Most Important Lessons of 2005

Filed under Politics by adam | December 8, 2005 | 1 comment

Via Between Lawyers, What Was the Most Important Lessons You Learned in 2005?

A few of them are a little too “clever web 2.0 meme” for my taste (e.g., “As work gets more complex, more specialized and more networked, we are seeing a World of Ends, and the End of Process.”), but several are quite insightful. This one in particular caught my attention:

15. Look carefully at the data before you jump to conclusions. The main reason for the recent decline in violent crime in America’s cities was Roe v. Wade two decades ago and the increased access to abortion that it allowed. Not law & order, not more prisons and stiffer sentences, not gun control.

I don’t know if that’s true, but I hadn’t thought of it before.

Personally, I have no pithy observations about the most important lessons of 2005.

Windows Live Maps

Filed under The Web by adam | December 8, 2005 | 2 comments

I just checked out the new Windows Live Local—Microsoft’s answer to Google Maps. The interface is a little clunky, but the flyby image quality is amazing.

Here’s my house on Windows Live (by the number 1):

The same location, at the maximum magnification from Google Maps:

Google is going to need to invest in some better images. I think what this proves is that even Google needs some competition.

Interestingly, neither of these images shows the 9-unit condominium complex that replaced the duplex across the street from us. The duplex was demolished more than a year ago.