Today's Wine Whine

Yesterday, I opened a bottle of Stoney Ridge Cellars' 2003 "Bench Cabernet Franc". This is a very young wine, so I didn't have high expectations of it . . . it was an after-work wine. At first, the overwhelming impression was tannins. The second sip didn't matter because the first sip had stomped all over the tastebuds and left little unbruised in its wake. This is a wine that the winery suggests will be drinkable up to 2010. This may be true, but I'm now wishing they'd included a Best After date, too.

This is a depressing idea

Kevin Jaeger posts this look at Arab conspiracy theories on his blog Trudeaupia. If this is the sort of thing that rational, educated members of the Arab public indulge in, there is very little hope of democracy becoming common in that part of the world in the near future.

Tech Writing Geek Alert: Style Guide Hatchet Job

Andrew Plato is a former technical writer who has unique insight into the quirks and weirdnesses of the profession. This is a posting he made today to Techwr-L, a mailing list for tech writers:

Developing a detailed, barely-used style guide for your company: 100 hours

Obsessing over minor editing nits: 200 hours

Trivializing content so you can play with the latest features in FrameMaker: 50 hours

Flummoxed at why nobody respects you at work: priceless.

For all those times you need it: Font Fondling. It's wherever you are.

PS: Get the hell back to work, you!