In February we suggested it's time to reconsider nuclear power; readers had a meltdown. "A disgusting snow job of an article," one raged. "It must be tough coming up with topics month after month," sniped another. "It shows." Even onetime environmentalist in chief Al Gore chimed in at Davos, complaining directly to our editor in chief. Sigh. Nobody said saving the world would be easy. And as soon as readers finished going nuclear, they went postal over Andy Kessler's proposal to shut down the US Mail. Some names our usually clear-headed correspondents called the writer: idiot, f-king idiot, ass-kisser, dummy, fool, Republican. "I work for a living," one irate subscriber wrote, "while you get fat working up a sweat tapping away at your little keyboard." Hey, Kessler's only sweating because he's nervous - he hasn't gotten any mail in weeks.
Outfoxing Microsoft
I think the notion that Microsoft is missing some boat by neglecting Internet Explorer is misplaced ("The Firefox Explosion," issue 13.02). The browser is not critical to Microsoft's business. If you look at the development tools and platforms in the company's product line, it's clear to me that IE is just a commodity item at one end of an HTTP exchange. It could just as well be my wireless phone or my Xbox.
Jeff "Jones" Putz
Brunswick, Ohio
I am amazed how far Firefox has come in such a short time. My younger brother says that his elementary school teacher allows only Firefox on the school's computers. When 10-year-old kids aren't permitted to use Internet Explorer, you know the browser terrain has shifted.
Andreas Freund
Davis, California
Nuclear Energy: Promise or Peril?
As I read "Nuclear Now" (issue 13.02), I kept hoping to find the words advertising supplement somewhere. I don't doubt that nukes are cleaner than coal or oil. But it's absurd to write about energy policy without even mentioning the word conservation.
Between restarting the AC grid at a higher frequency to making load-sensitive switches in every transformer, there are hundreds of ways to drastically reduce our energy consumption. Many of them are dead simple and completely low tech. How can the authors seriously propose that we double our bet on a complex, uninsurable, tried-and-failed technology while ignoring all the easy wins that conservation can offer?
Thom Hounsell
Toronto, Ontario
Thank the gods! Finally, a factual article on the need for nuclear power. Our grandchildren, looking on a world of mass extinctions and drowned coastlines, will curse us for not replacing fossil fuels with clean nuclear energy.
Richard Schumacher
Dallas, Texas
"Nuclear Now!" included the usual hand waves to gloss over critical problems like waste disposal and major accidents. However, it ignored the biggest problem: Nuclear plants make lovely targets. Nineteen guys with Kalashnikovs could easily take over a nuke plant. Nineteen guys with box cutters might even have a chance at flying airliners into a couple. In either case, a sizable portion of the US becomes uninhabitable for decades.
Some time ago an idiot fired an antitank missile at a French nuclear reactor. Fortunately, the guy didn't do his homework and it did little damage. Unfortunately, al Qaeda does its homework.
Al Globus
Capitola, California
You had to know that these emails would come in droves after you published Peter Schwartz and Spencer Reiss' right-leaning, Cheney-worshipping drivel about clean nuclear power. The bottom line is that nuclear power is inherently dangerous, and we have no way of disposing of the intensely radioactive trash it generates. Yucca Mountain, the only "viable" option the US government has proposed, has a maximum capacity of 77,000 tons - but as of 2002, there was an estimated 65,000 tons of waste already piled up around the country. How could we handle disposal and containment if production increased? Shame on you for such lack of foresight.
Aaron Evanson
Washington, DC
Looking for Laughs in the Wrong Places
I couldn't help but roll my eyes as I read "Building the Fun Bomb" (issue 13.02) and came across this: "We've got this iconic thing that's every nerd's dream, but she happens to actually love playing Halo." My biggest complaint about videogame shows is the prevalence of hot chicks trying to talk about games. When geeks want to see hot chicks, they can go online. But when they want to listen to people talking about videogames, they want people who know their shit. There are lots of funny people who know more about games than anyone on TV right now, and it should be Comedy Central's job to find them.
Owen Williams
Somerville, Massachusetts
No Lunch for You, Microsoftie
Thanks, Wired. I just finished reading "I Got Accepted at Google!" (Start, issue 13.02), and now I understand why software is so expensive. Not because of piracy, but because we need to keep those poor Microsoft and Electronic Arts employees fed roast chicken with olive tapenade marinade or grilled habanero pork chops with apple chutney. Maybe Microsoft should cancel office movie day until it can get a handle on its near-endless cycle of security patches.
Ed Sherman
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Wait a Minute, Mr. Postman
At the outset of his piece questioning the worth of the Postal Service (View, "Stop the US Mail!," issue 13.02), Andy Kessler says Americans will put up with most anything "as long as it doesn't involve waiting in line" and tells how he wasted "half a day mailing a gift this holiday season."
It's amazing that a savvy observer of the high tech scene wouldn't know that he didn't even have to leave his desk to mail that package. There's a post office in his home. It's called usps.com. Using it, you can print labels, buy stamps, and let the letter carrier who comes to your door know that you've got a package to be picked up.
The rest of his piece is a plea for the privatization of the Postal Service, with a particular emphasis of the monopoly the USPS has on the delivery of first-class mail. Of course, the monopoly he so detests is under assault every day from emails, faxes, and electronic bill payments. But its continued existence is not a matter for the Postal Service to decide, but a public policy issue reserved for Congress.
The Postal Service is not, as Kessler would suggest, an organization collapsing under its own weight. Rather, it's one that's adapting to the changing economic environment and, if the numbers are any measure, doing it rather well at that.
Azeezaly S. Jaffer
Vice president, public affairs and communications, United States Postal Service
Washington, DC
Bravo to Andy Kessler for calling to end the Postal Service's monopoly. The USPS stranglehold on letter delivery costs taxpayers, private companies, and ordinary consumers alike. But Kessler doesn't go far enough: The Postal Service shouldn't just lose its monopoly, it should undergo full privatization. Globally speaking, this is far from a radical solution: Germany and the Netherlands have held initial public offerings on their onetime national carriers, transforming the old bureaucracies into far more efficient private firms. Only government inertia and powerful workers' unions have kept the postal leviathan on life support until now. It's time to pull the plug and let free-market forces prevail.
Sam Ryan
Senior fellow, the Lexington Institute
Arlington, Virginia
I have to disagree with the article advocating the end of the US Postal Service. Sure, email is faster, if you have a computer. Yes, you can send a package by FedEx, but (as I understand it) not from everywhere. The best thing about the USPS is that for 37 cents, it can deliver something to almost any place in the country by "a uniformed official of the federal government." Our system works; why start all over? If you want some perspective, try sending a personal letter to Paraguay.
Steven White
Bloomington, Minnesota
Undo
• Spellcheck: "The Lock Busters" (issue 13.02) misspelled the name of Marc Weber Tobias.
• Credit where it's due: Chris Messina helped design Spreadfirefox.com but was not the sole developer of CivicSpace, which is an open source project ("The Firefox Explosion," issue 13.02).
• What's in a name? The Crossfire car is made by Chrysler, the Aztek comes courtesy of Pontiac, and the Aveo is sold by Chevrolet (Infoporn, "Are You Sure You're Buying American?," issue 13.02).
• Re-search: It's not just difficult to graduate summa cum laude from MIT; it's impossible. The university doesn't offer honors (Start, "I Got Accepted at Google!," issue 13.02).
