Nov 9, 2005

Software's real bugs!

History's Worst Software Bugs from wired.com

My fav...

"With that recall, the Prius joined the ranks of the buggy computer -- a club that began in 1947 when engineers found a moth in Panel F, Relay #70 of the Harvard Mark 1 system. The computer was running a test of its multiplier and adder when the engineers noticed something was wrong. The moth was trapped, removed and taped into the computer's logbook with the words: "first actual case of a bug being found.""

However, there is a list of software bugs as we know of it today.

Nov 7, 2005

I did not know such a thing existed

The Literary Darwinists from NYTimes

"Jane Austen first published "Pride and Prejudice" in 1813. She had misgivings about the book, complaining in a letter to her sister that it was "rather too light, and bright, and sparkling." But these qualities may be what make it the most popular of her novels. It tells the story of Elizabeth Bennet, a young woman from a shabby genteel family, who meets Mr. Darcy, an aristocrat. At first, the two dislike each other. Mr. Darcy is arrogant; Elizabeth, clever and cutting. But through a series of encounters that show one to the other in a more appealing light - as well as Mr. Darcy's intervention when an officer named Wickham runs away with Elizabeth's younger sister Lydia (Darcy bribes the cad to marry Lydia) - Elizabeth and Darcy come to love each other, to marry and, it is strongly suggested at book's end, to live happily ever after.
For the common reader, "Pride and Prejudice" is a romantic comedy. His or her pleasure comes from the vividness of Austen's characters and how familiar they still seem: it's as if we know Elizabeth and Darcy. On a more literary level, we enjoy Austen's pointed dialogue and admire her expert way with humor. For similar reasons, critics have long called "Pride and Prejudic" a classic - their ultimate (if not well defined) expression of approval.

But for an emerging school of literary criticism known as Literary Darwinism, the novel is significant for different reasons. Just as Charles Darwin studied animals to discover the patterns behind their development, Literary Darwinists read books in search of innate patterns of human behavior: child bearing and rearing, efforts to acquire resources (money, property, influence) and competition and cooperation within families and communities. They say that it's impossible to fully appreciate and understand a literary text unless you keep in mind that humans behave in certain universal ways and do so because those behaviors are hard-wired into us. For them, the most effective and truest works of literature are those that reference or exemplify these basic facts.
From the first words of the first chapter ("It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife") to the first words of the last ("Happy for all her maternal feelings was the day on which Mrs. Bennet got rid of her two most deserving daughters"), the novel is stocked with the sort of life's-passage moments that resonate with meaning for Literary Darwinists. (One calls the novel their "fruit fly.") The women in the book mostly compete to marry high-status men, consistent with the Darwinian idea that females try to find mates whose status will assure the success of their offspring. At the same time, the men are typically competing to marry the most attractive women, consistent with the Darwinian idea that males look for youth and beauty in females as signs of reproductive fitness. Darcy and Elizabeth's flips and flops illustrate the effort mammals put into distinguishing between short-term appeal (a pert step, a handsome coxcomb) and long-term appropriateness (stability, commitment, wealth, underlying good health). Meanwhile, Wickham - the penniless officer who tries to make off first with Darcy's sister and then carries off Lydia - serves as an example of the mating behavior evolutionary biologists call (I'm using a milder euphemism than they do) "the sneaky fornicator theory."
"

A different scrutiny on one of the books I really like. I wouldn't think of it this way!!!!!!! The entire atricle is rather long but good read.

Blog regulations

Most blogs are terrible [from The Examined Life] [via IndiaUncut]

This is a write up on blogging (good and bad) and how will regulating blogs will effect.

Fuel alternative

World's next fuel source could be designer organisms from CNET

"J. Craig Venter, who gained worldwide fame in 2000 when he mapped the human genetic code, is behind a new start-up called Synthetic Genomics, which plans to create new types of organisms that, ideally, would produce hydrogen, secrete nonpolluting heating oil or be able to break down greenhouse gases.
The initial focus will be on creating "biofactories" for
hydrogen and ethanol, two fuels seen as playing an increasing role in powering cars in the future. Hydrogen also holds promise for heating homes and putting juice into electronic devices. "

Nov 5, 2005

:) more on ID and evolution case

In Intelligent Design Case, a Cause in Search of a Lawsuit from NYTimes

Closing Arguments Made in Trial on Intelligent Design from NYTimes

Nov 4, 2005

Husband & Wife

From Vishnu Bhagavata
Husband and Wife must be souls like twin flames illuminating all about them.It is not a question of equality between them but of identity.

She is language; he is thought
She is prudence; he is law
He is reason; she is sense
She is duty; he is right
He is author; she is work
He is patience; she is peace
He is will; she is wish
He is pity; she is gift
He is song; she is note
She is fuel; he is fire
She is glory; he is sun
She is motion; he is wind
He is owner; she is wealth
He is battle; she is might
He is lamp; she is light
He is day; she is night
He is justice; she is pity
He is channel; she is river
She is beauty; he is strength
She is body; he is soul

Nov 3, 2005

Take a guess before you click!

My favourite Microsoft product [from IndiaUncut]