A Toddler, An Open Window And An Amazing Catch : NPR (via Instapundit)

Conficker Worm Finally attacks

FOXNews.com - Conficker Worm Finally Begins Attacking PCs:
"BOSTON — A malicious software program known as Conficker that many feared would wreak havoc on April 1 is slowly being activated, weeks after being dismissed as a false alarm, security experts said. Conficker, also known as Downadup or Kido, is quietly turning thousands of personal computers into servers of e-mail spam and installing spyware, they said."

Cruise Ship fights Somali Pirates

It's good to hear that instead of waiting for impotent governments to do something, people are fighting back on their own. Foxnews reports that "an Italian cruise ship with 1,500 people on board fended off a pirate attack far off the coast of Somalia when its Israeli private security forces exchanged fire with the bandits and drove them away, the commander said Sunday."

Let this incident be a warning to others who are dithering over arming civilian ships. Maybe the German ship which was seized on 25th could have avoided its fate if it was also armed. I say arm each ship with only one sniper who can blow off the approaching pirates one by one. Who knows, maybe this can be the next big thing in the cruising circles (did you see the whale? no, I saw something better, a pirate getting shot from long distance).

The Star Spangled Banner

I don't know if this one is really by Sergei Rachmaninoff as it claims but I really like it.

Man, 84, fends off attackers

Man, 84, fends off attackers - Boing Boing: Two men attempted to carjack Ted Mazetier, 84, of Tacoma, Washington. So he beat the crap out of them. Very Gran Torino." (via: Instapundit)

We Need a JOHN GALT

The Kalamazoo Objectivist: "The Culmination of Our Morality of Self-Sacrifice is Barack Obama but What We Need is a JOHN GALT
Do you ever ask yourself why we are always asked to sacrifice for this, sacrifice for that, in ever escalating demands? Has it ever occurred to you that it's a great way to control us? Obama is the result of this morality of sacrificial lambs at the alter of the poor, the needy, the planet, the bears, the atmosphere etc. But have we ever asked why we had to sacrifice ourself for everybody else and for everything else on this earth? The famous literary character, John Galt, warned us 50 years ago that it was this morality of self-sacrifice that was destroying the world and that we needed to discover a new morality- the morality of living by holding 'three things as the supreme and ruling values of ones life: Reason - purpose - and self-esteem.' (For The New Intellectual by Ayn Rand)."

Milton Friedman Defends Greed

The Kalamazoo Objectivist: "Phil Donahue is the most sanctimonious creep I've ever laid eyes on or heard. But the late Milton Friedman a famous economist, just shreds him to pieces in a very kind way and lays him out flat with a couple of punches. Yes, Donahue, even you live under the banner of greed which more rational people would call self-interest. If you don't have self-interest, aka greed then you will die - Mr. Donahue."

Why Europe Doesn’t Want Turkey’s Islamic Millions

Why Europe Doesn’t Want Turkey’s Islamic Millions: By Peter C. Glover Wednesday, April 22, 2009

"President Obama has been banging the drum for Turkey’s accession to the European Union. Not that there’s anything new in his policy. Obama sees a ‘European Turkey’ as a win-win situation both for Europe and the United States. He believes, as does the Turkish PM Recep Erdogan, that it is the natural quid pro quo for Turkey’s development as Europe’s east-west energy bridge."

The leader of America where free speech and individual rights are an integral part of the constitution has become the cheerleader for an Islamic country. Does he realise that though he might send the message that the West is not the enemy but the Islamic world thinks otherwise and none of his goodwill gesture are going to change that reality.Will he take responsibility for for his actions when the riots in France are repeated at a much larger scale across Europe due to the influx of Muslims who hanker for sharia laws? Or will he wring his hands and say,"I just wanted to be friends with them".

I live in India where I have seen the results of this policy of appeasement. The riots in Muslim dominated old Delhi are a constant reminder that turning a blind eye to reality will not change it. These are ghettos where even the hardened, gestapo like Delhi police is scared of entering. They need especial permission and riot police squad to enter these area's. Is this what Obama wants for Europe? Let the rookie president take a moment to rethink his disastrous foreign policy before he does some real damage.

Earth Day present

A special present for the people celebrating the Earth Day. These words of Howard Roark:

"He looked at the granite. To be cut, he thought, and made into walls. He looked at a tree. To be split and made into rafters. He looked at a streak of rust on the stone and thought of iron ore under the ground. to be melted and to emerge as girders against the sky.

These rocks, he thought, are here waiting for me; waiting for the drill, the dynamite and my voice; waiting to be split, ripped, pounded, reborn; waiting for the shape my hands will give them."
"The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand.

