This is a real problem, and some of its seriousness is a result of the decades-long history of software patenting. If it seems like people like me are over-reacting, consider why I'm coming from first, and try to see the big picture. Amazon is providing the biggest target to come along in years, and it's as good a time as any to educate the public about this abstract issue.

Since that's the way we all seem to be communicating naturally, why fight it when you can enable it?

However... I have a habit of making public announcements in the hope that I will be that much more inclined to follow through. If all goes as planned, within the next couple of weeks I should have ready something that will prototype a method of providing reverse links for us webloggers. Basically, it will automate what you see at Carpe Diem today, where he has to manually list those who pointed at his site and provide links.

Unfortunately, I'm really freakin' busy and won't be able to update this today.

Why, oh why, do the large assignments always bunch up, surrounded by periods where none of my classes have much of anything to do? (Rhetorical question, I know the answers.)

Karl Martino reports on Echelon stuff in the discussion group. Great timing, I'm too busy today to hunt that out on my own.

Derive what you can from that statement. OK, OK, I admit it, I just wanted a "via" chain of 3. Anyone care to go further?

Actually, I'm not terribly impressed. If you examine the weights it gives, then it draws the vast majority of the information from the two tell-tale questions. If I had been less honest about my facial complexion, it would have been horribly, horribly wrong.