are some cool bits, like firebreathers on your doorstep.

I took this 10 minutes ago, about 30 feet from my apartment:

(bigger)
(full-size source)

"The bra should also reassure women concerned about lightning storms."

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(if it's not there yet, check Wired's Home Page, right-hand col, bottom, under 'Ephemera.'

Apple's up to something.

They've announced that they have a 'breakthrough product' that is 'not a mac' but apparently involves collaboration between the Quicktime and iTunes teams, along with other unspecified teams.

It has been hinted that this is a hardware product, not a software product, and Apple's scheduled a special event for this coming Tuesday, the 23rd (the same day that Windows XP will officially launch) to unveil it.

A lot of the speculation (based on the teams mentioned) is that it will be a music product, somehow tied to MP3s, but not anything like an ordinary MP3 player.

So what is it? I have two ideas, and I'd be happy if either is right, though I'm also excited at the prospect of something new and unexpected (and I'm beyond hoping that it's a newton-based device).

Possibility #1: A wireless, connected MP3 player. Consider an MP3 player that had an airport card that, along with a revised version of iTunes on your home Mac, could reach out to your machine, either through a local Airport network, or through the internet (from work, vacation, etc.) to constantly refresh the music in the device with music from your larger connection. Now imagine that the product is half the size of a deck of cards, and had the capability, through audio navigation, to select specific songs in your hoe collection for download and storage?

Possibility #2: A thin-client iPad. Not technically a mac, this device wouldn't have a hard drive, any media bays, or even a true operating system. Instead it would be a 'remote display' for an existing Mac. Running through Airport, it would mirror the computer's display anywhere within Airport's range, streaming audio both to and from the device, allowing iTunes playback anywhere, and with a touchscreen, also allowing web browsing or email reading and composition from the living room couch. I've written about the possibilities an iPad holds before. Tuesday's surprise might simply be the thinnest, simplest, and cheapest incarnation of those mentioned in the article.

Time will tell, but it's quite a novel surprise to have a largely mysterious product announcement on the way. It's sort of a rush.

I wonder what ever happened to Susie-don't-touch.

And for the 99.9% of the audience who has no idea what I'm talking about, I'm riding the train in tomorrow, and will be writing a lot.

I have a list.

When life gets busy, the busy blog IM conversation humor:

me:	Threat of terrorism hits California's Central Valley
metagrrrl:	Wow. Hadn't thought about the impact of terrorism on the panties by mail business.
me:	Totally. I liked that he was afraid that they might be infected with anthrax, but he sniffed them to check for perfume. Yeah, I bet that's why he sniffed them.
metagrrrl:	Let that be a lesson to you. Only sniff panties you know haven't been in the possession of terrorists.
me:	Right. "Our panties will be delivered in a bright yellow envelope with black stripes and text that clearly says: "THIS IS NOT A TERRORIST THREAT."
metagrrrl:	"PLEASE SNIFF"
me:	Right. "THESE ARE PANTIES. DO NOT BE ALARMED."
metagrrrl:	lol

Handspring announced the Treo Communicator line of PDA/phones today.

The first two models don't come out until early next year, followed mid-year by a color version, but they look really cool and well thought out, not a PDA-in-a-phone or a phone-in-a-PDA, but a really nice balance.

I was excited before, but after seeing that they're so small (narrower and shorter than a Palm V, and only 0.3" thicker) the unit looks really good. Now the only decisions are whether to get the B/W or color, and whether you prefer graffiti or a little thumb keyboard.

oh my god! I haven't written anything since Friday!

There, that oughta do it.

I guess it's intended for use with the IE search window, but I'm really liking Google Lite as a fast way to re-find a site you're looking for.

This also looks like just the thing if you want to use google from a PDA.

Today's bona-fide cellphone horoscope (from Cingular, not me):

"Play up your strengths. Cash in on your luck. Further investment is a gamble."

Now I know luck is one of my strengths, and I guess I understand cashing in on that luck, but if further investment is a gamble, and luck is one of my strengths, and I should cash in on it, does this mean I should do it more? Well, I'm going to Vegas over Thanksgiving, so maybe I'll do a little investing while I'm there.