Happy Exploit-the-Earth Day

Principles in Practice: "On April 22, Celebrate Exploit-the-Earth Day
Posted by Craig Biddle at 2:51 PM
Because Earth Day is intended to further the cause of environmentalism—and because environmentalism is an anti-human ideology—on April 22, those who care about human life should not celebrate Earth Day; they should celebrate Exploit-the-Earth Day.
Exploiting the Earth—using the raw materials of nature for one’s life-serving purposes—is a basic requirement of human life. Either man takes the Earth’s raw materials—such as trees, petroleum, aluminum, and atoms—and transforms them into the requirements of his life, or he dies. To live, man must produce the goods on which his life depends; he must produce homes, automobiles, computers, electricity, and the like; he must seize nature and use it to his advantage. There is no escaping this fact. Even the allegedly “noble” savage must pick or perish. Indeed, even if a person produces nothing, insofar as he remains alive he indirectly exploits the Earth by parasitically surviving off the exploitative efforts of others." Read more.

How Susan Boyle's YouTube Star Turn Is Helping Revive Interest In Les Mis Techdirt: "As the recording industry continues to freak out about videos on YouTube without compensation, the whole media sensation Susan Boyle phenomenon is showing how such videos on YouTube clearly act as promotion for the music."

Gizmodo - Hackers Going Full Brazilian on U.S. Satellites - Satellite hacks:

"The Brazilian Federal Police are trying to crackdown on the hijacking of U.S. military satellites—an illegal act that is so well entrenched that it has become something of a 'national phenomenon.'"

Jalopnik - Inside Project M Reveals Already-Revealed Bertone Mantide - Bertone Mantide
Check the video of the making of the show car.

FBI spied on TEA Party Americans!

Canada Free Press Reports that FBI spied on TEA Party Americans. It says that:
"Even as average Americans were planning to get out in towns and cities to demonstrate against Big Government and Big Taxes, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) surveillance was being unleashed upon them. In fact, unsuspecting Tax Day TEA Party participants were being closely watched during the demonstration planning stages in a covert operation that began on or about March 23, 2009."

This is exactly the the reason why increasing number of Americans are reading Ayn Rand and taking her philosophy seriously. The individual rights are being corroded gradually and government is becoming the dominant force in the lives of the citizens. This is exactly what the founding fathers didn't want to happen.

If the news of FBI at the Tea parties is true, it points towards Obama's America increasingly resembling Putin's Russia. Obama might take this as a compliment but let this be a warning to all freedom loving Americans, and let this be the time for adding an intellectual backbone to the Tea party protests. I would ask people living in US or elsewhere to read Ayn Rands "Atlas Shrugged" to understand the recent events and to find a why we need philosophy in our lives.

"In order to live, man must act; in order to act, he must make choices; in order to make choices, he must define a code of values; in order to define a code of values, he must know what he is and where he is—i.e., he must know his own nature (including his means of knowledge) and the nature of the universe in which he acts—i.e., he needs metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, which means: philosophy. He cannot escape from this need; his only alternative is whether the philosophy guiding him is to be chosen by his mind or by chance."
“Philosophy and Sense of Life,” The Romantic Manifesto, Ayn Rand.

The Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights: How to End Piracy in the High Seas

The Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights: How to End Piracy in the High Seas: "Washington, D.C., April 20, 2009--In a dramatic rescue operation a week ago, U.S. Navy Seals succeeded in freeing Capt. Richard Phillips from captivity by Somali pirates.

According to Elan Journo, analyst at the Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights, even though the operation was successful, it did not teach the pirates the appropriate lesson, as evidenced by news of a pirate attack on another American-flagged ship, the Liberty Sun."
Read the full article.

Cast Iron story

A large bucket full of molten material is poured into a large container, possibly a mold, by a group of men using machinery.

Filmed May 14, 1905, at the Westinghouse foundries in Trafford City, Pennsylvania.

This reminds me of my fathers factory where machinery parts were cast during mid-eighties. It was more basic and manual labor was used instead of machinery to pour the metal. We used to sometimes accompany him at night to see the casting. It was always done at night because there was no electricity during the day. I looked forward to these trips.

The silent black and white clip doesn't do justice to the whole process. I'll try to compensate for that. Once you entered the industrial area there were no roads, it was pitch dark and the silence was of the graveyard variety- very eerie. It was a whole different world inside the factory. The first thing that hit you was the incredible noise closely followed by the incredible sight. It took a while to recover from the assault on the senses- the sight, smell, noise, heat left you reeling and spellbound at the same time. The furnace was about 20 foot tall- like a big, old armoured warrior with a lot of fight still left in him and attached to it was a contraption for pumping air into it to stoke the fire for the melting process. It made tremendous noise like it was cursing everybody for making it work at night and the people working there had to shout to be heard.

