Very soon, Pope John Paul II will pass away. He's been a voice of hope and faith for people all over the world. His death will leave a gaping hole that world will struggle to fill.

Jonah Goldberg weighs in:

I suppose I'm with Ramesh & co. Though I am not a Catholic, I can muster many emotions at the the thought of John Paul II passing away. But grief really isn't chief among them. The man has been suffering for a long time and he has endured that suffering with greater dignity than most of us could dream of mustering. He lived a long life of great courage and conviction, acting nobly when acting otherwise would have been much easier and less dangerous. Through his actions and his example he left the entire world a better and safer place than when he left it. When his time comes, be it in hours or days or whenever, few will say he hadn't done more than his fair share. This is no tragedy. His life isn't being brought short by the hand of man. There's no cause for rage. But there's room for gratitude and the sort of remorse one feels when the world is made a little less by the loss of someone it sorely needed. So why overly grieve for a man who is surely worthy of reward in the next life?

Perhaps the answer is simple, because it is human to do so.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 09:06 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Okay, there's no such thing, but I might have to institute one. Bill posts a couple of images for Desperate Red-Blooded males over here. See extended entry for more. more...

Posted by: Physics Geek at 08:31 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Actually, it was a trip to Ireland and Scotland, but I spent the majority of my time in Scotland. I and my friends stayed in Stirling, using it as a central point from which to investigate the surrounding areas. Anyway, I haven't scanned any of my pictures from that time yet. Until I do, I'm posting some pictures found on the 'Net. Here's a great shot of Stirling Castle:

Oh, and one more place that I visited in Scotland: Eileen Donan Castle. If you've seen the original Highlander, you've seen at least a few images. Here are a few more:

Posted by: Physics Geek at 06:51 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Tartan Day is coming, so let's celebrate. My Scottish/Irish/English blood warms at the thought. Okay, not so much the English part. Ith of Absinthe and Cookies is preparing a blogosphere celebration of all things Scottish. Drop by and leave a comment or send an email if you want to participate. FWIW, the name of my Scottish ancestors predates the clans. Ergo, no clan tartan. However, since they originated in the county Galway, I have the right to proudly display the Galloway tartan:

Or the Galloway district hunting tartan:

Ith has created TartanBlogs group on Yahoo! Here is the image displayed there:

Also, I've added the Gathering Blogroll to the side bar, complete with button pilfered from Absinthe & Cookies.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 04:43 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I actually bought into it for a minute. Hey, it's early and I'm not a morning person. Anyway, go here right now. Assuming that it won't be there tomorrow, I've putting a screen shot in the extended entry. more...

Posted by: Physics Geek at 04:30 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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S P E C I A L    A N N O U N C E M E N T

Internet Cleaning
DO NOT CONNECT TO THE INTERNET FROM MARCH 31st 23:59 pm (GMT) UNTIL 12:01am (GMT) APRIL 2nd.

*** Attention ***

It's that time again! As many of you know, each year the Internet must be shut down for 24 hours in order to allow us to clean it. The cleaning process, which eliminates dead e-mail and inactive ftp, www, and gopher sites, allows for a better working and faster Internet.

This year, the cleaning process will take place from 23:59 pm (GMT) on March 31st until 00:01 am (GMT) on April 2nd. During that 24-hour period, five powerful Internet-crawling robots situated around the world will search the Internet and delete any data that they find.

In order to protect your valuable data from deletion we ask that you do the following:

1. Disconnect all terminals and local area networks from their Internet connections.

2. Shut down all Internet servers, or disconnect them from the Internet.

3. Disconnect all disks and hardrives from any connections to the Internet.

4. Refrain from connecting any computer to the Internet in any way.

We understand the inconvenience that this may cause some Internet users, and we apologize. However, we are certain that any inconveniences will be more than made up for by the increased speed and efficiency of the Internet, once it has been cleared of electronic flotsam and jetsam.

We thank you for your cooperation.

Fu Ling Yu

Interconnected Network Maintenance Staff Main Branch,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Sysops and others: Since the last Internet cleaning, the number of Internet users has grown dramatically. Please assist us in alerting the public of the upcoming Internet cleaning by posting this message where your users will be able to read it.

Please pass this message on to other sysops and Internet users as well.

Thank you.

Update: Click on extended entry for more information. more...

Posted by: Physics Geek at 01:49 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Received the images below from a friend. Open the extended entry:

more...

Posted by: Physics Geek at 01:26 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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