Geekdom at Large

Rumor has it that people at the Microsoft campus can not access slashdot. Is this because of slashdot or Microsoft? Slashdot and especially it's commenters rarely have anything good to say about MS, so it's interesting to see where the block is happening.

True believer thing...

... While I was at the 'Evil Empire', in the heart of the 'Deathstar', I noticed that there was this sense of fanaticism - That Microsoft could do no wrong, the rest of the world was just jealous, and any government action was totally unfair and manipulated by their competitors who couldn't honestly compete. There was no real discussion on the issue. Either you agreed and you were one of 'us' or you didn't and you were one of them! On the flipside, all you have to do is read through the comments on any article that mentions MS on slashdot, and you see a lot of vehemency towards MS. I can't help but think that this sense of vehemency is just about of equal strength on both sides.

What's even more odd is when I would come accros those individuals whom I had once known as MS haters, working at MS, and then being one of the true believers. The world amazes me.

OK, Here it is the first post to The Buzz:

The World at Large

Why is so hard to find honest discussion and debate? It seems so many times that people are only interested in pushing their viewpoints and not so interested in finding out what is the most reasonable viewpoint. Perhaps it is the need to be heard, understand, or simply, ego, to leave their mark upon their world. It also should be noted that true objective analysis is impossible. Even if we disregard the epistemological underpinnings of how we assimilate and understand the world, all of us, even the most sincere, honest and open-minded of us, still have assumptions, biases, judgments and invested opinions.

Nevertheless, It is my hope that this is one such place that people can find honest explorations of many issues.

Regards, James