The furnace spewed the molten metal into the iron buckets with their insides covered with clay to protect them from the metals heat. Once the required quantity was poured into the buckets the furnace was shut-up with clay plugs attached to long bamboo poles. Then a couple of guys lifted the buckets with help of the long iron rods which were welded to the buckets. It was quite a sight to see those thin sinewy guys wearing rags carry a load of yellow lava with sparks jumping out from it.

It almost seemed like that the guys were sweating not from the heat but from the threatening, spitting liquid metal whose sparks leaped disdainfully from their confines to pierce their flimsy flesh (during one cast the clay of the bucket had cracked and metal dropped and splashed the guys carrying it, giving them serious burns). The whole place glowed from the light of the liquid metal. It was poured into the clay casts where it would finally find peace and make a transition from its turbulent angry youth to cool, solid maturity.

The business unfortunately did not last much longer. The iron casting gave way to RCC (Reinforced concrete) casting of man-hole covers. Ah! from taming the wild lava to taming of the stench of the gutters.

Columbine assault raged, students fought to keep a wounded teacher alive.

As the Columbine assault raged, students barricaded a classroom and fought to keep a wounded teacher alive. - By Dave Cullen - Slate Magazine: "Dave Sanders was just a few feet from safety when the first shot hit him. He saw the killers, spun around, and ran for the corner, trying to save a few more students on the way there. One bullet got him in the back. It tore through his rib cage and exited through his chest.

Why do so many new buildings look like a pile of Jenga blocks? - By Witold Rybczynski - Slate Magazine: "The Jenga Effect - A new vogue for tottering towers."

Photoshop Ethics Debate

Ramen & Rand: Photoshop Ethics Debate
As an occasional photographer this question has always bothered me, how far is it OK to retouch the pictures? When does picture become a lie? A topic which needs serious exploration for both pros and amateurs.

Chocolate cake

Junkfood Science: Chocolate cake and an important message for bariatric surgery patients:
"The writers of House MD on Fox-TV did a public service last night. Unlike most television shows, House continues to punch through popular stereotypes about fat people and take on obesity sacred cows with that cutting, impudent honesty that only Dr. Gregory House can get away with."

Meaning of a Tea Party

Principles in Practice: "John Lewis on the Proper Meaning of a Tea Party
Posted by Craig Biddle at 9:47 AM
Here’s a video of John Lewis’s excellent speech at yesterday’s tea party in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Thanks to Andy Clarkson for recording it)"

Green, mean and anti-capitalist

What Ayn Rand said is so true that " Within every category of goods and
services offered on a free market, it is the purveyor of the best
product at the cheapest price who wins the greatest financial rewards
in that field-not automatically nor immediately nor by fiat.."(Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal).
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Green Trade Wars
Forbes Magazine dated April 27, 2009

While the world has had its eye on tariffs and quotas, another trade
war has been simmering, over dumping. This month, U.S. Steel and other
American manufacturers filed suit against China, alleging the dumping
of $2.6 billion worth of welded and seamless steel pipes...

What makes this fight different is that steelmakers have a curious
ally: the environmental crowd. Steel is a polluting industry, slurping
up lots of coal for smelting and spitting carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere. If the U.S. puts a cost on domestic CO2 (in the form of a
tax or an expensive emission permit), and if China doesn't impose a
similar burden on its smokestacks, then Chinese steel companies have
an unfair advantage. The enviros propose to make the contest fair by
imposing a pollution equalization tax at the border. This tariff idea
gets a loud "amen" from the U.S. steel industry.
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When Doctors Opt Out - WSJ.com

When Doctors Opt Out - WSJ.com:
"We already know what government-run health care looks like By MARC SIEGEL
Here's something that has gotten lost in the drive to institute universal health insurance: Health insurance doesn't automatically lead to health care. And with more and more doctors dropping out of one insurance plan or another, especially government plans, there is no guarantee that you will be able to see a physician no matter what coverage you have."

Offsetting Behaviour: Zeitgeist via Google Search Insights
Interesting analysis by Eric Crampton of the search patterns of Ayn Rand as compared to Marx and Keynes.

Moore's Law

Moore's Law: Dead Again, According To The Press from the haven't-we-heard-this-before dept. Every couple years or so, the press goes nuts, after some renowned chiphead says something along the lines that "Moore's Law" is dying. But then you look at the details and it's all rather meaningless. So... with reports coming out, yet again, that someone is claiming that Moore's Law is reaching its end, there's still little to worry about.