What is google?

What does google actually do? What does the indespensibility of technologies like google tell us about how language works? How knowledge works? I have taken the liberty of putting some words into Bertrand Russell's mouth about that. Conversation with a Bertrand Russell chatterbot.

Seven reasons to use A9

here.

The PSB (Public Services Broker) and Service Oriented Architectures for eGovernment

I will be co-presenting a paper on Ireland's Public Services Broker (PSB) - a Service Oriented Architecture for eGovernment - at the Spring 2004 Government CIO Summit in Florida on May 17th.

Death by UML fever and data model denial

Death by UML fever is a very funny and poignant look at the worst excesses of UML. In an object world, I've seen every one of the maladies described in the article at some stage or another.
In a Web Services world in which Objects are not the primarly abstraction, I see a new UML fever. Lets call it "data model denial". A refusal to believe that the data model and operations on data models + data contracts (schemas) are the key abstraction in Web Services. I've seen guys run up and down the menu of UML diagram types trying to find ones that fits that world view. Its funny and sad to watch.
My favourite UML malady described is Gravitational Fever:

"This fever causes delusions in those afflicted to believe that gravitational acceleration enables their UML artifact mass to have value. For those unfamiliar with Newton's second law of motion, those suffering with gravitational fever believe that the progress of software-engineering effort is directly proportional to the weight of the project's UML artifacts."

Be sure to read Grady Booch in the same issue.

Juliet Turner

I don't often stray from tech on this blog but discovering a new Joni Mitchellesque talent is a worthwhile exception to the rule. Juliet Turner is a diamond. Great lyrics sitting atop excellent music. I'm a sucker for poetic stories and Juliet's work is full of them. Think Joni Mitchell with sprinklings of Sinead O'Conner, Alanis Morisette and Delores O'Riordan.
Three hundred years ago, we would have called her An Ollamh or perhaps a Seanchai and we would have been in awe of her power to laud and to satirize in equal measure.
She sings with her Tir Chonaill accent fully intact which adds greatly to the effect of her voice. Its quintessentially Gaelic:

We could buy a little vineyard, both get fat and brown.
Open up a jazz cafe the seedy side of town.
I'd have a belly full of children, you'd have a belly full of drink.
We wouldn't have to give a damn what other people think.

Take the money and run. From the album Burn the black suit.

Identity of the mystery man revealed

I have received an e-mail from a perplexed peruser of these slides wishing to know who is the gent juxtaposed to Bertrand Russell on slide 10.
It is Saul Kripke, author of Naming and necessity.

New section of A SOAP Opera posted

Section 2 - strong words, softly spoken has been posted.