[My] newsletter began shortly after I resigned from Roxio, the software company, in July, 2001. At the time I was the editor of two email newsletters (one for Windows, one for Macintosh) with a combined list of 180,000 subscribers, intended to help people to get the most out of their software. I used to write… Continue reading About the Newsletter
School Trips: An Italian Tradition
^ downtime in Siena during a class trip to Tuscany It’s traditional in the Italian school system, at least from middle school on, for each class to take a school trip (gita scolastica) most years. Rossella started at age five, during her last year of scuola materna. Though most of them had never been away from home… Continue reading School Trips: An Italian Tradition
Hearts and Minds, Echoes in the Desert
written by my father, Al Straughan: I do support the British and American troops in Iraq, though I regret that they are there and I believe that there are no good reasons for their being there. I further regret that all of this cannot simply end and the troops be withdrawn, because this would only… Continue reading Hearts and Minds, Echoes in the Desert
DVD Players: Good, Bad, and Multi-Region
A few years ago, I bought (via a friend, from the UK) an expensive DVD player that played almost everything. But now the reading laser in it appears to be dying; it’s increasingly fussy about playing anything at all. The other day we stumbled onto the perfect replacement, on sale in an electronics superstore. For… Continue reading DVD Players: Good, Bad, and Multi-Region
Following the War
I’ve read that many Americans, and probably others, are obsessively watching the war coverage on television – and that coverage is closer, more immediate, and probably scarier than we’ve ever seen before. I’m avoiding the television. I get plenty upset just thinking about it all; I have a vivid imagination and don’t need supplemental images.… Continue reading Following the War