Speculators and Prognosticators

There are two columns I love to read whenever they're updated ... one is the Mole. A supposed insider in the world of Formula 1 racing. 'He' (well, it might be a she, one does not know) likes to make the reader believe there's an office in the British government secret services concerned with the inner workings and machinations of the FIA, the racing teams and the associated manufacturers. The really good thing about them is that there's usually a nugget of information about the underlying implications of some of the shady dealing that goes on in the racing world that makes me say to myself, 'is that really what they're thinking at Renault?'

The other column I like is Robert X. Cringely's weekly articles on PBS. He does a similar job to the Mole, but in the world of computing and the Internet. His speculations about what Google, Apple, Microsoft, Sun, et. al. are planning to do next are always entertaining, and they invite the same 'hmmm, I wonder?' reaction from me as the Mole does.

I like that in a writer.