Twelve Seconds
Less time than it takes to retrieve your e-mail.
Less time than it takes to watch a commercial.
A little more time than it takes to start a car (or at least a new one).
That’s how much time it took to change the world.
I’m Coining a New Term
A quick search of Google returns zero hits for:
Zowie Howie and the Deanie Babies
Let it be known that I am coining a new term for the current front runner for the 2004 Democratic Party presidential nominee and his followers, the Angry Left.
Today’s required reading
One Down, Dozens More to Go: A plan for ridding the world of dictators, on today’s Opinion Journal page, by Claudia Rosett. The main idea: Democratic Republics are, even at their worst, better than dictatorships, so lets get rid of the dictatorships. Money quote (actually, a quote of a quote): “The best democracy program ever invented is the U.S. Army.”
Spontaneous Smiles Day
I’m all giggles today. Explanation later.
55-Card Pickup: SADDAM FRICKIN HUSSEIN!
Hallelujiah, Praise the Lord! We got him! There is much I could say here, most of it echoing the sentiments on other blogs and TV channels, but I will constrain myself:
Oh, one more thing, I’d like your opinion:
Read more…
Reason # 465733 why we shouldn’t leave Iraq
Air Force fights to save deformed newborn’s life.
Now, can the left please stop claiming that going into Iraq was a bad idea?
The most honest spam ever
From: Elisa Moser
To: The Man
Subject: Stop emails like this one..
I’m not kidding. That message actually graced my inbox.
Put this guy in for a medal
Army guard does his duty, saves lives
Specialist James Ross saw a car accelerate towards the guard tower, driving over the first set of barricades. So he opens fire, stopping the car. It then explodes. Good job, soldier! If I was your CO, the paperwork would be in for your Bronze Star With V device (or maybe Silver Star).
For the uninstructed, a chart showing the Army awards and ranking of the Bronze Star can be found here.
220,996,011-1 is prime
A new Mersenne prime has been found. These are numbers of the form 2p-1, where p is a prime number. Details here and here. My favorite quote is from the Fox story:
“People are going to make posters of it to hang up on the wall,” said Shafer, who is pursuing a doctorate in chemical engineering. “It’s a neat accomplishment, but it really doesn’t have any applicability.”
Of course, the question is now “Is 2(2^20,996,011)-1-1 prime? Is it even or odd?
Here’s 3 cheers for distributed computing! And to think, as of today, there’s only 7862 people in the RC5-72 race that have turned in more work than me.
The game may never be the same again
I want to watch Kasparov beat Karpov!
I want to watch Holyfield beat Tyson!
Let’s watch both! Hat tip: the Volokhs.