Month: April 2004

Some technical details of Google’s infrastructure that made me drool all over the keyboard: The Secret Source of Google’s Power. Also see this PDF on the Google File System.

A controversial college professor who thinks parents should be able to kill disabled children says though President Bush makes himself out to be a good Christian leader, he has the moral development of a 13-year-old boy. … A truly Christian leader, he said, would have “turned the other cheek” when the United States was attacked…

Slashdot: Starting on May 11, and for a duration of three months, you’ll be able to go to a virtual church…This experiment is launched by a Christian website, Ship of Fools, and will be named Church of Fools. Even with such a foolish name, the virtual church project has been approved by the church hierarchy.…

The Agitator: Norway is the latest European police state country to go fjord-to-fjord smoke free, though with an interesting twist. Apparently, bar and restaurant owners are subject to fines if their patrons are caught smoking, but same owners do not have the authority to eject patrons for lighting up. And patrons themselves can’t be punished…

A great day for freedom: Abdel Aziz Rantisi, the new leader of Hamas was taken out yesterday by the IDF. Just a few weeks ago, he proclaimed his love for death and said that “If by Apache or by cardiac arrest, I prefer Apache.” Looks like he got his wish! Rantisi is estimated to have…

Bush: Palestinian refugees can go to Palestine when the new state is created, he said; Israel is a Jewish state. The major Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are facts on the ground and cannot be wished away. The separation barrier Israel is building between its population centers and those of the Palestinians is OK,…

FYI: The Ayn Rand Institute’s Objectivist Academic Center (OAC) is now accepting applications to its undergraduate program for the fall. The April 26 deadline is quickly approaching. So, if you are interested in applying go to www.aynrand.org/academic and complete the online application form. The OAC’s program is a systematic course of study designed to give…

The New York Sun: The 41-year-old man sits in a filthy 18-by-24-foot cell that he shares with 10 other prisoners. He knows he is fortunate because up to 18 men are routinely squeezed in cells of that size…. The water is rationed and the little that is available is contaminated. His food rations are meager…

North Korea claims that it’s at the “brink of nuclear war” with the U.S. All I have to say is.. I wish! (From Cox & Forkum)

If you live anywhere near Bryan/College Station (East Texas), you may be interested in coming to this talk next Wednesday: